Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'New York Living Theater'

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.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Theatre and Drama, 2006.
"Title from dissertation home page (viewed July 17, 2007)." Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-12, Section: A, page: 4389. Adviser: Ronald Wainscott.

Le Judson Dance Theater est un collectif américain de danseurs, chorégraphes, artistes figuratifs et musiciens que se réunissait à la Judson Memorial Church, Greenwich Village (N. Y. C. ), au début des années 60. Pendant cette période, le groupe forme un atelier pour expérimenter des nouvelles formes de danse qui aboutissent à une grande production de pièces innovatrices. Bien que l'historiographie ait reconstruit la plupart de l'activité du groupe, son image reste mythologique et réductive. Cette étude sollicite une analyse interprétative pour rendre compte du contexte socio artistique et donc voir de quelles manières le J. D. T. Est représentatif de son temps; pour réintégrer des figures négligées dans les études interprétatives du groupe et donc étendre la complexité phénoménologique de l'objet ; pour reconstruire les dynamiques de la corporéité et donc démystifier l'idée de corps naturel ou même quotidien. La méthode de recherche est historique et interdisciplinaire
Judson Dance Theater is a collective of dancers, choreographers, visual artists and composers who met at Judson Memorial Church, Greenwich Village (N. Y. C. ), at the beginning of the 60s. The group established a weekly workshop to experiment new ways of dancing that brought about a huge production of innovative pieces. Even though dance historiography has reconstructed most of its activity, its image stays mainly mythological and reductive. This research is based on an interpretative analysis aimed at acknowledging the socio-artistic context of the J. D. T. , therefore verifying in what ways it represents its own time. It also reconsiders artists who were neglected by previous interpretative studies, deepening the phenomenological complexity of this subject. And, finally, by reconstructing the dynamics of corporeality in the artists' training and performances, it tries to demystify the idea of natural and pedestrian body. The method is historical and interdisciplinary

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.

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.

In Sex Curve, a quirky cast of characters goes to war with oxytosin, the hormone which makes a woman fall in love with the person she sleeps with. Brilliant biochemist, Marissa, puts love to the ultimate test in this biting satire.

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.

Eudora Welty is well-known for her many works of fiction and non-fiction, but not known for her works for the theater. In the summer of 1948 Welty moved to New York and wrote, in collaboration with another writer, a musical revue entitled What Year Is This? Only one of the sketches, “Bye-Bye Brevoort,” was ever produced. This and other sketches in the unpublished manuscript deserve to be studied alongside Welty’s other work. These writings provide a window into her love of New York, her vast knowledge of the fine arts, and the evolution of her writing styles. In January of 2010, a reading was staged at the Balzer Theater at Herren’s, Atlanta, Georgia. Audience reaction indicates that these pieces, both songs and skits, deserve more attention.

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

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.

Pretende-se investigar, trabalhar e desenvolver a ideia de “campus” de espectáculos em Nova Iorque, através de uma proposta para o concurso internacional de ideias para o New York Theater City (NYTC). O local de implantação encontra-se numa zona central da cidade de Nova Iorque, junto ao rio Hudson e actualmente a sua função é armazenar vagões de comboios danificados. Este local esteve desde sempre ligado à assistência da linha do comboio e é conhecido por West Side Yard. Este pátio deixou de fazer sentido, a partir do momento que a linha de comboio da zona foi desactivada e reestruturada para ser um parque elevado com áreas verdes e zonas de lazer. A High Line Park termina junto ao terreno em que se pretende implantar e por isso influência, inevitavelmente, as ideias para desenvolver a proposta. A análise de tipologias arquitectónicas mostra que a maioria dos edifícios, junto ao local, estão, sobretudo, ligados à indústria e transportes, no entanto, a câmara da cidade tem feito estudos para uma futura reestruturação desta parte da cidade com o objectivo de torna-la numa zona residencial. As mudanças que irão ser feitas fazem do local escolhido o espaço perfeito para esta proposta inovadora. Para desenvolver este espaço de espectáculos é essencial estudar e analisar tipologias semelhantes. Para isso foram escolhidos a Ópera de Berlim, a Casa da Música, a Filarmónica de Hamburgo e a Filarmónica de Luxemburgo. Estes espaços irão ajudar a compreender a dinâmica entre a organização da plateia e público, entre público e artistas, e entre o espectáculo e o palco. O principal objectivo final é criar, mais do que um espaço de espectáculos, um local que seja apelativo a todas as faixas etárias, através da criação de diversas actividades e espaços ao ar livre que tenham percursos integrados na cidade.
It is intend to investigate, work and develop the idea of “theater campus” in New York, through a proposal for the international contest of ideas for the New York City Theater (NYTC). The site is a central area of the city of New York along the Hudson River and its function is currently storing train cars damaged. This place has always been connected to the assistance of the train line and is known for West Side Yard. This yard did not make sense, from the moment that the train line was off the area and restructured to be an elevated park with green and recreational areas. The High Line Park ends at the land on which it intends to implement the project and therefore influence, inevitably, ideas to develop the proposal. The analysis of the existing zoning shows that most of the buildings near the site are mainly related to industry and transport, yet the city council has done studies for a future restructuring of this part of the city in order to make it residential area. The changes that will be made make the chosen site perfect for this innovative proposal. To develop this entertainment space is essential to study and analyze similar types of buildings. To do so, were chosen the Berlin State Opera, “Casa da Música”, the Hamburg Philharmonic and the Luxembourg Philharmonic. These spaces will help to understand the dynamics between the organization of public and audience, between audience and artists, and between the show and the stage. The main final objective is to create more than an entertainment space, a place that is appealing to all age groups, by creating various activities and outdoor spaces that have integrated pathways in the city.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2007.
Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-06, Section: A, page: 2249. Adviser: Peter A. Davis. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 230-239) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

