Master of Arts (MA), Wright State University, 2025, International and Comparative Politics

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is the dominant force in contemporary Indian politics. It has swept past the founding and former dominant India National Congress (INC) party in maintaining control over the nation since 2014. That is with the primary exception of South India, where the BJP has failed to gain a significant foothold outside of the southern state of Karnataka. This thesis seeks to understand why the BJP has failed to appeal to the electorate and gain power in much of South India, at the state as well as federal levels. The thesis seeks to answer this question through the examination of the local, regional, state, and national parties. The thesis also examines macro-economic factors, demographic idiosyncrasies, and linguistic and cultural differences between the South of India and the rest of the country as possible explanatory variables to explain the BJP's continuing challenge.

Bachelor of Science of Journalism (BSJ), Ohio University, 2025, Journalism

The People's Republic of China (PRC) has been one of the most populated countries for years. In 1979, the PRC implemented a one-child policy to curb the country's population growth. Although there were some exceptions to the rule, many families lived with trying to make the policy work. In a country with strict laws, little tolerance for defiance, and a long-standing history of favoring sons over daughters, a surplus of baby girls were seen as less desirable for families to keep. As a result, more than 160,000 Chinese children were adopted by people all over the world with about 82,000 of those children adopted by families in the U.S. alone. Even though the one-child policy has affected many adoptees and families directly, many people, including citizens in the PRC and other diaspora Chinese, have not heard about or remember the initiative. Despite the political contexts of the PRC's history and cultural standards, this thesis details the effects of China's one-child policy on adopted Asian American women today, and how they continue their life story with intersecting identities.

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2025, Interdisciplinary Programs

During the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-45), there was a surge of news reporting in China, particularly by foreign-sponsored papers and pictorials. This thesis looks at one of the major publications in this time period, the United Pictorial (Lianhe huabao 聯合畫報) published in Chongqing from 1942-45. Specifically, it examines the appearance of urban, Nationalist Chinese women throughout the pictorial and how their depiction portrayed the expectations for women's roles during the war. These portrayals depict the intersection of the expectations of women's roles and Western influences during the wartime stages of modern China's national identity formation. A numerical study of the Internet Archive's collection of the United Pictorial will determine how many photographs portray Chinese women compared to foreign women and the physical appearance/dress of those women. The study will be utilized to discuss how the appearance of these women might not have influenced expectations — as visible in the pictorial — for the wartime “Republican Lady.” Most of the foreign women pictured in the pictorial appear to align with major ideals of Republican Ladies. They are portrayed as primarily contributing to the war effort indirectly in supportive roles and by spreading nationalism. This thesis argues that the imagery of foreign women combined with the small number of images of working Chinese women, suggests that the images of Western women did somewhat influence expectations for the “Republican Lady.” Overall, this thesis articulates that the expectations for the “Republican Lady” as portrayed in the pictorial are that she is to participate in the war effort, but that she should do so primarily supportive and indirect roles.

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2025, Interdisciplinary Programs

Literature is known to reveal not only the power and versatility of language but also the emotions, meanings, and social contexts intertwined within both the culture and the language. Literature highlights the author's insights and understanding of society by showcasing how language is performed in social contexts. Using a novella as a corpus, this thesis examines how the characters in Geling Yan's White Snake use language to construct their individual gender identities. In Standard Chinese, there are particles called sentence-final particles (SFPs) (句末语气助词) that are placed at the end of utterances to convey speaker's intentions, emotions, cognition, stance, and attitude to what is being said. At times, sentence-final particles contain grammatical functions while other times, they do not. For example, the sentence-final particle 呢 ne in truncated questions (你呢? Ni ne What about you?) has a grammatical function. Yet, in question word questions (WH-questions) (你为什么不去呢? Ni weishenme bu qu ne Why aren't you going?), sentence-final particle 呢 ne does not have a grammatical function. In recent studies, scholars have researched the social meanings of sentence-final particles have found that excessive use of sentence-final particles has been linked to the expression of ‘feminine speech.' In contrast, less use of sentence-final particles, among other factors, is attributed to masculine speech. In Geling Yan's 1999 novella White Snake (Baishe 白蛇), her two characters, Sun Likun and Xu Qunshan, use language and their bodies to construct their gender identity. Both Sun and Xu are born females, but Xu cross-dresses as a man and in doing so, utilizes stereotypical nuances of masculine language to be recognized and acknowledged as a powerful man. In contrast, Sun embodies the feminine ideal not only through her dancer body but through her playful language. To perform femininity, Sun implements many sentence-final particles into her speech whereas Xu Qunshan rarely uses s (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2025, East Asian Studies

