Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2022, Medical Humanities and Social Sciences

In this thesis, I use a close reading of two memoirs by existential psychiatrist Irvin Yalom to develop a narrative approach to psychiatry. This approach treats each patient's story as a unique work of literature. It involves the psychiatrist's listening for literary elements such as tone, incongruity, and figurative speech in patient stories. It also requires the psychiatrist's engagement in cooperative acts of storytelling and interpretation, which, I suggest, provide insight into the patient's inner and outer life. This insight helps the psychiatrist to understand the patient's needs, whether these needs are psychosocial, neurobiological, medical, or otherwise. Ultimately, I argue that this approach prepares psychiatrists to respond creatively to the complex challenges of mental illness.

Committee: Aaron Friedberg (Committee Co-Chair); James Phelan (Committee Chair) Subjects: Literature; Medicine; Mental Health; Psychotherapy

PHD, Kent State University, 2014, College of Education, Health and Human Services / School of Teaching, Learning and Curriculum Studies

Reading experts have long known that the process of repeated reading builds reading fluency, a critical aspect of reading comprehension. Many theatre activities by default require repeated reading. While much is known about the relationship of repeated reading, fluency, and reading comprehension, little is known about what, if any impact, theatre activities that invite repeated reading have on readers who struggle. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to explore the perceived collateral impact of school theatre programs on overall reading performance and affect. One hundred and eighty-four theatre majors from 5 universities completed a survey on experiences with reading and school theatre activities. The survey results generated a case study sample of 5 participants for in-depth interviews to explain and expand the survey findings. Results indicated that theatre activities have a definite perceived impact on struggling readers. Repeated reading and its impact on fluency and prosody were cited. Furthermore increased engagement, the use of visualization, and the predominance of close reading—one of the anchor standards of the Common Core State Standards—also emerged as dominant themes. In addition, students reported that the social environment of theatre provided safe conditions for the creation of meaning from text. Implications include the reassessment of curricular priorities by curriculum stakeholders and the potential for teachers K–12 to offer alternative theatre-based approaches to students who struggle with reading.

Committee: Timothy V. Rasinski PhD (Committee Co-Chair); William P. Bintz PhD (Committee Co-Chair); Brian W. Edmiston PhD (Committee Member); Lisa A. Borgerding PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Elementary Education; Middle School Education; Reading Instruction; Secondary Education; Special Education; Teaching; Theater

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2017, EDU Teaching and Learning

Temptation is replete in literature, both in fiction and non-fiction. Even though it may jeopardize a long-term goal, temptation is the underlying desire to partake in short term yearning for enjoyment. It is manifested in the forms of money, sex, fame, and even ambition. The cause of temptation can be something as simple as envy or craving. This study examined the select fairy tales of Hansel and Gretel, Cinderella, and Snow White, and how their impoverished protagonists (abandoned, shunned, or dealt with depressed times) responded to various lures, leading them to temptations which ultimately shape their futures. Using qualitative approaches of close reading and content analysis, the texts were coded based on character descriptions, settings, lures, and ultimately identifying the temptations that the protagonist faced. Each of these elements gave the reader a glimpse into the feelings and rationales of the characters and provided a foundation for the tales to be further scrutinized using the theoretical lenses of Marxism and Psychoanalysis. This research designated some fascinating, deeper meanings and subconscious motivations of these protagonists. Curiosity and longing for a better life for these characters, was a natural impulse. It was the temptation of nourishment (physical and emotional), wealth, sex, marriage, and motherhood. The most important outcomes of this study are the implications for educators, parents, and caregivers. The issue of temptation and its consequences is an important value to be reinforced. If children were exposed to the earlier versions of these fairy tales that have more examples of temptation and lures – and if they were instructed as to how to properly channel those “wants,” they would be better equipped to deal with these attractions.

Committee: Barbara Kiefer Ph.D. (Advisor) Subjects: Elementary Education; Literacy; Literature

Master of Computer Science, Miami University, 2011, Computer Science and Software Engineering

The Poetess Archive at Miami University includes a database of electronic documents encoded using the TEI (Text Encoding Initiative) schema extended with Poetess Archive tag-set, and derived from widely used terms in literary analysis and criticism. The extended TEI schemas based on the Xml standards hold elements of interest to a literary scholar, and are spread across multiple encodings. The Xml representation of literary texts is suitable for machine processing and electronic exchange of information, but does little to promote adoption and intuitive use of these resources by scholars. We are developing a visualization tool that seeks to integrate multiple encodings while allowing comparative analysis of multiple poems encoded using the extended TEI tag-set. The proposed solution is an interactive visual representation of differently encoded versions of text that can enhance cognition, and aid in uncovering of new knowledge. This approach will facilitate identification of frequently changing hotspots in encoded text and aid in the process of close reading.

Committee: Gerald Gannod PhD (Advisor); Laura Mandell PhD (Committee Member); Alton Sanders PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Computer Science