Leni: A Screenplay Based on the Career of Leni Riefenstahl (open access)

Leni: A Screenplay Based on the Career of Leni Riefenstahl

This screenplay dramatizes the controversial career of German film maker Leni Riefenstahl during ten years of her association with the Nazi Party. Beginning with the premiere of her first film in 1932, this account chronicles her rise as a film director of such films as Triumph of the Will and Olympia to her arrest after World War II on charges that she had been a Nazi sympathizer. Besides delineating the character and talents of Leni Riefenstahl, this screenplay addresses the difficult question of the relationship between politics and art.
Date: May 1988
Creator: Gillespie, Dana M. (Dana Marie)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Blood and Earth: Indivisible Territory and Terrorist Group Longevity (open access)

Blood and Earth: Indivisible Territory and Terrorist Group Longevity

The study of terrorism has been both broad in scope and varied in approach. Little work has been done, however, on the territorial aspects of terrorist groups. Most terrorist groups are revolutionary to one degree or another, seeking the control of a piece of territory; but for the supportive population of a terrorist group, how important is the issue of territory? Are the intangible qualities of territory more salient to a given population than other factors? Are territorially based terrorist groups more durable than their ideologically or religiously motivated cohorts? This paper aims to propose the validity of the territorial argument for the study of political terrorism.
Date: May 2013
Creator: Glass, Richard A.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Teaching Points in Comparing the Great Depression to the 2008-2009 Recession in the United States (open access)

Teaching Points in Comparing the Great Depression to the 2008-2009 Recession in the United States

For an introductory macroeconomics course, the discussion of historical relevance helps foster important learning connections. By comparing the Great Depression to the 2008-2009 recession, a macroeconomics instructor can provide students with connections to history. This paper discusses the major causes of each recession, major fiscal policy and monetary policy decisions of both recessions, and the respective relevance in teaching the relationship of each policy to gross domestic product. The teaching points addressed in this paper are directed towards an introductory college-level macroeconomics course, incorporating a variety of theories from historical and economic writers and data from government and central bank sources. A lesson plan is included in an appendix to assist the instructor in implementing the material.
Date: May 2010
Creator: Killian, Tiffany Noel
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Effect of Teacher Training on Internet Usage in the Classroom (open access)

The Effect of Teacher Training on Internet Usage in the Classroom

The purpose of this study is to determine the impact on student use of electronic information systems when teachers have been given instruction on their use. By providing teachers with a solid introduction to the technology, a handy reference book, and an easy-to-use evaluation tool, it is expected that they will incorporate information found on the internet into their lessons at least twice a month. In addition, teachers will allow students to access information on their own, provided computers and Internet access are available, at least once a month.
Date: August 1996
Creator: Meyer, Gay Lyn
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Emergence of the Individual in Eleventh and Twelfth Century Europe: Cistercians to Cowboys (open access)

The Emergence of the Individual in Eleventh and Twelfth Century Europe: Cistercians to Cowboys

The purpose and scope of this paper is to discuss the emergence of the individual in the eleventh and twelfth centuries in light of the societal changes occurring at the time, and to establish the fact that this beginning of individualism can be seen particularly in the arts of the time. The evidence presented gives rise to the supposition that the society of the eleventh and twelfth centuries can be defined as humanistic, given that humanism implies a concern with and a concentration upon life on earth as opposed to life in heaven.
Date: December 1991
Creator: Cain, Elizabeth P.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Dichotomy in American Western Mythology (open access)

Dichotomy in American Western Mythology

The fundamental dichotomy between savage and civilized man is examined within the archetypal Western myth of American culture. The roots of the dichotomy are explored through images produced between 1888 and 1909 by artists Frederic Remington and Charles Russell. Four John Ford films are then used as a basis for the "dichotomous archetype" approach to understanding Western myth in film. Next, twenty-nine "historical" and "contemporary" Western movies are discussed chronologically, from The Virginian (1929) to Dances with Wolves (1990), in terms of the savage/civilized schema as it is personified by the roles of archetypal characters. The conclusion proposes a potential resolution of the savage/civilized conflict through an ecumenical mythology that recognizes a universal reverence for nature.
Date: May 1991
Creator: Robinson, Scott E. (Scott Elmon), 1961-
System: The UNT Digital Library
Techniques of Social-science-fiction (open access)

