Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2020, Media and Communication

Utilizing the Communication Theory of Identity (CTI), this qualitative study explores the metaperceptions and identity negotiation strategies of immigrants from the so-called Middle East (and North Africa) region. The study encompasses in-depth interviews with ten (10) individuals with various ethnic backgrounds from the Middle East, living in the United States either as international students and/or as immigrants. In addition, this study explores the author's lived experiences as a Turkish international student in the U.S. in forms of autoethnographic writings embedded throughout the project. The findings include common themes of metaperceptions such as “terrorist,” “foreigner/not-American/the Other,” “rich (and poor),” “Middle Eastern – Arab – Muslim,” and “white but not white.” Regarding identity negotiation strategies, common patterns were found which emerged as “informing/lecturing,” “avoiding talking/interacting,” “being used to it / not caring about it anymore,” and “use of attire/clothing.” Besides the metaperceptions and identity negotiation strategies, three “contingent” factors emerged from the analysis. These factors (i.e., “beliefs about Americans,” “with/out family member,” and “location/setting”) overlapped with both metaperceptions and identity negotiation strategies of the participants; thus, not only affected them but were also affected by them. Lastly, the research introduces two mini case studies from the participants' own accounts and examines them in detail. Overall, the results of the study indicate that the participants experienced numerous identity gaps due to the inconsistency between their self-perceptions and their metaperceptions. The participants tried to close these identity gaps by utilizing various identity negotiation strategies. The autoethnography section of the paper concluded that the author's metaperceptions were highly consistent with the interviewees' while revealing salient differences in identity negotiations employed by th (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Sandra Faulkner Ph.D. (Advisor); Gary Heba Ph.D. (Other); Lisa Hanasono Ph.D. (Committee Member); Lara Lengel Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication; Minority and Ethnic Groups

Bachelor of Science, Walsh University, 2019, Honors

Diversity in culture, ethnicity, and race in the United States requires nurses individualize care while being mindful of the patient's cultural needs (Leininger & McFarland, 2006). Care must be patient specific, and this care cannot be delivered without proportionate cultural knowledge. Inspired by Madeleine Leininger, a nursing theorist who developed the Culture Care Diversity and Universality Theory, this project explores how culture impacts maternal infant feeding methods and decisions. In 2007, the CDC published that 59.7% African Americans, 77.7% Caucasians, and 80.6% Hispanics breastfed in the United States (Jones, Power, Queenan, & Schulkin, 2015). Research suggests there are multiple factors that contribute to feeding decisions such as employment, education, socioeconomic status, and culture. While many of these topics have been researched, culture has not been a primary focus. Past research indicates that Hispanic mothers are more likely to breastfeed because it is “ingrained in their Hispanic heritage” and that “breastfeeding is what Hispanics do” (Hohl, et al., 2016; Reeves & Woods-Giscombe, 2015). African American women, are more likely to bottle feed due to cultural/ethnic opposition which began in the slave era, when African American women were forced to breastfeed and care for their master's children (DeVane-Johnson et al., 2017). This imposed feeding role has resulted in many African Americans feeling sensitive to breastfeeding in the United States. In both cultures/ethnicities women are taught these ideas by their female family members, such as mothers and grandmothers (DeVane-Johnson et al., 2017; Hohl et al., 2016; Kaufman et al., 2010; Owens et al., 2018; Reeves & Woods-Giscombe, 2015). My thesis sought to explore how infant feeding choices and preferences are influenced by their cultural backgrounds of the minority Middle Eastern cultural groups in Northeastern Ohio. In the United States 3.7 million residents trace their roots to an Arab coun (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Tracey Herstich (Advisor); Zana Zawahri (Other); Ty Hawkins (Committee Chair) Subjects: Nursing

Master of Fine Arts, The Ohio State University, 2016, Design

People have always taken great interests in supernatural subjects. Animated films that subjected in ghost and supernatural themes has also increased in recent years. As an animation scholar, my interest is to study why the topic of ghosts has had such enduring charm over the centuries, and wish to make an animation subjected in Eastern ghost story that resonate with the Western viewers. The first part of this paper will examine the most important features that are needed to know about ghost stories in Eastern and Western culture, including the similarities and distinctions. The second part of this paper connects the theory and the project. Inspired by Lafcadio Hearn's ghost story collection, The Boy Who Draws Cats presents the important substantive qualities and perspectives found in traditional Eastern ghost stories. The process of making the project includes concept development, story design and scene-by-scene design of The Boy Who Draws Cats. In this part, two important visual storytelling tools “backstory” and “mise-en-scene” has been analyzed to communicated characteristics in a culturally accessible way that makes it easy for Western viewers to understand and accept the alternative values that are commonly presented in an Eastern ghost story.

Committee: Maria Palazzi (Advisor); Mary Anne Beecher (Committee Member); Susan Melsop (Committee Member) Subjects: American Literature; Asian Literature; Film Studies

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2005, Art (Fine Arts)

This dissertation explores the images of the Middle Eastern and North African dancer, also known as raqisah sharqi, almeh, and belly dancer, and the role of Western and Eastern male artists in developing her persona. It argues that Jean-Leon Gerome, Oscar Wilde, and Farid al-Atrash position the dancer according to their own agendas and persuade the viewers to gaze at her to advance their art. Al-Atrash, however, enables the dancer to suggest elements other than her sexuality when she dances to his music. The artworks of these artists are examined through the theory of the gaze, the postcolonial double marginalization of women, and the discourse of Orientalism. The representations of the almeh in Gerome's paintings are also explored via methods of feminist art historians that advocate interpretation through the examination of cultural and political context. This methodology reveals the effect of the Middle East in the development of Gerome's realistic style and exposes his bourgeois inclination, which is similar to Ingres and Delacroix, in portraying nude women and prostitutes. Gerome's almeh complements the representations of Eastern women by other Orientalists. The exotic dancer also attracted Western women, who liked her freedom and at the time were demanding their rights in the early twentieth century. Consequently, these women forced the film industries to cater to their needs. In response, the silent cinema offered them Rudolf Valentino as a sheik to satisfy their emotional and sexual wishes and to restore patriarchal power. Such films portray destructive aspects of Eastern cultures and emphasize Western supremacy. Other films reveal the special circumstances whereby a Western woman is permitted to adopt the Eastern dancer, who represents the femme fatale, as her ideal. The Egyptian cinema imitates Western art and presents the early Eastern dancer as an Arab femme fatale. Farid al-Atrash changes this image by presenting Samia Gamal as an artist worthy of intern (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Charles Buchanan (Advisor) Subjects: