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Title: We are what we eat: food consumption and identity in the United States.
Creator: Dates, Marlena Kay., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of Anthropology
Abstract/Description: In the modern United States, capitalism is the predominant cultural value that structures the food system. The current American relationship to food is strained, at best, as two-thirds of Americans experience overweight and obesity and are at risk for a number of serious health complications. An understanding of the historic and political-economic aspects of the American food system is necessary to address the effects of our modern food habits on our ideas of our selves. This thesis analyzes...
Show moreIn the modern United States, capitalism is the predominant cultural value that structures the food system. The current American relationship to food is strained, at best, as two-thirds of Americans experience overweight and obesity and are at risk for a number of serious health complications. An understanding of the historic and political-economic aspects of the American food system is necessary to address the effects of our modern food habits on our ideas of our selves. This thesis analyzes the types of foods Americans eat, why they make the food choices that they do, how they feel about their eating habits and their habits' effects on their bodies, and how this all relates to our sense of identity as Americans.
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Date Issued: 2009
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/186678
Subject Headings: Food consumption, Food habits, Nutrition, Social aspects, Diet, Popular culture
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Multiple birth families, religion, and cultural hegemony: patriarchal constructions in reality television.
Creator: Cittadino, Emily M., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, School of Communication and Multimedia Studies
Abstract/Description: Reality television programming chronicling the daily workings of multiple birth families within American culture has gained notoriety in recent years. Such programs, especially Discovery Health and TLC's 17, 18 Kids and Counting and TLC's Jon and Kate Plus Ei8ht, film, edit and broadcast the "everyday" life of these families. This research study focuses attention on hegemonic ideologies surrounding family values, motherhood, gender roles and religious faith, illuminated through textual and...
Show moreReality television programming chronicling the daily workings of multiple birth families within American culture has gained notoriety in recent years. Such programs, especially Discovery Health and TLC's 17, 18 Kids and Counting and TLC's Jon and Kate Plus Ei8ht, film, edit and broadcast the "everyday" life of these families. This research study focuses attention on hegemonic ideologies surrounding family values, motherhood, gender roles and religious faith, illuminated through textual and audience analysis. Working from an interdisciplinary approach combining feminist media and cultural studies, this study finds that hegemonic notions of family values, gender representations, religious faith and conceptions of motherhood are evident to varying degrees in the television texts and accepted by fans who negotiate their meanings online.
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Date Issued: 2010
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/2684311
Subject Headings: Mass media and culture, Feminist theory, Popular culture, Women in popular culture, Reality television programs, Social aspects, Television program genres, Sex role in popular culture
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: The Multitude Speaks in Style: An Analysis of Vernacular Agency Through Images of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Creator: Swartz, Haley, Trapani, William, Florida Atlantic University, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, School of Communication and Multimedia Studies
Abstract/Description: The unexpected comparison of a Supreme Court Justice with a popular culture icon demonstrates how politics and popular culture become entwined in the contemporary context; moreover, network culture provides a conduit for vernacular discourse about politics, which circulates in the style of popular culture. Through analysis of images of Ruth Bader Ginsburg as created, shared, and circulated in network culture, this project explores the alternative levels of discourse generated in network...
Show moreThe unexpected comparison of a Supreme Court Justice with a popular culture icon demonstrates how politics and popular culture become entwined in the contemporary context; moreover, network culture provides a conduit for vernacular discourse about politics, which circulates in the style of popular culture. Through analysis of images of Ruth Bader Ginsburg as created, shared, and circulated in network culture, this project explores the alternative levels of discourse generated in network culture, examines the ways the public represents politics, and explains the ability of political subjects to affect meaning. The aim of this project is to document a conjunctural moment; as such, analysis of the images in aggregate provides a foundation to raise questions about how American political culture is manifested, attended to, and maintained through network culture and the parlance of popular culture.
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Date Issued: 2017
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004998
Subject Headings: Dissertations, Academic -- Florida Atlantic University, Popular culture--United States., Politics and culture., Ginsburg, Ruth Bader.
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Status symbols in triathlete culture.
