Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2023, Educational Studies

Worldview diversity education is an integral aspect of preparing students to negotiate difference in an interconnected world and to work together toward solving global problems. It intersects with diversity and intercultural learning, contributing the missing piece of religious, secular, and spiritual worldviews to global learning. This study utilized a survey and comparative case study to explore non-U.S. global liberal arts colleges and universities' engagement in worldview diversity education, common approaches, and how senior campus leaders expressed worldview diversity education in relation to larger education purposes, policyscapes, and priorities. Incorporating a view of education practice as policy and of worldviews as representing not just systems of belief but also cultures of belonging, this study contributes to the identification and development of worldview diversity education policy and practice among global liberal arts colleges and universities.

Committee: Matthew Mayhew (Committee Chair); Amy Barnes (Committee Member); Tatiana Suspitsyna (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Educational Leadership; Higher Education; Higher Education Administration; International Relations; Religious Education

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2003, Educational Theory and Practice

In this study, the narratives from a hermeneutical dialectic cycle of three high school students were analyzed to understand the influences of ontological position on the learning of human origins. The interpretation of the narratives provides the reader an opportunity to consider the learning process from the perspective of worldview and conceptual change theories. Questions guiding this research include: Within a context of a worldview, what is the range of ontological positions among a high school AP biology class? To what extent does ontological position influence the learning of scientific concepts about human origins? If a student's ontological position is contradictory to scientific explanation of human origins, how will learning strategies and motivations change? All consenting students in an AP biology class were interviewed in order to select three students who represented three different ontological positions of a worldview: No Supernatural, Supernatural Without Impact, or Supernatural Impact. The issue of worldview is addressed at length in this work. Consenting students had completed the graduation requirements in biology, but were taking an additional biology course in preparation for college. Enrollment in an AP biology course was assumed to indicate that the selected students have an understanding of the concept of human origins at a comprehensive level, but not necessarily at an apprehension level, both being needed for conceptual change. Examination of the narratives reveals that students may alternate between two ontological positions in order to account for inconsistencies within a situation. This relativity enables the range of ontological positions to vary depending on concepts being considered. Not all Supernatural Impact positions conflict with biological understanding of human origins due to the ability of some to create a dichotomy between religion and school. Any comprehended concepts within this dichotomy lead to plagiaristic knowledge ra (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: David Haury (Advisor) Subjects:

Ed.D., Antioch University, 2025, Education

The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to observe the lived experiences of children while learning about place through a Kinship/Indigenous worldview and the impact of the experience on their love and care for place. The study unfolds from a theoretical framework at the nexus of critical theory, place-based education, and a Kinship/Indigenous worldview. The overarching question is, “Can teaching through an Original Kinship/Indigenous Worldview grow children towards connection and love for place?” Elementary students and their teacher explored one square block of the school community, illuminating a different aspect of our place daily through Kinship/Indigenous worldview Precepts (Wahinkpe Topa & Narvaez, 2022). Students constructed their knowledge of place from unseen organisms to the power systems present and developed an understanding of their impact on place. Data gathered included Natureculture (Haraway, 2003) journal notes, sketches, reflections, photovoice, and semi-structured interviews. Natureculture is a synthesis of nature and culture that recognizes their inseparability in ecological relationships that are both biophysically and socially formed (Fuentes, 2010; Haraway, 2003). Findings reveal that learning to see all elements of place/community through a Kinship/Indigenous worldview supports children in understanding interconnectedness, meaning children understand their connection to nature as a biological and cultural relatedness nurtured through connecting with all beings. Data was isolated, analyzed, and interpreted to illuminate themes giving voice to the lived experience of children learning about a place through an original kindship/Indigenous worldview and their shift to care for them. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA (https://aura.antioch.edu) and OhioLINK ETD Center (https://etd.ohiolink.edu).

