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Tennessee's future will be determined by the number of post-secondary credentials of its residents to support economic development. Additionally, Tennesseans must earn living wages to support their livelihoods. Finally, the psychological development of Tennesseans must be supported, which allows individuals to reach their fullest potential. While critical state initiatives such as Drive to 55, TN Promise, and tnAchieves have been in place for nearly a decade, Tennesseans are not graduating from post-secondary institutions at the rate that is critical for individual and state success. In reviewing initiatives and success in higher education, the study was informed by important place-based promise programs and the various definitions of student success. An understanding of self-actualization, humanistic education, and measurement of selfactualization informed how the study identifies the essence of the experience. Utilizing a phenomenological research approach and an interpretive framework of social constructivism, this study has informed the essence and lived experiences of self-actualization among tnAchieves students at Motlow State Community College. Overall findings indicate the essence of self-actualization among students persisting toward a post-secondary credential is represented by a sliding scale-factor duality of shared support and independent motivation. The implications of these findings to policy and practice are addressed. Specifically, implications for policy outlines considerations for policy makers related to revisioning a state master plan in the future, as well as various degrees of tnAchieves program success. Implications for practice support the humanistic education model, as well as effective student support services, peer-to-peer support models, and family engagement. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Technology use, education technology, and innovations continue to grow in the 21st century. Information is abundant, and it can be challenging to process and decipher. Students are deficient in critical thinking and experience negative effects from the overuse of technology. Liberal education philosophy focuses on building critical thinking and educating the whole person. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenology study was to explore and describe the experiences of K-12 leaders and teachers implementing education technology while following a liberal education model focused on supporting critical thinking, cognitive ability, and the whole person. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight leaders and five teachers to understand real-lived experiences and perceptions of building critical thinking skills within a liberal education while utilizing education technology. Cognitive load theory and humanistic learning theory provided the theoretical framework for this study to explore utilizing education technology tools within a liberal education model that supports critical thinking for the whole person amidst challenges faced today and in the foreseeable future. The foundation of cognitive load is processing new and old information and looking at how we learn, gain knowledge, and use memory. Humanistic learning theory acknowledges the whole person, experiences, and environment to gain authentic learning and reach self-actualization. The findings of this study revealed an understanding of liberal education with aspects of Charlotte Mason as a priority for decision-making in implementing education technology. The increase in negative effects on the whole person due to societal overuse of technology has caused leaders and teachers to limit technology within the classroom purposely. Leaders and teachers shared the significance of narration for building critical thinking skills. In addition, they explained the impact of nature for supporting cognition and physical and mental well-being. The findings suggest a complexity of maintaining balance with technology for those in current practice. Further research recommendations include studying habits and the benefits of nature in relation to education technology. Integrating education technology can bridge liberal education with the 21st century with an understanding of cognitive load and individual well-being. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Overlapping and entangled crises that comprise and propel society require near constant (re)orientation in order to understand, explain, and address the workings of a multiplicitous world. For those invested in education, this means confronting complexity through the prism of teaching and learning. Educational scholars across fields and disciplines have sought to name, describe, and make sense of this complexity. Many do so in ways that recognize the difference between recent events and cycles of change that have come before. In other words, they engage in inquiry with a recognition that a convergence of factors produces this moment as different, and thus requires "difference" in approach to understanding. Building on recent scholarship in posthumanism and social studies education, this dissertation draws upon foundational texts in posthumanism, poststructuralism, and new materialism to re-orient understanding of how social studies teachers learn in the posthuman convergence. In particular, this inquiry explores what happens when social studies teachers are confronted by potentially destabilizing content during professional learning experiences located in a university setting. Considering how learning unfolds in and through complexity, this study examines how the intersecting, overlapping, and nested contexts of the inquiry, within the broader context of the posthuman convergence, intervene in professional learning experiences and shape the ways in which collective and individual learning (un)/(re)fold. Employing transqualitative methods, this dissertation explores the material-discursive entanglements that constitute social studies teacher professional learning. Transqualitative research is a hybrid of traditional qualitative research design and critical qualitative methods that seeks to disrupt the traditional qualitative focus on the human experience and embrace a posthuman perspective in research design and methodology. Data includes ethnographic participant observation field notes, photographs, artifacts, individual and group interviews, spatial maps, and analytic memos. Resisting settled findings, this project (re)orients understanding through disclosing provocations meant to support thinking differently about how social studies teachers learn in highly complex contexts. As such, this dissertation strives to help map the complicated terrain that teachers are currently navigating, while informing those invested in supporting teacher learning in the current challenging environment. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Literacy coaching has the potential to center humanizing professional learning pedagogies--promoting equity, disrupting oppression, and recognizing the complex humanity of teachers. This potential can be realized through the use of deep reflection to support teachers' awareness of what guides their behavior and further strengthened by complex supportive relationships with literacy coaches. These humanizing coaching practices not only re-humanize teachers but can influence changes to literacy instruction. Yet, humanizing approaches are often overtaken by more behavioristic approaches in literacy coaching models and the urgency of pandemic-related acceleration pervading schools. In this article, I share the findings of a case study in which I, as a literacy coach, explored the relationship between elements of a humanizing model of literacy coaching, including complex relational and reflective work, and a teacher's willingness to change her literacy instruction. Implications are shared on the potential of utilizing a conceptual framework guided by Maslow's (1943) theory of humanism and Korthagen's (2004) onion model could influence teachers' willingness to change and humanize professional learning. Literacy coaching is professional learning designed to provide teachers with supportive partnerships as they enhance their instruction (L'Allier et al., 2010). However, this enhancement requires teachers to make changes to long-standing practices. To prepare for change, teachers must have the psychological safety and time to explore their beliefs, values, and identities and how these factors influence their willingness to change (Dewey, 1933). Literacy coaches can prepare teachers for this work by using The Collaborative Literacy Coaching Framework for Transformation, which focuses on the cultivation of relationships, the examination of intrapersonal factors, the acknowledgment of their instructional impact, and the need to plan for change. I will share the framework and the stories of three teachers who were better prepared for change while working within it. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

While any student is susceptible to experiencing a traumatic incident, students living in socio-economically marginalized communities are often exposed at higher rates. Students from racial minority groups are more likely to experience distress from acts of violence committed against People of color than their White counterparts. For educators working in predominantly Black, Chicago communities, exposure to violence directly and via the shared experiences from students occurs disproportionately compared to educators working in other areas of the city. Educators working within particular communities battle the effects of chronic stress and structural racism, while striving to create hope and academic success within their students. Research suggests that African-American educators' use of culturally responsive pedagogical methods in tandem with their humanistic commitment to students is integral to student success. It is critical that the perspectives of Black educators committed to creating environments where students can thrive academically amidst stressful conditions found outside the classroom are captured. Their narratives can further identify practices necessary to better support success within Black students while also highlighting the impacts felt by educators working in chronically stressed communities. The purpose of this research study is to present educator personal narratives on how they create supportive academic spaces for students to thrive, while highlighting the barriers faced by students and educators on the road to academic success. This study employs Critical Race Theory as both the methodological and theoretical framework to analyze the experiences of participant narratives. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Histories of the American community college have largely overlooked the humanistic education movement of the mid-20th century. This historiographical gap obscures leaders' ideological commitment to their institution's diverse mission during an era of rapid community college expansion. Advocates and critics of community colleges have consequently judged their leaders' actions, policies, and practices without sufficient context. The reason for humanistic education's omission from the historiography is twofold. First, the ideology faced considerable academic and social skepticism in the wake of the counterculture movement of the 1960s. This pressure caused many proponents of humanism to conceal their ideological practices under the veil of neoliberal discourse. Second, the sharp division between advocates' and critics' histories of the community college discouraged a reconsideration of the historical record. As both groups advanced their narrative, neither sought to clarify the resulting dichotomous accounts. In part, the lack of collaboration resulted from the disciplinary distance between these groups. Advocates for community colleges often published in practitioner journals, written by insiders for insiders. Some scholars accused these "insider" investigations of maintaining an overly optimistic and uncritical lens. Alternatively, university scholars often authored critical histories. These scholars wrote as "outsiders" -- a distance some practitioners suggested diminished the scholarship's legitimacy. Insider and outsider researchers merely talked over one another, creating binary depictions of the community college's purpose and their leaders' effectiveness. This dichotomy has had significant ramifications for the reputation of community colleges. As this dissertation will discuss, academic micro-discourses dominated discursive production, influencing meso and macro levels. The resulting preeminence of outsider narratives sustains hegemonic power structures, placing insider voices at the margins of the community college story. Discourse tracing provides a methodological approach to bridge this insider/outsider research divide. An investigation of mid- and late-20th-century community college discursive artifacts clarifies potential connotative misconceptions, which allows for a reinterpretation of institutional leaders' agency and autonomy. An account of the humanistic education movement demonstrates that the existing historiography overestimates the comprehensiveness of the late 20th-century neoliberal shift, and underestimates community college leaders' ability to withstand neoliberal pressures. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

