Theses and Dissertations from UMD
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New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a give thesis/dissertation in DRUM
More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.
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Item “THE GREAT QUESTION”: SLAVERY, SECTIONALISM, AND THE U.S. NAVAL OFFICER CORPS, 1820-1861(2021) Bailey, Roger; Bell, Richard; History; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This dissertation analyzes how United States naval officers’ beliefs about race and slavery shaped sectionalism between the North and South in the antebellum era. As agents of the federal government operating far from the capital, naval officers had significant influence on the implementation of American foreign policy. With reputations as respected professionals and travelers, they also shaped national discourse with their reports, speeches, and publications. These traits made officers important public figures as the future of slavery became a pervasive issue that increasingly affected American naval operations. The study examines the US Navy’s suppression of the transatlantic slave trade, support for African colonization in Liberia, policing of unauthorized “filibustering” invasions in Latin America, and exploring expeditions. It argues that up until the secession crisis at the outbreak of the Civil War, the naval officer corps was remarkably resilient to the growing divide between the North and South. Most officers considered themselves to be politically moderate on the issue of slavery, and they tried to curtail the institution’s worst excesses, eliminate threats to the stability of slavery, and promote external, compromise solutions to the nation’s domestic crisis that prioritized rule of law. These solutions sought to unify white Americans around visions of empire and the expatriation of African Americans. In pursuing such goals, officers tried to enact their own version of American foreign policy. Though they had limited material success, their efforts supported political moderatism in the antebellum United States. As more and more Americans took up pro- and antislavery stances, naval officers used federal power and their personal influence to help maintain the belief that compromise could preserve the Union.Item An Exploration into the Validity and Treatment of the Bassoon in Duet Repertoire from 1960 - 2016(2017) Hall, Ronn; DiLutis, Robert; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Dominant composers have taken advantage of the bassoon’s expansive range, including it in a duet setting within a handful of compositions. Yet despite these wonderful works, demonstrating the bassoon’s potential in this repertoire, modern composers and performers alike shy away from including the bassoon in duets. It is my belief that knowledge of this repertoire, along with fearless composers and performers, will incite new passions for the duet repertoire that includes the bassoon and help bring this wonderful music to the concert stage. This dissertation project explores the validity of the bassoon in duet repertoire and pushes the boundaries of standard conceptions through three thematic recital programs with works written between 1960 and 2016. The composers included are uninhibited by extended techniques, musical style and traditions, or unconventional instrumentation. The first contains duets for bassoon and percussion and electronics, the second for bassoon and winds, and the third for bassoon and strings. The works performed and discussed in this dissertation are the following: • Howard J. Buss, Luminous Horizons for bassoon and harp (2016) • John Falcone, Jabberwocky Jam for solo bassoon and narrator (2011) • Alfonso Fuentes, Mejunje del Fagobóngo for solo bassoon & solo bongos (2006) • Kyle Hovatter, Mist for bassoon and track (2011) • Alan Hovhaness, Suite for English horn and bassoon (1968) • Michael Isaacson, Duet for bassoon and one maraca (2008) • Michael Isaacson, The Low Down, ten bar blues for bassoon and electric bass (2011) • Ann Kearns, Six Poems of Mary Oliver (1997) • Michael Kibbe, Eclogue, op. 61 for English horn & bassoon (1981) • Francisco Mignone, Music for Two Bassoons, Sonata No. 1 (1961) • Craig Phillips, Pastoral & Dance for bassoon & organ (2006) • Thomas Priest, Reminiscent Rains for bassoon & marimba (2006) • Robert Rønnes, Dragon’s Teeth (2003) • Robert Rønnes, Kumoi Kudan – Masahito Tanaka in Memoriam (2003) • Tadd Russo At the Zoo – Three Dances for Trumpet and Bassoon (2007) • Gerhard Samuel, Dirge for John Cage for bassoon & Percussion (1992) • John Steinmetz, Fish Phase for two contrabassoons & goldfish (1975) • Günther Witschurke, Zwei Lieder für Sopran und Fagott (1994) • Gernot Wolfgang, 3 Short Stories for viola & bassoon (2001)Item Pressure-Constrained, Reduced-DOF, Interconnected Parallel Manipulators with Applications to Space Suit Design(2009) Jacobs, Shane Earl; Akin, David L; Aerospace Engineering; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This dissertation presents the concept of a Morphing Upper Torso, an innovative pressure suit design that incorporates robotic elements to enable a resizable, highly mobile and easy to don/doff spacesuit. The torso is modeled as a system of interconnected, pressure-constrained, reduced-DOF, wire-actuated parallel manipulators, that enable the dimensions of the suit to be reconfigured to match the wearer. The kinematics, dynamics and control of wire-actuated manipulators are derived and simulated, along with the Jacobian transforms, which relate the total twist vector of the system to the vector of actuator velocities. Tools are developed that allow calculation of the workspace for both single and interconnected reduced-DOF robots of this type, using knowledge of the link lengths. The forward kinematics and statics equations are combined and solved to produce the pose of the platforms along with the link tensions. These tools allow analysis of the full Morphing Upper Torso design, in which the back hatch of a rear-entry torso is interconnected with the waist ring, helmet ring and two scye bearings. Half-scale and full-scale experimental models are used along with analytical models to examine the feasibility of this novel space suit concept. The analytical and experimental results demonstrate that the torso could be expanded to facilitate donning and doffing, and then contracted to match different wearer's body dimensions. Using the system of interconnected parallel manipulators, suit components can be accurately repositioned to different desired configurations. The demonstrated feasibility of the Morphing Upper Torso concept makes it an exciting candidate for inclusion in a future planetary suit architecture.