Committee: Richard Kahn PhD (Committee Chair); Paul Bocko PhD (Committee Member); Don Jacobs PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Education Philosophy; Educational Theory; Elementary Education; Environmental Education; Pedagogy; Teaching

Doctor of Education (Educational Leadership), Youngstown State University, 2025, Department of Teacher Education and Leadership Studies

Although Christians comprise the majority of the population in the United States, they make up less than one third of the scientific community. This underrepresentation is attributed to the desire to avoid the secular culture in academia or self-selection due to a perceived incompatibility or belief in negative stereotypes of Christian scientists. Therefore, this study explores the association between teaching middle school science from an intentionally Christian worldview and student interest in science. Using enrollment and demographic data, along with Ohio State Test scores, this quantitative study examined the correlation between how long students received their science education from a Christian worldview at a middle school in Canton, Ohio and their interest in science as measured by their performance on the Ohio State Test in Science. The data fails to reject to null hypothesis of no association between the number of years a student was enrolled and their Science State Test scores. There were no significant correlations between these two variables. Also, there were no significant associations based on gender or grade level. Additionally, there were negative correlations found for some of the science subtopics for Black and Hispanic students, and general education students. However, there were positive associations found for both fifth- and eighth-grade students, mixed-race students, students with 504 Plans and IEPs, and gifted students in select science subtopics. The results of this study were limited by a small sample size, but as a first of its kind study, it indicates that more research is required.

Committee: Karen Larwin Ph.D. (Advisor); Frank McClard Ph.D. (Committee Member); Jennifer Hollinger Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Middle School Education; Religious Education; Science Education; Teaching

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.), University of Findlay, 2024, Education

This study investigates the effect of introducing an environmental education (EE) in three classrooms (C1, C2, C3) using three different pedagogy methods and if student's personalities determine how the information is perceived. A teacher-focused classroom (C1), a student-focused classroom (C2), and a third classroom used labs and hands-on activities (C3) to identify changes in the students' perception and behavior toward the environment. A pre- and post-survey was used to identify changes in student environmental perception. An unpaired t-test was performed for each class, showing different pedagogical approaches did not significantly impact students' environmental perceptions. The student's behavior was measured by pulling recyclables out of a recycle bin and the trash daily for the duration of five weeks. Both C2 and C3 showed an increase in the students' recycling habits. The second question, “How does a high school student's locus of control affect their relationship with the environment?” was answered by comparing a locus of control survey and the post-environmental perception survey. A t-test and correlation test were performed, and no significant difference was found between the two survey means. A correlation test was also performed, and a positive, very weak correlation was found. The third question, “Does the students' locus of control correlate with their ecocentric or anthropocentric environmental worldview?”. A locus of control survey and a worldview survey were used to answer the third question. A Pearson's Correlation Coefficient test was performed and showed a moderate correlation between the two scores.

Committee: Gwynne Rife (Committee Chair) Subjects: Education; Environmental Education

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2023, Leadership and Change

There is a paucity of theorizing concerning leadership enactments performed by African American women. The performances have been marginalized and obscured within the Western leadership canon as they fall outside its epistemological boundaries; they have also been sidelined within Critical Leadership Studies. This study employed Afrocentricity as a decolonizing paradigm and Africology as the research methodology to describe and define a leadership phenomenon enacted by African American women. Setting aside Western conceptions of leadership, focus groups of African American women examined video excerpts of Africana women's oral performances through an Africological lens. Participants' Afrocentric-oriented perceptions sparked collective storytelling and Meaning-Making regarding their lived experiences of African American women who mobilize and energize others employing spiritually-anchored, embodied, affective approaches to engagement. Centering the African American women's culturally distinct ways of being, knowing, and doing, the participants' collective narratives were used to identify the four elements of the leadership phenomenon which included: spirituality, knowing, orality, and embodiment. A framework emerged from the data reflecting the interconnected, interrelated, interdependent, Afro-circular dynamism of the enactment's elements and their characteristics; it served as the foundational architecture upon which to construct a theory of Empowered Presence, a culturally-distinct, spiritually-anchored, holistically-embodied performance of galvanizing, mobilizing, and engaging others within the collective. This study not only expands Western leadership theorizing but provides the groundwork for Afrocentric researchers to enhance decolonizing approaches to investigate African American women's leadership within a Africological methodological framework. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA (https://aura.antioch.edu/) and OhioLINK ETD Center (https:/ (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Donna Ladkin PhD (Committee Chair); Philomena Essed PhD (Committee Member); Chellie Spiller PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: African American Studies; Communication; Gender Studies; Spirituality; Womens Studies