This thesis explores how national identity frameworks in the Republic of Korea (ROK) and the United States (US) shape the legal, social, and symbolic inclusion of North Korean refugees, and how refugees navigate these structures to construct belonging in their everyday lives. Despite legal citizenship and presumed ethnic sameness, North Korean defectors in the ROK face persistent marginalization due to public stigma, institutional neglect, and symbolic exclusion, supporting the hypothesis that ethnic nationalism does not guarantee belonging. In contrast, US civic nationalism does not presume inclusion, but the ambiguity of North Korean identity within a racialized civic order enables limited but strategic pathways to community. Refugees construct belonging through legal interpretation, chosen family networks, and civic participation, confirming that civic nationalism can obscure and enable inclusion. Using a comparative, multi-method approach that combines theoretical analysis, policy and legal review, and ethnographic fieldwork, this study finds that identity is not inherited or legally bestowed but actively negotiated. The findings contribute to scholarship on nationalism, race, and migration by showing how belonging is shaped by racialized state structures and relational identity work. Ultimately, this research challenges dominant models of refugee integration and calls for more context-sensitive support systems that reflect the lived realities of marginalized migrants.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2025, East Asian Languages and Literatures

This study explores the effect of working memory (WM) on speech production in Japanese as a second language (L2). WM is a cognitive system that holds and manipulates information during different kinds of cognitive tasks including language learning (Baddeley 1986, 2000; Baddeley and Hitch 1974). It is argued that WM plays an important role in an individual's L2 speech production skills such as accuracy, complexity, and fluency (Fortkamp, 1999; Mota, 2003; Weisshemier and Mota, 2009, etc.). Since WM capacity (WMC) differs individually, it has been claimed that individuals with higher WMC tend to perform better than those with lower WMC. This is because learners with higher WMC can use their space more efficiently when speaking L2. Although speaking is an integral part of speech production, only a handful of empirical studies in L2 speech production concerning WM are reported (Fortkamp, 1999; Mota, 2003; Weisshemier and Mota, 2009; etc.). As for L2 Japanese, little research paid attention to the effect of WM and L2 speech production until very recently (i.e., Hattori and Nakayama, 2022; Hattori, 2023; etc.). Furthermore, findings are quite limited (e.g., the effect of WM on grammatical accuracy in L2 Japanese (Hattori and Nakayama, 2022). To better understand the mechanism of L2 speech production beyond accuracy, this dissertation reports the results of an experiment that investigated the effect of WMC on Japanese language learners' speech production, primarily focusing on their ability to produce complex structures. Thirty learners of Japanese and 28 native Japanese speakers participated in the experiment. The learners' levels of Japanese varied from intermediate to advanced, and they were enrolled in either third -, fourth -, or fifth-year Japanese language courses at the time of the experiment. Learners took a background questionnaire, vocabulary task, Japanese Language Proficiency Test (Itomitsu and Nakayama, 2005), Japanese Speaking Span Test (JSST, Hattori and N (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2025, Music

