Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Living Theatre, New York'

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 2009.
Advisor: William Cloonan, Florida State University, College of Arts and Sciences, Dept. of Interdisciplinary Humanities. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed on Nov. 19, 2009). Document formatted into pages; contains vii, 98 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

Although living in the city can provide many benefits, it also provides many issues as well. Housing costs are constantly increasing, both physical and mental spaces are sacrificed, and our innate connection to nature is severed. These produce profoundly damaging effects on the human psyche and cause people to migrate from the urban to the suburban and rural areas. The solution is to design more efficient urban buildings that can actively adapt to its inhabitants' programmatic needs and utilizes wood, specifically cross-laminated timber, as its main material to reconnect with nature.
Master of Architecture

The role of mothering has always been an important area for study in nursing. However, transnational mothering, the experience of women mothering from afar, has not been well studied in the discipline. The purpose of this study was to explore the process of mothering by Mexican women in the context of their move to the United States. The conceptual framework of symbolic interaction and the methodology of grounded theory (Glaser & Strauss, 1967) were used to guide the study.

Data were collected through 13 semi-structured interviews of women from Mexico living in New York City who had at least one child under the age of 16 still living in Mexico. The results indicated that the process of transnational mothering was non-linear. Phases emerged from data analysis using Grounded Theory Methods of constant comparative analysis of transcripts, using coding, categorizing, and conceptualizing. Three final phases, each with sub categories, which explained the process of transnational mothering included reconceptualizing mothering, struggling, and embracing hope.

Reconceptualizing mothering was used to name this substantive theory that emerged. The Basic Social Process identified that fit the substantive theory that emerged was "social identity" as social identity is affected by a new understanding of one's role. The women in this study acknowledged the poor fit of their traditional roles of mothering in New York and therefore created new roles. The community that they developed and relied upon assisted with this new role adjustment. Implications for this study in the area of practice include the need for greater client advocacy and assisting transnational mothers to build and foster a community. The importance of the discipline's involvement in the area of health policy cannot be overstated as policies affecting mother child separation and reunification need a nursing voice.

Les expériences théâtrales au-dehors sont multiples, à Paris et à New York entre 1913 et 1939, et plus largement dans l’ensemble du monde théâtral. Comment les interpréter, et les resituer dans l’histoire générale des formes théâtrales? Leur extrême diversité empêche tout discours homogène et invite à adopter une méthode d’analyse procédant par cas d’étude plutôt que par système. Cette thèse se propose de forger un concept opératoire, celui de « dehors », qui permettrait d’analyser ces formes et d’en restituer la polysémie. En se concentrant sur le contexte urbain et en faisant le choix d’une attitude comparatiste, cette étude vise à prendre en compte le spectacle des et dans les villes de Paris et New York, à un moment où les échanges entre les deux métropoles sont extrêmement féconds. Jacques Copeau, André Barsacq, le groupe Octobre, les représentations du Vray Mistère de la Passion dans les années 1930, les spectacles du Front Populaire, ou encore Jean-Richard Bloch sont quelques-unes des figures et des séances théâtrales sur lesquelles la partie française s’arrêtera. Pour le contexte américain, l’étude s’appuie notamment sur les expériences des Provincetown Players, sur la tradition des pageants et leur réorientation idéologique dans certains cas, sur les conceptions théâtrales de Percy MacKaye, sur les projects architecturaux de Friedrich Kiesler ou Norman Bel Geddes, mais aussi sur le Federal Theatre Project. L’objectif de cette thèse est ainsi d’analyser de quoi ces appropriations théâtrales diverses du dehors peuvent être le signe, au sein de quelle histoire théâtrale elles peuvent s’inscrire, et dans quelle mesure leur oubli relatif est révélateur, sur le plan tant esthétique que politique
Many outdoor theatrical experiences could be observed in Paris and in New York, between 1913 and 1939 and, more broadly, in the whole theatrical world. How can we interpret them? And how can we insert them in the larger history of theatrical forms? Their extreme diversity prevents us from having a homogeneous discourse about them and calls for a method based on case studies more than on a systematic approach. This thesis aims at creating an operative concept, the « outdoor » concept (« dehors » in French), which will enable us to dig deeper into those theatrical forms and to restore their polysemy. By focusing on an urban context and by choosing a comparative approach, this thesis aspires to take into account the spectacle of the cities of Paris and New York and the spectacles in them, at a time when the exchanges between the two cities were very productive. Jacques Copeau, André Barsacq, the « groupe Octobre », the showings of the Vray Mistère de la Passion in the 1930s, the great shows during the Popular Front or Jean-Richard Bloch are some of the figures and theatrical events discussed in the first part of this work. The second part deals with the American context, it draws on experiences such as the Provincetown Players, the pageant tradition and its ideological shift, the theatrical vision of Percy MacKaye, the architectural projects of Friedrich Kiesler or Norman Bel Geddes, or the Federal Theatre Project. This thesis will hopefully help to understand these outdoor performances, what they indicate in terms of history and aesthetics and how their relatively cursory consideration can paradoxically be meaningful in several respects