Creator: Slotnick, Adam., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of Anthropology
Abstract/Description: Triathlon status symbols allow community members to gain prestige. The accrual of paraphernalia, such as race apparel and bumper stickers, provide individuals with a means to display their accomplishments for non-participants, too. Ethnographic fieldwork, questionnaires and interviews provided insight into a variety of experiences. The individual nature of the sport is reflected by a participant's decision to display status markers. Car signs (e.g., bumper stickers and license plate frames)...
Show moreTriathlon status symbols allow community members to gain prestige. The accrual of paraphernalia, such as race apparel and bumper stickers, provide individuals with a means to display their accomplishments for non-participants, too. Ethnographic fieldwork, questionnaires and interviews provided insight into a variety of experiences. The individual nature of the sport is reflected by a participant's decision to display status markers. Car signs (e.g., bumper stickers and license plate frames) are displayed by a quarter of race participants. They come in a variety of forms allowing the car's driver to communicate with triathletes and non-triathletes while driving on the road. The most prestigious triathlon is the Ironman. The M Dot Ironman logo appears as a decal on vehicles and as a mark of permanence on the body. Tattoos act as a formal communication system in a similar manner to car signs. Triathletes display status symbols to garner respect from their peers and separate themselves from the larger society.
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Date Issued: 2012
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3359154
Subject Headings: Triathlon, Training, Triathlon, Psychological aspects, Bumper stickers, Popular culture
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Gay-centric identity: a challenge to gay cultural script, gay ghetto and performance.
Creator: Beebe, Robert D., Florida Atlantic University, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, School of Communication and Multimedia Studies
Abstract/Description: For many gay men performing a gay-centric identity can be challenging. By adopting a set of expected behaviors known as the gay cultural script, many of these men are potentially met with discrimination from both heterosexual and homosexual communities. The gay cultural script is readily available as it is found within the gay ghettos and through various representations of gay men in the media. This research question examines how the gay cultural script when found within the gay ghetto and...
Show moreFor many gay men performing a gay-centric identity can be challenging. By adopting a set of expected behaviors known as the gay cultural script, many of these men are potentially met with discrimination from both heterosexual and homosexual communities. The gay cultural script is readily available as it is found within the gay ghettos and through various representations of gay men in the media. This research question examines how the gay cultural script when found within the gay ghetto and through the media's representation of gay men provides a lens to which the performance of a gay-centric identity may be communicated and shared. The focus of this research is separated into three interconnected areas: (1) exploration of gay-cultural script, (2) location to which the gay cultural script operates and, (3) analysis of the relationship between the gay cultural script and gay-centric identity performance.
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Date Issued: 2008
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/107802
Subject Headings: Gender identity, Gays in popular culture, Gay men, Identity, Gay men in mass media
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Christian Rock Goes Mainstream: Youth Culture, Politics and Popular Music in the U.S.
Creator: Giagnoni, Silvia, Scodari, Christine, Florida Atlantic University
Abstract/Description: The dissertation analyzes Christian rock that goes mainstream and aims to explain such a phenomenon within the contemporary cultural, social and political context. This cultural study acknowledges the inherent tendency of Christian rock “to cross over” as part of the Evangelical ideology in which it is rooted. It also views it as a symptom of the augmented power of conservative Evangelical groups in today’s American political and social climate and of the current, increased presence of...