This dissertation explores how the punk music-culture scene in Japan is imagined and represented through print media, specifically the magazine Punk Rock Issue Bollocks, and in what ways this mediated form contributes and delimits the function of such representations. Print materials and commentaries often serve as references within music studies literature, but are rarely implicated in supporting the creation of the genre which they address. Punk music-culture is well-known for auto-descriptive practices in the form of zine and magazine commentaries written by and for community consumption. Drawing on the current longest running present-day Japanese punk magazine, Punk Rock Issue Bollocks, this project explores the punk “scene” brought to life in Japan to demonstrate how print materials play a vital role in arbitrating the subjective definition of a scene. These materials can offer distinct processual viewpoints onto communities of practice as they develop even when distanced from a physical site of enactment such as the circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to the material focus of this dissertation in the first place. In conversation with writing on music and community from ethnomusicological, musicological, folkloristic, and punk studies literature, this dissertation closely surveys the 16 volumes of Bollocks (20% of the total) released over a two-and-a-half-year period between January 2020 and July 2022. That data is emplaced alongside larger trends throughout. Chapter 2 deeply explores relevant literature relating from the standpoint of music studies of Japan, Japanese writing on punk, and punk studies writing on Japan. Chapter 3 presents a developmental trajectory of music magazine writing from which Bollocks derives. Chapter 4 offers a close reading of the formal features of Bollocks and theorizes how it acts to “enliven” a defined portion of the punk scene. Chapter 5 comprises four case studies, each addressing entanglements of Bollocks' for (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2024, EDU Teaching and Learning

To address the language shift and potential loss of ethnic languages and regional dialects in China, and to explore the dynamics of multilingualism among ethnic minority students in rural areas, this ethnographic study examined the language use, functions, and ideologies of two Miao students and two Dong students attending a suburban boarding middle school in Jinping County, Guizhou Province. These students, known as Liushou Ertong, live with grandparents and siblings in villages while their parents work in large coastal cities for better job opportunities and higher incomes. The students possess rich linguistic repertoires, being able to speak Putonghua (Mandarin, the medium of instruction at school), Jinpinghua (the regional Han Chinese dialect), Miao or Dong (their ethnic languages), and English (an important subject at school) with varying proficiency. Given the importance of school interactions in shaping the students' multilingualism, the study investigated their language use and functions at school, as well as their language ideologies toward Putonghua, Jinpinghua, Miao, Dong, and English. Based on participant observations over six months, three rounds of individual interviews, and collected written, painted, and electronic artifacts over two years, the study found the following: (A) The four students predominantly used Putonghua in both formal and informal settings at school, sometimes using Jinpinghua. Ethnic languages were only used informally within small co-ethnic groups, and English was seldom used outside of English class. In addition, the two Dong students occasionally helped their Dong history teacher, Mr. W, by translating his expressions from the Dong language to Putonghua for their classmates. Another noteworthy observation is that the Dong students, despite having limited exposure to Jinpinghua prior to attending middle school, gradually acquired this dialect through interactions with their peers. (B) The students used language varieties oth (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2024, East Asian Languages and Literatures

This dissertation aims to shed light on why literati and scholar-officials developed an increased interest in theater from the mid-sixteenth century onward (aka, the late Ming dynasty). A substantial body of scholarship has examined late Ming literati's embrace of playwriting, but further research is needed to delineate the cultural mechanics of this “theatrical turn.” In this dissertation, I will approach this process through the lens of cross-genre interactions. Specifically, I will explore in what ways theater came to inform other cultural practices in everyday literati life, and vice versa. Examining the life writings of three late Ming literati, who were active during the Wanli reign (r. 1573-1620), this study shows how they employed different rhetoric, performative, and perceptual aspects of theatricality to innovate other existing literary forms. While being part of a highly interactive community of theater aficionados, they each chose a distinct literary genre other than theater as their primary medium to recall and record their theatrical experiences. The core analysis of this study centers around the multidirectional generic interplay between theater and the three literary genres they chose to write in respectively: poetry, diary, and preface. The chapters focus on how different aspects of theatricality informed traditional genres through the lenses of the construction of multiple points-of-view, the perception of time, and the presentation of bodily experience. At the same time, I examine these heterogenous genres as different forms of “life writing” to foreground how literati writers' were remarkably attentive to everyday life. My analysis reveals theater's impact on literati's literary responses to their everyday lives by way of innovative generic interplay. I do not treat “genre” as a static category, but as a malleable expressive vehicle that was transformed in the very process of being adapted to the new subject of theater. Moreover, adopting (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2024, East Asian Languages and Literatures