The last sixty years have seen the emergence of three particular developments that are currently exerting tremendous effects on the shape, articulation and practice of World Christianity. These are: the demographic shift in Christian adherence from the North to the South; the rapid expansion of Pentecostalism and the Charismatic movement in various places around the globe, particularly in the South; and the growth of migration from many two-thirds world nations to first world countries. In their interaction, these developments have produced a plethora of new religious expressions within World Christianity – specifically the presence of non-Western Christianity in the North. For as Non-Western immigrants migrate to the West, they bring with them a vibrant religious life which they use to navigate the terrains of the new society. This thesis delineates the experiences of West Indian Pentecostals living in New York City and London as they engage with their host societies. It explores the manner in which several generations of immigrants are constructing and re-negotiating their ethnic and religious identities. The thesis reveals that both the home country and the Diaspora context play a vital role in this process of identification. This is especially notable for the immigrant children who can be seen as constituting the frontline in terms of cultural and social change. This study also highlights the process by which ‘mission’ is being conceptualized and practiced within these Diaspora faith communities. The findings indicate that mission – its conceptualization and practice –is also a product of the West Indian and Diaspora contexts. However, this re-conceptualization is conducted within the framework of a re-definition of the local and global dimensions associated with the term. As a result, the translational process becomes one of dynamism and constant negotiation as the ideas emanating from home and the host societies are able to critique and influence each other. This thesis clearly reveals that Diaspora faith communities occupy a significant position within the lives of their members. They are sites of dynamism, where members access social and cultural capitals; maintain transnational ties; interact with the Diaspora context; and live out their faith. Therefore, this thesis argues that these faith communities function as a bridge connecting the home country and the Diaspora context, enabling their members to retain certain aspects of the ethno-religious identities and the cultures of their homelands, while equally, assisting them to adjust to, and create a place of belonging within the new society.

Thesis (Ph. D.) University of Missouri-Columbia, 2006.
The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on August 9, 2007) Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

A recurrent premise of post-war criticism is that World War II marked the end of the American working class novel. This thesis challenges this assumption and argues that the working class novel redeveloped throughout the 1940s and 1950s in response to major social, political, economic and cultural changes in the United States. A prime justification for the obituary on the working class novel was that after 1945 the United States no longer had class divisions. However, as the first two chapters of this study point out, such a view was promulgated by influential literary critics and social scientists who, as former Marxists, were keen to distance themselves from class politics. Insisting that the working class novel was hamstrung by a dogmatic Marxist politics and a fealty to social realism, these critics argued that the genre's relevance depended on the outdated politics and conditions of the 1930s. As such they were able to use literary criticism as a means of justifying their own ambiguous politics and deflecting any close scrutiny of their accommodation with the post-war liberal consensus. In a close examination of four writers in the subsequent chapters it is shown that, in fact, working class writers were extremely successful in adapting to post-war conditions. Harvey Swados, in his novel On the Line (1957) and in his journalism, provides crucial insights into the effects of the transition from a Fordist to a post-industrial society on the identity of the industrial worker. In The Dollmaker (1954) Harriette Arnow dramatises an important migration from the rural South to Detroit during World War II which exposes the ways in which American capitalism was able to diffuse a national working class identity. Chester Himes' novel If He Hollers Let Him Go (1945), and his experiences as an African American writer in the 1940s, highlight the intersections between race (and racism) and class in the United States. Hubert Selby, in Last Exit to Brooklyn (1957), undermines the hegemonic ideology of post-war consumerism by drawing attention to the poverty and violence in an urban working class community. All these writers share a common concern with continuing, and re-developing, the dynamic and heterogeneous tradition of American working class cultural production.

A metáfora do mundo como um palco está presente no imaginário humano há muitos séculos, o que se pode ver nas obras artísticas e filosóficas, de Cícero a Shakespeare: o mundo é representação. O presente estudo propõe-se a analisar interdisciplinamente os desdobramentos das metáforas do teatro e do cinema, na exploração do espaço da metrópole, tendo como corpus o romance Cidade de Vidro, de Paul Auster (1999) e a narrativa fílmica Sinédoque Nova York, de Charlie Kaufman (2008). Para tal, procuramos os teóricos da metáfora, tendo como principal deles Hans Blumenberg, fundador da Metaforologia, Paul Ricoeur e Derrida, em estudos especialmente dedicados a essa figura de linguagem. As metáforas, contudo, se realizam em um determinado espaço, o da metrópole, e para nos guiarmos em seus caminhos, elegemos os estudiosos da nova geografia cultural, dentre os quais Paul Claval, Mathias Le Bossé e Denis Cosgrove. Na correlação da cidade com o teatro, apontaremos a própria história da criação do teatro ocidental como o principal ponto de partida para as ramificações de tal mimetismo. Para o estudo específico do espaço da metrópole, contamos com Walter Benjamin e seus seguidores. Os estudos benjaminianos serão também de vital importância para a compreensão da relação entre cinema e metrópole, relação essa que também foi aclarada pelo questionamento de Nietzsche sobre a verdade. Não foi nossa intenção comparar as obras aqui analisadas em seus planos narratológicos, mas articular dois textos regidos por códigos e procedimentos artísticos parecidos, mas, ainda assim diferentes. Buscamos apontar como as relações teatrais e cinemáticas na metrópole, fragmentada como o próprio homem que nela se perde, provocam uma suspensão da fronteira entre realidade e ficção
The metaphor of the world as a stage has been present in human imagination for centuries. This can be seen in the artistic and philosophical works from Cicero to Shakespeare: the world is representation. This study aims to examine, in an interdisciplinary way, the ramifications of the metaphors of the theatre and the cinema, exploring the space of the metropolis. The corpus for the study consists of the novel City of Glass by Paul Auster (1999) and the filmic narrative Synecdoche New York by Charlie Kaufman (2008). To this end, we present theorists of the metaphor, having as the main source Hans Blumenberg, the founder of Metaphorology, Paul Ricoeur and Derrida, especially the studies that focus on this figure of speech. Metaphors, however, take place in a certain space, the metropolis, and to be guided in their ways, we elected the new cultural geography researchers, Paul Claval, Mathias Le Bossé and Denis Cosgrove among them. For the relation between the city and the theatre, we consider the creation story of the western theatre as the main starting point for the ramifications of such mimicry. To study the specific space of the metropolis, we count on Walter Benjamin and his followers. Benjaminian studies will also be of vital importance for our understanding of the relationship between the cinema and the metropolis. That relationship has also been explained in Nietzches questioning of the truth. It was not our intention to compare the works analyzed here in their narratology plans and techniques. Rather, we aimed at relating two texts governed by similar but yet different codes and artistic procedures. We seek to show how theatrical and cinematic relations in the metropolis, fragmented as the man lost in it, cause a suspension of the border between reality and fiction