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.

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.

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.

This dissertation examines experimental dance in New York City in the 1990s. Earlier periods of American concert dance have received significant scholarly attention to the historical, political, and aesthetic aspects of dance practice. Moreover, certain periods of modern dance — especially the 1930s and the 1960s — have been analyzed as moments of significant change, and the artists that emerged from the Judson Dance Theater in particular have held a significant place in the theorizing and historicizing of dance in the United States. However, experimental dance practices of the early 21st century demonstrate dramatically different aesthetics, approaches, and circumstances of production than those of earlier periods, including their Judson forebears. This project argues for understanding the 1990s as a period of significant change for dance, one with continuing resonance for the decades that follow.This project uses the term "downtown dance" to situate experimental dance in New York City as a community of practitioners, rather than as a particular set of aesthetic or artistic practices. Each of the four chapters focuses on an aspect in this period that would define how dance looked, how dancers practiced, and what shaped the artistic values and priorities of this community. The first chapter presents a history of the dance-service organization Movement Research. Tracing the history of the organization from its founding in 1978 through the establishment of its most influential programs in the 1990s — including the Movement Research Performance Journal and the performance series Movement Research at the Judson Church — the chapter locates Movement Research as a central entity in building the community and shaping theaesthetics of downtown dance. The second chapter examines the effects of the AIDS crisis on dance in the 1990s. As AIDS entered its second decade, it collided with and magnified downtown dance's complex relationship with emotion. This chapter draws on scholarship of AIDS' relationship to visual art, theater, and activism, as well as close readings of several works — by artists including Donna Uchizono, Neil Greenberg, John Jasperse, RoseAnne Spradlin, Jennifer Monson, and DD Dorvillier — most not generally understood as "AIDS dances," to argue that AIDS' impact generated a fundamental shift in the role of emotion in downtown dance. The third chapter examines how shifts in arts funding in the 1990s connected to a major restructuring in production models for dance. This chapter connects the history of the modern dance company with both aesthetic and economic developments over the course of the 20th century, arguing that the company should be understood as a combined economic-aesthetic system. Furthermore, the chapter demonstrates the new model for dance production that began to take hold in the 1990s in the wake of widespread funding and economic shifts: the project model. Teasing out the complex web of funding for dance, this chapter makes extensive use of dance periodicals; several funding trend analyses from organizations including Dance/USA, National Endowment for the Arts, Dance/NYC, and private corporate and foundation reports; and the archives of the presenting institution Danspace Project. The final chapter looks at how the shifts in economic models for dance discussed in the previous chapter connected to changes in training and bodily technique of dancers and performers. Specifically investigating the history of "release technique," this chapter examines how attitudes toward technique and training in downtown dance in the 1990s shifted the connection between movement practices and creative output, reconceiving the role of the dancer in the dancer-choreographer relationship.

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.