Master of Arts, Case Western Reserve University, 2022, Cognitive Linguistics

Given the role of distributional semantics in child language acquisition, adult linguistic development, and the conceptualization of abstract entities, the present investigation seeks to explore if the variable frequency of linguistic utterances across clusters of users in a social network can be correlated with divergent interpretations of an ostensibly shared concept within a discursive community. Are differing rates of linguistic entrenchment within a community a marker of divergent conceptualization? To begin to address this question, this present pilot study details the socio-cognitive processes underlying entrenchment of language and concepts, and develops a method for studying divergent conceptualization in the online social media network Twitter.

Committee: Vera Tobin (Committee Chair); Todd Oakley (Committee Member); Mark Turner (Committee Member) Subjects: Linguistics; Multimedia Communications; Social Psychology

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

Central Asian migrants – people who originate from Muslim-majority countries of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan – are a relatively new addition to the global population flows. Migration from Central Asia is rooted in geography and historical connections with China, Russia, and Turkey, yet large contemporary mobility has developed over the past thirty years after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The United States is an emerging destination for Central Asian migrants who draw on their aspirations along with cultural and geographical imaginaries of the US to move and settle in the country. My study centers on the relationship between migration, psychological well-being, and mental health and draws on data from 124 ethnographic interviews, a large number of expert interviews and observations along with physiological data and assessments of mental health. My analyses of different types of data help to unpack biocultural and social dimensions of migration stress and point that common mental disorders are more prevalent among Central Asian migrants compared to native-born US populations. Working with Central Asian migrants in four sites - New York City, Chicago metropolitan area, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, and Dushanbe, Tajikistan – I examine how socio-economic and legal vulnerabilities and racialization affect migrating and non-migrating individuals and identify their cultural models of mental health. Employing the framework of aspirations and desire as essential drivers of mobility, I contextualize migration as an ongoing process of biocultural adaptations to the new environment. My work elucidates the contested relationships between migration and mental health because, beyond biocultural stress and risks of poor mental health, migration allows for perceived accomplishments, self-efficacy, and elevated social status associated with greater well-being. I note the ways that migrants navigate broader structures that endanger their menta (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Jeffrey Cohen PhD (Advisor); Douglas Crews PhD (Committee Member); Morgan Liu PhD (Committee Member); Anna Willow PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Asian American Studies; Asian Studies; Cultural Anthropology; Health; Mental Health; Minority and Ethnic Groups

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2019, Antioch Seattle: Counselor Education & Supervision

Learning about supervision theories/models is part of counselor educator and supervisor training; however, the number of available empirical studies exploring supervisors' use of supervision theories/models is limited. Diversity and globalization in the field of counseling and doctoral students in the counselor education and supervision program have been increased in the last two decades; however, multicultural issues in supervision literature often focus on the supervisors' multicultural competency by assuming that supervisors are white Americans and supervisees are foreign-born or from diverse background. The present study was designed to fill gaps in the current literature by focusing on foreign-born racially/ethnically diverse doctoral-level supervisors' experience in clinical supervision in order to assess the cultural sensitivity of available supervision theories/models. The present study was conducted to answer two research questions: (a) How do foreign-born supervisors use supervision theories/models with their white American-born supervisees? and (b) What do those foreign-born supervisors experience in supervision? A qualitative constructivist grounded theory methodology was utilized, and data were collected in two levels: an initial written survey to construct interview questions (N = 30) and individual semi-structured interviews (N = 12). The results suggested three significant findings in the foreign-born supervisors' use of supervision theories/models and experiences. First, foreign-born supervisors take the supervisee-centered approach regardless of their supervision theories. Second, supervision theories/models offer a framework to facilitate supervision sessions, tools to build supervisory relationships, and roles to fill cultural gaps in supervision. Third, foreign-born supervisors use their supervisees' perspectives toward themselves to evaluate the quality of the supervisor relationship, effectiveness of the supervision theories/models, an (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Ned Farley PhD (Committee Chair); Colin Ward PhD (Committee Member); Mariaimeé Gonzalez PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Counseling Education

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2017, Communication

Recent shifts in the perceptions of and expectations for dating, cohabitation, and marriage call for an evaluation of the characteristics associated with how these relationships function. The current research offers insight regarding the common cognitive structures that members of a social group use in defining these romantic relationship stages. Through the delineation and testing of a cultural model, this research expands the literature regarding knowledge structures of romantic relationships and explores the influence of interpersonal and mediated representations. Study 1 identifies the characteristics that individuals associate with typical dating relationships, cohabiting relationships, and marriages from the perspective of interpersonal and mediated representations. Characteristics were collected via a cognitive thought-listing task and then examined by a similar population in a member checking rating task. A qualitative analysis of the characteristics put forth by participants (n = 125) in the cognitive thought-listing task revealed common categories of characteristics for each stage. Additionally, a quantitative analysis revealed that participants listed more characteristics for each stage within the interpersonal condition when compared to the mediated condition; cohabitation was found to have the fewest characteristics listed by participants in both conditions. Once the categories of characteristics were established, participants (n = 24) in the member checking portion of this study rated each characteristic in terms of the typicality to the relationship stage. The results of a hierarchical cluster analysis revealed a two-cluster structure for each stage that identified characteristics rated as highly typical. The characteristics in the cluster with higher typicality ratings were retained to test for cultural model formation, consensus, and consonance. Study 2 identifies and evaluates the structure of interpersonal and mediated cultural models of da (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Jesse Fox (Advisor); David Ewoldsen (Committee Member); Roselyn Lee-Won (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication

MA, University of Cincinnati, 2010, Arts and Sciences : Anthropology

It is well recognized that treatment care for diseases and afflictions may take a variety of paths within pluralistic medical settings including the use of Western biomedicine and traditional treatment options. This study identifies and describes different factors that affect health care choices within the Northern Region of Malawi through interviews with 71 informants. Analysis of informant responses took two paths: (1) a quantitative assessment using cultural consensus analysis to understand informants' views of seriousness and treatment options, and (2) a qualitative assessment of descriptive interviews about disease and affliction as well as depression and witchcraft. The results from this study show that within northern Malawi, the majority of laypeople treat what they see as the most serious diseases and afflictions within the Western biomedical system. Additionally, indicators such as wealth, education and sex did not have a significant effect on preferences for treatment. Distance from Western biomedical health faculties did show a significant difference in treatment choice. Results indicate that the majority of people treat major diseases such as HIV/AIDS and malaria within the Western biomedical system but traditional syndromes, and some illnesses that are thought to be in the realm of the supernatural, such as pneumonia and epilepsy, are treated within a traditional system.

Committee: Clement Jeffrey Jacobson PhD (Committee Chair); Jeremy Koster PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Cultural Anthropology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2012, EDU Teaching and Learning

Using discourse analysis methodology, this dissertation describes the literacy practices of first grade students as they engaged in researching, writing and illustrating nonfiction. The research focused on two instructional units on writing nonfiction that included a poster unit and a research report unit. The data consisted of 27 days of video recording, covering two periods of time during the 2009-2010 academic school year. This study generates grounded theoretical constructs about the nature of nonfiction writing as it is socially constructed through the interactions and language of first grade classroom participants. These constructs include: ways to conceptualize nonfiction writing for early elementary students; a conception of learning as a social and interactive process; and a model of pedagogy as a socially constructed process conducted through language-in-use. Key to this model are the ways in which the teacher guided acquisition of the cultural literacy practices through a complementary didactic/play process, the ways in which students came to understand and take up the identity of being a nonfiction writer and how the practices were recontextualized over time as students engaged in more academically sophisticated writing. I consider this work as adding to current research describing the social and cultural complexity of young children's lives in school, attending, in particular, to how children construct knowledge about different reading and writing practices and genres.

Committee: David Bloome Dr. (Committee Chair); Laurie Katz Dr. (Committee Member); Barbara Kiefer Dr. (Committee Member); Elaine Richardson Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Early Childhood Education

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2006, Educational Policy and Leadership

The accountability inherent in “No Child Left Behind” has resulted in a tendency for classroom teachers to default to transmission models of teaching and learning in which information is drilled in preparation for state proficiency tests. Transmission models of teaching and learning often lead to problems of disassociation of knowledge, meaning that students are not able to transfer or apply their knowledge outside of the classroom. Classroom resources such as computer software exacerbate this problem, as many of the currently available software programs are geared specifically towards aiding students in meeting proficiency standards, and the easiest way to implement such software is through the use of drill and practice, sequenced activities. Constructivist learning theory offers a learner-centered philosophy that has the potential to alleviate these issues of disassociated knowledge. I posit that by placing constructivism as the philosophy behind the design of computer software, it is possible to create classroom resources that aid students in meeting proficiency standards while avoiding problems of disassociated knowledge. I have devised and tested an instructional design model that foregrounds the tenets of constructivism towards the design of viable classroom software, within the boundaries of proficiency standards. Key to this model was the placement of teachers as Subject Matter Experts and the placement of students as experts of content delivery and interface design (which I call Design Expertise). This thesis explores one approach to applying this instructional design model in a public school setting. While ultimately successful in producing a program for a 6th grade science classroom, this study highlighted many potential barriers to the success of the model. These barriers include access to the students, time and other constraints that prevent teachers from participating as pedagogues in the design process, and the difficulties in guiding students through (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Richard Voithofer (Advisor) Subjects: Education, Technology

Master of Arts, Miami University, 2010, Speech Communication

There has not been a single study on the practice of public relations in Kenya despite the country attracting multinational corporations that are increasingly using public relations to build relationships with key publics. This pioneer quantitative study explores the public relations models that inform the practice of public relations in Kenya, the cultural values that influence such practice and the correlation between the public relations models and cultural values. Results show that two international models of public relations – personal influence and cultural interpreter – are the most used by practitioners in Kenya, while individualism and femininity are the most experienced cultural values in that order. Results of the correlation between the public relations models and cultural values show a strong positive relationship between the personal influence model and the femininity cultural value. This correlation points to the practitioners' strong desire for good interpersonal relationships with colleagues, supervisors, clients and key publics.