Die in der Geschichte der Künste als Neoavantgarde der frühen 1960er Jahre bezeichneten Entwicklungen der Grenzüberschreitung und Prozessorientierung bilden in exemplarischen Analysen das Zentrum des Gegenstandsbereichs dieser Arbeit. Sie umfassen sowohl die grundlegenden Innovationen, die - von John Cages Ideen und Konzeptionen angestoßen – die Arbeit der Komponisten/Performer der Live Electronic Music prägten, wie die Erweiterung der künstlerischen Materialien und Veränderung der Verfahren der Bildenden Kunst seit Happening und Fluxus. Sie umfassen die minimalistischen Verschiebungen des Verständnisses von Körper-Bewegung und Objekten in der Tanz/Performance vor allem der New Yorker Judson Dance Group und die performative Erforschung der Grundlagen von Kino/Film-Wahrnehmung im Expanded Cinema. An diesen drei Bereichen wird eine doppelte historische Bewegung aufgezeigt: zum einen die des Durchstreichens, Verschiebens, Ersetzens konventionalisierter Parameter und Wert-Hierarchien; zum anderen eine durch den Entwicklungsschub technischer Medien und deren Auswirkungen auf Gesellschaft und Wahrnehmung angestoßenes Interesse an der Verbindung von Kunst und Medien. Eine wichtige Schnittstelle dieser Entwicklungen manifestiert sich in den Aufführungen der inzwischen legendären Nine Evenings: Theatre and Engineering, die 1966 in New York stattfanden. Die Analyse dieses Ereignisses, des Arbeitsprozesses, der ihm vorausging und an dem in gleicher Weise Künstler und Ingenieure beteiligt waren, wie der einzelnen Performances bildet einen Ausgangspunkt dieser Untersuchung. Dass Systemtheorie und Kybernetik als Denkmodelle für die Kunstproduktion erschlossen werden sollten, lässt sich nicht nur anhand der Manifestationen dieses Ereignisses zeigen, sondern auch anhand der Analyse zeitgenössischer Diskurse im Kunstfeld nachweisen. Live Electronic Arts heißt in diesem Zusammenhang: das unmittelbar (aktuell) vorgeführte Handeln mit technischen Medien in einer performativen Anordnung. Diese Verbindung wird von den Künstlern selbst als Mensch/Maschine-Kopplung verstanden – der Konstruktionsprozess wird zu einem wesentlichen Bestandteil künstlerischer Strategie. Der Einbezug zeitgenössischer Technologien wird so nicht als Frage nach der Neuartigkeit von Darstellungsmodi relevant, sondern als eine Frage nach Prozessen des Regelns, Steuerns und der Signalübertragung (control&communication) – also nach den Prozessen, die das Agieren mit ihnen strukturieren. Ausgehend von den Nine Evenings und der an ihnen beteiligten Künstler – Musiker, Tänzer und Choreographen sowie Bildende Künstler und Filmemacher – widmet sich die Arbeit in detaillierter Untersuchung den Versuchsreihen der einzelnen Künstler, denen die experimentellen Performances zugerechnet werden können. Sie zeigt für alle drei Bereiche – Live Electronic Music, die performativen Praktiken der Judson Dance Group und Expanded Cinema – unter welchen Bedingungen, ein Interesse und die Arbeit an der Kopplung von Körper-Bewegung und technischen Systemen entstand
The developments of transgression and process-orientation, which in art history are designated as the Neo-Avantgarde of the early 1960s, form the central subject of this text with its exemplary analyses. They involve the fundamental innovations, which - initiated by John Cage's ideas and concepts - characterised the work of the composers/performers of Live Electronic Music, as well as the expansion of artistic materials and the modification of art's techniques since Happening and Fluxus. They also cover the minimalistic shifts in the understanding of bodily movement and objects above all in the dance/performance of the New York based Judson Dance Group and the performative investigation of the foundations of cinema/film perception in the Expanded Cinema. A twofold historical movement is illustrated in these three areas: on the one hand, the movement of cancellation, postponement, substitution of conventional parameters and value hierarchies; on the other, one of interest in the connection between art and the media triggered by the thrust of development in the technological media and their effects on society and perception. An important point of intersection of these developments manifests itself in the performances of the since legendary Nine Evenings: Theatre and Engineering, which took place in New York in 1966. The analysis of this event, of the process of work that preceded it and which involved artists and engineers in equal measure, as well as of the individual performances forms the basis of this investigation. That system theory and cybernetics should be developed as a working hypothesis for art production can be demonstrated not only through manifestations of this event, but also through contemporary discourses in the field of art. In this context, Live Electronic Arts means the immediately (currently) performed action in a perfomative configuration using technological media. The artists themselves understand this relation as an interconnection of human being and machine. The process of construction becomes an essential component of the artistic strategy. The inclusion of contemporary technologies becomes relevant not as a question about the novelty of the modes of representation, but as a question about the processes of structuring, regulating and the transmission of signals (control & communication), thus about processes that structure the performance with these technologies. Beginning with the Nine Evenings and the participating artists (musicians, dancers, choreographers, as well as visual artists and film makers), this text provides a detailed investigation into the series of experiments of the individual artists, to which the experimental performances can be attributed. It demonstrates for all three areas (Live Electronic Music, the perfomative practices of the Judson Dance Group, and Expanded Cinema) under what circumstances interest in and work on the interconnection of bodily movement and technological systems arose