This post-critical ethnographic study explored the curriculum of being/becoming a middle school teacher that 5 emergency-certified new-to-teaching teachers experienced through the quotidian interactions of their first fully-in-person school year. The curriculum of being/becoming teachers is increasingly important as the percentage of teachers entering the profession through alternative and emergency certification pathways increases each year and school and district leaders inherit more of the responsibility to prepare and develop these teachers. The purpose of this study is to describe how participants developed a sense of students, content, and contexts through the curriculum of being/becoming teachers. Additionally, this study describes how the instructional coach/researcher co-developed and evolved a new teacher community of practice (NTCOP) that pushed participants toward becoming more sensitive, humane, and empathetic curriculum makers. Three questions guided this inquiry: (1) What are some of the core teachings in the curriculum of being/becoming teachers at this school site as evidenced by policies, practices, and relationships between teachers and students in place during their inaugural school year?; (2) In what ways does engagement in a learning group aimed at intervening in the curriculum of being/becoming teachers interact with new-to-teaching teachers' understanding of who they become, what they know, and how they interact with students and as middle school teachers?; and (3) What questions do new-to-teaching teachers' experiences grappling with the curriculum of being/becoming teachers and emerging teacher identity raise about the ways districts and schools provide support? In middle schools, where nearly a third of adolescents experience academic and social challenges due to developmental and cultural mismatches between teachers and students, this study's findings suggest that the curriculum of being/becoming teachers reinforced these mismatches in three ways: school and district leaders assigned teaching tasks as a mechanism of control, middle school policies and practices reinscribed deficit narratives about adolescents, and administrators and colleagues cultivated a hostile environment for new-teacher learning. The NTCOP provided a counter-space for participants to disrupt deficit narratives and to discuss and affirm placemaking practices. However, the participants did not adopt active advocacy stances toward adolescents despite the researcher's efforts. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

In the wake of the French Revolution and the failure of subsequent governments to enact humanistic reforms, Schiller observed in frustration that "a great moment has found a little people…" As we emerge from a once-in-a-century pandemic, navigating crisis after crisis amidst uncertainty and instability, it is easy to sympathize with Schiller's frustrations. For parents and teachers, the pandemic and its effect on public education have been eye-opening, and present a clear call to action. We are currently in an important historical moment with both challenges and opportunity. For education theorists and policy makers, this moment calls for a rethinking and reimagining of our schools (and schooling), if not our entire educational paradigm. This is a moment that calls for a re-evaluation of contemporary education reform -- a deeply flawed movement guided largely by assessment and accountability culture. Unfortunately, this moment has been met by characteristic smallness and a lack of imagination and dedication to our public commons and social infrastructure of which our schools are an integral component. It is not a reimagining to defund public education; and it is not a reimagining to transfer our current, inadequate curriculum (guided by a flawed neoliberal paradigm) onto a synchronous or asynchronous digital platform. This moment called for imagination, creativity, kindness and audacity, but instead we got a doubling down on efficiency, assessment, and a model of schooling closer to "educational accounting" than anything even remotely resembling a rich and broad humanistic education. The goal of this dissertation is in part to highlight an important concept that could broaden our thinking about contemporary education. That thing is play, not in a narrow, gamified sense but rather the robust rich conception "paidia." In this dissertation, I argue we must re-engage with "paidia" in order to reclaim the ancient notion of "paideia," or an ideal education in the broadest sense. This exploration of the serious play as the basis of education in the philosophical tradition begins with Plato, Aristotle, and others in Greek antiquity, and evolves through the thought of Kant, Schiller, Heidegger, Gadamer, Dewey, and others. Once we have traced this concept from its foundational discussion in Plato's philosophical dialogues through German romanticism and into the 20th century and beyond, we can put this concept into conversation with contemporary schooling and the philosophical underpinnings of contemporary education reform. We also will look at how this idea of a broad, engaging education has been lost, what is at stake if we lose it permanently, and what "paidia" can offer our present age with respect to reimagining education for a post-pandemic 21st century. This discussion attempts to retrieve something important from the tradition of thinking about education more broadly -- "paideia" -- education not merely as a matter of utility, efficiency, or credentialing, but also as a matter of justice. This discussion will inform our understanding of education as a matter of justice and lifelong learning that encourages real fulfillment and has the potential to open structures and potentialities. We will demonstrate that the concept and history of "paidia" are relevant for reflecting on the impoverished education paradigm we have today, but it is also helpful in pointing the way towards a new paradigm. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Challenges to empowering secondary students toward engagement in addressing injustice persist in the United States education system. Likewise, teachers feel generally underprepared to support students through the process. A critical examination of literature in justice-based pedagogy and praxis revealed a gap in practical application of justice education as it pertains to empowering teachers and engaging students in a justice-oriented process of learning and doing. A qualitative bricolage approach employed case study and heuristic methodologies to share the professional stories and observations of three secondary teachers within a highly urbanized and diverse county schools district, and facilitate a dialogue between those stories and that of the researcher, a secondary teacher along the journey of discovering practical ways of engaging and empowering students to actively address injustice. Through participation in a fellowship of a justice-based curriculum rooted in principles of humane education and the whole school sustainability organizational approach offered by their county office of education, teachers' stories illuminated a transformative experience that reinvigorated their enthusiasm and hope in the profession. Through a paralleled transformative learning process in the classroom, students were observed to access and activate voice, agency, and motivation toward addressing injustice. Critical and systems thinking paired with social emotional support facilitated a positive learning experience for students as they learned and grappled with injustice. Community engagement activated for many students and teachers a connection with the real world, and fostered a sense of hope in creating a more just and sustainable world for all. The findings of this study offer far-reaching implications for igniting teacher and student passion toward addressing injustice and provides practical advice for education stakeholders on how to implement justice-based, universally inclusive curricular and instructional methods in the U.S. secondary education system. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

The title for the project, "Eloquence in Talke and Vertue in Deedes," comes from educational theorist William Kempe's claim that the early modern humanist educational system was guaranteed to produce eloquence and virtue. It is, however, my argument that the educational failed in its promises. This project seeks to dissect the educational practices of the early modern period and reanimate the pieces to show how these practices were regularly critiqued on the early modern stage. More than showing the influence of the educational system in the production of drama, I point out that these practices are re-represented as rebuttals of the educational system. As such, "Eloquence in Talke, and Vertue in Deedes" is a series of essays united by the theme of discontentment with an educational system that failed to meet its promises. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

This study focuses on the life and times of a monster: a) the creation of a virtual reality (VR) simulation intended to enhance student engagement with Fitzgerald's (2004/1925) The Great Gatsby in a secondary English classroom; b) the subsequent suppression of the simulation when the creation, but not the researcher's intentions, were realized; and c) the eventful affirmation of the simulation when examined through a posthumanist analysis. With Shelley's (1831) Frankenstein as a filter for the reflective process, the researcher uses the concepts of Bodies without Organs (BwOs),entanglements, and agency to explain the consequences and significance of the VR curriculum enhancement and its implementation. The researcher concludes with implications for the future of VR in educational research and practice. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

My dissertation explores the interdependent connection between African oral tradition and traditional African healing strategies found in storytelling in Chicago. In examining a nonprofit based in Chicago that offers cultural education through political resistance oral narratives (i.e. storytelling), my research examines how storytelling can provide emotional and cultural edification for youth and older adults that experience mental, intellectual, spiritual and racial subjugation. My work builds on the work of George J. Sefa Dei, Kmt G. Shockley, Kofi Lomotey, Lifongo Vetinde, and Jean-Blaise Samou, in that it centers African cultural production and knowledge as the source and connection to African spiritualism, communalism, and humanism and thus African traditional healing. Lastly, it presents a structured framework for an African-centered storytelling praxis as a way towards Africanization and healing. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

The problem addressed by this study was whether a shift toward student control could yield a greater academic benefit in student academic achievement than the traditional usage of teacher control since there is a growing perception the adoption of student-centered education will better support the academic needs of students than teacher-centered education. The purpose of this quantitative research study was to examine the correlation between pupil control ideology and student academic achievement. The study was performed via the secondary analysis of the HSLS:09. The results of the first question, which examined the correlational relationship between a humanistic pupil control ideology approach to course selection and the academic achievement, indicated a statistically significant but weak positive correlation, as noted by their performance on mathematical assessments, [rho] = 0.064, p <0.01; [rho] = 0.082, p <0.01; as well as mathematics GPA, [rho] = 0.060, p < 0.01; [rho] = 0.064, p < 0.01. The results of the second question, which examined the correlational relationship between a custodial pupil control ideology approach to course selection and academic achievement, indicated a statistically significant but weak negative correlation, as noted by their performance on mathematical assessments, [rho] = -0.048, p < 0.01; [rho] = -0.027, p < 0.01. Interestingly, the results indicate a weak negative correlation between student GPA and a custodial pupil control ideology in course selection for 9th graders, [rho] = -0.026, p < 0.01, but a weak positive correlation between student GPA and pupil control ideology in course selection for 10th-12th graders, [rho] = 0.041, p < 0.01. This study demonstrates a slightly stronger association between student academic achievement and the humanistic pupil control ideology in the course selection. As such, further exploration of control, as well as other elements of student-centered education should be examined separately to establish better parameters of the schooling philosophy. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