Show moreThe dissertation analyzes Christian rock that goes mainstream and aims to explain such a phenomenon within the contemporary cultural, social and political context. This cultural study acknowledges the inherent tendency of Christian rock “to cross over” as part of the Evangelical ideology in which it is rooted. It also views it as a symptom of the augmented power of conservative Evangelical groups in today’s American political and social climate and of the current, increased presence of discourses around religion and, specifically, Christianity in the public arena. Hence, the research offers an historical understanding of the social, cultural and discursive changes that have occurred within American Christianity in relation to politics, society and culture since Christian rock’s first appearance as an expression of the Jesus People movement of the 1970s, with the aim of better comprehending the nature of the contemporary crossover phenomenon. Additionally, the study considers rock as a discursive formation, interprets Christian rock as a primarily countercultural phenomenon and addresses the questions its crossover poses. Thus, it explores dimensions and issues highly debated in cultural studies concerning authenticity, resistance, generic labeling, lyrical content, pleasure, and experience. Specifically, it looks at Christian rock “fragments” as receptacles for a multitude of meanings that are constantly negotiated in public discourses. The research finally examines the music industry (marketing strategies, publications, distribution deals, and so forth) in relation to these phenomena, and reports on the interviews with emerging crossover Christian rock bands and other people operating in the industry. By investigating it as part of the larger endeavor of Evangelicals to impact and transform American culture and society, it is illustrated how Christian rock is able today to provide an alternative version of popular music to their own young people and to reach non-believers as well; this suggests further research and, specifically, the necessity of audience analysis, and concomitantly raises thought-provoking questions related to cultural theory. The study also demonstrates how Christian rock, an apparently oxymoronic manifestation of rock culture, is actually reproducing its very logic, thus catalyzing cultural change and symptomatically reflecting neoconservative cultural hegemony and ultimately supporting an emerging definition of rock.
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Date Issued: 2007
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00000981
Subject Headings: Contemporary Christian music--United States, Popular culture--Religious aspects, Popular music--United States--History and criticism, Rock music--Political aspects, Popular music--Social aspects, Christian rock music--History and criticism
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Aquatic phobias permeated through African American culture, economics, and politics.
Creator: Groover, Jon Eric., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
Abstract/Description: This Project involves looking at African American culture as it relates to swimming, water safety awareness, and water skills. The paper explores the myths and cultural norms associated with drowning phobias in African Americans to discover the root causes. Through historic accounts of African American culture one begins to uncover reasons why this culture became, in a sense aqua phobic. The paper will show what water sport professionals are up against, when working with a culture that is...
Show moreThis Project involves looking at African American culture as it relates to swimming, water safety awareness, and water skills. The paper explores the myths and cultural norms associated with drowning phobias in African Americans to discover the root causes. Through historic accounts of African American culture one begins to uncover reasons why this culture became, in a sense aqua phobic. The paper will show what water sport professionals are up against, when working with a culture that is several generations removed from the water and their water skills. The ultimate goal is to draw attention to the importance of water safety and the ability to swim as a life skill.
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Date Issued: 2011
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3170955
Subject Headings: Swimming pools, Social conditions, Minorities, Social conditions, Racism, African Americans, Economic conditions, African Americans in popular culture
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Minority representation in popular culture.
Creator: Miller, Jeffrey, Youngberg, Quentin, Florida Atlantic University, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
Abstract/Description: This thesis focuses on the continuous misrepresentations that appear throughout different outlets of popular culture and the negative impacts of these misrepresentations. In the first chapter, the focus will be on the films The Last of the Mohicans and The Mission and the origins and implications of the misrepresentation of Indians in film. The second chapter uses rap music videos such as 50 Cent’s In Da Club, Nelly’s Tip Drill, LMFAO and Lil John’s Shots, Where Da Hood At, Tupac’s Hit ‘Em up...
Show moreThis thesis focuses on the continuous misrepresentations that appear throughout different outlets of popular culture and the negative impacts of these misrepresentations. In the first chapter, the focus will be on the films The Last of the Mohicans and The Mission and the origins and implications of the misrepresentation of Indians in film. The second chapter uses rap music videos such as 50 Cent’s In Da Club, Nelly’s Tip Drill, LMFAO and Lil John’s Shots, Where Da Hood At, Tupac’s Hit ‘Em up, and N.W.A.’s Straight Outta Compton as primary texts to demonstrate the one dimensional and problematic representations of African American Identity in the rap music industry. The third and final chapter uses the video games Grand Theft Auto III and Gun as examples of the negative representations that occur and are repeated quickly in the rapidly improving world of video games. While the misrepresentations are achieved and perpetuated differently in each medium, their ubiquitous presence in popular culture calls for discussion.