Underneath the romance, comedy and exoticism, South Pacific is a story that questioned core American values, exploring issues of race and power at a time when these topics were intensely relevant-the original opened just four years post WWII, on the heels of Roosevelt's aggressive expansionist response to domestic instabilities. Much has been written about the depiction of war and racial prejudice in South Pacific. However, examining such topics in the context of their cultural and political moment (both in 1949 and 2008) and through the lens of Terry Eagleton's unique take on morality, is not only a fascinating study, but an intensely relevant and unchartered endeavor. This work concerns the evolution of an American code of ethics as it has been reflected and constructed in both Broadway productions of Roger and Hammerstein's South Pacific (c.1949, 2008). Specifically, it examines the depiction of WWII, America's imperialistic foreign policy, and the function of American patriotism in light of Terry Eagleton's theories surrounding an evolving code of ethics in 20th/21st century America. By so doing, this thesis uncovers answers to the following questions: What were the cultural and political forces at work at the time South Pacific was created (both in 1949 and 2008), and how did these forces influence the contrasting depictions of war, imperialism and patriotism in each version of the musical? In what ways were these productions reflective of a code of ethics that evolved from what Eagleton would classify as moral realism (prescriptive of behavior) to moral nihilism (reflective of behavior)? How did the use of this increasingly reflexive moral code make this politically controversial musical more palatable, and therefore commercially viable during the contrasting political climates of WWII and the recent war on Iraq? Determining answers to questions such as these enables us as a society to look back on our history-on our mistakes and triumphs-and recognize our tendency to find pragmatic justification for our actions rather than acknowledging the possibility of the existence of objective truth, which remains unchanged through time and circumstance.

This paper delves into the realms of tragedy, memory and representation. Drawing upon the phenomenon of the Phantom Limb and extending it towards a theory of Phantom Bodies, various artworks - literary, theatrical and visual - are examined. After the conflagration of the terrorist attack, how are these absences grieved over and remembered through artistic representation? The essay examines this question by positioning itself amongst the scarred landscapes of post-September 11 New York and suicide bombings in Israel (2000-2006). Furthermore, it investigates whether humanity can be restored in the aftermath of an event in which certain individuals have sought to eradicate it. The fragmentation of the affected body in these scenarios is understood as further complicating processes of grief and remembrance. Artists who reject political polemic and engage with the dimensions of human loss are seen to have discovered means of referring to the absence caused by the act of terrorism. Three such recurring representations present themselves: ash and remnants, presence/absence and memory building. Phantom Bodies are perceived as simultaneously functioning as a reminder of the event itself, insisting upon the response of bearing witness, and as a symbol of the overwhelming power of humanity. Challenges arise when individuals or sections of the affected society deem these artworks to be inappropriate or explicit. Works considered include: Neil LaBute's play The Mercy Seat, Sigalit Landau's art installation The Country, Jonathan Safran Foer's Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, Spike Lee's 25th Hour, Daniel Libeskind's architectural plans for the World Trade Center site, Eric Fischl's sculpture 'Tumbling Woman', Honor Molloy's autodelete://beginning dump of physical memory and A.B.Yehoshua's A Woman in Jerusalem. The accompanying play, Tales of Ash: A diptych for the theatre, is set in Melbourne, New York and Tel Aviv and deals with life in the face of and after terror. It veers between naturalism, poetic monologue and the epic. Tales of Ash contains two plays. The first centres on Mia, a young sculptor living in New York, who loses both her lover and her creativity on September 11. Upon returning to her home in Melbourne, she finds familial bonds still entwined with guilt and family trauma. The second play revolves around Ilana and Benny, two people living in Tel Aviv, who find themselves suddenly thrust together after a devastating bombing. As they attempt to resume rhythms of life, in the face of all the inherent ferocity of a modern existence in Israel, the struggle between The Ash Woman and The Ash Takers escalates.

Ma thèse de doctorat explore les tournées de ballet des « six grandes » compagnies mondiales pendant la Guerre froide (1945-1968) :ballet de l’Opéra de Paris, Royal Ballet de Covent Garden, Bolchoï et Kirov, New York City Ballet et American Ballet. Elle envisage le ballet comme un outil de diplomatie culturelle transnationale, avec un focus particulier sur les acteurs, qu’ils soient institutionnels, artistiques ou commerciaux. Outre un aspect quantitatif qui nous a amené à cartographier les tournées, il s’agit d’une histoire incarnée par des femmes et des hommes − les danseurs − dont le métier est de tourner sur les scènes internationales, encadrés par des administrateurs et des gouvernements, qui n’ont pas les mêmes priorités et agendas les uns et les autres.

Cette recherche met justement en avant les tensions, les difficultés et les dynamiques entre les différents acteurs. La thèse se construit autour de tournées représentatives du lien ténu entre danse et politique, des épisodes qui mettent en valeur les points chauds de cette Guerre froide, ayant comme point de départ ou d’arrivée Londres et Paris.

La description de la danse comme un langage, une pratique physique et un métier permet de comprendre en quoi la danse peut être un outil de communication politique et comment il a été utilisé comme tel dans la longue durée et en particulier pendant la guerre froide. Les différentes échelles – le passage régulier de la macro-histoire à la micro-histoire et inversement ainsi que les flux d’échanges culturels multiples à l’échelle internationale – ont permis de mettre en avant une multiplicité d'acteurs (artistiques, gouvernementaux, commerciaux). La constitution du mythe de la danseuse étoile, et ses représentations, résonne également avec d’autres figures mythiques construites dans la Guerre froide, comme celle de l’astronaute.
Doctorat en Histoire, art et archéologie
info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

碩士
文藻外語大學
創意藝術產業研究所
103
As an amateur theatre performer for ten years, I am glad to have the opportunity, in 14~15, November 2014, to present my own project, Walk to New York, as an accomplishment and reflection of my achieving to theatrical goal. This is the first time I’ve tried to realize a show initially in scriptwriting, directing and stage-acting by integrating some modern theatre theories. This show is about gender conflict of self-identification in a family through a father-son relationship. The theme is developed to reveal the idea that everyone is born free, and yet, is obliged to have the right in facing his/her deepest humanity. Beside the artistic concerns, by doing this project, I have also observed some social elements in respecting to the audience feedback, the alternative space for performance, the attitude of art events in a consuming society of southern Taiwan, as well as the management of experimental theatre group.

