Master of Arts, Miami University, 2015, Theatre

This thesis explores Donald Margulies's play, Found a Peanut, and takes steps to dramaturgically link it to Robert Skloot's Theatre of the Holocaust, through both research and a staged production of the play. The paper examines Jewish Identity in modern American in theatre, specifically in the works of Donald Margulies, and unravels how Jewish playwrights insert trauma into their work. Combining together the theoretical analysis of Robert Skloot's works, the dramaturgical research of Margulies, and the process of staging Found a Peanut at Miami University, this project is an example of how to both mount and direct a modern Jewish American play that lies in the Theatre of the Holocaust.

Committee: Lewis Magruder (Advisor); Paul Bryant-Jackson Dr. (Committee Member); Mary Jane Berman Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Judaic Studies; Performing Arts; Religion; Theater; Theater Studies

Master of Arts, Miami University, 2015, Psychology

The current study explored the impact of voicing non-consent, defined as telling the perpetrator “no” or “stop” before or during unwanted sex, in relation to experiences of rape. Aims of the study were to determine: (1) if voicing non-consent was related to qualitative differences in rape experiences (e.g., familiarity with the perpetrator, type of resistance used, or label assigned to experience), and (2) if voicing non-consent was related to differences in how women respond to rape (e.g., level of distress, beliefs about recovery, or attributions of blame). A subsample of 223 rape victims obtained from a sample of 1,293 college women completed anonymous questionnaires assessing past sexual victimization, characteristics of assault experiences, responses to the event, and symptoms of distress. Results indicated that voicing of non-consent was associated with increased likelihood of using physical resistance, greater endorsement of the rape label, and elevated PTS symptoms. Implications for intervention are discussed.

Committee: Terri Messman-Moore Ph.D (Advisor); Margaret O’Dougherty Wright Ph.D (Committee Member); Elizabeth Kiel Luebbe Ph.D (Committee Member) Subjects: Psychology; Womens Studies

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2013, Communication Studies (Communication)

The Gathering Place opened its doors in 1976 to ex-patients of the Athens Mental Health Center largely through the dedicated efforts of community mental health activist Rita Gillick. Operating according to the clubhouse model of psychosocial rehabilitation, The GP provides a home/family-like environment for its members while providing them with opportunities to develop vocational and social skills necessary for independent and meaningful in the community living. This dissertation is an ethnographic rendering of my three years of involvement with The Gathering Place as a volunteer, musician, advocate, and eventually friend. I share particularly my experiences making music with the members during the collaborative jam session known as GP Jams and the music therapy programs sponsored by the organization. Further, I share the story of community mental health activist and musician Pete Wuscher and the community event to raise awareness of issues facing people with mental illness referred to as "Walk the Walk"; I interrogate my experiences drawing upon dialogic sensibilities informed by phenomenological and pragmatist philosophies emphasizing the significance of lived experience and the possibilities aesthetic expression creates for imagining socially just ways of living with others. Ultimately, I arrive at three dialogic promises that music makes as an act and a metaphor to those who enter into musical relations with others: music as embodied acknowledgement, music as invitation to dwelling, and music as expression of corporeal community. In sharing music's dialogic promises, I offer ways in which they add to communication theory as well as highlight future directions for communication inquiry.

Committee: Wlliam Rawlins Ph.D. (Advisor); Lynn Harter Ph.D. (Committee Member); Austin Babrow Ph.D. (Committee Member); Jaylynne Hutchinson Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication; Music; Performing Arts

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2013, Political Science

Why do states use secrecy? Specifically, why do great powers often seem to create a kind of “backstage” area around local conflicts? That is, why create a kind of covert realm where external powers can meddle in local conflicts to pursue their security interests? This project generally analyzes how secrecy is used in international politics and why states are individually and collectively motivated to use it. Existing scholarship suggests states use secrecy to surprise their adversaries or insulate their leaders from dovish domestic political groups. I develop an alternative logic rooted in the desire to control conflict escalation risks. In the context of interventions in local conflicts by outside powers, I find intervening states use covert methods to maintain control over the perceptions and interpretations of outside audiences whose reactions determine the magnitude of external pressure on leaders to escalate further. Intervening in a secret, plausibly deniable manner makes restraint and withdrawal on the part of the intervening state easier. It also creates ambiguity about their role which can give the political space to responding states to ignore covert meddling and respond with restraint. Escalation control dynamics therefore make sense of why states intervene secretly and, more puzzling, why other states – even adversaries – may join in ignoring and covering up such covert activity (what I call “tacit collusion”). Drawing on Erving Goffman and others, I develop an “impression management” theory for why states individually and jointly use secrecy and political denial to achieve their goals. To illustrate several new concepts and evaluate the theory’s value-added, I use a sophisticated comparative case study research design that leverages within- and between-case variation in the Korean War, Spanish Civil War, and the civil war in Soviet-occupied Afghanistan. Each conflict hosts se (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Randall Schweller Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Richard Herrmann Ph.D. (Committee Member); Jennifer Mitzen Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: International Relations; Political Science