The purpose of this research was to investigate the transformative learning experiences of formerly incarcerated participants in The Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP), a three-level experiential training program in nonviolent conflict resolution. It explores participants' interpretation of changes in their mindsets about violence and nonviolence following intensive training in AVP transformative and constructionist pedagogies while incarcerated, and following their own experiences as facilitators in AVP as formerly incarcerated individuals. Given that the six participants in this study--five males and one female--continued to facilitate AVP workshops after their release from prison, the research questions inquired about their transformative learning experiences before and after prison. This phenomenological qualitative design elicited the lived meanings of participants' personal transformational experiences as well as their perceptions of specific AVP pedagogies that transformed their views about being-in-the-world nonviolently. Analysis of data revealed AVP to be psychologically transformative and liberatory. From the data emerged 16 primary themes depicting forms of AVP pedagogy that transform. Despite the regimented and oftentimes violent prison context, the experiential and humanistic character of AVP served as a trustworthy container in which transformation could occur through interpersonal communication skills, nonjudgmental sharing, relational caring, affirmation of self and others, egalitarian and heterarchical relations between learners and facilitators, love and community. The results of this study support the psychologically liberating character of AVP, and thus the need for its expansion to prisons and various community contexts across this nation. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

From ancient Greece to the rise of modern science in the 18th and 19th centuries, liberal adult education was a predominant philosophy. Progressivism, which developed in opposition, had the greatest impact on adult education. It viewed the teacher as a guide, consultant, and resource; the learner as responsible for learning in partnership with the teacher; and education as an instrument of social change. Behaviorists took their basic principles from progressives, but emphasized using the scientific method to arrive at knowledge. Many adult programs adopted behavioral objectives and accountability concepts from the behaviorism movement; the greatest impact was in curriculum design and program development. The humanist movement emphasized development of the whole person. Paulo Freire brought radical adult education on the scene; he spoke of using education to bring about social change. In the last 30 years, teachers experienced problems using the pedagogical model that ignored adults' needs and learning styles. Malcolm Knowles fostered the study of andragogy, the art and science of helping adults learn. Andragogical teaching incorporated the following research findings about adults: they desire to apply what they learn immediately and be independent and self-directing; and they need intrinsic motivation. Technological tools changed how to educate and deliver adult education. Distance delivery reached excluded populations. The teacher's new role was to link learners to resources and provide support for self-directed learning. (Contains 21 references.) (YLB)

Success in developmental education contexts requires support not just in cognitive skills, but also in affective areas. One approach showing promise in supporting students in affective areas is mindfulness training. Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) can support affective needs and provide coping strategies in general as well as in some educational settings. While the evidence for mindfulness-based interventions providing coping strategies is, as yet, focused mostly on areas outside of developmental education, it may be that mindfulness training can also benefit students placed and enrolled in developmental literacy coursework in college. The purpose of my study was to understand how students enrolled in a developmental literacy course experienced participation in an MBI in terms of mindfulness, self-compassion, affect, and effort. I explored the perceptions of students in a developmental literacy course as they participated in a six-week mindfulness-based stress reduction program. Through the analysis of weekly individual interviews with each participant, researcher observations, weekly journals, and initial- and post-questionnaires of mindfulness, self-compassion, affect, and effort, I discovered the following themes through my analysis of the study: (a) common humanity; (b) coping skills enhancement; (c) heightened interest; (d) reflection for growth; (e) time management; (f) adaptation and contextualization; and (g) change or evolution of understanding. I concluded students in developmental education and those who serve them could benefit from students in developmental education engaging in mindfulness-based interventions. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

What is mathematics? What does it mean to be a mathematician? What should students understand about the nature of mathematical knowledge and inquiry? Research in the field of mathematics education has found that students often have naive views about the nature of mathematics. Some believe that mathematics is a body of unchanging knowledge, a collection of arbitrary rules and procedures that must be memorized. Mathematics is seen as an impersonal and uncreative subject. To combat the naive view, we need a humanistic vision and explicit goals for what we hope students understand about the nature of mathematics. The goal of this dissertation was to begin a systematic inquiry into the nature of mathematics by identifying humanistic characteristics of mathematics that may serve as goals for student understanding, and to tell real-life stories to illuminate those characteristics. Using the methodological framework of heuristic inquiry, the researcher identified such characteristics by collaborating with a professional mathematician, by co-teaching an undergraduate transition-to-proof course, and being open to mathematics wherever it appeared in life. The results of this study are the IDEA Framework for the Nature of Pure Mathematics and ten corresponding stories that illuminate the characteristics of the framework. The IDEA framework consists of four foundational characteristics: Our mathematical ideas and practices are part of our "Identity"; mathematical ideas and knowledge are "Dynamic" and forever refined; mathematical inquiry is an emotional "Exploration" of ideas; and mathematical ideas and knowledge are socially vetted through "Argumentation". The stories that are told to illustrate the IDEA framework capture various experiences of the researcher, from conversations with his son to emotional classroom discussions between undergraduates in a transition-to-proof course. The researcher draws several implications for teaching and research. He argues that the IDEA framework should be tested in future research for its effectiveness as an aid in designing instruction that fosters humanistic conceptions of the nature of mathematics in the minds of students. He calls for a cultural renewal of undergraduate mathematics instruction, and he questions the focus on logic and set theory within transition-to-proof courses. Some instructional alternatives are presented. The final recommendation is that nature of mathematics become a subject in its own right for both students and teachers. If students and teachers are to revise their beliefs about the nature of mathematics, then they must have the opportunities to reflect on what they believe about mathematics and be confronted with experiences that challenge those beliefs. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

This study is to revisit the meaning of servant leadership, especially what it means to be "the servant as leader" in organizations. In order to appreciate nuances in the multifaceted nature of servanthood, this study engages in a hermeneutic analysis using a Heideggerian hermeneutical methodology, and converges study participants' voices, pertinent philosophical and non-philosophical literature, and the researcher's experiences and pre-understandings. Fifteen servant-leaders across the United States were selected based on nominations, and were interviewed in person. The interpretive work explores the nature of servanthood in three themes (constellations) from the data: Servanthood as (a) Love and Care, (b) Relationships and Connections, and (c) Power, all of which are interconnected. The various facets of servanthood as love are explored in how the servant-leaders experience humanistic love (Agapao), friendship (Philia), aspiration toward the ideal (Eros), and altruism (Agape). Servanthood as relationships is interpreted in authenticity as ownedness (relationships to self) and the one-ness with others as I-Thou (relationships to others). Servanthood as power highlights how the servant-leaders engage in unconventional power such as letting go and vulnerability. The reflective syntheses of the three constellations discuss the complexity of servanthood in its paradoxical and organic nature, and examine servanthood through a gender perspective. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Un/becoming an elementary science teacher is a dynamic phenomenon, yet the process is often intentionally limited to several taken-for-granted assumptions in research on science teacher induction. Inherent to research on beginning science teacher induction is also the construction of certain truths beginning science teachers, science teacher educators, and researchers think, feel, and live. This study complicates prevailing truths shaping notions of beginner, novice, induction, and traditions of inquiry as an ethicopolitical commitment to those implicated. In doing so, this study illuminates more expansive ways science teacher educators and those studying induction might study and understand the experiences of beginning science teachers from both humanist and post-humanist ontological paradigms. To provide an intimate, in-depth, and multidimensional analysis of elementary science teacher induction experiences, feminist post-structural theory was employed throughout the study. This perspective further informed the post-foundational ethnographic practices shaping the structure of the study as an always-already emergent process. Taking form as a (post)ethnographic inquiry, the study specifically examined the induction experiences of two beginning elementary science teachers alongside three ontological dichotomies in research shaping science teacher induction: (a) the beginning science teacher subject; (b) the concept of induction; and (c) the mode of inquiry. Employing both conventional humanist qualitative methods and post-qualitative inquiry, this study reveals the multifaceted ways in which beginning elementary science teacher subjectivity, research assumptions, and definitions framing the very notion of elementary science teacher induction intra-act. Offering a series of provocations as lines of flight, researchers of science teacher induction and science teacher educators might begin to re-conceptualize ways beginning science teachers un/become known and get re/produced. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Scales were developed to assess both the custodial and humanistic aspects of student control ideology. Research based on the responses of about 500 Hong Kong teacher education students showed responses to these scales were of adequate internal consistency, and confirmatory factor analysis supported two independent scales rather than a continuum from custodialism to humanism as assumed in the Pupil Control Ideology form (Willower et al., 1967), the instrument most widely used in this area of research. Further support for the differential validity of these scales came from evidence that self-perceived professional self-esteem as a teacher, teaching abilities, and classroom management skills were much more closely associated with the humanistic rather than custodial view of student control, but it was the latter view that was most affected by teaching practice in Hong Kong. (Contains 62 references.) (Author/SM)