Abstract: Language and music are integral to human cognition and emotion, distinguishing our species. Despite the pervasive presence of music, its pedagogical value in the field of Chinese as a Foreign Language (CFL) remains underexplored. This dissertation explores the potential of music in Chinese language pedagogy by addressing two key research questions: (1) Why must foreign language learning extend beyond the cognitive to integrate both cognitive and emotive aspects? Or, why is creating shared experiences essential for learning to communicate with and participate in another culture? (2) How can music facilitate the integration of cognitive and emotive aspects, leading to the creation of shared experiences? Grounded in an extensive literature review of the evolutionary trajectories, neurobiological and physiological features, and semiotic systematicity of language and music, this study advocates for the integration of music and all related activities—collectively termed “musicking”—into the CFL curriculum via the Performed Culture Approach (PCA) framework. This integration is crucial and timely, facilitating the creation of shared experiences that link cognitive and emotive aspects of learning. Moreover, this integration enhances interpersonal and intercultural communication and fosters a deeper level of intercultural awareness, understanding, and recognition. This study comprises five chapters. Chapter One delves into the evolutionary history of music and language, comparing their communicative functions. Chapter Two examines the physiological underpinnings of music's key mechanisms and features, such as entrainment, embodiment, and emotions. Chapter Three analyzes the semiotic function of music, emphasizing its role in social contexts and its parallels with language throughout evolutionary history. Chapter Four addresses the necessity of incorporating music into the PCA within contemporary CFL education. Chapter Five, titled “Chinese Songs as (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2024, Media and Communication

While scholars from a wide range of disciplines have analyzed thematic development, iconography, narrative, characterization, and animation style of Japanese anime, the music of anime programs is largely ignored or trivialized. This dissertation fills the gap in critical intercultural communication and media studies research by examining original anime soundtracks and their roles as narrative devices. Anime is explored as a site of global cultural resistance, while maintaining articulations of gender and cultural ideals in their stories and reflected in the lyrics of their theme songs. Employing critical intercultural communication, critical media studies, Affect Theory, with textual analysis and rhetorical criticism, this dissertation analyzes how music is intrinsic to the narrative and an expression of cultural values in anime. Analysis focuses on Hibike! Euphonium (2015-present) by Tatsuya Ishihara and Naoko Yamada, from the studio of Kyoto Animation, a slice-of-life drama involving the coming-of-age stories of high schoolers in a competitive concert band, and Vivi -Furoraito Aizu Songu- (2021) by Tappei Nagatsuki and Eiji Umehara, produced by Wit Studio, which follows an autonomous Artificial Intelligence (AI) programmed to entertain humans with her voice, and who discovers her humanity through music while trying to save the world from destruction. Each anime illustrates how musical scores, lyrics, and instrumentation are incorporated into narratives of gender, agency, culture, and humanity. The dissertation also analyzes compositional style, structure, instrumentation, and lyrics encoded with hegemonic messages and constructions of gendered, raced, and cultural distinctions. It provides a critical analysis of how music is used as a narrative tool in media and communication studies involving anime and how the rhetorical messages encoded in texts, via lyrics and instrumentation, are forms of intercultural communication of Japanese anime viewed by a Western aud (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2024, American Culture Studies

The study focuses on the shifting socioeconomic and cultural practices of street vending in Solo City, Indonesia, in response to structuring the global economy and culture. The dissertation seeks to answer the research questions: (1) How did street vending socioeconomic and cultural practices shift in Solo City from the 1980s to the early 2020s? (2) How has the changing cultural landscape of Solo City changed from the 1980s to the early 2020s concerning street vending? (3) How does American global cultural influence affect Solo City's spatiotemporal cultural landscape from the 1980s to the early 2020s? (4) How does Solo City negotiate with American global cultural influence in everyday-life cultural street vending practices from the 1980s to the early 2020s? I employ Burawoy's extended case method in this qualitative transnational American studies project by immersing myself into the field to delve within the context of the study and collect primary data from fieldwork—field observation and interviews—and personal narratives. The secondary data are artifacts, such as historical archives, statistical data, regulations, spatial mapping, news, social media posts, and so on, concerning street vending in Solo over time. I view the diffusion process of the global norm as friction (Tsing, 2005) between aspirations within global connections. Therefore, the study critically examines stories of the continuous reproduction of habitus (Bourdieu, 2013) as represented by shifting practices of sociocultural and political-economic activities committed by stakeholders and actors in street vending in Solo. The findings demonstrate that street vending socioeconomic and cultural practices in Solo City persist despite the shifting values affected by the modern capitalist economy. Street vendors constantly negotiate with local, national, and global structuring in such spatiotemporal politics, whether through formalization or strategizing the spatiotemporal gaps of left-over space and tem (open full item for complete abstract)

