Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, 2020, English

Bodies of Knowledge promotes the investigation of dance literature, or texts that emphasize dance choreography, cultural origins of dance forms, and the development of a kinesthetic sense of self. In particular, I look at how Latina writers embrace dance as a way of negotiating and expanding experiences of cultural difference. To do so I use the term "embodied knowledge" - developed from dance studies scholars like Didre Sklar and Susan Leigh Foster (among others) - to identify the way bodily practices inform social identities. I expand upon this term by arguing that it is part of a process of becoming wherein a dancer's somatic awareness also informs her gender, sexuality, and cultural belonging. I align this term with Latina writers like Cherrie Moraga and Gloria Anzaldua, who argue that the racialized body is a site of transformation through the imagination. Through the literary representations of dancing Latina bodies, I contend language is a vital component of the embodied knowledge of dance because it activates what Joseph Roach calls the kinesthetic imagination. I argue the narratives in this dissertation initiate embodied knowledge through the kinesthetic imagination which results in complex representations of Latinas. I focus on dance literature written in the transition between the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. During this period, Latina authors presented narratives where protagonists began to make choices independent of either Latin American or United States cultures. The first-person narratives in this dissertation emphasize the crucial role the body plays in both learning how to dance and learning how to navigate cultural contexts as Latinas, in all various iterations, because of this attention to embodiment. The texts - Esmeralda Santiago's memoirs, When I Was Puerto Rican (1993), Almost a Woman (1998), and The Turkish Lover (2004), Alma Guillermoprieto's memoir, Dancing with Cuba (2004), Ana Castillo's novel Peel My Love Like an Onion (1999 (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Andrew Hebard (Advisor); Katie Johnson (Committee Member); Tim Melley (Committee Member); Elena Albarrán (Committee Member) Subjects: Dance; Literature; Performing Arts

PHD, Kent State University, 2017, College of Education, Health and Human Services / School of Teaching, Learning and Curriculum Studies

The purpose of this qualitative practitioner research study was to describe middle school algebra students' experiences of learning linear functions through kinesthetic movement. Participants were comprised of 8th grade algebra students. Practitioner research was used because I wanted to improve my teaching so students will have more success in learning mathematics. Since this research focused on the mental constructions made by students as they attempted to make sense of mathematics kinesthetically, it is grounded in the philosophical tenants of constructivism (Piaget & Vygotsky), math representation theory, and kinesthetic movement. This study utilized multiple data sources which included pre-and post-teacher-made assessments with state standardized problems, audio and video transcriptions of class, small group activities, individual discussions, learning style inventory, and attitude survey on kinesthetic learning. Data was collected and analyzed through triangulation. The results of this study have important curricular implications for math educators to understand how students can learn through kinesthetic movements. Educators can support their students learning by incorporating movement into their classrooms. Recommendations for future research based on unanticipated findings are suggested.

Committee: Caniglia Joanne Dr. (Advisor); Turner Steven Dr. (Committee Member); Martens Marianne Dr. (Committee Member); Gershon Walter Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Mathematics Education; Middle School Education

Master of Science, Miami University, 2019, Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering

Realistic haptic feedback is necessary to provide meaningful touch information to users of numerous technologies, such as virtual reality, mobile devices and robotics. For a device to convey realistic haptic feedback, two touch sensations must be present: tactile feedback and kinesthetic feedback. Tactile feedback is felt at the surface of one's skin and displays textures and vibrations, whereas kinesthetic feedback is felt in one's joints and muscles and transmits position and movement information. While many devices today display tactile feedback through vibrations, most neglect to incorporate kinesthetic feedback due to size constraints. To provide comprehensive feedback, this study investigates a new haptic device based on an unconventional actuation method: electrorheological (ER) fluid, a smart fluid with tunable yield stress under the application of electric field. The device's control electronics and structural components are integrated into a compact printed circuit board, resulting in a slim device suitable for mobile applications. By controlling the ER fluid flow via applied electric fields, the device can generate a wide and distinct range of both tactile and kinesthetic sensations. These sensations were derived analytically from ER fluid's governing equations as well as experimentally. The device may be used as a haptic interface between a user and virtual environment.