Doctor of Education (EdD), Ohio University, 2022, Educational Administration (Education)

This study explored rural educators' perceives surrounding the influence of their own sociocultural background on the glocal curriculum they implement and students' glocal worldview development. Glocal, in this study, referred to the concept of contextualizing globalization through a local lens. Current studies either focused on teacher perceptions from a quantitative viewpoint, an urban education viewpoint, or were based in other professional fields, such as healthcare or economics. While this study was informed by academic literature, it filled a gap in research surrounding rural, Appalachian-based educators through an interpretive qualitative research design. The purpose of this study was to explore the perspectives of rural, secondary-level educators in Appalachian-Ohio and West Virginia regarding the influence of their sociocultural background on glocal curriculum implementation and students' glocal worldviews. I analyzed research through a conceptual framework that fused Vygotsky's Sociocultural Theory, Cooperrider's Appreciative Inquiry approach, and the Hodges' Health Career Model, a glocal framework. Finally, based on the data and implications of the study, I list specific recommendations for educators, educational leaders, policy makers, and teacher preparation programs in Appalachian regions or other rural regions with glocal connection in mind.

Committee: Emmanuel Jean-Francois (Committee Chair); Emmanuel Jean-Francois (Advisor); Michael Kopish (Committee Member); Yegan Pillay (Committee Member); Charles Lowery (Committee Member) Subjects: Cultural Anthropology; Curriculum Development; Education; Educational Leadership; Middle School Education; Secondary Education; Social Research; Social Structure; Sociology; Teacher Education; Teaching

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2021, Educational Studies

This study seeks to better understand how undergraduate students in the region are coming to better understand their own worldview beliefs and how they fit into an increasingly globalized world and does so by examining the development of self-authored worldview commitment over the first year of college for students enrolled at four-year institutions in the Appalachian region. After controlling for variables including but not limited to: students' pre-college characteristics, including their incoming measures of self-authored worldview commitment, institutional conditions and climates, and student behaviors during their first year, what emerges after measuring students' self-authored worldview commitment scores at the end of their first year provides insight into the college conditions and student behaviors that contribute towards, or hinder, students' ability to self-author their worldviews. Students attending Appalachian institutions were found to be analogous to their peers nationwide on both their entering measures of self-authored worldview commitment as well as their developmental measures after their first year. The Appalachian-specific precollege characteristics that emerged suggested that worldview minority, first-generation college-going, and higher achieving students, as well as those intending to pursue business administration all showed lower gains on this measure while students of another worldview showed higher returns. The campus relational contexts that emerged as significant were provocative encounters with worldview diversity, which boosted development, and negative interworldview engagement which hindered it. Finally, students who engaged in two or more informal academic activities showed above-average gains in their worldview commitment. Appalachian institutions should ensure that their campuses provide opportunities for interworldview engagement that are appropriately structured for higher achieving and first-generation college going students, (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Matthew Mayhew (Committee Chair); Anne-Marie Nunez (Committee Member); Penny A. Pasque (Committee Member) Subjects: Higher Education; Higher Education Administration

Master of Arts in Psychology, Cleveland State University, 2020, College of Sciences and Health Professions