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Date Issued: 2014
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004139, http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004139
Subject Headings: African Americans in popular culture, Ethnicity, Mass media and culture, Native Americans in motion pictures, Popular culture -- United States, Race awareness, Social classes in mass media, Stereotypes (Social psychology)
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Pop Cultures: A Comparative Analysis of the American and South Korean Record Industries.
Creator: Marchand, Kanel, Abrams, Ira, Florida Atlantic University, College of Business, Department of Music
Abstract/Description: As the oldest recording industry in the world, the United States has set industry standards regarding record labels, publishing, live entertainment and music services. Since the beginning of the 20th century, American music has become a staple in worldwide pop culture, spreading to all four corners of the world. Indeed, the U.S. music industry has held the number one position in the ranking of the world’s top 10 largest music markets since its first record label, Columbia Records, was founded...
Show moreAs the oldest recording industry in the world, the United States has set industry standards regarding record labels, publishing, live entertainment and music services. Since the beginning of the 20th century, American music has become a staple in worldwide pop culture, spreading to all four corners of the world. Indeed, the U.S. music industry has held the number one position in the ranking of the world’s top 10 largest music markets since its first record label, Columbia Records, was founded in 1887. However, a relatively new genre of music is rapidly taking over the world’s pop music scene: South Korean pop music, otherwise known as K-pop. This thesis analyzes the similarities and differences between the two diverse music industries – with an emphasis on pop music – by first delving into the copyright and recording aspects of the business, followed by identifying key differences in each industry’s standards and aesthetics, and finally examining media consumption and marketing implications in the two countries.
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Date Issued: 2017
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004851, http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004851
Subject Headings: Music trade--Standards--United States., Music trade--Standards--Korea (South), Music trade--Technological innovations., Popular culture--United States--History and criticism., Popular culture--Korea (South)--History and criticism., Music and globalization--Korea (South), Popular culture and globalization--Korea (South)
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Pop Goes the Worship: The Influence of Popular Music on Contemporary Christian Music in the Evangelical Church.
Creator: Risi, Patrice, Cunningham, James E., Florida Atlantic University
Abstract/Description: Worship music has always existed in church liturgy. The early Roman Catholic Church reserved music for an exclusive group of composers and performers. In rebellion, the common people worshipped privately with prayers in their own vernacular, to secular tunes. Martin Luther's Reformation during the Renaissance solidified worship as a congregational experience and marked the beginning of the Protestant Church. As Europeans and Africans migrated to colonial America, two different streams of...
Show moreWorship music has always existed in church liturgy. The early Roman Catholic Church reserved music for an exclusive group of composers and performers. In rebellion, the common people worshipped privately with prayers in their own vernacular, to secular tunes. Martin Luther's Reformation during the Renaissance solidified worship as a congregational experience and marked the beginning of the Protestant Church. As Europeans and Africans migrated to colonial America, two different streams of music culture developed with interplay between sacred and secular influences. These two streams converged in the 1970s at the point of Contemporary Christian Music (CCM), which imitated the music of pop culture in an effort to be culturally relevant and to evangelize unbelievers. The fundamental evangelical church uses CCM to worship and evangelize by adopting popular music styles and adapting them lyrically to reflect an acceptable spiritual viewpoint to the church and as a magnet to attract unbelievers.
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Date Issued: 2007
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00000957
Subject Headings: Popular music--History and criticism, Evangelicalism--United States, Christianity and culture--United States, Christian rock music--Criticism and interpretation
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: What is old is new again: the role of discontinuity in nostalgia-related consumption.
Creator: Rutherford, Jana., College of Business, Department of Marketing
Abstract/Description: A 'wave of nostalgia' has gripped the US leading to nostalgic fashions, furniture, television programming and even food. The marketing literature suggests that nostalgic-related consumption is the result of an aging population. It has been proposed that the purchase of nostalgic-products and services is an attempt by mature consumers to return psychologically to the ease, certainties and conflict free periods that existed or seemed to exist during their childhood or adolescence. This paper...