Committee: Dr. Marjorie Nadler PhD (Committee Chair); Dr. Gary Shulman PhD (Committee Member); Dr. Judith Weiner PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication

PHD, Kent State University, 2012, College of the Arts / School of Music, Hugh A. Glauser

Connections between music and Welshness derive primarily from a period of Welsh nationalism in the nineteenth century, which coincided with the development of community choirs, the standardization of music and literary competitions (eisteddfodau), and the creation of popular hymn singing sessions (cymanfoedd canu). For many, Welshness became bound with musicality, particularly choral music-making. These associations persist today on both sides of the Atlantic. For this dissertation, present-day musical signs of Welshness were observed during three years of ethnographic fieldwork. This research included qualitative and quantitative analyses of seventy-one interviews and one hundred and six questionnaires collected from Welsh singers and North American singers with Welsh identities. In this document, degrees of inclusiveness and exclusiveness of Welshness are discussed. As signs of Welshness, songs are also examined to reveal how and why singers of different ages reliably chose different song types. Drawing on theories from linguistics, anthropology, and cognitive science, this study reveals that the two most salient signs of Welshness today for singers in both Northwest Wales and North America are musicality and the Welsh language. Another focus of this work is how these signs are being reinterpreted. Among these reinterpretations are Male Voice Choirs in Northwest Wales currently functioning as domains for socializing. Other reinterpreted signs include various choir types in Northwest Wales incorporating choreography and a popular culture image and repertoire, and North Americans exhibiting a predilection for specifically religious Welsh music and musical activities. Throughout this dissertation, Welshness is presented as a cognitive model, a bundle of associations emerging from personal experience. This study examines how Welshness is affected by media, language legislation, age, gender, and temporal and geographic distance. Chapters I and II introduce theories an (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Kazadi wa Mukuna PhD (Advisor); Denise Seachrist PhD (Committee Member); Thomas Janson DMA (Committee Member); Richard Feinberg PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Cultural Anthropology; Music; Sociology

PHD, Kent State University, 2011, College of Education, Health and Human Services / School of Teaching, Learning and Curriculum Studies

Using narrative inquiry, the researcher examined how five public preschool teachers' understand and negotiate their professional identities within the context of a major metropolitan school district. Based on the premise that identities are socially constructed, individually understood, and negotiated within social spaces, the researcher examined participants' lived stories through the three dimensions of space: backward/ forwards, inward/outward, and situated in place (Clandinin and Connelly, 2000). These three dimensions provided insight into how participants have come to understand their professional identities throughout their life experiences and how they choose to author their identities in response to multiple constructs of what is professional. Findings from this narrative inquiry suggest that participants draw from their personal histories to understand the significance of relationships and knowledge to their professional work. Findings also suggest that how participants understood relationships and knowledge were often competing with the constructs promoted by the district through dominant discourses. As a response, participants enacted their own understandings of their professional identities by asserting acts of agency within their classrooms and within social spaces.

Committee: Martha Lash (Committee Co-Chair); Jennifer James (Committee Co-Chair); Janice Kroeger (Committee Member); Tricia Niesz (Committee Member) Subjects: Early Childhood Education; Teacher Education

Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2010, Anthropology

This research is directed at the repeated findings that minority populations suffer disproportionately from the burden of disease in our society, specifically in the development of disease, health outcomes, and access to care. Even as quality improves on specific measures, disparities often persist. A common reason cited for health inequalities is that the U.S. health care system, in its “one-size-fits-all” approach, is inadequate to meet the needs of minority patients. A proposed solution in biomedicine is cultural competence. This dissertation investigates how Anglo-American clinicians and Mexican immigrant patients communicate in a medical setting. Because of the popularity of cultural competence as a panacea to health inequalities, my research focused on the following questions: If the medical encounter provides the space for the intersection of cultural differences, how might patients and clinicians locate such differences, how are they talked about or negotiated between participants, and does there exist a set of strategies that clinicians can adopt to be “culturally competent?” Do cultural differences between patients and clinicians cause barriers to treatment? What other factors create barriers? How do patients communicate their treatment preferences, medical beliefs, and personal information? What is the role of medical interpreters? This research is based on 24 months of ethnographic research at the People's Clinic, a free clinic in a metropolitan area in Texas. I utilized participant observation and interviews as my primary methods for data collection; I observed 120 medical encounters and interviewed 30 patients after their encounter. This research expands the knowledge of the role of language, culture, and cultural difference in medical encounters. I examined how patients communicated information from their lifeworld, and whether “cultural” narratives provided by patients would cause barriers to treatment, as assumed by cultural competence models. In l (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Atwood Gaines (Committee Chair); Charlotte Ikels (Committee Member); Eileen Anderson-Fye (Committee Member); Joseph Sudano (Committee Member) Subjects: Cultural Anthropology; Health