Status and stigma are fundamental to understanding the organization of social groups, including the forces that create and perpetuate inequality along multiple axes - race, ethnicity, and class, among others. One of the challenges in the discipline of sociology is that these deeply enmeshed processes are studied separately, rather than in relation to each other. This dissertation bridges the study of status and stigma through ethnographic examination of the affective, situational, and contextual interplay of status and stigma processes in urban spaces that are both exceptional and ubiquitous: the neighborhood funeral home. To study these processes, I observed and participated in the day-to-day activities of three New York City funeral homes over four years. The project contributes to three areas: ethnographic design, the literature on status and stigma processes, and to urban and cultural sociology. Whereas most ethnographic projects focus on a single subject – a community, a workplace, a profession - in isolation or a multi-sited framework, this project has different approach. The three focal funeral homes were selected based on a process rather than a population – all are located in neighborhoods in the midst of dramatic demographic transitions. To better understand and contextualize these micro interactions, I collected data and participated in activities at other levels of the funeral industry: national, state, and local. I attended funeral directors trainings and conventions, including with the largest national association, the historically black funeral directors association, and New York State’s convention. For other perspectives on New York City, I interviewed over forty funeral directors and allied professionals throughout the five boroughs. This project strives to avoid static and categorical explanations for status and stigma processes, the binaries of black and white, elite and poor, and explores life both in the middle and at the intersection. Using this multi-site design, it contributes to the research on neighborhood change and demographic transition as I distinguish between experiences common to the general process of neighborhood change while isolating those that emerge from the variation in changes specific to particular processes. This project is not only one of the most in-depth studies of the funeral industry, it also more broadly contributes to our understanding of the dynamic relationship of status and stigma, and the process and business of the monetization of cultural practices.

The twentieth-century brought a rapidly increasing global mobility and is causing a de-territorial effect on the world. The borders of countries are becoming more fluid. The bounds of cultures that were based on nationality, have become blurred, contested, open-ended, and unstable. These frequently modified cultural boundaries have created multiple cultural diasporic groups. A diaspora is a large group of people with a similar heritage or homeland who have since moved out to places all over the world. Globalism, with its elusive cultural identity, leads to a seemingly unified world culture and the once static sense of nation-state-based cultural identity is now mobile. This mobility and replacement of our locations destabilize our traditional sense of identity that traditionally has been deeply rooted in a sense of nation-state. As a reaction and resistance to the global forces, “localism,” or “nativism,” have simultaneously increased. Thus, the cultural diaspora can be understood as a journey through multiple magnitudes of cultural boundaries. This thesis reviews cultural identity with an emphasis on cultures that are undergoing a diasporic condition. I specifically emphasize notions of the nationality of a selected diasporic group of Bangladeshi people living in New York City over the past few decades. The vehicle of the research is the study of their current cultural identification, considering the varied struggles of this group in their new host land. After assembling and acquiring a holistic understanding of the current condition (economic, social, and political) of this group, a set of appropriate programs will be proposed to be incorporated into the design for a cultural center. The primary goals of this project are to encourage the socio-cultural, economic, and educational enhancement of Bangladeshi people living in New York City. The project will also raise a sense of unity among the diasporic group and enable a better understanding of cultural interchange.

The purpose of this thesis is to demonstrate that by using New Urbanist ideas one is able to design streets that will help create livable, sustainable communities, which are a viable alternative to suburban status quo developments. The effects of this type of development on three components of community (ie. social,economic and ecological) are studied. The New Urbanist development model is applied to the design of an historic railway infill site in Fredericton, New Brunswick.

The purpose of this project dissertation was to research, create and assess a hypothetical two-year musical theatre/music theater (MT) curriculum to serve as a model for future implementation at community colleges. As one of the fastest growing and most prolific forms of popular entertainment today, the 21st Century musical is uniquely poised to depict artistically and culturally diverse narratives. Vividly reflecting the sociopolitical context surrounding their production (Kenrick, 2017, p. 2), both new musicals and musical revivals, viewed through a more contemporary lens, may permit increasing employment opportunities for historically minoritized persons. As the relatively new baccalaureate credential in MT increasingly becomes the baseline criteria for entrance to the MT industry, competitive conservatory programs continue to face difficulty in matriculating more inclusive freshman cohorts. The American community college has a long tradition of supporting demographically diverse populations as well as “atypical” learners such as the differently abled, adults returning to school, veterans and first-generation college attendees in the pursuit of vocational training, terminal credentials in the form of a certificate or associate degree, or, increasingly, students aiming to transfer to four-year degree programs. However, accredited, two-year programs dedicated to the study and practice of MT remain virtually nonexistent in the United States, and, due to the relative newness of the discipline as an area of scholarly interest, have little precedent or pedagogic research to guide best practices. To address this need, this project created a two-year program for MT study according to the practical restraints of the State University of New York and Dutchess Community College’s collective guidelines for curricular development, as well as the dual recommendations of the National Association of Schools of Music and National Association of Schools of Theatre. All stages of the project design were subject to peer review by a varied panel of tertiary MT educators and MT practitioners, tasked to assess academic and artistic potential of such a program if formally implemented. Upon conclusion of both formative and summative evaluations, a series of general guidelines for the development of similar programs were generated to inform similar future initiatives within both two-year and four-year settings.