Show moreA 'wave of nostalgia' has gripped the US leading to nostalgic fashions, furniture, television programming and even food. The marketing literature suggests that nostalgic-related consumption is the result of an aging population. It has been proposed that the purchase of nostalgic-products and services is an attempt by mature consumers to return psychologically to the ease, certainties and conflict free periods that existed or seemed to exist during their childhood or adolescence. This paper proposes that discontinuity, as argued by Davis (1979), is a better explanation for why people develop a preference for and consume nostalgic goods. Although some insights have been developed, research focused only on mature consumers and is rather limited in offering alternative explanations for the evocation of nostalgic feelings. MANCOVA was the primary method used to test hypotheses. Findings of this study indicate that discontinuity does not necessarily lead to nostalgia and preference for nostalgic products varies.
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Date Issued: 2010
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/2683126
Subject Headings: Consumption (Economics), Social aspects, Consumer behavior, Commercial products, Psychological aspects, Nostalgia, Economic aspects, Material culture, Popular culture
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: A Network of Ideas: Brokerage and Success Among Visual Artists in South Florida.
Creator: Hoyos, Patricia, Brown, Clifford T., Florida Atlantic University, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of Anthropology
Abstract/Description: This study looks at artists’ careers as paths defined by their relative position in a dynamic professional network where innovation and creativity are highly regarded. Today, the theoretical and empirical study of networks has demonstrated that in some professions the individuals’ position in the network can facilitate or constrain their success. In studies about diffusion of information, for instance, some authors have found that individuals connected to a greater variety of sources are more...
Show moreThis study looks at artists’ careers as paths defined by their relative position in a dynamic professional network where innovation and creativity are highly regarded. Today, the theoretical and empirical study of networks has demonstrated that in some professions the individuals’ position in the network can facilitate or constrain their success. In studies about diffusion of information, for instance, some authors have found that individuals connected to a greater variety of sources are more creative and perform better. I explored this idea by looking at a network of visual artists and art institutions in Miami, and found a positive correlation between position and success, though, not explained by variety exclusively. In the network, artistic success is a function of connecting both across artistic categories and a hierarchical system; therefore, in an art world, creativity and innovation are mediated by key members, who distribute information and resources through affiliation, prominence and brokerage.
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Date Issued: 2016
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004605, http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004605
Subject Headings: Art and society., Arts and society., Popular culture., Arts--Psychological aspects., Social capital (Sociology), Creation (Literary, artistic, etc.), Art patronage--United States--Florida.
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Homonorm.
Creator: Rachesky, Scott Pierce, Bucak, Ayse Papatya, Florida Atlantic University, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
Abstract/Description: “Homonorm” is a collection of short stories that explores the gay male experience and challenges gender expectations. Through an exploration of form and content, each story serves to illuminate different issues in the gay community and in society. Where one story explores the issue of youth obsession with magical realism, the other tells the story of a gay artist’s sexual awakening and struggle with HIV and AIDS through a series of still-life photographs. This eclectic collection serves to...
Show more“Homonorm” is a collection of short stories that explores the gay male experience and challenges gender expectations. Through an exploration of form and content, each story serves to illuminate different issues in the gay community and in society. Where one story explores the issue of youth obsession with magical realism, the other tells the story of a gay artist’s sexual awakening and struggle with HIV and AIDS through a series of still-life photographs. This eclectic collection serves to break the stereotype of gay fiction and undo the gender norms for men through fantastical situations and a-typical forms of fiction to underscore the idea that life and community are varied and so too should be the representations of these two groups.
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Date Issued: 2017
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004841
Subject Headings: Gays' writings, American., Short stories, American., Gender identity--Fiction., Gay men--Fiction., Gays in popular culture., Homosexuality--Social aspects., Stereotypes (Social psychology)--United States.
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: More than "just a hunch": meaning, feminine intuition and television sleuths.
Creator: Dominguez, Sheela Celeste., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, School of Communication and Multimedia Studies
Abstract/Description: The rise in popularity of the female sleuth television programs makes it important to explore representations of gender and knowledge. This investigation analyzes interpretations of intuition in the television sleuth genre and relevant paratexts, examines gendered public and private spheres and raises broader questions about gendered knowledge in the series Medium, Crossing Jordan, Law and Order: Criminal Intent, Veronica Mars, Monk, The Profiler and True Calling. Rooted in feminist cultural...