Employee engagement and retention are two areas of focus within industry that help organizations assess business metrics such as training effectiveness, hiring practices, and workplace culture. Several methods exist with which to research engagement and retention levels within an organization and research to date has primarily focused on employee job satisfaction. There has been little research into the effectiveness of learning styles assessments and their contribution to employee engagement and retention. Other variables of interest, such as one's highest level of educational attainment, should be considered when assessing engagement and retention data. This study seeks to add to a growing field of research dedicated to addressing employee engagement and retention in industries that suffer from low levels of both variables. A theoretical framework which utilizes Person-Organization fit and Adaptation-Innovation theory was used as the basis for explaining how an organization can be successful with maintaining an employee base that is engaged and dedicated to the organization. The major aspects of this framework addressed manager-employee relationships, andragogical approaches within a training department, and the humanist learning theory. The instruments used during the course of this study exhibited reliability and validity when assessing levels of employee engagement and retention. Subsequent statistical analyses displayed relationships between the use of learning styles assessments and employee engagement and retention. Relationships between one's highest level of education and the level of engagement they felt towards the organization were also displayed and yielded valuable information that can help the teleconferencing industry, as well as other industries, develop more effective training programs to help increase employee engagement and retention among hourly employees. This research will also help the industry focus on areas of concern as they attempt to create a working environment where engagement is strong and consistent resulting in strong retention numbers. As this research focused on employees who have been with a company for less than one year, this research will support training efforts directed towards new employees with the hope that they will choose to remain with the organization for a significant period of time. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

In public education, approximately 80% of teachers in the United States are White, yet close to half of the student population are students of color (U.S. Department of Education, 2011). Gaps in teacher diversity compared with students of color are found in every state across the country (Center for American Progress, 2011). In 2004, the National Collaborative on Diversity in the Teacher Workforce issued a call to action, indicating that over 20 million Latino, Asian, Pacific Islander, and African-American students deserve to see educators who reflect them (National Education Association, 2004). Studies highlight this as a demographic and democratic concern (Archinstein & Ogawa, 2011; Parker, 2003); and increasing the number of teachers of color is just one piece of the puzzle in meeting the needs of our changing student population. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the lived experience of teachers of color by triangulating three depth data sources. The guiding research question was: How do African-American, Latino, and Asian individuals perceive their lived experience of being a teacher of color? Moustakas (1994) states that phenomenological research seeks "meaning from appearances" and a "unified vision of the essences of a phenomenon" (p. 58). Data were collected by interviewing (N = 3) Latina teachers, (N = 3) African-American teachers, (N = 2) Asian teachers, and (N = 2) teachers that identified as Trinidadian. Additionally, (N = 1) an elite informant was interviewed to provide foundational information. Teachers were also asked to complete a written or audio-recorded reflective narrative in the final phase of the research. Data were analyzed using van Manen's phenomenological analysis strategy (Polit & Beck, 2008). Six prominent themes emerged: 1) humanistic commitments to education, 2) powerful beliefs, connections, and high expectations, 3) conscious awareness of race, culture, and/or socio-economic issues, 4) success expressed through social connections, teaching-like experiences, and financial support, 5) challenges related to race, age, gender, or sexual orientation, and 6) advice on recruitment and retention. Findings may add value to educational leaders and policy makers who are concerned with the recruitment and retention of teachers of color. This study may also add diverse voices to educational research. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

In the United States after World War II, science had come to occupy a central place in the minds of policy makers, scientists, and the public. Negotiating different views between these groups proved a difficult task and spilled into debates over the role and scope of science education. To examine this process, this dissertation traces the history of Harvard Project Physics (HPP), a high-school physics curriculum from the 1960s that incorporated a humanistic and historical approach to teaching science. The narrative begins with the rise of General Education in the 1940s. Under the leadership of Harvard president James Conant, faculty at Harvard developed several Natural Science courses that connected science to history as a way to teach students about science and its relationship to culture. By the late 1950s this historical approach faced resistance from scientists who viewed it as misrepresenting their disciplines and called for students to learn specialized subject matter. With the support of the National Science Foundation (NSF), in the early 1960s scientists' vision of science education emerged in high-school classrooms across the country. By the mid 1960s, with the passage of the Civil Rights Act, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, and the Daddario Amendment to the NSF, the political and education landscape began to change. These laws transformed the goals of two of the NSF and the Office of Education (USOE). These organizations faced demands to work together to develop projects that would speak to domestic concerns over equity and diversity. Their first joint educational venture was HPP. In order to succeed, HPP had to speak to the needs of disciplinary-minded scientists at the NSF, equity-minded educators at the USOE, and results-focused politicians in Congress. This work argues that HPP succeeded because it met the needs of these various stakeholders regarding the roles of science and education in American society. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

This dissertation explored the lived experiences of eight Black Student Activist Scholars on the campus of a Predominantly White Institution (PWI). Through the use of Critical Race Theory, and Sociopolitical Development, it was discovered that Black students understand their activist and civic engagement to be that of a "duty of knowledge" wherein students expressed the importance of raising social awareness amongst their peers, colleagues, and the larger campus community. Furthermore, their lived experiences as scholar activists expanded their worldview of committing to social justice from a humanistic approach. Additionally, this dissertation is descriptive as well as prescriptive, as it highlights implications for Black Studies. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

This phenomenological case study explored the perceptions and experiences of mentors who work for a community-based mentoring program that was created to provide at-risk minority students with male role models. Most studies from the past 20 years have assessed mainly the academic, social, and emotional outcomes of mentoring among at-risk minority students. Previous research has suggested that current studies focus on identifying specific process-level factors that could be critical for good mentoring outcomes. This study was built on the social development theory of Lev Vygotsky, Urie Bronfenbrener's theory of ecological systems, and the humanistic theory of child development as discussed by Carl Rogers and Karen Horney. The guiding questions in this research related to the experiences and perceptions of mentors as they form relationships conducive to building social and academic skills with at-risk students. A gatekeeper provided the names of 10 mentors as a purposeful sample for interviews and observations. Decoding the interview and observational fieldnotes provided the opportunity to share information on experiences and practices relevant to the development of immediate and external influences on the development of at-risk students. The major findings from this case study work generated 4 main themes for a training workshop: building rapport, fostering relationships, establishing lifelong survival skills, and navigating challenges. The positive social change implications for this study include knowledge that is useful for teachers, administrators, community leaders, and other researchers searching for strategies that promote good mentoring outcomes for at-risk students. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

This autoethnographic study provides a critical analysis of the implementation of ideas and theories derived from Paulo Freire's "Pedagogy of the Oppressed" (1970) and "Pedagogy of Hope: Reliving Pedagogy of the Oppressed" (1994) in a social justice oriented classroom; in particular, themes of critical thinking, transformation, and social action are investigated through the voices of student participants. Through reflective narrative, I explore how Freire's humanist philosophy has influenced my educational practices as an instructor of higher education students. This inquiry utilizes qualitative data from undergraduate students, formal teaching observations, and interviews and on-going dialogue with a self-identified Freireian educator to help uncover how my students react to and reflect on my pedagogy. Student resistance to my implementation of Freire's ideas is closely examined to help me develop a more inclusive pedagogy. Furthermore, addressing injustices pedagogically requires a shift in our educational language as well as an emphasis on critical thinking and liberatory education. Educators can resist traditional constraints placed upon them by embracing a new language and vocabulary that discloses injustice and facilitates inclusive classroom dialogue that encourages students to take social action against perceived injustices. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Faculty contribute to the campus racial climate for all students, but particularly for students of color, and play a significant role in shaping intellectual, social, and behavioral standards through their pedagogical practice (Hurtado, Milem, Clayton-Petersen, & Allen, 1998; Solózano, Ceja, & Yosso, 2000; Rankin & Reason, 2005). Despite modest gains in late years, gaps persist in Bachelor's degree attainment among White, Black, and Hispanic students (Aud et al., 2012). White faculty, who represent approximately 80 percent of faculty across all types of American post-secondary institutions have a particular responsibility to take action (Snyder & Dillow, 2012). The conceptual framework for this narrative study blended elements from White identity development theory (Helms, 1990; Helms, 2008), multicultural education (Paccione, 2000), and culturally relevant pedagogical practice (Ladson- Billings, 1994; Ladson-Billings, 1995; Ladson-Billings, 2000). More specifically, my study explored the ways White college faculty made sense of their racial and ethnic identity and how their lived experiences transformed their pedagogical practice. Data included faculty interviews, classroom observations, and review of course materials. The data, in the form of faculty narratives, were analyzed to understand how the participants found meaning in the experiences, relationships, and turning points that influenced their pedagogical practice. The five themes that emerged from faculty narratives were (a) Birth cohort, neighborhood and cultural events; (b) influence of memories that contributed to evolving White identities; (c) humanistic worldview; (d) culturally relevant pedagogical practice without formal graduate school preparation; and (e) pedagogical practice characterized by validation; high expectations and high support; and intentionally promoting cross-racial interactions in class. Implications for practice and policy include the need to to create formal opportunities for graduate students and early career faculty to work with mentors of color as they fine tune their interactions with students and pedagogical practices. Faculty need to find opportunities to attend to student voices in the form of in-course assessments and institutional student assessment data to make meaningful adjustments to their pedagogical practice for all students, and particularly for students of color. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