Sociable robots are increasing in complexity, popularity, and visibility. With the rapid diffusion of digital technologies in contemporary cultures, there is often limited time for critical reflection. The purpose of this thesis is to critically dissect an evolving technology, social robotics, as it begins entering more and more modern contexts. Using an eclectic approach, this research examines social robotics discourse across The New York Times (from 1986 to 2010) and popular fiction. Specifically, this thesis analyzes the media promoted appeal of social robotics, how social robotics are being presented to a general and specific audience, and evaluates how popular discourse on social robotics might be changing perceptions of communication and humanity. This research serves as a starting point for ongoing research into how new technologies and discourse on new technologies change, and attempt to influence, people and culture.
Introduction and justification -- Lit. review of sociable robots : the past, the present and the future -- Methods for analysis -- Critical analysis of social robotics and social robotics discourse -- Discussion.
Department of Telecommunications

Measuring the Effects of Mouse Allergen and Black Carbon Exposure on Children Living in New York City with Allergic Diseases Medina Samira Jackson-Browne Background: Exposure to allergens and combustion by-products are risk factors for allergic health outcomes in children. The connection between exposure to allergens and allergic diseases such as asthma, in some children, is through the development of a biological condition known as allergic sensitization. In susceptible children, sensitization may occur when early-life exposure to an allergen causes the production of immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies. In asthmatic children, repeated exposures to this allergen may lead to clinical manifestations including airway inflammation, airway mucous production, bronchospasms, and bronchial hyper-responsiveness. Sensitization and repeated exposure to allergens may, therefore, be important risk factors for asthma morbidity in children. Findings from a cross-sectional asthma study of children living in NYC published previously by our group found a positive association between cockroach and dust-mite allergens measured in bed dust and sensitization risk to these allergens consistent with other studies. However, contrary to previously published research, no association was observed between mouse allergen measured in bed dust and mouse sensitization risk in our study. In urban areas such as New York City (NYC), exposure to combustion by-products, including black carbon (BC), has been shown to be associated with both asthma development and asthma morbidity. BC has been proposed to exacerbate asthma symptoms directly through airway irritation or by behaving as an adjuvant, enhancing the production of IgE antibodies following exposure to an allergen in sensitized individuals. Our group previously observed an association between indoor measured BC concentrations and airway inflammation, however no association was found between BC and asthma symptoms for children living in NYC. In the present study, we sought to address some of the limitations of the previous work. These limitations included a singular measurement of mouse allergen exposure, a shorter-term BC exposure measurement, and a cross-sectional study design for asthma symptom risks. My overarching hypothesis for this dissertation is that exposures to mouse allergen and BC are significant risk factors for allergic sensitization and asthma morbidity, respectively, for children living in NYC. I tested these hypotheses in three separate manuscripts by assessing multiple mouse exposure measurements with the risk for mouse sensitization (Chapter 2), testing the correlation between 7-day measured indoor BC and particulate matter smaller than 2.5 microns (PM2.5) concentrations with annual modeled outdoor BC and PM2.5 concentrations (Chapter 3), and determining whether annual modeled outdoor BC concentration is associated with persistent asthma symptoms, over a three-year period, for asthmatic children in NYC (Chapter 4). Methods: For all manuscripts, data from an asthma case-control cohort of children (age 7-8 years) previously established by our group, the NYC Neighborhood Asthma and Allergy Study (NAAS), was utilized for analysis (n=350). Kitchen floor and bed settled dust samples were collected from the children’s home during the initial home visit. Mouse allergen concentrations were quantified from both kitchen floor and bed dust samples using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Blood samples were also collected during this visit. IgE antibodies to mouse allergens were measured by ImmunoCAP (Phadia, Uppsala, Sweden) from these blood samples. Information on the frequency of mouse sightings in the previous 12 months was extracted from a questionnaire administered to parents of NAAS children. Neighborhood and school mouse sightings were collected from reports from the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH). Indoor PM2.5 and BC samples were collected from air samplers placed in NAAS children’s home for an average of 7 days. In collaboration with the NYC DOHMH, we were given access to 2-year averaged modeled outdoor PM2.5 and BC concentrations collected from air monitors at 124 street-level locations throughout NYC from 2008-2010. After the initial home visit, asthmatic NAAS children were followed-up annually for asthma symptoms. The questionnaire data collected from the asthmatics followed were used to evaluate the persistence or remittance of asthma symptoms over the 3-years following the initial home visit. Results: In our mouse study we found that increasing mouse allergen measured from kitchen floor dust and children whose parents reported greater than weekly mouse sightings in the previous 12 months has an increased risk of mouse sensitization (prevalence risk (PR) = 1.09 [1.02-1.17], p=0.04 and PR= 3.84 [1.95-6.97], p=0.001 respectively). Neither mouse allergen measured from settled bed dust (PR = 1.06 [0.95-1.19], p=0.46) nor neighborhood rodent reports (PR = 1.25 [0.94-1.68], p=0.16) were significantly associated with an increased risk of sensitization to mouse. Exposure to mouse at school was also not associated with an increased risk of mouse sensitization (PR=0.66 [0.35-1.26], p=0.30). Results from the correlation study indicated both annual modeled outdoor PM2.5 and BC concentrations were weakly correlated with 7-day measured indoor PM2.5 and BC concentrations (r = 0.21 and 0.39, respectively, p < 0.01). However, annual modeled outdoor BC concentrations predicted almost 20% of the variability of 7-day measured indoor BC (R2=0.19, p<0.001) compared to only 4% of the variability of 7-day indoor PM2.5 explained by annual modeled outdoor PM2.5, which predicted measured indoor PM2.5 (R2 = 0.04, p < 0.001). Our regression analysis of the asthma morbidity study found no significant association between longer-term neighborhood modeled BC concentrations at study participant’s home (PR = 0.87 [0.58-1.29, p=0.49] and school addresses (PR =1.09 [0.77-1.56], p=0.60) and persistent asthma symptoms. Conclusions: My findings suggest that mouse allergen measured from kitchen floor dust and parent reported mouse sightings are important risk factors of mouse sensitization for children living in urban areas such as NYC. The results of the BC analysis indicate a moderate correlation between annual modeled outdoor BC concentrations and 7-day measured indoor BC concentrations. The annual modeled outdoor BC also predicted 20% of the variability in 7-day measured indoor BC. Conversely, PM2.5 analysis indicate that annual modeled outdoor PM2.5 is not correlated with 7-day measured indoor PM2.5 concentrations. Finally, regression analysis of BC exposure and asthma morbidity indicate that annual modeled outdoor BC is not predictive of persistent asthma symptoms in our cohort.