The present research explores an intersection between terror management theory and self-determination theory. Depending on what values are salient, terror management theory research has found that mortality salience can lead to both hostile and/or prosocial worldview defense behaviors in order to mitigate death anxiety. Self-determination theory holds that people are naturally oriented toward growth and well-being, with autonomy serving as an important component of healthy psychological functioning. Recent findings have indicated evidence of the buffering ability of autonomous-orientation on death anxiety, but it has only been evidenced with eliminating hostile worldview defense behaviors. It was predicted that reminding participants of their mortality would increase their defense of a salient prosocial worldview, but priming autonomy would eliminate the effect. Participants were randomly assigned to a mortality salience vs. neutral condition and an autonomy vs. controlled-orientation condition, and then asked to indicate their support for the expanding of immigration policies. Results indicated that priming mortality (vs. neutral) led participants to uphold tolerant immigration attitudes by indicating greater support for the expansion of immigration, but priming autonomy (vs. controlled-orientation) attenuated that support, providing evidence for the general buffering effect of autonomy.

Committee: Kenneth Vail PhD (Committee Chair); Eric Allard PhD (Committee Member); Elizabeth Goncy PhD (Committee Member); Shereen Naser PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Psychology

Master of Science (MS), Bowling Green State University, 2020, Geology

Western Kentucky coal mines have long disposed of coal slurry by dumping the material into waterbodies located on property. This fine-grained material contains high amounts of sulfur, iron, and other heavy metals, placing nearby waterways and biota at risk for contamination. This study proposes the implementation of WorldView-3 imagery, reflectance spectroscopy, chemical composition analyses, and multiple Neural Networks to establish a prediction model that would map the extent and concentration of total organic carbon, arsenic, lead, and chromium throughout these slurry deposits. This method of chemometric analysis has proven effective in the determination and prediction of heavy metals but has yet to be applied to WorldView-3 imagery or coal slurry deposits. Worldview-3 imagery provides significantly higher spatial and spectral resolution than most other spaceborne-sensors, as well as allows for a < 1-day return time. Hyperspectral-based predictions of Total Organic Carbon, arsenic, chromium, and lead resulted in R2 values of 0.95, 0.90, 0.77, and 0.75, respectively. WorldView-3 based predictions resulted in Overall Accuracies of 84%, 79%, 70%, and 75%, respectively. This very high resolution (VHR) remote sensing is vital for monitoring complex ecosystems and mapping those substances which pose a risk to soil, biota, and human health, such as coal slurry. By successfully predicting these constituents, coal mines will have a better understanding of contamination extent and can more effectively conduct remediation efforts.

Committee: Anita Simic Milas Dr. (Advisor); Angélica Vázquez-Ortega Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Geological; Remote Sensing; Soil Sciences

Master of Arts in Psychology, Cleveland State University, 2019, College of Sciences and Health Professions

Terror Management Theory posits that people are motivated to defend against death awareness by maintaining cultural beliefs and behaviors that transcend mortality— sometimes motivating hostile, even militaristic, defenses of one's culture. In contrast, self-determination theory suggests that autonomous regulation (self-determination) serves as a platform for personal growth and well-being. However, the present thesis suggests that, in addition to fueling growth, self-determination may also help buffer against the awareness of mortality, thus mitigating the impact of death awareness on hostile cultural worldview defense. To test this hypothesis, American participants were randomly assigned to be reminded of mortality or a control topic, then randomly assigned to be reminded of feelings of autonomy or being controlled, and then lastly completed a measure of one possible form of worldview defense: support for militaristic defense of American foreign policy interests in Syria. The present analysis found that death reminders increased that form of worldview defense, unless participants were first prompted to recall self-determination experiences.