This study investigates the relationship between pupil control ideology and academic optimism. Information was generated through responses to a questionnaire emailed to teachers in two school districts in Central New Jersey. The districts were categorized GH, as determined by the State's district factor grouping. The research concludes that there is an association between pupil control ideology (PCI) and academic optimism (AO). The data revealed that a lower level of pupil control ideology, or a more humanistic control ideology, tended to correlate with a higher level of academic optimism. A similar inverse relationship with PCI existed with two subcategories of AO, teacher efficacy and trust. Teaching on the elementary level tended to be related to a humanistic pupil control ideology and higher self-efficacy, while teaching on the secondary level tended to be related to a more custodial PCI. Higher trust levels and higher emphasis on academic achievement tended to relate to teaching on the secondary level. As academic optimism has been found to affect student achievement, raising the level of awareness and eliciting productive behaviors in students through a better understanding of teacher behaviors may result from the use of the data that this study generated. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

The philosopher Charles Taylor argues in "A Secular Age" (2007) that people who live in secular cultures are losing the capacity to experience genuine "fullness." Described by Taylor as a philosophical-anthropological conception of human flourishing that corresponds with existential senses of meaning and purpose, fullness is consistently referenced in the publication through dimensions of "contact" with a transcendent reality. The intersections of such contacts are characterized as phenomenal experiences and moral-ethical expressions. In appreciating Taylor's descriptions of fullness and a corresponding "ontic commitment" to a transcendent source, I develop three specific "pedagogies of fullness." The pedagogy of study, the pedagogy of solidarity, and the pedagogy of grace are higher educational strategies that emerge out of the Renaissance humanist tradition of Jesuit education and facilitate the relational contacts that make fullness, and, hence, meaning and purpose, possible. By engaging and networking multiple construals of individual experience (study), immersing students into contexts of alterity (solidarity), and validating inexplicable and phenomenal moments of consolation, gratitude, and wonder (grace), I argue that my conception of Jesuit higher education has the potential to restore fullness in a secular age. As Taylor characterizes Western individuals as independent and invulnerable, my pedagogies of fullness render relational possibilities to ourselves, others, and an Other that correspond with a hopeful envisioning the self and the social. The way of envisioning, a Jesuit imaginary, views selves and social milieus as interrelational and transformative of each other. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

My dissertation investigates teachers' thinking within that "oscillating place of difference" that is the classroom. I propose that teachers think and see differently in the classroom because they have practiced, like travelers, the dynamic thinking which makes them open to novelty, attentive to difference, reflective wayfarers on the paths of the world. I offer a threefold articulation of teaching into thinking, traveling and philosophizing. My guiding figure is that of teacher as traveler. I focus on the teacher's way of seeing the familiar and the unfamiliar in the classroom. Reliance on teaching routines is considered as a sign of the need for the teacher to feel at home in the classroom, and as a response to the inherent uncertainty of the educational experience. Dewey's conception of reflective thinking is put at work to explain teachers thinking in the classroom: reflection is a twofold movement of the mind that at first focuses on the given particular of the experience, and that also expands and opens up the given to new possible interpretations. The third chapter proposes to historicize the metaphor of teacher as traveler by considering Graeco-Roman thinking about travel and movement in relation to knowledge and wisdom. I consider the thesis that traveling is conducive to learning and wisdom. Herodotus explicitly connects travel to knowledge. The presence of itinerant teachers in Ancient Greece seems to reinforce this connection, as does the mythological representation of the ideal teacher as the centaur Chiron. I then posit an antithetical idea: that traveling be counterproductive because in travel the person is exposed to distraction, loss of focus, fragmentation. This antithesis is endorsed by Seneca's "Epistles to Lucilius." The dissertation moves to a re-examination of the figure of teacher as traveler in relation to the idea of home. The traveler reaches out and explores novelty and alterity in a meaning-making relation to where she is from. Similarly, the teacher thinks in the classroom by being attentive to newness and difference while keeping in mind the home or familiar: her routines, her curriculum, her tradition. Montaigne's humanistic philosophizing is considered in its constitutive dynamism. The way to the knowledge of home--and the wisdom deriving from it--passes through the encounter with the Other, be it the indigenous inhabitant of the new world, or the neighboring country, or a different language. Like a traveler, a teacher retains her freedom to move and to chose the direction to her steps, and carries the necessary provisions and supplies: enough to get around, but not too many to weigh her down. The teacher as traveler can read the world of experience, can read her discipline, and can read her students by paying attention and knowing their pace. The encounters that are at the heart of the educational experience, between teachers, students, works and things of the world, all concur to exercise the mind of a traveler: a mind that finds itself "at home" in the world. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Hernan Perez de Oliva (1494?-1531) was a learned Spanish humanist who wrote his major works in the decades following the discovery of America. By articulating events of his career and literary life, my goal is to comprehend his contributions to the early literary production regarding the newly-found Americas. The thesis consists of three parts. Part One deals with the literary foundation of Oliva's production: three adaptations, into Spanish, of classical dramatic works. I argue that these plays belong to a moral universe that structures Oliva's entire production and that he aimed to demonstrate the capacity of Castilian as a learned language. He developed his system of thought in the moralistic treatises that I study in Part Two of the dissertation. In the "Dialogo de la dignidad del hombre." Oliva synthesizes earlier philosophical traditions regarding humankind in a debate that proves to be independent from the prevailing tendencies of the time. Oliva's understanding of knowledge as the only path towards God is also skillfully condensed in the facade of the University of Salamanca of which he was the chief designer. In Part Three, the ethical dimension again prevails in the culminating work of Oliva's literary production, the "Historia de la invencion de las Indias." Here Oliva consolidates Castilian as a learned language while incorporating the ideas that shape his other works into his narration of Christopher Columbus's first three voyages (1492-1496) of exploration and conquest of the Antilles. Ending his work with an account of native Taino culture, Oliva elaborates a moral portrait of the interactions between Spaniards and Amerindians that questions human conduct in a concrete historical setting. Emphasizing the natives' love of liberty and homeland and the expeditionaries' greed of conquest, Oliva offers an early glimpse into the topics that would animate debate in the decades that followed. I have attempted to give a fuller image of this humanist's engagement with the most transcendent issues of his time and as the culmination of a life devoted to learning. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

The purpose of this qualitative case study is to create a unified humanistic methodology for institutions of higher education engaging undergraduate students and diverse/displaced youth in pro-social group activity. Scholarly researchers have expressed the current methodological disconnect between institutions seeking to accommodate displaced populations. With more people around the world becoming compulsorily displaced, institutions of higher education to must take a pro-active approach to engaging these populations. The United States is one of the world's leaders in accepting displaced, immigrant, and refugee populations. Within the U.S., the city of Utica, NY has become fourth in the nation's density of refugee populations. Operating for over 20 years on the Mohawk Valley Community College Campus in Utica is the higher education program Kidz n' Coaches. This program takes a pro-active approach to meeting the needs of undergraduates and displaced youth. Through a qualitative case study approach, this dissertation seeks to study the methodology of Kidz n' Coaches as well as the intellectualism of its creator James D. Smrtic. The researcher utilized qualitative semi-structured in-depth interviews to uncover the methodology of Kidz n' Coaches as well as the intellectualism of James D. Smrtic. By studying the Kidz n' Coaches methodology, the researcher has created an intergenerational, intercultural, and adaptive humanistic methodology that is generalizable for institutions of higher education around the world engaging undergraduates and displaced/diverse youth in pro-social group activity. This unified methodology will be known as "A Methodology for the Emerging." [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Scope and Method of Study: An educational philosophy and teaching style provide a foundation for understanding and for guiding guide decisions about curriculum, teacher-learner relationship and professional practice. The purpose of this descriptive quantitative study was to describe the educational philosophies and teaching styles of the teacher educators at a specific Midwestern state university in the United States and to compare this to the preferred educational philosophy and teaching style of the university's College of Education (COE). All teacher educators (N = 122) at this university were invited via the university's e-mail system to participate in this on-line survey. A total of 45 participants responded. The variables of education philosophy were measured using the Philosophy of Adult Education Inventory (PAEI). Teaching styles, as measured using the Principles of Adult Learning Scale (PALS), were categorized as either learner-centered or teacher-centered. The educational philosophies used in this study were liberal, behavioral, humanism, progressive and radical. The educational philosophies and teaching styles were examined in relationship to the demographic variables of: gender age, academic rank, assigned college at the university, years working in higher education, years teaching at the university, Pk-12 teaching experience and Pk-12 administration experience. The concepts of pedagogy and andragogy were contrasted between adult educators, and higher education and Pk-12 educators. Findings and Conclusions: It was found that the majority of teacher education faculty held the progressive educational philosophy and their preference for teacher-centered teaching style did not match. This may indicate that they believe in, but are not utilizing, the concepts of learner-centered teaching styles. The COE and faculty were in congruence with the same philosophy, however they differed in the faculty preferred teaching style. With the exception of gender and Pk-12th grade teaching, demographic variables had no statistical significance. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Challenging the argument that liberal humanism faces extinction in the face of ubiquitous digital technologies, my dissertation analyzes the ways in which consumer electronics reinscribe the human subject as a privileged category in the information age. Through spaces like the Matrix, Windows 7, or even the single row of play controls on a cassette deck, gadgets preserve the concept of human autonomy by yoking personal entertainment with technical knowledge, agency, citizenship, and individuality. In American postwar fiction and film, gadgets serve powerful functions that allow authors such as Thomas Pynchon, William S. Burroughs, Neal Stephenson, Pat Cadigan, and Richard Powers to explore the complexities of humankind's responses to technological and digital innovation. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