Bachelor of Arts (BA), Ohio University, 2024, Music

This thesis and professional project aims to showcase the value of Japanese-composed trombone repertoire to American classical music, a field that is currently dominated by works composed in Europe and the United States. The professional project includes a series of three professionally produced videos of selected repertoire and a digital catalog of Japanese-composed pieces. The videos provide a public platform for this genre and target an American audience. The research sheds light on the cultural and musical nuances of Japanese classical repertoire and showcases works that diverge from traditional Western compositions while embodying Japan's deep cultural heritage and modernization. The chosen repertoire includes compositions by Megumi Kanda, Utako Yuza, and Keiko Takashima. These works highlight the unique elements of Japanese classical music. The objective of this thesis is to increase visibility and accessibility to Japanese-composed works and to ultimately increase their study and performance by American trombonists. The research narrative explores the context of classical music education in the United States and the development of classical music in Japan. The lack of diversity of repertoire in American higher education and the barriers to accessing Japanese classical music repertoire is also highlighted. Expanding the curriculum to include Japanese classical music would introduce new musical elements and cultural diversity. By promoting inclusivity and diversity within the classical music community, this thesis advocates for a broader understanding of musical traditions and encourages trombonists to embrace a more international perspective in their repertoire selection and performance.

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2024, East Asian Languages and Literatures

Taiwan is known for having some of the most advanced LGBT rights and vibrant LGBT culture in East Asia. Communities of queer women, from the birth of T-po bar culture in the 1960s to the feminist movements of the 1990s to the present day, have played a key role in the development of LGBT Taiwan. This thesis examines the language use of queer women in contemporary Taiwan, examining how they use labels to construct individual and group identity and the beliefs they hold about queer women's language use. This thesis surveyed 84 queer women from across Taiwan. Though labels such as tongxinglian “homosexual” and tongzhi “comrade” were used by a large proportion of respondents, no single label emerged as a unifying umbrella for queer women's identities. Respondents were generally ambivalent towards labels: follow-up interviews with seven survey respondents revealed that participants used labels in their own speech, but did not report using them to refer to themselves when not directly asked. Some participants associated label usage with queer people who identified more actively with their sexual orientations and engaged to a greater extent with the LGBT community. All interview participants reported revealing their sexual orientations to some people in their lives, though not all reported directly coming out. Participants instead utilized strategies of directness and indirectness and decided strategically whether and to what extent to identify themselves with the queer community when expressing their sexual orientations. The survey also revealed weaker stereotypes about queer women's language than men's: though some respondents believed queer women to speak in a more masculine way and have differences in tone and intonation, respondents generally relied on a shared cultural lexicon to identify other queer women.

Doctor of Musical Arts, The Ohio State University, 2024, Music

Legato is essential to Western classical singing, in as much as this singing is centered on the sonority and rhythm of words and the demonstration of a cultivated, sustained vocalism. Some Chinese regional dialects retain phonation characteristics from ancient Chinese dialects, which can significantly improve legato and sound quality in singing. The musical appreciation of ancient Chinese poetry – commonly used in modern Chinese art song – is made difficult by the seemingly stark contrast between ancient and modern Chinese spoken language. The present study takes advantage of a wide range of disciplines, including Chinese literature, linguistics, musicology, voice science, and physiology, to explore the value of ancient dialect as an integral aspect of performance practice in modern Chinese art song, and as a tool to assist with the physical demands of singing including the particular difficulties of legato. A comparative analysis will delve into the phonology of ancient Chinese poetry, exploring the character of Mandarin, ancient, and regional dialects, and examining the differences between modern and ancient Chinese words, with a focus on pronunciation. The study of ancient language helps to address the challenge of non-legato singing in Mandarin by identifying new possibilities in both composition and interpretation of art song, as will be discussed in relation to two songs: “Song of the Yue Boatman” and “Night Mooring at Maple Bridge.” In so doing, this comparison aims to uncover potential folk and regional influences for future development of Chinese art songs.