Committee: Kenneth Vail Ph.D. (Advisor); Eric Allard Ph.D. (Committee Member); Elizabeth Goncy Ph.D. (Committee Member); Shereen Naser Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Experimental Psychology; Psychology; Social Psychology

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2019, Antioch New England: Environmental Studies

While the environment has long played a role in humanistic expressions and investigations, the need for a more integrated look at the human-environment relationship has become ever more pressing. More than ever, humanities scholars are recognizing their ability to mobilize critical and creative action to address pressing socioeconomic, sociopolitical, and socioenvironmental problems. Teaching and engaging students through interdisciplinary methods, connecting students and communities, developing a sense of agency and responsibility for planetary sustainability has become a visible focus in higher education. My study aimed to understand how an environmental humanities class affects, if at all, the way students construct worldview. The study was conducted in an undergraduate writing class and used narrative inquiry to analyze two student artifacts developed at different times within a sixteen-week semester. I hoped to understand how what happens in the time between the construction of the first and last assignments may contribute to shifts in student worldview. This dissertation concludes with proposals for how the environmental humanities may be included in higher education and public scholarship. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA: Antioch University Repository and Archive, http://aura.antioch.edu/and OhioLINK ETD Center, https://etd.ohiolink.edu/

Committee: Alesia Maltz PhD (Committee Chair); Elizabeth McCann PhD (Committee Member); Douglas Hume PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Composition; Environmental Studies; Higher Education

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2019, Educational Studies

This study advances our understanding of how students are making sense of their encounters across worldview differences related to religion, spirituality, faith, and values at public higher education institutions. Critical sensemaking (CSM) was used as a conceptual framework to understand the in-the-moment process of individual sensemaking and how individual and organizational sensemaking is influenced by the formative, structural, and discursive contexts of higher education (Helms Mills, Thurlow, & Mills, 2010). The study employed content analysis methodology (Mayring, 2000) and a two-tiered structural and concept coding analysis strategy (Saldana, 2011) to explore secondary focus group data from five public institutions from a qualitative case study dataset created through the longitudinal, mixed-methods Interfaith Diversity Experiences and Attitudes Longitudinal Survey (IDEALS) project. The key findings of this study are: 1) students use sensemaking as an opportunity to shed old ways of being and knowing; 2) student sensemaking is highly social and students often make sense of their encounters with worldview diversity through the lens of perceived social norms; and, 3) students perceive the university as sensegiving about worldview through funding allocations, space reservation priorities, staff member availability, and in comparison with other social identity work. These results are relevant to research because they extend the use of CSM to college students as actors, focus groups as data, and diversity as a topic for examination. They also show that two properties of CSM, social and extracted cues, are particularly important to student sensemakers and highlight the relevance of formative, structural, and discursive contexts of higher education influence sensemaking about worldview diversity. Additionally, these results provide guidance for practitioners and faculty who want to help students engage with and across worldviews, indicate that institutions of highe (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Matthew Mayhew Ph.D. (Advisor); Tatiana Suspitsyna Ph.D. (Committee Member); Noelle Arnold Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Higher Education

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2019, East Asian Languages and Literatures

The purpose of this study is to determine why students at U.S. elite universities prefer to study abroad in Japan in short-term (8 weeks or less) programs rather than the traditional mid-length (more than 8 weeks but no more than 1 semester) and long-term (longer than 1 semester or quarter) programs. Although participation in study abroad among U.S. students to all destinations has increased by approximately 45% over the last decade, almost all of the increase comes from short-term programs. Conversely, mid-length and long-term programs have experienced steep declines in enrollment, dropping from 41% of total number of students studying abroad to just 36.6% and from 5.3% to just 2.4%, respectively, over the same period. The decrease in enrollment is a problem because extended participation and experience in the foreign country where the language is spoken and culture practiced aids the journey to high cultural and linguistic competency in a foreign language and culture (Davidson, 2010; Dwyer, 2004; MacAloon, 2008; Medina-Lopez-Portillo, 2004; Kehl and Morris, 2008; Zorn, 1996). Using a mixed-methods approach, 112 1st- and 2nd-year Japanese-language students at elite U.S. universities and 22 Japanese-language instructors were surveyed on the study abroad decision process, followed by seven interviews with respondents who volunteered to participate in the subsequent qualitative phase. Study findings clearly show that Japanese-language students at elite U.S. universities (a) have a strong interest in studying abroad in Japan, (b) mainly wish to study abroad to improve their Japanese-language skills and gain proficiency in the Japanese culture, and (c) are hesitant to study abroad in Japan in mid-length and long-term programs because they fear they lack time in their undergraduate curriculum and worry that appropriate courses needed for an on-time graduation are unavailable abroad. Importantly, no significantly statistical difference emerged between science, technology, (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Mari Noda Ph.D. (Committee Co-Chair); Xiaobin Jian Ph.D. (Committee Co-Chair); Charles Quinn Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Asian Studies; Education; Foreign Language; Sociology