This dissertation focuses on quantum linguistics, a sub-field of philosophy of language, preoccupied with studying of the processes on a virtual drive of the human mind: patterns and dynamics of thoughts, verbal and non-verbal codification, cultural conditioning, and foreign language acquisition. While adopting an educational perspective fitting the humanistic legacy of great democrats-educators, this study embraces a relativist, quantum-mechanical framework in consideration of perceptive experiences, group dynamics, and foreign language express instruction with cross-cultural alertness. To help improve the national capabilities in foreign languages, this doctoral research investigates the nature, mechanisms, and factors affecting academic acceleration, intensification, and optimization. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

A spectre is haunting contemporary technoculture: the spectre of Singularity. Ten years into a century thus far characterized chiefly by the catastrophic failure of global economic and political systems, deepening ecological anxieties, and slow-motion social crisis, the only sector of our collective cultural myth of Progress still vibrantly intact is the technological--a project which, in vivid contrast to the systemic failure that seemingly prevails at nearly every other level, continues to charge forward at breakneck speed. Since the late twentieth century, prompted by the all-but-exponential growth of machine intelligence and global information networks, and by the still largely obscure but increasingly profound-seeming implications of emerging nanotechnology, futurists and fabulists alike have postulated an imminent historical threshold whereupon the nature of human existence will be radically and irrevocably transformed in a sudden explosion of technological development. This moment of transcendence, it is supposed, is at most only a few years off; indeed, some say, it may have already begun. The "Singularity"--a term coined in 1986 by the mathematician and science fiction writer Vernor Vinge, and subsequently adopted throughout technocultural discourse--is at present the primary site of interpenetration between technoscientific and science-fictional figurations of the future, an area in which the longstanding binary distinctions between science and SF, and between present and future, are rapidly dissolving. As much as the Singularity thesis implies a total reorganization of society and of the self--which posthumanist cultural studies and cyborg theory have already begun mapping--it also poses a daunting existential challenge to the enterprise of SF itself, to the extent that the Singularity imposes what Vinge has described as "an opaque wall across the future," an impenetrable cognitive obstacle beyond which the extrapolative imagination cannot glimpse. For a genre long defined by its efforts to assert, through the narrative technique of extrapolation, a meaningful continuity between present and future, the Singularity presents a thorny problem indeed, demanding both a reevaluation of SF's conception of and orientation toward the future, and a new narrative model capable of grappling with the alien and often paradoxical complexity of the postsingular. This study is an inquiry into the properties and problematics of Singularity across fictional and nonfictional discourses, and as such it operates on two levels. Reading Singularitarian literature against a broadly articulated context of fringe-science and transhumanist movements, consumer culture, political and economic theory, and related areas of contemporary cyber- and technoculture, I examine how the metaphor of Singularity structures and signifies the aspirations and anxieties of late-twentieth and early twenty-first century technocivilization. As a project of literary criticism specifically, the study works to identify and theorize a grouping of texts that is emerging from cyberpunk and postcyberpunk tendencies in contemporary SF, organized around the premises of Singularity and the posthuman, and classifiable primarily in terms of an attempt to mount a response to the formal and conceptual problems Vinge has identified. Primary readings are drawn from a wide-ranging selection of twentieth- and twenty-first-century technocultural fiction, with emphasis on SF works by Charles Stross, Cory Doctorow, Neal Stephenson, Bruce Sterling, Rudy Rucker, and William Gibson. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Conducted as an auto/biographical and narrative qualitative research study, this dissertation traces the researcher's winding journey in search of her teacher identities, whose cultural and discursive meanings are always changing. There are two subjects in this study--the researcher's colleague as her research participant and the researcher herself--namely, one Chinese American woman teacher and one Taiwanese American woman teacher, who struggle with trans-national and cross-cultural teaching experiences. The researcher utilizes both humanist/modernist and poststucturalist perspectives to explore these two subjects' shifting and multiply constructed "identities." The researcher adopts first a humanist/modernist "categorization" to identify these two teachers as "Asian American women teachers" and then takes a poststucturalist approach to call into question humanist/modernist "identity categorization construction" as being rigid and static, separating people and placing people as permanent others. Using poststructuralist conceptions and interrogations of identity and experience, the researcher explores further the cultural, social, historical, discursive and mythic elements of her auto/biographical representations. As the researcher shifts to a consideration of "selves" as sites of "permanent openness" and "resignifiability," she takes language/narrative as a site of exploration to investigate what and who constructs the subjects' multiple subjectivities. By examining her writing performances, the researcher not only questions the two subjects' experiences but also explores, to the extent possible, their subjectivities as well as their intersubjectivities. By telling multiple tales of her research participant and herself, the researcher explores auto/biography's social and political potential that refuses to be limited to any one account of identity or experience. The researcher finally comes to recognize her research journey as processes of dealing with issues of difference and acknowledges that this research makes the following possible contributions to the American educational field. This research exemplifies some innovative uses and forms of poststructuralist autobiographical and narrative inquiry. It offers an opportunity to examine the discourse of Eastern humanism--Confucianism, whose influence has been far reaching among many labeled as Asian Americans. It provides an in-depth study of two "Asian American woman teachers" whose voices, although always changing and shifting, and not representative of any essentialist category, might contribute insights about issues and constructions of difference in the American educational community. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

In order to develop a humanistic approach to evaluating faculty, a pilot study was conducted of 27 students and 14 instructors in an associate degree program for medical laboratory technicians. Selected personal dimensions of the sample population were examined to chart each individual's personality, theoretical learning preferences, modalities of inference, and intellectual disposition. Faculty were additionally administered a Teaching Styles Inventory. The findings were utilized in an inservice training program which contrasted student and faculty learning styles with faculty teaching styles; as a result, faculty were committed to a more creative concept of quality and efficiency in teaching. Two strategies were employed in assessing the effectiveness of this commitment: first, students ranked instructors on a number of instructional practices; second, grade point averages were compared at entry and exit levels, revealing a significant rise. On the basis of information gained in the study, a Classification of Instructional Competencies was devised which categorized professional behaviors (technical, therapeutic, conative) in six areas (curriculum, instruction, evaluation, college service, professional activities, continuing education) into a series of detailed goal statements. A survey of the literature, bibliography, and cognitive mapping instruments are appended. (NHM)

This dissertation examines the philosophies of Matthew Arnold and William Wordsworth in the attempt to provide a historical basis for a humanistic approach to the teaching of English. Arnold focused on the intellect, considering reading to be a criticism of life, while Wordsworth was concerned with feeling--emotions stimulated by experience and developed by imagination. Together, they present a perspective of cognitive and affective response to literature which is grounded in the actual conduct of human beings. Educational philosophies proposed by John Dixon, Louise Rosenblatt, and James Britton, as well as those of other theorists, seem to build upon Arnold's and Wordsworth's views. Humanistic teaching strategies can develop skills by focusing on these skills as useful tools for living. (Author/KS)

