Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2020, English

In the introduction of this project, my primary goal is to clarify how this work configures the Black Power Era. In the first chapter, I read events from Malcolm X's childhood as expressed in The Autobiography of Malcolm X (1965) as metaphor used to reconstruct an environment in which Black death and anti-Black surveillance practices permeates the lives of Black Americans. In this chapter I contrast the rhetorical gestures X uses to those James Baldwin employs in The Fire Next Time in which he writes to his young nephew and recalls a visit with the Elijah Muhammad. Contrasting the two titles, I suggest that the rhetorical gestures of Malcolm X — centering Blackness and decentering whiteness in the interest of self-declaration constitute the prevailing rhetorical gestures of the Black Power Era while those rhetorical gestures used by Baldwin — centering whiteness and upholding rhetorics of colorblindness — constitute prevailing rhetorical gestures of the Civil Rights Movement. Overall, this chapter illustrates how the rhetorical gestures of Malcolm X capitalizes on the specters of Black death and anti-Black surveillance practices which become central themes in the Black Power Era. In the second chapter of this project I focus on Amiri Baraka's Dutchman (1964) to explain how Black death and anti-Black surveillance practices structure the play. In respect to the overarching claim of my project I use close reading to frame Baraka's essay “The Revolutionary Theatre” as a response to the forces of Black death and anti-Black surveillance practices and a guide for reading through the rhetorical gestures found in Dutchman. In the third chapter of this project I analyze one of Gil Scott-Heron's best known songs, “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.” The analysis situates “Revolution” within the genus of Black Arts Movement works which employ Black nationalist rhetoric to protest the specters of Black death and anti-Black surveillance practices. Finally, in the conclusion of (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Adélékè Adéẹkọ́, (Advisor); Judson Jeffries (Committee Member); Pranav Jani (Committee Chair) Subjects: African American Studies; African Americans; Black Studies; Literature; Music; Philosophy; Theater

Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, 2013, Environmental Studies (Voinovich)

This thesis will explore several pertinent issues regarding environmental sustainability that arise in the recent work of James C. Scott, a professor of Anthropology and Political Science at Yale University. As a result of his official academic titles, fellow scholars overlook the applicability of Scott's work to contemporary issues in environmental studies. But even though his academic pedigree might seem an odd mix from which to cull salient insights into issues of environmental sustainability, this thesis will show that Scott's interdisciplinary background gives him a uniquely advantageous vantage point from which to explore environmental issues. Scott's work offers a panoply of insights that strike at the root of many environmental problems. Chief among his inquiries is the state's role in instigating ecological catastrophe. Scott's analysis of this role is so penetrating and comprehensive that it prompts readers to question the compatibility between the existence of states and prospects for environmental sustainability. The briefest encapsulation of Scott's argument is that states invariably — and perhaps necessarily endeavor to organize existence, and that this organizational compulsion disrupts natural ecological flows, thus producing dire consequences for biota. A second, related insight is that human groups who strive to resist the state invariably — and perhaps necessarily exhibit a more balanced, harmonious commingling with the natural order. The conscious evasion of state-like structures among stateless peoples compels them to apply a set of practices that reduce their environmental impact to nearly nil. These dual insights deserve careful attention given that environmental issues have been thrust to the forefront of social life in recent years. Accordingly, one purpose of this thesis is to recast Scott as one of the most relevant thinkers who can contribute to the conversation regarding sustainability. A second purpose of this thesis is to surve (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Julie White (Committee Chair); DeLysa Burnier (Committee Member); Nancy Manring (Committee Member) Subjects: Environmental Justice; Environmental Philosophy; Environmental Studies; History; Native Studies; Philosophy; Political Science

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2012, English/Literature

Constructions of children and constructions of cyborgs in literature and other textual representations are very similar; both identities are liminal since they exist outside the realm of adult human experience and both identities also serve as vehicles through which adults can experiment with their own conscious or unconscious fantasies or fears. Because of these similarities, the figure of the child and the figure of the cyborg frequently become linked in popular culture. Although the figure of the cyborg offers many liberating opportunities for alternative hybrid identity formations (as posthumanist Donna Haraway has pointed out), linking the figure of the child with regressive constructions of the cyborg can have many harmful consequences. Often, the figure of the cyborg becomes a site for the fears and phobias of adults afraid of the future. And since children are already sometimes marginalized in adult texts, or get used as adults experiment with their own anxieties about the present or the future, linking the figure of the child with the figure of the cyborg in some situations can theoretically create a doubly-differentiated “other.” Arguing that the merging of the figure of the cyborg and the figure of the child has become much more popular in recent decades, this project will attempt to analyze the evolution of the child-cyborg from Romanticism to Modernism by discussing representations of the “child-animal cyborg,” the “preternatural child-cyborg,” and the “mechanized (or robotic) child-cyborg.” It will then conclude by interrogating from a sociological perspective how regressive representations of child-cyborgs may affect real child bodies, positing that more progressive constructions of child-cyborgs are both possible and desirable.

Committee: Erin Labbie (Committee Chair); Piya Pal Lapinski (Committee Member) Subjects: American History; American Literature; Animals; Art History; British and Irish Literature; Early Childhood Education; Ethics; European History; Evolution and Development; Families and Family Life; Film Studies; Gender Studies; History; In; Individual and Family Studies