PHD, Kent State University, 2018, College of Education, Health and Human Services / School of Foundations, Leadership and Administration

Dozens of academic studies over the course of the past four or five decades have shown empirically that Catholic schools, according to a wide array of standards and measures, are the best schools at producing good American citizens. This dissertation proposes that this is so is partly because the schools are infused with the Catholic ethos (also called the Catholic Imagination or the Analogical Imagination) and its approach to the world in general. A large part of this ethos is based upon Catholic Anthropology, the Church's teaching about the nature of the human person and his or her relationship to other people, to Society, to the State, and to God. The ideas that make up Catholic Anthropology are also deeply foundational to the set of ideas known collectively as Western Civilization and, through them, to the ideas that together I call the American Covenant. This study takes a foundational approach. While the empirical studies have measured the effects of Catholic schools in making good American citizens, I explore the reasons for this outcome. In doing so, I draw from many disciplines to examine the historical events, significant persons, and philosophical and theological arguments that together have created the American Catholic school. I conclude that if present trends in Catholic schooling continue, there is potentially a great loss to both American Catholicism and to the American republic.

Committee: Natasha Levinson (Advisor); Averil McClelland (Committee Member); Catherine Hackney (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Education History; Education Philosophy; Education Policy; Educational Theory

Master of Science (MS), Bowling Green State University, 2016, Geology

The oil and gas booms of the late 19th century left tens of thousands of wells in Wood County, Ohio abandoned and improperly capped. This allows hydrocarbons to seep into the surrounding soil. Detection of these wells proves difficult because many of the wells are buried and their locations lost. To be able to detect the oil wells over large areas, different remote sensing techniques can be used to detect changes in soil properties caused by the presence of hydrocarbons. However, the capability of this technology depends on spatial and spectral resolution of a sensor and in situ data are often necessary. In this study, in-situ hyperspectral reflectance data and thermal imaging are used in conjunction with clay mineral X-ray diffraction analysis to identify soil properties around abandoned wells located in an agricultural area in Wood County, Ohio. This study is confirmation of previous finding and it serves to indicate uncertainties related to a limited sampling effort, and to address the importance of field sampling strategies and adequate remote sensing techniques. Non-commercial satellite based remote sensors of medium, spatial resolution, such as Landsat, are inadequate for detection of the small abandoned wells in Wood County, Ohio. In situ hyperspectral reflectance measurements, used to simulate WorldView-3 spectral and spatial resolution, suggest that this high spatial resolution commercial satellite is optimal for detecting small abandoned oil wells. It is confirmed that a spectral band ratio in the spectral range between 2.185-2.225 µm and 2.295-2.365 µm (WorldView-3 shortwave bands 6 and 8, respectively) is effective. The clay mineral X-ray diffraction analysis suggests that these changes in the spectral information occur predominately due to the hydrocarbons; clay mineral content changes in the soil did not affect the soil spectral signature to a greater extent. Thermal imaging identified higher surface temperatures in soil with higher hydrocarbon content (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Anita Simic (Advisor); Jeff Snyder (Committee Member); John Farver (Committee Member) Subjects: Geology; Remote Sensing

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2016, Communication

When people experience reminders of their mortality, anxiety heightens. This, in turn, can increase worldview defenses such as outgroup derogation. In this experiment, White participants (N = 190) read an online news story that presented a death threat (death threat, non-death threat) and identity threat (White threat, Black threat, race-neutral threat) manipulation. Following exposure to the experimental manipulation, participants completed measures of anxiety, specific self-esteem, and worldview defense. A multicategorical moderation supported the integration of specific self-esteem in social identity processes. The findings from moderated mediation analyses support previous terror management research (Greenberg et al., 1997): When exposure to a death threat has not been sufficiently suppressed, anxiety from the threat can manifest in worldview defenses. Results demonstrate that specific self-esteem buffers anxiety elicited from threats unrelated to racial identity. Implications include identity processes by which the effects of threat can be mitigated.