Testing the hypothesis that there is a positive relationship between the degree of teacher humanism in pupil control ideology and the degree of favorable student attitude toward school, classmates, and teachers, comparisons were made relative to public and Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) schools. Derived from 6 public and 7 BIA boarding schools located on the Navajo Reservation, the sample (91 teachers and 1,714 students) included usable responses to Willower's Pupil Control Ideology Form and Tenenbaum's Student Attitude Questionnaire Test administered in 1973. Employing Spearman's rho correlation coefficient and the Z test to determine correlation significance, teacher and student characteristics were analyzed in terms of age; sex; race; school type; teaching experience; etc. While results did not support the major hypothesis, significant findings were: (1) public school teachers were more custodial than BIA boarding school teachers; (2) BIA boarding school students had more favorable attitudes toward school than public school students; (3) females had more favorable attitudes toward school than males; (4) 14 year olds had more favorable attitudes toward school than either 12 or 13 year olds, and 15 year olds had more favorable attitudes than 12 year olds; (5) eighth grade students had more favorable attitudes than seventh grade students; and (6) American Indian students had more favorable attitudes toward school than non-Indian students. (JC)

The value orientations of 39 chemistry teachers and their 120 students were measured and compared to the theoretical, humanistic, and technological aspects of chemistry. A Chemistry Preference Evaluation Instrument containing alternative statements concerning these three aspects was administered to teachers and students. The reliability coefficients (all significant at the .001 confidence level) were: humanistic .85 and .78; theoretical .90 and .85; technological .77 and .72, for students and teachers respectively. Male students scored significantly higher on the technological and female students, on the humanistic. All three aspects of chemistry were correlated to different degrees with the number of courses in university chemistry preparation, number of years teaching experience, and the teaching of biology. A fixed effects factorial model was employed with the students blocked into different levels on humanistic orientation scores and chemistry grades. Three treatments, consisting of humanistic, technological, and placebo introductions to each of five programmed units, were administered. Three way analysis of variance and significant interactions were graphed for analysis. There was no significant difference in learning between experimental treatments or attributable to levels of humanistic value orientation. (Author/LS)

Greek-to-Latin verse translation is a phenomenon entirely absent from the Middle Ages, and which appears only fitfully and tardily in the 15th century, some decades after prose translation becomes a staple of humanist practice. By the end of the 16th century, however, almost the entire corpus of Ancient Greek poetry had been translated into Latin verse, often several times. This dissertation proceeds from the premise that this remarkable phenomenon merits more direct and specific attention than scholarship has hitherto given it. It seeks to define, in literary and historical terms, the characteristics of this development across the geographical and institutional breadth of the European Renaissance. The argument, broadly speaking, is that Renaissance Greek-to-Latin verse translation develops according to a norm of responsion: though not exclusive, the defining tendency is towards a strict identity - of words, sense, character, and meter - between original text and translation. This tendency runs counter to the theory and practice of translation in Roman antiquity, which generally aspires to creative deformation and appropriation, and it is insufficient to see the Renaissance phenomenon as a mere rediscovery of the ancient one. To understand why discourses and practices of translation develop askance from those around creative imitation, this dissertation takes humanist commerce with antiquity as only one of several crucial determinants, the others including the relationship between humanism and scholasticism, the uses of translation in an education system newly accustomed to Greek, and the impetus and effect of the printing industry. These determinants are instantiated through a particular chain of influence, to which Angelo Poliziano is central. The importance of Poliziano's 1489 Miscellanea in the history of scholarship is widely acknowledged. The "pene ad uerbum" verse translations contained in this work present a similar picture, and were widely read, imitated, and disputed by his successors; the earliest example of a substantial Greek poem's being printed alongside its Latin translation, they did much to disseminate a responsion model of verse translation. This thesis outlines the development of Poliziano's thought and practice in relation to earlier 15th- century attempts at translating verse, and explores the wide ramifications of his example in the following century. To demonstrate this, it directs its attention to a corpus of translators who, like Poliziano, tried their hand at translating Callimachus, whilst also arguing for Poliziano's influence on important figures such as Erasmus, Melanchthon, and Dorat.

This PhD thesis investigates changing ideas about theology in early sixteenth-century Paris. Previous scholarship has addressed this development through a dichotomous model that pits humanists from the Republic of Letters against scholastics from the Faculty of Theology. In my study, this misleading model is replaced by a focus on how new ideas about theological competence arose within the University of Paris. The first major task of my thesis is to show how Jacques Lefèvre d'Étaples developed a new programme of theological studies inspired by the apostolic era. I argue that Lefèvre read the works of ps.-Dionysius the Areopagite as a guide to a more original and pious form of Christian erudition compared to the Faculty's curriculum. He also involved students and colleagues in this project by integrating religious perspectives into his teaching of arts and recruiting students to edit theological texts, thereby shaping an alternative theological community. Lefèvre's case illustrates the important yet limited role played by humanism in the reevaluation of theological competence. I argue that his scholarship resonates with humanist ideas about returning to ancient sources; however, the theology that he promoted was little concerned with textual criticism or philology. Moreover, I show that several advocates of the studia humanitatis in Paris combined their humanist eloquence with studies at the Faculty of Theology. I therefore propose that we must distinguish between the ways in which the expansion of humanist educational practices effected theology as a discipline, on the one hand, and Lefèvre's specific argument to revive a certain form of pre-scholastic theology, on the other hand. The final two chapters of my thesis explore how conflicts arose between proponents of apostolic or patristic revival and the Faculty. I show that the Faculty's attempts to restrain the spread of Lutheran ideas after 1520 brought them to defend a progressivist view of theology. Although Lefèvre's model of religious scholarship did not reshape the Faculty's curriculum, Paris became a centre for the study and printing of Greek patristics. By revealing the role that Lefèvre and his collaborators played in this development, my thesis illuminates the efficacy of the amalgamate that Lefèvre constructed between the pious imitation of the apostles and the scholarly examination of ancient sources.

The issue of race is one of the most important concerns of Western society today. This concern takes many forms and has entered all aspects of our lives. The social, economic and political worlds are all affected by discussions, contestations and conflicts involving racial thinking and the notion of race. In the political realm, the question of racial identities is one of the forms in which this contemporary concern for race takes place. The use of our racial identities in political discussions is understood today as 'identity politics'. This research examines the notions of race, racism, identity, politics and identity politics in the past and in the present and explores the contemporary relationships between politics, identity politics, the concern for racial identities and the notion of race. With such a comprehensive approach, it provides insights as to why the question of racial identity has taken such an important space in public discourse and in politics. It shows that the notion of race, a product of history, has anti-human, anti-rational and anti-political foundations which have been kept in the modern notion of culture. The use of racial identities in politics, a particular form of identity politics, is not a new phenomenon. Identity politics using politicised racial identities has existed throughout the historical development of race. The research compares the classical and contemporary meaning of politics and argues that identity politics, understood as identity-based politics or as the use of social identities within the political realm, is not politics in the classical meaning of politics. What has changed since the first use of politicised racial identities is the various understandings of humanity as individuals and the consequent degradation of political thinking. The philosophical concern for the Self, personhood, subject or identity has been a very particular interest in the Western world since the seventeenth century. However, the focus on psychology and personal identity has given rise to the psychological self. Under certain social and political circumstances such as the widespread atomisation of society, the development of the therapeutic culture, the common support for anti-Enlightenment ideas and the psychological approaches to understanding the world has led to contemporary identity politics being organised within a culture of competitive victimhood. This research shows that the focus on racial identities in public discourse is creating problems for an effective opposition to racism but is also producing an expansion of anti-political and anti-human thinking.

This thesis is a response to the expurgation of the term 'creativity' from the revised National Curriculum for English (DfE, 2014), inspired by my view - borne of 30 years' experience - that English and creativity are intimately connected. The research aims to understand the deep relationship between English policy and creativity, and the response of subject experts to the current Curriculum in this light; and hence make recommendations towards the next Curriculum, promote the agency of English teachers, and emphasise the importance of maintaining a community of practice. I draw on the substantial existing literature on creativity in education and its (sometimes disputed) importance to English, using an interpretive hermeneutic approach influenced by Gadamer (1975/2004), to appreciate: i) how creativity appears throughout English education policy, through analysis from the first 'Blue Book' (BoE, 1905/1912) to the present Curriculum (DfE, 2014); ii) how expert English teaching professionals (or 'colloquists') conceive contemporary policy, through a series of semi-structured interviews. There are four key findings. First, that policy from 1905 to the first Curriculum (Cox, 1989) establishes a tradition of creative English grounded in humanism; second, that subsequent Curricula (from DfE/WO, 1995) increasingly decouple creativity and English, such that the absence of 'creativity' from the current Curriculum is not as great a departure it might appear; third, that the colloquists align themselves with the tradition of creative English; fourth, that they remain committed to creative practice despite suggestions (Biesta, 2015; Erss, 2018) that today's Curriculum disempowers and demotivates teachers. I argue that preserving the tradition of creative English in both policy and practice is vital: creativity is a fundamentally humanising force, necessary to help young people cope with local, national and global challenges. Harnessing the collective memory of expert professionals provides an important counter-perspective to the current Curriculum until the policy is reviewed.

