thesis

Since her creation in 1941, cultural critics have cited Wonder Woman as an emblem of femininity. In 1972, the American mainstream feminist movement--through Ms. magazine--officially accepted the character as a representation of feminism. When writers at Ms. criticized changes in the character, in which she abandoned her costume and superpowers, they neglected to consider Wonder Woman's history as American World War II propaganda. In doing so, they allowed the re-vamped 1973 version of the character, and her subsequent incarnations, to ignore the duality of her existence as both a feminist icon and a reinforcement of dominant American ideologies.

In 1919, the Soviet filmmaker Dziga Vertov declared a "death sentence" on fictional films. Vertov championed his own unique method of non-fiction filmmaking, called Kino-Eye, which is based on Vertov's ideas regarding truth in cinema. Although he does not write specifically about Vertov or film, the philosopher Nelson Goodman offers a contrasting view of truth in general. By comparing the Kino-Eye method to Goodman's philosophy, we can better understand Vertov's radical ideas and see more clearly how the concept of cinematic truth has changed over time.

Within the last several years there has been a movement, ostensible spear-headed by pro-gun lobbyists, to remove the "duty to retreat" requirement placed on individuals confronted with deadly threats. Florida first passed stand-your-ground legislation in 2005, and has since been followed by at least 12 other states. Policy advocates claim that such a legal change should decrease crime, as a crime victims will no longer be legally encumbered by the duty to retreat. This study examines the reason why states adopted such legislation and the relationship between this legislation and crime. I find that stand-your-ground legislation is associated primarily with southern states and republican governors, and that such legislation does not significantly affect either violent crime or property crime rates in large U.S. cities.

Invasive ant species often show unicoloniality, forming networks of connected colonies (i.e. supercolonies), which may extend hundreds or even thousands of kilometers. These "supercolonies" lack intraspecific aggression, thus fighting between colonies is absent. Unicoloniality may be an adaptive mechanism that allows for invasive ant species to reach higher population density and achieve ecological dominance. We used aggression assays to study unicoloniality within and between colonies of the invasive brown rover ant, Brachymyrmex obscurior on the Florida Atlantic University campus in Jupiter, FL. We found that the four B. obscurior colonies could be behaviorally divided into two areas: workers from both colonies in either region never showed intraspecific aggression while workers from colonies in opposing areas always showed intraspecific aggression, often fighting to the death. Thus, B. obscurior appears to show very localized unicoloniality, with neighboring colonies forming small supercolonies.

Sorites dominicensis is a common epiphytic foraminifera living throughout the Carribean and South Florida, and is commonly found living on turtle grass, Thalassia Testudinum. S. dominicensis plays host to algal symbionts related to those found in coral. Estimates for the numbers in these symbiotic populations are few, of limited scale, and vary widely. In this thesis we performed a large scale survey of the populations of algal symbionts living within the S. dominicensis population of Jupiter Sound. We then used this data to propose a linear model for the relationship between foraminiferal size and endosymbiont population, and to suggest explanations for the variability seen in the Jupiter Sound population.

My project "How Green is the Mouse?" analyses the ways in which the Disney Company utilizes various green marketing strategies in an effort to appeal to the growing number of eco-conscious consumers. My study examines different strategies of green marketing and evaluates the use of these strategies in relation to discussions of the "greenwash" concept. Examples of such strategies include green selling, when a company continues to manufacture a pre-existing product with changes only in marketing and not policy or output, and green partnerships, when a company undertakes a more eco-friendly appearance simply by collaborating with a well-known environmental organization. In this study, I investigate the various methods of green marketing utilized throughout the parks and other attraction areas of Walt Disney World, located near Orlando, Florida.

Researchers sometimes classify religious organizations as rational actors, arguing that religious organizations attempt to minimize costs and maximize membership. Anthony Gill and Erik Lundsgaarde use the rational actor model to explain organized religion's diminished competitiveness and the correlated increase in secularity against governments with high social welfare programs. They conclude that government welfare programs contribute to increased secularity. Survey data indicates that Chile, Cuba, and Uruguay have significantly higher proportions of secularity relative to the rest of the region. This thesis tests the hypothesis that increased secularity in Chile, Cuba, and Uruguay is caused not only by Gill and Lundsgaarde's social welfare hypothesis, but also by the historical presence of far left parties in these nations. The ideologies of longstanding far left parties are often anti-religious and may contribute to increased secularity, suggesting that leftist parties may be a predictor of increased secularity in a country. Welfare, as times passes, becomes a stronger predictor of decreased religious behavior.

In my thesis I look at three novels by Don DeLillo: Americana, Mao II, and Falling Man. These three novels, published in 1971, 1991, and 2007 respectively, represent the full range of DeLillo's body of work, and demonstrate a clear progression of the major themes in his writings. Each of these novels presents a protagonist who is on a journey of self-discovery, effectively seeking what many critics have identified as an outdated form of self--a Modernist notion of self. The problematic nature of identity in these novels is exacerbated by changes in representation and warfare, particularly the perceived loss of originality and the rise of terrorism. Thus, I not only trace the continuation of the search for self in these novels, but also DeLillo's inclusion of terrorism in the novel. The changes in warfare give rise to an anxiety that further complicates the search for self in America.

The primary objective of this research was to investigate the effects of passive exposure to actual media primes on several measures of attitudes. Participants rated the aesthetic properties of a series of Time magazine covers prior to completing measures of ambivalent sexism, narcissism, system justification, and personality traits. Ambivalent Sexism (AS) includes two positively correlated components, benevolent sexism and hostile sexism. System Justification may be defined as a motivated investment in the status-quo and includes both gender-specific and diffuse forms. Participants exposed to the AS prime scored higher on Ambivalent Sexism, lower on Narcissism, and lower on several facets of the five factor model of personality. Exposure to this condition was unrelated to measures of System Justification. The research is grounded in a feminist theoretical framework and contributes to the limited pool of experimental knowledge concerning the relationship between ambivalent sexism, system justification, narcissism and personality traits.

Upper Respiratory Tract Disease (URTD) is a highly contagious illness, caused by the bacterium Mycoplasma agassazii. URTD has affected the gopher tortoise population in the Abacoa Greenway, and is believed to have a high mortality rate. In this study, 18 samples of tortoise blood were collected from this location. Fifteen of the 18 samples were collected from previously tested individuals. Comparisons between the previously tested tortoises were made. According to this study there is no documented mortality rate with URTD in Abacoa. Results show that four tortoises have continued to test positive for the antibodies for several years, suggesting a chronic state of the disease. Four other tortoises have gone from positive results to negative results indicating that their immune systems' production of antibodies has tapered off, suggesting the ability to recover from the disease.