Show moreThe rise in popularity of the female sleuth television programs makes it important to explore representations of gender and knowledge. This investigation analyzes interpretations of intuition in the television sleuth genre and relevant paratexts, examines gendered public and private spheres and raises broader questions about gendered knowledge in the series Medium, Crossing Jordan, Law and Order: Criminal Intent, Veronica Mars, Monk, The Profiler and True Calling. Rooted in feminist cultural studies, historical and sociological analysis, television and film theory and work on the detective genre, this investigation establishes common frames, or filters, through which the television sleuth genre represents intuition and the gendered experience of knowledge. Women with intuition are depicted as unstable, dangerous and mentally ill. Though framed similarly, intuitive men have more freedom. This study expands on academic research on television representations of gender and knowledge. Societal implications include further understanding of meaning-making in regard to gendered knowing.
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Date Issued: 2008
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/165938
Subject Headings: Women detectives in mass media, Popular culture, History, Self-actualization (Psychology), Sex differences (Psychology), Thought and thinking, Sex differences, Women in television
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: New Age or new opiate? A cultural analysis of "The Celestine Prophecy".
Creator: Greenspan, Deborah Sue., Florida Atlantic University, Scodari, Christine
Abstract/Description: The Celestine Prophecy is a popular new age novel which has attracted an audience numbering in the millions. Looking at this book from both the political and cultural economic perspectives allows us to analyze economic factors behind the book's production, the text itself, and the ways the audience uses the text. From these perspectives we can see what produced this cultural phenomenon, and examine alternative meanings that readers of the text may find in it. Issues of hegemony, diversity and...
Show moreThe Celestine Prophecy is a popular new age novel which has attracted an audience numbering in the millions. Looking at this book from both the political and cultural economic perspectives allows us to analyze economic factors behind the book's production, the text itself, and the ways the audience uses the text. From these perspectives we can see what produced this cultural phenomenon, and examine alternative meanings that readers of the text may find in it. Issues of hegemony, diversity and domination are explored, as is the "structure of feeling" of the text. How the audience uses or resists the ideas incorporated in the novel is also studied.
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Date Issued: 1997
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/15462
Subject Headings: Redfield, James--Criticism and interpretation., Redfield, James.--Celestine prophecy., Communication--Political aspects--United States., Communication--Economic aspects--United States., Popular culture--United States--History--20th century.
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: No Surrender: Bruce Springsteen, Neoliberalism and Rock and Roll’s Melancholic Fantasy of Sovereign Rebellion.
Creator: Graves, Kaitlin N., Trapani, William, Florida Atlantic University, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, School of Communication and Multimedia Studies
Abstract/Description: This thesis builds from press accounts of Bruce Springsteen’s South by Southwest keynote address, taken by many to be a renewed call to arms of the classic mantras of the rock ethos in the age of a declining recording industry. In tracing the ways the speech circulated I argue that its discourse was rearticulated toward quite different (and concerning) ends. Throughout, I aim to show the apparatuses of power that sustains the rock liberation fantasy. I read the coverage of Springsteen’s...
Show moreThis thesis builds from press accounts of Bruce Springsteen’s South by Southwest keynote address, taken by many to be a renewed call to arms of the classic mantras of the rock ethos in the age of a declining recording industry. In tracing the ways the speech circulated I argue that its discourse was rearticulated toward quite different (and concerning) ends. Throughout, I aim to show the apparatuses of power that sustains the rock liberation fantasy. I read the coverage of Springsteen’s address as a therapeutic discourse meant to soothe the anxiety over the closure of agency in the age of neoliberalism. The general problematic for the thesis, then, addresses an anxiety over the collapse of freedom and as such works to offer broad reflections on the nature of radical agency in our increasingly neoliberal present.