This dissertation explores humanism, the rediscovery of the culture of ancient Greece and Rome, in late fifteenth- and early sixteenth-century England. It does so with reference to texts, institutional settings, and networks both within and beyond England, and examines the activities of several seemingly minor figures who have been absent from recent scholarship on the topic: John Holt, William Lily, Richard Croke, Leonard Cox, and Thomas Lupset. These figures made distinctive and original contributions to the genres in which they operated, whether the grammatical manual, educational treatise, dialogue, or philosophical meditation. They are also noteworthy for their considerable influence, whether in England or further abroad. With regard to Croke and Cox, the integration of previously unknown sources from France and Germany and overlooked ones from eastern Europe reveals that England could be an exporter and not merely an importer of humanism. Taken together, these individuals demonstrate that English humanism was more sophisticated and complex than its frequent characterisation as 'Erasmian' would suggest. In addition, this dissertation analyses the influence of humanism on two school foundations: St Paul's School and Ipswich College. It re-evaluates the portrayal of John Colet as an anti-intellectual, and understands St Paul's as a deeply personal endeavour, reflecting his desire to do better for the next generation. It establishes the depth and significance of humanism in Cardinal Wolsey's foundation of Ipswich College, hitherto accorded less importance by historians than his Oxford college. The examination of the little-known materials he published on the eve of his fall in 1529, together with reports from staff on its progress, show that he regarded it as central to his ambitious vision for England and to the creation of his own reputation as a civic humanist. This research therefore revises our understanding of a neglected period, and engages with the vexed questions at the heart of the study of humanism: how contemporaries dealt with the tension between their faith and their enthusiasm for pagan culture, and regarded the rival attractions of scholarly leisure and active public service.

This dissertation provides a comprehensive account of Martin Luther’s Hebrew translation in his academic mid-career. Apart from the Psalms, no book of the Hebrew Bible has yet been examined in any comprehensive manner in terms of Luther’s Hebrew translation. Moreover, research to date has predominantly focused on either ascertaining Luther’s personal Hebrew skills, or on identifying his sources for Hebrew knowledge. This dissertation furthers the scholarly understanding of Luther’s Hebrew by examining his Minor Prophets translation, one of the final pieces of his first complete translation of the Hebrew Bible. As part of the analysis, it investigates the relationship between philology and theology in his Hebrew translation, focusing specifically on one of the themes that dominated his interpretation of the Prophets: his concept of Anfechtung. Chapter 1 establishes the context of Luther’s academic mid-career Hebrew, providing a brief sketch of the history of his Minor Prophets translation, followed by an overview of the Hebrew resources in and around Wittenberg which he had to draw upon. Chapter 2 examines the role of the obscurity of the Hebrew text in his translation, and how this obscurity led to various types of contradictions and vacillations in his interpretations. Chapter 3 investigates the role that Luther’s sense of the semantic intensity of the Hebrew language played in his translation. Chapter 4 examines Luther’s use of “inner-biblical interpretation” – i.e. biblical quotations and references – to support, and moreover, to build his translations of the Hebrew texts. Finally, Chapter 5 examines the influence of Hebrew on Luther’s exploitation of the mystical tradition in his translation of the Minor Prophets. This dissertation, in short, shows that by mid-career, the impact of Hebrew on Luther’s Bible translation was immense and very diverse, more so than has been appreciated. It expands the frame of reference with which scholars can understand Luther’s Hebrew. It provides detailed analyses of many examples of his Hebrew translation which have never before been discussed or examined in any depth, and it provides hundreds of examples of his methodological handling of Hebrew translation issues. And it includes one of the most exhaustive analyses to date of three key philological challenges that confronted him in translating the Bible: Hebrew figures of speech, the Hebrew trope of repetition, and Hebrew transliteration. This dissertation also includes as an Appendix a substantial body of refined data from Luther’s Hebrew translation, which further illuminates the examples in this study, and facilitates additional analysis for future research.

Jean-Paul Sartre’s Critique of Dialectical Reason is generally read as a work of social ontology and/or normative social theory. The present project proposes that it is better to approach CDR as a heuristic, as a formal, logical investigation into the elementary formal structures of history. Once the ontological and normative hermeneutic is attuned towards a hypo-logical reading, CDR becomes a proto-text of critical theory that can aid future theorists in both analyzing material conditions and proposing paths for liberatory praxis. This thesis is divided into two parts. Part One is an analysis of the key formal, logical constructions in Jean-Paul Sartre’s Critique of Dialectical Reason. Their intelligibility is the result of a fresh reading of a text that has been either relatively neglected or that has been read within a particular, predefined way. This reading will be challenged through an exegetical approach, while also engaging with key figures of the standard interpretive approach. The intent is not to smear previous interpreters, for this work is heavily indebted to them, but to suggest a slight corrective that will enable a hidden richness of this text to be uncovered. At the end of Part One, the various modes of “practical ensembles” will be understood by their formal, logical, and heuristic value. This will allow us to construct a theory of a logical disposition that is being termed an ‘imaginative logic of action’ that will resist the hegemonic control of seriality. Part Two connects these concepts with Sartre’s early work on the imagination and suggests further ways in which such a marriage can be strengthened by analyzing select tendencies from recent trends in Continental Philosophy. The result is that a renewed understanding of the ‘living logic of action’ in Critique of Dialectical Reason emerges as an ‘imaginative logic of action’, whereby the imagination becomes a latent, embedded moment of praxis itself in the latterʼs perpetual recreative active antagonism to serial conditions. By incorporating the imagination into Sartreʼs living logic of action, two results follow: 1) by further explicating the logic of the dynamic power relations that make up social life, a more robust set of analytical tools emerge with which novel social and political theory can develop and 2) by theorizing ways in which such a logic can be deployed in the perpetual transformation of life, a creative, forward-looking, utopic thought is developed.

Sophocles' Trachiniae has suffered from a long tradition of negative criticism. Although recent scholarship has rejected the view that the play is not equal to the other plays written by Sophocles, the impression that the Trachiniae is the most problematic play of the Sophoclean corpus is still dominant. Previous interpretative attempts have offered new insights into problems of form and meaning, but not a coherent interpretation, which could encompass the play as a whole. What makes the case of Trachiniae even more interesting is that, despite the neglect and the negative criticism the play has been creatively translated and adapted by a number of preeminent poets and playwrights. Their versions open a dialogue with Trachiniae as a means of expression of their own ideological output, always in relation to the ideological framework of Sophocles' original. So far there has been no comprehensive study of this complex ideological discourse between the Trachiniae and its significant versions. The purpose of the thesis is the revision of the conception of Trachiniae as a 'problematic play' through the exploration of this ideological discourse. Sophocles' Trachiniae are compared with two significant versions of it, Ezra Pound's Women of Trachis and Timberlake Wertenbaker's Dianeira. The argument is that in Trachiniae as well as in these two subsequent versions a process of crisis and transformation, a process of transition, occurs with significant ideological implications. Trachiniae and its successors are read as plays about identities and ideologies in transition, which encompass a twofold movement of challenging the traditional ideological background and suggesting new ideological perspectives or at least the necessity for them. In this respect, many of the interpretative difficulties of Trachiniae and many preconceptions about the two versions are seen in a new light.

The zombie narrative has seen an increasing trend towards the emergence of a zombie sentience. The intention of this thesis is to examine the cultural framework that has informed the contemporary figure of the zombie, with specific attention directed towards the role of the thinking, conscious or sentient zombie. This examination will include an exploration of the zombie’s folkloric origin, prior to the naming of the figure in 1819, as well as the Haitian appropriation and reproduction of the figure as a representation of Haitian identity. The destructive nature of the zombie, this thesis argues, sees itself intrinsically linked to the notion of apocalypse; however, through a consideration of Frank Kermode’s A Sense of an Ending, the second chapter of this thesis will propose that the zombie need not represent an apocalypse that brings devastation upon humanity, but rather one that functions to alter perceptions of ‘humanity’ itself. The third chapter of this thesis explores the use of the term “braaaaiiinnss” as the epitomised zombie voice in the figure’s development as an effective threat within zombie-themed videogames. The use of an epitomised zombie voice, I argue, results in the potential for the embodiment of a zombie subject. Chapter Four explores the development of this embodied zombie subject through the introduction of the Zombie Memoire narrative and examines the figure as a representation of Agamben’s Homo Sacer or ‘bare life’: though often configured as a non-sacrificial object that can be annihilated without sacrifice and consequence, the zombie, I argue, is also paradoxically inscribed in a different, Girardian economy of death that renders it as the scapegoat to the construction of a sense of the ‘human’. The final chapter of this thesis argues that both the traditional zombie and the sentient zombie function within the realm of a posthuman potentiality, one that, to varying degrees of success, attempts to progress past the restrictive binaries constructed within the overruling discourse of humanism. In conclusion, this thesis argues that while the zombie, both traditional and sentient, attempts to propose a necessary move towards a posthuman universalism, this move can only be considered if the ‘us’ of humanism embraces the potential of its own alterity.