McNair Scholars Research Journal Vol. 15
http://hdl.handle.net/10211.14/2
2024-03-19T04:06:40ZAfrican Influence in the Music of Mexico’s Costa Chica Region
http://hdl.handle.net/10211.14/11
African Influence in the Music of Mexico’s Costa Chica Region
Smith, Brian K.
While European and Amerindian contributions to Mexican folk music traditions have been thoroughly acknowledged, the African influence has
not been as widely publicized. However, ample evidence of African
influence on folk music in Mexico exists, especially in the densely black- populated pueblos within the states of Guerrero and Oaxaca in the Costa Chica region. Instruments such as the marímbola (finger piano), quijada (jawbone), and tambor de fricción (friction drum) specifically point toward African influence in the folk music of Costa Chica. The main objective of this paper is to identify the African influence on the folk music in the region. By tracing the roots of certain instruments and folksongs that use these specific African instruments, this study seeks to address the underrepresentation of African influence in the Costa Chica region.
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Ray Briggs
Bob Cole Conservatory of Music
2011-06-01T00:00:00ZThe Aztlánian Lens: Migrating Back to Mango Street
http://hdl.handle.net/10211.14/10
The Aztlánian Lens: Migrating Back to Mango Street
Shaver, Vasiliki T.
In studying the post-civil rights canonized works of Latino American literature, it appears their historical and geographical relevance often lacks
representation. Unlike the dominate literature, the voice of the Chicano
appears as if from nowhere in the historical, textual landscape. Furthermore, with regard to geographical history in the U.S., the subtext of Latino novels asks us to consider an alternate trajectory, one that is not dependent solely on a westward expansion model. As a pre-text to understanding Aztlánian rhetoric and Latino migratory patterns, Gloria Anzaldúa's Borderlands serves as a lens to show how the “return-to-home” theme pervades many Latino American texts. Consequently, these migratory patterns allow us to understand the return-to-home themes inherent in Sandra Cisneros’ fictional The House on Mango Street. The construction of Cisneros text reveals the migratory narrative, which reinforces the Aztlanian lens. The story’s protagonist takes us through an eco-critical examination of how space constructs identity. Cisneros engages the voice of the narrator in a struggle to escape her barrio neighborhood by utilizing both a physical and emotional migration which ultimately returns her back home. Using narrative theory, this analysis focuses on how migratory themes in this novel, taught in most junior and senior high schools, link Chicano texts with an Aztlanian ideology and a commitment to community.
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Susan Carlile
Department of English
2011-06-01T00:00:00ZMales Raised by Emotionally Absent Mothers: All Nature No Nurture
http://hdl.handle.net/10211.14/9
Males Raised by Emotionally Absent Mothers: All Nature No Nurture
Reyes, Emmanuel
The focus of this research pertains to males who were raised by emotionally absent mothers and their perception of women during adulthood. This aspect of research has been omitted from the school of sociology. However, existing research on children from single parent families has focused on children raised in absent father families and the predicted emotional and psychological developmental outcomes of children, yet there has not been a study that has analyzed the children of these families as adults. This paper analyzes a sample of participants obtained from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth 79 (NLSY79) Child/ Young Adults (1986-2006) Survey (United States Department of Labor [U.S. DOL], 2008). Specifically this paper looks at two subsample variables, the Family Attitude Scale (2002) and the Home Emotional Support Scale (1986). Using a linear regressions test, this study indicated that being raised by an emotionally absent mother has implications on adult males’ perception of women. Findings show greater emotional support being associated with more egalitarian views of women in society and conclude that males’ perception of their childhood relationship with their mothers affects their relationships with women in adulthood.
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jeff Davis
Department of Sociology
2011-06-01T00:00:00ZA Critique of External World Skepticism
http://hdl.handle.net/10211.14/8
A Critique of External World Skepticism
Moval, Michael
Philosophers since ancient Greece have forwarded and debated various
skeptical theses. Contemporary philosophers continue this tradition of vibrant and compelling dialogue. The most common form of skepticism
considered in contemporary academic philosophy is called “external world skepticism.” This skeptical argument seeks to deny claims that we
know about the external world on the grounds that to know of the external world one must show that other possible explanations of our experiences must be known to be false. In my paper, I will explore some
well-known arguments for external world skepticism (i.e., Descartes’ Dream Hypothesis and Putnam’s Brain in a Vat Hypothesis) and, in so
doing, I will offer my own counterarguments against each argument. More broadly, I will reject the presuppositions of the skeptic’s argument,
developing a principled criticism of those presuppositions recently attributed to Quine that will serve as a basis for my own argumentation against external world skeptical hypotheses.
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Charles Wallis
Department of Philosophy
2011-06-01T00:00:00Z