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Date Issued: 2017
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004945, http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004945
Subject Headings: Springsteen, Bruce--Influence., Neoliberalism., Politics, Practical--United States., Popular culture--United States--History--20th century., Popular music--Social aspects--United States--History--20th century., Rock music--Social aspects--United States--History--20th century.
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Black adolescents’ critical encounters with media and the counteracting possibilities of critical media literacy.
Creator: Waldon, Kalisha, Schoorman, Dilys, Florida Atlantic University, College of Education, Department of Curriculum, Culture, and Educational Inquiry
Abstract/Description: This transformative mixed-methods research study, uniquely designed as a 12-week curriculum to facilitate critical media literacy, drew upon the principles of critical pedagogy to investigate Black adolescents ‘perceptions of the impact of media on their racial identities. Responding to the high rate of media consumption among Black youth, the Critical Encounters Unit engaged 79 Black high school students in the southeast United States in examining how they made sense of their media...
Show moreThis transformative mixed-methods research study, uniquely designed as a 12-week curriculum to facilitate critical media literacy, drew upon the principles of critical pedagogy to investigate Black adolescents ‘perceptions of the impact of media on their racial identities. Responding to the high rate of media consumption among Black youth, the Critical Encounters Unit engaged 79 Black high school students in the southeast United States in examining how they made sense of their media encounters. Data on participants ‘perceptions of the role media plays in constructing Black identities and societal perceptions of Blacks were gathered through pre-post study surveys of all participants‘ self-identities and media literacy, interviews with 15 participants, 467 student journals, and 15 video observation field notes.
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Date Issued: 2015
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004474, http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004474
Subject Headings: African Americans in popular culture, Blacks -- Race identity -- United States, Critical theory, Critical thinking, High school students, Black -- Attitudes -- United States, Mass media and youth, Racism -- Prevention
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: One nation under gods: interfaith symbolism and the "American" race in the works of Jean Toomer.
Creator: Fallon, Laura Gayle., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
Abstract/Description: This study argues that the interfaith symbolism present in the works of American author Jean Toomer undermines dominant Christian justifications for racism in the United States. It also discusses the ways in which Toomer's interfaith symbolism promotes the establishment of a race Toomer called the "American" race, a group of interracial, interreligious people whom Toomer hoped would change the way race was viewed in the United States. The multireligious references in Toomer's works challenge...
Show moreThis study argues that the interfaith symbolism present in the works of American author Jean Toomer undermines dominant Christian justifications for racism in the United States. It also discusses the ways in which Toomer's interfaith symbolism promotes the establishment of a race Toomer called the "American" race, a group of interracial, interreligious people whom Toomer hoped would change the way race was viewed in the United States. The multireligious references in Toomer's works challenge constricted definitions of both religion and race by highlighting interchangeable religious ideals from several world religions.
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Date Issued: 2009
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/359926
Subject Headings: Criticism and interpretation, Symbolism in literature, Race in popular culture, Race relations
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Tramping: alternatives to traditional American rites of passage.
Creator: Saturno, Anthony Vincent, Brown, Susan Love, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of Anthropology
Abstract/Description: In America today, adolescent boys do not have a structured, ritualized or guided passage From boyhood into manhood. Many young men feel unsure of their manhood even at an age that signifies the transition. This causes young males to need a self--‐created rite of passage. Tramping, the act of travelling by train, hitchhiking or foot, is one way in which young males can independently achieve manhood. This is a literary account of the lives of Jack Kerouac, Chris McCandless, and Zebu Recchia....
Show moreIn America today, adolescent boys do not have a structured, ritualized or guided passage From boyhood into manhood. Many young men feel unsure of their manhood even at an age that signifies the transition. This causes young males to need a self--‐created rite of passage. Tramping, the act of travelling by train, hitchhiking or foot, is one way in which young males can independently achieve manhood. This is a literary account of the lives of Jack Kerouac, Chris McCandless, and Zebu Recchia. Their personal stories allow a detailed view of the advantages and disadvantages found in a self--‐created rite of passage. While two of the accounts are successful, in Chris McCandless’s case the rite ends in a transition to death.Tramping as a rite of passage to adulthood seems effective but the danger in self--‐ creation appears to be the lack of guidance that comes in unstructured rites of passage.