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2024, East Asian Studies

Japan's culture is often oversimplified into east and west. In the east is the Kanto region, home of Tokyo, the sprawling megacity of the future and a symbolic center for modern Japanese national identity. In the western Kansai region is Kyoto, the ancient, cultural capital and cradle for Japanese civilization. Yet, a third, lesser recognized urban space is situated geographically and symbolically between the Kanto and Kansai regions. The Chukyo Metropolitan Area, centered on the city of Nagoya in western Aichi prefecture, is home to over 10 million Japanese, the third largest metropolitan area in Japan, known as the "middle capital" since the Meiji Period (1868-1912). With the rise of a modern and urban Japanese nation-state, Nagoya's political and economic institutions faced unique challenges in positioning the city as a nationally and internationally significant place with discrete regional culture. This thesis argues that in order to create an independent urban identity in opposition to Tokyo's prescribed national culture, or an east-west binary, modern Nagoya's branding insists upon a connection to historic symbols of perceived local heritage, specifically Nagoya Castle and the kinshachi. In addition to utilizing these symbols, Nagoya's tourism industry calls upon perceived rituals of the past, like dialect and cuisine, to brand tradition as modernity and market the city as a unique cultural destination.

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2024, East Asian Languages and Literatures

This thesis argues for the training of volunteer instructors working in Japanese language and culture classrooms across Japan to become able use a performance-based pedagogical approach with the aim of improving the overall linguistic and cultural competency of foreign-born residents living in Japan in the interest of having them become full and equal participant members of their local communities. The pedagogical approach supported in this thesis seeks to directly connect the methods being practiced in Japanese language and culture classrooms in local communities to the ultimate aims of helping foreign-born residents become participant members of their communities as stated by the Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC), among others (MIC, 2020; Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), 2023; Agency for Cultural Affairs (ACA), 2019). To accomplish this, this thesis will offer a model for a specific training workshop in which volunteer instructors can be introduced to and given example models of a performance-based approach to acquiring linguistic and cultural competency based off of the Performed-Culture Approach (PCA) (Walker & Noda, 2000), and in which volunteer instructors can be given opportunities to practice participating in performance-based lessons themselves, gaining first-hand experience and receiving detailed feedback from a presenter experienced in this pedagogical approach. The performance-based pedagogical approach proposed here aims specifically to address the underlying cultural and social assumptions of the learner and aims to afford interactional opportunities between the learners and instructors, which is understood to be necessary for their socialization into the local ways of behaving and communicating. Through lessons based around identifying the underlying elements of context (see Appendix A) that inform proficient speakers in combination with active emulation of video models, volunteer inst (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Psychology (Psy.D.), Xavier University, 2024, Psychology

Asian American men may have body image concerns related to masculinity expectations, attraction ideals, negative body image, and drive for Western masculinity (Liao et al., 2020). Adherence to masculine norms may be rooted in expectations, cultural norms, and gender roles emphasized in Asian households (Ai et al., 2021; Chang & Subramaniam, 2008; Kramer et al., 2002; Lipson et al., 1996; Liu & Iwamoto, 2006). The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships between conformity to Western masculinity norms, body dissatisfaction, and depression among Asian and Asian American men. Data were collected from 150 Asian and Asian-American men living in the United States (M age = 32.03 years, SD = 9.40; range = 18 to 64 years). Participants identified their ethnic background as Chinese (28.7%), followed by Korean (14.0%), Vietnamese (13.3%), Indian (12.7%), Filipino (12.0%), Multiethnic (8.7%), Japanese (4.0%), Other (4.0%), Bangladeshi (2.0%), and Lao (0.7%). Results indicated that conformity to the Winning and Violence masculinity norms were not significantly correlated with depression, whereas conformity to the Playboy and Self-Reliance masculinity norms were significantly positively correlated with depression. Despite winning masculine norm conformity not being related to depression, the results of this study indicated that male body dissatisfaction mediated the relationship between Winning masculine norm conformity and depression. Potential explanations and implications of this study are discussed, and directions for future research are presented.