Committee: Jesse Fox (Advisor); Lanier Holt (Committee Member); Nancy Rhodes (Committee Member); Zheng Wang (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication; Journalism; Mass Communications; Mass Media; Psychology; Social Psychology; Social Research; Statistics; Web Studies

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2015, Environment and Natural Resources

Article 2 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) sets an objective for members of the Conference of the Parties to stabilize greenhouse gases concentrations to “prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system.” Meeting this objective assumes humans have a significant effect on climate and those changes will lead threats to humans and the environment. Implementing the UNFCCC and subsequent protocols will require members of the Conference of Parties to ratify binding agreements which set emission standards and establish mechanisms to mitigate those emissions to prevent dangerous interference with the climate system or increase society's ability to adapt to changes in order to avoid danger. Creating and adopting agreements at the Federal level in the United States has proved difficult. Opposition to ratifying protocols and amendments agreed upon by other COP members or adopting policies to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions can be explained by various social, political, and psychological factors. The purpose of this dissertation is to continue an exploration of how cultural worldviews and psychological distance of climate impacts influences levels of support for mitigation and adaptation approaches to addressing climate change.

Committee: Jeremy Bruskotter Dr. (Committee Co-Chair); Tomas Koontz Dr (Committee Co-Chair); Eric Toman Dr. (Committee Member); Robyn Wilson Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Climate Change; Environmental Science; Environmental Studies; Public Policy; Social Psychology

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toledo, 2014, History

This dissertation investigates the worldview of German frontline soldiers during the Eastern Front conflict of the Second World War. It argues that Nazi era propaganda's creation of a racial and ideological “Other” in the Soviet Union had a significant impact on the attitude of the military in the East. These ideological imaginations of the enemy were often transformed by the realities at the front through the experiences of common enlisted men. While the Nazis constructed a racially and politically charged image of the enemy to justify a war of conquest, the German soldiers fighting in the East developed their own views of an expanding imperial landscape. An identity transformation amongst German combatants took place during the Eastern Front campaign for many reasons, including the effects of Nazi dogma, a foreign environment and local populace, the strains of combat, changing war circumstances, and genocidal policies. This project utilizes the wartime writings of Hitler's ordinary men to provide a partial reconstruction of their mentality, revealing their beliefs, fears, and perceptions of the Soviet enemy.

Committee: Larry Wilcox (Committee Chair); Beth Griech-Polelle (Committee Co-Chair); Roberto Padilla (Committee Member); Robert McCollough (Committee Member) Subjects: European Studies; History; Holocaust Studies; Military History

BA, Kent State University, 2013, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Anthropology

This thesis discusses the intersection between gender and the Arab world through the lens of anthropological theory and conflict management. The first chapter identifies the dominant streams of universalism and relativism within conflict management and anthropology. The second chapter traces gender through anthropological theory of the late twentieth century. The work of scholars Leila Ahmed, Saba Mahmood, and Lila Abu-Lughod are used in the third chapter to analyze how certain ideas about relativism and culture can be used in a variety of contexts dealing with communities of Muslim women and concluding with a series of questions revolving around how conflict management can utilize and benefit from these ideas and the works of the three scholars.

Committee: Richard Feinberg Dr. (Advisor); Landen Hancock Dr. (Committee Member); Jung-Yeup Kim Dr. (Committee Member); Susan Roxburgh Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Cultural Anthropology