Background: Young Black and Hispanic women living in metropolitan areas in the United States are at a disproportionately high risk for contracting HIV/AIDS; the reasons for this disparity are inadequately explained by research. A recent study reported that African American and Hispanic females represent approximately one-fourth of all U.S. women, yet account for more than three-fourths (79%) of reported AIDS cases among women in the United States (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Surveillance Report, 2002). Moreover, while the epidemic is alarming and especially pronounced among Black and Hispanic female adolescents and young adults, most of what we know about the illness among young people is based on cross-sectional or longitudinal survey data of high-risk adolescents that are typically not female, but rather gay and bisexual males (up to17%; Rotheram-Borus et al., 2003); injecting drug users (up to 40%) (National Institute on Drug Abuse 1995); and homeless youth (up to 4%) (Stricof, Kennedy, Nattell, Weisfuse, & Novick, 1991). Only a small number of investigations have examined the significant challenges that HIV poses for young women who test positive as they contend with "normal" issues of adolescent development while managing their HIV disease. Accordingly, this exploratory study developed a conceptual framework that integrated multiple disciplines and theoretical concepts pertinent to HIV risk in this population including identity and identity development; family structure and life chances; and theories that describe the influence of social structures on human behavior. Method: This study was based on semi-structured in-depth interview data previously collected from 26 young Black and Latina women (16-24) in the New York City metropolitan area. The methodology involved qualitative analysis of secondary data using an inductive, modified grounded theory approach. Analyses were conducted in two phases. During the first phase, the constant comparative method was employed; open coding followed by structured coding allowed a theoretical pattern to emerge from the data. During the second phase of the analysis, each of the 26 interviews was interpreted based on the theoretical pattern that emerged. Common patterns and processes were identified that supported the interrelationships between constructs posited by the conceptual framework. An alternative identity framework emerged that, through explicit consideration of personal and social factors, contextualized the HIV Identity and Vocational Identity development processes in this population. Findings: A typology of identity development emerged from the analysis of the data, yielding four identity types: Immersers, Withdrawers, Boot-Strappers, and Suspenders. These four identity types were categorized by the socioeconomic and socio-emotional resources they perceived were accessible in their family environments, and the extent to which they had engaged in domain-specific identity explorations. Across all identity types, the HIV diagnosis resulted in what Bury (1982) described as a "biographical disruption." Respondents experienced a loss in their sense of self post-diagnosis - a disruption in their taken-for-granted assumptions that required a rethinking of their personal biographies as well as their social relationships. Participants varied in the ways in which they mobilized existing and sought out new resources or affiliations in light of their illness. Several participants experienced the diagnosis as an assault to their developing identities. As a result, many "gave up" or suspended the identity development process, the consequences of which included continued risky sexual behavior (e.g. unprotected sex, sex with a partner they know is infected with HIV); failure to comply with prescribed medication regimens (e.g. missing multiple doses of antivirals); or not pursuing previously set academic goals (e.g. dropping out of high school). These findings highlight the importance of ancillary social services in facilitating identity development among young women living with HIV.