Committee: Jeong-Hoi Koo Ph.D. (Advisor); Tae-Heon Yang Ph.D. (Committee Member); Michael Bailey Van Kuren Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Computer Engineering; Materials Science; Mechanical Engineering

DMA, University of Cincinnati, 2014, College-Conservatory of Music: Violoncello

This document on cello pedagogy and playing focuses on the importance of the kinesthetic sense as it relates to teaching and performance quality. William Conable, creator of body mapping, has described how the kinesthetic sense or movement sense provides information about the body's position and size, and whether the body is moving and, if so, where and how. In addition Craig Williamson, pioneer of Somatic Integration, claims that the kinesthetic sense enables one to sense what the body is doing at any time, including muscular effort, tension, relaxation, balance, spatial orientation, distance, and proportion. Cellists can develop and awaken the kinesthetic sense in order to have conscious body awareness, and to understand that cello playing is a physical, aerobic, intellectual, and musical activity. This document describes the physical, motion, aerobic, anatomic, and kinesthetic approach to cello playing and is supported by somatic education methods, such as the Alexander Technique, Feldenkrais Method, and Yoga. By applying body awareness and kinesthesia in cello playing, cellists can have freedom, balance, ease in their movements, and an intelligent way of playing and performing.

Committee: Lee Fiser (Committee Chair); David Adams M.M. (Committee Member); bruce mcclung Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Performing Arts

MARCH, University of Cincinnati, 2011, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture

The process of designing with scrap materials presents opportunities for improvisation and play, something that has become lost in contemporary building culture. There are obvious benefits to standardized building products, but there is a lack of material engagement in the process. A marked benefit of recycling scraps is that as a strategy for design it increases the engagement of the designer with these materials, because they must be dealt with on their own terms. The kinds of material scraps that have no steward and that are so problematic because of their awkward state of in-between-ness are the most compelling, because they are rife with potential and there is nothing to lose, and so much to gain, in taking them in and allowing their strange beauty to lead the way. A material palette based upon beautifully problematic scraps must therefore also include the inordinate number of vacant buildings that litter the urban fabric. The re-imagining of these scraps will form the basis of an architectural design process developed from a kinesthetic and dialogical engagement with these materials. A process of designing that exalts idiosyncrasies and simple processes of fabrication will be used to show off the unexpected agility and vitality of materials that were once considered trash. The result is an architecture that has grown out of a dialogical process and is therefore more grounded, and more accessible to the user.

Committee: George Bible MCiv.Eng (Committee Chair); Aarati Kanekar PhD (Committee Chair) Subjects: Architecture

PHD, Kent State University, 2012, College of Education, Health and Human Services / School of Teaching, Learning and Curriculum Studies

The purpose of this case study was to examine the interactions between parents and children as they participated in weekly tutoring sessions to develop phonemic awareness (PA) with the use of kinesthetic motions for the phoneme (KMP). The study examined how the parents extended the learning and explored the changes in their literacy understandings. In addition, it documented the children's growth in PA. The four major sources of data of the study were: field notes constructed from recordings of the tutoring sessions and dyads reading a poem at the beginning and end of the study; parental logs; interviews; and literacy measures of the children. The study chronicled the change in the parents as they developed the ability to teach PA. The parent-child interactions demonstrated the parents acted as effective tutors. They scaffolded attending to sound with KMPs and developed the following understandings through the use of poetry: to direct their children to attend to print nonverbally by pointing and verbally with the use of specific language for directionality, letters and punctuation. The children developed PA, as evidenced in their use of KMPs outside of the sessions, in their identification of letter sounds and ability to encode phonemes. The parents' guidance of the children to text resulted in growth in concepts about print. The implications of the study include the need to incorporate concrete markers,such as the KMP, with preschoolers in PA activities, the need to teach parents to scaffold interaction with text through pointing, and the need to seriously consider engaging parents in academic tutoring.

Committee: Timothy Rasinski (Committee Co-Chair); Belinda Zimmerman (Committee Co-Chair); Tricia Niesz (Committee Member) Subjects: Early Childhood Education; Education; Elementary Education; Literacy; Reading Instruction

Master of Arts in Education, Defiance College, 2009, Education

Sixteen preschool children enrolled in a preschool participated in this study. The purpose of this study was to determine if using kinesthetic learning in a preschool classroom would result in students' correctly identifying geometric shapes. The application of kinesthetic learning activities for the acquisition of these skills were made through the use of a geometric shape intervention. Data was collected using a geometric flashcard assessment and a student checklist. The data suggested that student ability to identify geometric shapes increased.

Committee: Fred Coulter (Advisor); Jo Ann Burkhardt (Committee Member) Subjects: Preschool Education