Techniques of Social-science-fiction

This thesis includes an original science-fiction novella entitled "The Hunted" and accompanying commentary which illustrates how anthropological fiction can use characterization, setting, and conflict to build effective inter-subjective models.
Date: August 1995
Creator: Hadder, R. Neill (Richard Neill)
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Life of Ben and Other Poems (open access)

The Life of Ben and Other Poems

The Life of Ben and Other Poems consists of two sections. The first, The Life of Ben, is a series of seventeen poems about the life of a first-generation American and his family's immigration. The second section, Other Poems, includes twenty-one poems on a variety of themes.
Date: May 1987
Creator: Berecka, Alan Michael
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Denton Mare (open access)

The Denton Mare

Some men are born to greatness, others to great tragedy. This novel is a fictional account of one of those men: the notorious Texas outlaw, Sam Bass. Set in the Old West of the 1870s, the story primarily concerns itself with events in the train robber's life from the time he owned and raced the Denton Mare to the now famous shoot-out in Round Rock, Texas. It is a story of crime and betrayal told through the eyes of Bass and one of his close confederates, Jim Murphy.
Date: December 1984
Creator: DeMello, Duane T. (Duane Tyler)
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Gobber Tooth, A Hairy Lip, A Squint Eye: Concepts of the Witch and the Body in Early Modern Europe (open access)

A Gobber Tooth, A Hairy Lip, A Squint Eye: Concepts of the Witch and the Body in Early Modern Europe

This thesis discusses early modern European perceptions of body and soul in association with the increasing stringency of civilized behaviour and state formation in an effort to provide motivation for the increased severity of the witch hunts of that time. Both secondary and primary sources have been used, in particular the contemporary demonologies by such authors as Bodin, and Kramer and Sprenger. The thesis is divided into five chapters, including an Introduction and Conclusion. The body of the thesis focuses on religious, scientific, and secular beliefs (Ch. 2), appearance and characteristics of witches (Ch. 3), and the activities and behaviours/actions of witches, (Ch. 4). This study concentrates on the similarities found across Europe, and, as the majority of witches persecuted were female, my thesis emphasizes women as victims of the witch hunts.
Date: August 2000
Creator: Easley, Patricia Thompson
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Narrative Herstory of Women's Studies at the University of North Texas (open access)

A Narrative Herstory of Women's Studies at the University of North Texas

In the late 1960's the academic field of Women's Studies was created to give women a more equal education and a more accurate reflection of their history and impact on society. At the University of North Texas the effort to implement Women's Studies was not begun seriously until the late 1980's. This paper covers the effort to establish Women's Studies at UNT. My thesis is that this has been a grassroots effort led by professors and students who succeeded not only in establishing Women's Studies but also in changing the face and feeling of the University, creating a more positive environment for women. The bulk of the paper is made up of narrative selections drawn from oral history interviews with key individuals.
Date: December 1999
Creator: Cook, Charles
System: The UNT Digital Library
Sounding sacred: Interpreting musical and poetic trances. (open access)

Sounding sacred: Interpreting musical and poetic trances.

This essay investigates the relationship between trance and various musical and poetic expressions that accompany trance when it is interpreted as sacred. In other words, the aim of this investigation is to interpret how experiences of the entrancing power of the sacred come to expression with the sounds of music and poetry. I articulate such an interpretation through the following four sections: I) a discussion of the basic phenomenological and hermeneutic problems of interpreting what other people experience as sacred phenomena, II) an account of the hermeneutic context within which modern Western discourse interprets trance as madness that perverts the rational limits of the self, III) an interpretation of the expressions of trance that appear in the poetry of William Blake, and IV) an interpretation of expressions of trance that appear in the music of Afro-Atlantic religions (including Vodu in West Africa, Santería in Cuba, and Candomblé in Brazil).
Date: May 2006
Creator: Mickey, Samuel Robert
System: The UNT Digital Library
Cross-Country Analysis of Income Inequality (open access)