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Date Issued: 2013
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA0004057
Subject Headings: Adolescence -- United States, Cotton, Eddy Joe -- Biography, Identity (Psychology) in adolescence, Kerouac, Jack -- 1922-1969 -- Biography, McCandless, Christopher Johnson -- 1968-1992 -- Biography, Roads -- Social aspects, Teenage boys -- Conduct of life, Teenage boys in popular culture, Tramps -- United States
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Heeding the Antiheroine's Call: the Rise of the Antiheroine in Literature and Popular Culture.
Creator: Lyles-Scott, Cynthia C., Childrey, John, Florida Atlantic University
Abstract/Description: In my thesis, I argue three assertions: 1) that the 21 st Century antiheroine who has figured so prominently in literature and film is an evolution of the heroine archetype that combines both the action-oriented traditional male hero archetype and the tragically flawed, antagonistic anti-heroine archetype, 2) that the foundation for this newly modified pop culture antiheroine can be traced back to Margaret Mitchell's iconic character, Scarlett O'Hara, and finally 3) that this new modem...
Show moreIn my thesis, I argue three assertions: 1) that the 21 st Century antiheroine who has figured so prominently in literature and film is an evolution of the heroine archetype that combines both the action-oriented traditional male hero archetype and the tragically flawed, antagonistic anti-heroine archetype, 2) that the foundation for this newly modified pop culture antiheroine can be traced back to Margaret Mitchell's iconic character, Scarlett O'Hara, and finally 3) that this new modem heroine archetype, the antiheroine, has become an integral part of popular culture, both in literature and film as well as other popular media. As my primary texts I used Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind, the David O. Selznick film ofthe same title, Joseph Campbell's The Hero with a Thousand Faces, as well as several other primary and secondary sources, including the published volume of Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind related letters.
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Date Issued: 2007
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00000935
Subject Headings: Mitchell, Margaret,--1900-1949--Gone with the wind--Criticism and interpretation, Campbell, Joseph,--1904-1987--Hero with a thousand faces--Criticism and interpretation, Women in literature, Heroines in literature, Popular culture--United States--20th century
Format: Document (PDF)

Popular culture (6)	+ -
African Americans in popular culture (3)	+ -
Social aspects (3)	+ -
Criticism and interpretation (2)	+ -
Mass media and culture (2)	+ -

Popular culture--United States--History--20th century. (2)	+ -
Psychological aspects (2)	+ -
Adolescence -- United States (1)	+ -
African Americans (1)	+ -
Art and society. (1)	+ -
Art patronage--United States--Florida. (1)	+ -
Arts and society. (1)	+ -
Arts--Psychological aspects. (1)	+ -
Blacks -- Race identity -- United States (1)	+ -
Bumper stickers (1)	+ -
Campbell, Joseph,--1904-1987--Hero with a thousand faces--Criticism and interpretation (1)	+ -
Christian rock music--Criticism and interpretation (1)	+ -
Christian rock music--History and criticism (1)	+ -
Christianity and culture--United States (1)	+ -
Commercial products (1)	+ -
Communication--Economic aspects--United States. (1)	+ -
Communication--Political aspects--United States. (1)	+ -
Consumer behavior (1)	+ -
Consumption (Economics) (1)	+ -
Contemporary Christian music--United States (1)	+ -
Cotton, Eddy Joe -- Biography (1)	+ -
Creation (Literary, artistic, etc.) (1)	+ -
Critical theory (1)	+ -
Critical thinking (1)	+ -
Diet (1)	+ -

21st century (2)	+ -
20th century (1)	+ -

Change me into Zeus's daughter. (1)	+ -
Liars' club. (1)	+ -
Two or three things I know for sure. (1)	+ -

Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters (14)	+ -
Florida Atlantic University (12)	+ -
School of Communication and Multimedia Studies (5)	+ -
Department of Anthropology (4)	+ -
Department of English (4)	+ -

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