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2024, History of Art

James Clifford's Art-Culture System, first published in 1988, establishes a clear differentiation between “tourist art,” and artworks worthy of the museum through a semiotic square of authenticity and multiplicity. Through this system, Clifford delineates the criteria by which Western art historians, critics, and curators ascribe value to different kinds of objects. This thesis deploys Clifford's Art-Culture System as a framework for examining the work of Ainu artists trained in tourist villages whose oeuvres oscillate between the categories of “tourist art” and “fine art” in a way that problematizes clear distinctions between the two. Of particular interest are Bikky Sunazawa (1931-1989) and Fujito Takeki (1934-2018), both woodcarvers raised in Asahikawa who began working in the tourist industry to support their families at young ages. However, while both artists challenge the categories of Clifford's system, they do so in markedly different ways: Bikky produced modernist sculptures for museum exhibition that were devoid of overtly Ainu symbology alongside smaller carvings for the tourist industry, while Fujito remained devoted to the basic practices of Ainu tourist woodcarving throughout his life but has risen to prominence in the broader Japanese art world because of the unique ways in which he has elevated particular motifs, most notably that of the bear. By using these two artists to problematize reflexive categorization of artworks along a hierarchal scale—with “tourist art” at the bottom and “fine art” at the top—this thesis will advocate for new ways of thinking about the Ainu tourist village as a place of legitimate, culturally-specific education for Ainu themselves rather than as a mere ludic space for the enjoyment of outsiders.

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2023, East Asian Languages and Literatures

Travel methods are always evolving to become faster, more efficient and user friendly. 2007 was the year that Taiwan entered their own ‘Era of High-Speed' with the opening of the High-Speed Rail line stretching from Taipei to Kaohsiung, shortening the commute from four to just two hours. This new transportation method allowed travelers an efficient mode of travel that can be used for business or pleasure. This paper assesses riders' satisfaction with Taiwan's HSR system, and highlights comparison with other forms of travel. Participants completed a survey detailing aspects of the HSR system and how big of a role it plays in their daily lives. A total of 74 surveys were collected, out of the participants, 69 are Taiwanese and 5 are from countries outside of Taiwan, including China, Japan, Indonesia, New Zealand and the Netherlands. In summary, participants see the system as a useful transportation option though more often opt for other forms of self-managed travel like motorcycles and cars and choose HSR when selecting from a range of public transportation options. On average, participants ride the HSR from 1 to 12 times a year. Expense plays a major role in choosing transportation and the HSR is not the cheapest form of travel in Taiwan, especially in the context of short-distance travel. Though minimal, having access to the HSR system has a positive impact on participants' lives. When asked how they would prefer to travel for long distance, such as from the north to the south of the island, they choose the HSR. 人們的旅行方式總是在不斷地在發展著，變得更快、更效率、更方便。2007年，臺灣開啓了“高速時代”。臺灣高鐵運營之後，乘客從臺北市到高雄市的乘坐時長只需要兩個小時左右，比之前的時長減少了兩個小時。這種新型有效的運輸方式大大地便利了乘客的商務或休閑旅行。爲了深入認識與瞭解臺灣高鐵對人民生活所產生的影響，本論文設計了一份重點關注乘客體驗與感受的關於臺灣高鐵的問卷調查。從所回收的74份調查問卷來看，參與者普遍認爲臺灣高鐵有實用價值。然而，令人感到好奇的是，參與問卷調查的人的出行方式仍然偏向個人主動掌握的自駕汽車或者機車，只是在使用公共交通作長途旅行時高鐵成爲首選。據統計，參與問卷的本地人總共69位，平均每年乘坐高鐵的次數最多達到12次，最少也有1次。乘坐高鐵的費用是影響人們是否選擇乘坐的主要原因之一，這是因爲臺灣高鐵的票價并不便宜。特別是短途旅行，乘坐高鐵并不是最經濟實惠的交通方式。不過就長途旅行而言，高鐵的優勢就吸引了大部分人。參與問卷的外來旅行者總共5位，來自中國大陸、日本、印尼、紐西蘭與荷蘭。不過，是否 (open full item for complete abstract)