Cross-Country Analysis of Income Inequality

The purpose of this paper is to examine the cross-country relationship between income inequality and selected socioeconomic variables reflecting the level of economic development. The first chapter introduces some theoretical approaches to income distribution and poses problems regarding income inequalities across countries. The second chapter surveys cross-country studies of income inequalities conducted by previous researchers. The third chapter covers statistical methodology. Chapter four analyzes statistical results of multiple regression. The final chapter is intended for summary, conclusion, and recommendations.
Date: December 1989
Creator: Lee, Sungho, 1950-
System: The UNT Digital Library
Modest Musorgsky's Early Songs: Uncommon Lyricisms Within a Simple Framework (open access)

Modest Musorgsky's Early Songs: Uncommon Lyricisms Within a Simple Framework

Modest Musorgsky is considered a composer of masterful vocal, symphonic, and piano works. His songs and song cycles distinguish themselves as evocative of the broad spectrum of Russian experience. However, Musorgsky's early songs have not received as much attention as his larger works, such as Boris Godunov or Pictures at an Exhibition. Musorgsky's early songs, from 1857-1867, show the composer's affinity for lyrical expression, be it brightly melodious, impassioned, or within a comical or satirical vein. He portrays Russian life through a mixture of different genres such as the Russian romance, the ballad, the operatic aria, and also vaudeville. This study focuses on Musorgsky's choice of texts, his penning of several of them, and the way he incorporates them within each song.
Date: December 2012
Creator: Gunter, Sheila
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Word and Tragedy the Revelation of Divine Mystery in the Portrayal of Man as Language (open access)

The Word and Tragedy the Revelation of Divine Mystery in the Portrayal of Man as Language

This study suggests that tragedy sees human action as synonymous with language and that it uses a method similar to that of a hermeneutic phenomenology to portray man as experiencing spirituality in a confrontation with expression. This confrontation takes the form of a pattern that leads to a revelation that all human action springs from the spirit. Word as action is thus placed into a spiritual context, containing in itself the key to the divine significance of the human experience. As a cultural manifestation, this pattern exists not only in literary tragedy, but also in the Hebrew Scriptures as narratives and poetry. This study examines this tragic pattern in Genesis, the Book of Job, Oedipus, and King Lear.
Date: August 1988
Creator: Painter, Mark A. (Mark Andrew)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Multiple Regression Equations to Estimate Mean Nutrient Concentrations in Streams of North Central Texas from Landsat Derived Land Use (open access)

Multiple Regression Equations to Estimate Mean Nutrient Concentrations in Streams of North Central Texas from Landsat Derived Land Use

Nutrients are of critical concern in water quality assessment. The development of empirical models to estimate mean nutrient concentrations, based on satellite derived land use, could aid water resource managers. Models using land use acreages outperformed those using percentages, and discrete urban land uses were superior to lumped urban. Regressions of the combinations of two, three and four of the eight possible land use variables were investigated. Sensitivity analyses, with one stream deleted each series, identified robust combinations of variables at each level. Although uncertainty exists regarding the final regression coefficients, five of the six actual measured nitrate and total phosphorus mean concentrations were within the 95 percent confidence limits.
Date: May 1994
Creator: Kerr, Barry Douglas
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Geologic and Archaeological History of the Dickie Carr Site 41PR26 (open access)

The Geologic and Archaeological History of the Dickie Carr Site 41PR26

This thesis is an analysis and synthesis of the geologic and archaeological history of the Dickie Carr site, 41PR26, on Mill Creek in north central Texas. Included are analyses of the stratigraphy, sedimentary environments, and soils of the locality. A regional comparison is made with respect to the Late Quaternary geology of the upper Trinity River basin, Texas to interpret the geologic data. Two stratigraphic units were identified that record the Pleistocene-Holocene transition. The buried lower unit is comprised of terrace, floodplain, and channel deposits with extensive pedogenesis. The unit is Late Pleistocene in age and contains the remains of Mammuthus columbi. The upper stratigraphic unit is comprised of terrace and floodplain sediments with well-expressed pedogenesis. The unit is Early Holocene in age with Late Paleoindian and Late Archaic occupations. The archaeological components are compared and contrasted with documented sites from the Elm and East Forks of the Trinity River. The occupations are examined in a geoarchaeological context. The Late Paleoindian occupation is post-depositional and located in terrace deposits. The Late Archaic occupation is syndepositional and located in floodplain deposits.
Date: May 2007
Creator: Byers, Johnny A.
System: The UNT Digital Library