Since the middle of the twentieth century, American dance artists have presented complicated images of American identity to world audiences, as dance companies traveled abroad under the auspices of the US State Department. This dissertation uses oral history interviews, archival research, and performance analysis to investigate how dancers navigated their status as official American ambassadors in the Cold War and the years following the 2001 terrorist attacks in the US. Dance companies worked and performed in international sites, enacting messages of American democratic superiority, while individual dancers re-interpreted the contours of American identity through personal encounters with local artists and arts practices. The dancers’ memories of government-sponsored tours re-insert the American artist into American diplomatic history, prompting a reconsideration of dancers not just as diplomatic tools working to persuade global audiences, but as creative thinkers re-imagining what it means to be American. This dissertation begins in the late 1950s, as the State Department began discussing appropriate dance companies to send to the Soviet Union, as part of the performing arts initiatives that began in 1954 under the direction of President Dwight Eisenhower. The dissertation concludes by examining more recent dance in diplomacy programs initiated in 2003, coinciding with the US invasion of Iraq. My analysis considers New York City Ballet’s 1962 tour of the Soviet Union, where the company performed programs that included George Balanchine’s Serenade (1934), Agon (1957), and Western Symphony (1954), and Jerome Robbins’ Interplay (1945) during the heightened global anxieties of the Cuban Missile Crisis. My analysis of Ailey’s 1967 tour of nine African countries focuses primarily on Revelations (1960), which closed every program on the tour. Moving into the twenty-first century, I analyze A Slipping Glimpse (2007), a collaboration between Margaret Jenkins Dance Company and Tansuree Shankar Dance Company, which began as a US State Department-sponsored 2003 residency in Kolkata. To explore each tour, I consider government goals documented in archived minutes from artist selection panels; dancers’ memories of the tours, which I collected in personal interviews conducted between 2007 and 2009; and performance analysis of the pieces that traveled on each tour.
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Die in der Geschichte der Künste als Neoavantgarde der frühen 1960er Jahre bezeichneten Entwicklungen der Grenzüberschreitung und Prozessorientierung bilden in exemplarischen Analysen das Zentrum des Gegenstandsbereichs dieser Arbeit. Sie umfassen sowohl die grundlegenden Innovationen, die - von John Cages Ideen und Konzeptionen angestoßen – die Arbeit der Komponisten/Performer der Live Electronic Music prägten, wie die Erweiterung der künstlerischen Materialien und Veränderung der Verfahren der Bildenden Kunst seit Happening und Fluxus. Sie umfassen die minimalistischen Verschiebungen des Verständnisses von Körper-Bewegung und Objekten in der Tanz/Performance vor allem der New Yorker Judson Dance Group und die performative Erforschung der Grundlagen von Kino/Film-Wahrnehmung im Expanded Cinema. An diesen drei Bereichen wird eine doppelte historische Bewegung aufgezeigt: zum einen die des Durchstreichens, Verschiebens, Ersetzens konventionalisierter Parameter und Wert-Hierarchien; zum anderen eine durch den Entwicklungsschub technischer Medien und deren Auswirkungen auf Gesellschaft und Wahrnehmung angestoßenes Interesse an der Verbindung von Kunst und Medien. Eine wichtige Schnittstelle dieser Entwicklungen manifestiert sich in den Aufführungen der inzwischen legendären Nine Evenings: Theatre and Engineering, die 1966 in New York stattfanden. Die Analyse dieses Ereignisses, des Arbeitsprozesses, der ihm vorausging und an dem in gleicher Weise Künstler und Ingenieure beteiligt waren, wie der einzelnen Performances bildet einen Ausgangspunkt dieser Untersuchung. Dass Systemtheorie und Kybernetik als Denkmodelle für die Kunstproduktion erschlossen werden sollten, lässt sich nicht nur anhand der Manifestationen dieses Ereignisses zeigen, sondern auch anhand der Analyse zeitgenössischer Diskurse im Kunstfeld nachweisen. Live Electronic Arts heißt in diesem Zusammenhang: das unmittelbar (aktuell) vorgeführte Handeln mit technischen Medien in einer performativen Anordnung. Diese Verbindung wird von den Künstlern selbst als Mensch/Maschine-Kopplung verstanden – der Konstruktionsprozess wird zu einem wesentlichen Bestandteil künstlerischer Strategie. Der Einbezug zeitgenössischer Technologien wird so nicht als Frage nach der Neuartigkeit von Darstellungsmodi relevant, sondern als eine Frage nach Prozessen des Regelns, Steuerns und der Signalübertragung (control&communication) – also nach den Prozessen, die das Agieren mit ihnen strukturieren. Ausgehend von den Nine Evenings und der an ihnen beteiligten Künstler – Musiker, Tänzer und Choreographen sowie Bildende Künstler und Filmemacher – widmet sich die Arbeit in detaillierter Untersuchung den Versuchsreihen der einzelnen Künstler, denen die experimentellen Performances zugerechnet werden können. Sie zeigt für alle drei Bereiche – Live Electronic Music, die performativen Praktiken der Judson Dance Group und Expanded Cinema – unter welchen Bedingungen, ein Interesse und die Arbeit an der Kopplung von Körper-Bewegung und technischen Systemen entstand.
The developments of transgression and process-orientation, which in art history are designated as the Neo-Avantgarde of the early 1960s, form the central subject of this text with its exemplary analyses. They involve the fundamental innovations, which - initiated by John Cage''s ideas and concepts - characterised the work of the composers/performers of Live Electronic Music, as well as the expansion of artistic materials and the modification of art''s techniques since Happening and Fluxus. They also cover the minimalistic shifts in the understanding of bodily movement and objects above all in the dance/performance of the New York based Judson Dance Group and the performative investigation of the foundations of cinema/film perception in the Expanded Cinema. A twofold historical movement is illustrated in these three areas: on the one hand, the movement of cancellation, postponement, substitution of conventional parameters and value hierarchies; on the other, one of interest in the connection between art and the media triggered by the thrust of development in the technological media and their effects on society and perception. An important point of intersection of these developments manifests itself in the performances of the since legendary Nine Evenings: Theatre and Engineering, which took place in New York in 1966. The analysis of this event, of the process of work that preceded it and which involved artists and engineers in equal measure, as well as of the individual performances forms the basis of this investigation. That system theory and cybernetics should be developed as a working hypothesis for art production can be demonstrated not only through manifestations of this event, but also through contemporary discourses in the field of art. In this context, Live Electronic Arts means the immediately (currently) performed action in a perfomative configuration using technological media. The artists themselves understand this relation as an interconnection of human being and machine. The process of construction becomes an essential component of the artistic strategy. The inclusion of contemporary technologies becomes relevant not as a question about the novelty of the modes of representation, but as a question about the processes of structuring, regulating and the transmission of signals (control & communication), thus about processes that structure the performance with these technologies. Beginning with the Nine Evenings and the participating artists (musicians, dancers, choreographers, as well as visual artists and film makers), this text provides a detailed investigation into the series of experiments of the individual artists, to which the experimental performances can be attributed. It demonstrates for all three areas (Live Electronic Music, the perfomative practices of the Judson Dance Group, and Expanded Cinema) under what circumstances interest in and work on the interconnection of bodily movement and technological systems arose.

In the nineteenth century, theatre and newspapers were the dominant expressions of popular culture in the northeastern United States, and together formed a crucial discursive node in the ongoing negotiation of American national identity. Focusing on the five decades between 1820 and 1870, during which touring stars from Great Britain enjoyed their most lucrative years of popularity on United States stages, this dissertation examines three instances in which English performers entered into this nationalizing forum and became flashpoints for journalists seeking to define the nature and bounds of American citizenship and culture. In 1821, Edmund Kean’s refusal to perform in Boston caused a scandal that revealed a widespread fixation among social elites with delineating the ethnic and economic limits of citizenship in a republican nation. In 1849, an ongoing rivalry between the English tragedian William Charles Macready and his American competitor Edwin Forrest culminated in the deadly Astor Place riot. By configuring the actors as champions in a struggle between bourgeois authority and working-class populism, the New York press inserted these local events into international patterns of economic conflict and revolutionary violence. Nearly twenty years later, the arrival of the Lydia Thompson Burlesque Troupe in 1868 drew rhetoric that reflected the popular press’ growing preoccupation with gender, particularly the question of woman suffrage and the preservation of the United States’ international reputation as a powerfully masculine nation in the wake of the Civil War. Three distinct cultural currents pervade each of these case studies: the new nation’s anxieties about its former colonizer’s cultural influence, competing political and cultural ideologies within the United States, and the changing perspectives and agendas of the ascendant popular press. Exploring the points where these forces intersect, this dissertation aims to contribute to an understanding of how popular culture helped shape an emerging sense of American national identity. Ultimately, this dissertation argues that in the mid-nineteenth century northeastern United States, popular theatre, newspapers, and audiences all contributed to a single media formation in which controversial English performers became a rhetorical antipode against which “American” identity could be defined.
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