Theses and Dissertations from UMD
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Item Making Sense of Violence: How the Lebanon War Became Sectarian(2024) Ellsworth, Ted Spencer; Cunningham, Kathleen G; Jones, Calvert W; Government and Politics; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This dissertation analyzes the rise of sectarian political order in Lebanon during the Civil War. In the Middle East, religious differences are often seen as an intractable problem, and sectarian power-sharing rules, all-encompassing. When we look at the pre-war period in Lebanon, while religious differences played a role at the national level, most sectarian communities did not have robust institutions to maintain order and coordination amongst themselves. Internally, the groups were politically divided, and many political parties were ostensibly secular. Despite serious efforts to abolish sectarianism throughout the war, by the end, the system of sectarian order was more entrenched in all levels of society. At the same time, sectarianism remains just one of many relevant cleavages within Lebanon. How do we explain the trajectory of sectarian order in Lebanon? What does the persistence of sectarian order reveal about the challenges of nation building and political order? Conventional scholarship argues that violence can help construct both identities and order: external violence is thought to reinforce national identities instead of subnational ones, and intra-group violence is thought to reinforce subnational boundaries. By contrast, my argument highlights the role of framing in mediating these relationships. This inductive study is based on analysis of fourteen archives, novel event data, and a close reading of party ephemera and historical newspapers from 1958 to 1982. By combining this data within a micro-comparative framework, this dissertation reconstructs the dynamics of contention leading up to and throughout the early stages of the Lebanon Civil War. Comparing episodes of violence in Lebanon over time, I explore how external violence, inter-group violence, and intra-group violence shaped political order. I show that the relationship between violence and the creation of identity-based order is conditional on framing effects. These frames help decision-makers link specific threats to policies, including new rules and institutions to govern intra- and inter-group behavior. By examining examples of each type of violence over successive junctures, I unsettle the notion that sectarian political order in Lebanon was inevitable, instead showing how elites became trapped by their ideas as they attempted to make sense of problems that arose in the war such as Israeli interference in Lebanese politics, inter-communal massacres, and opportunistic violence. My work has general implications for how violence can shape behavior, the types of political order that emerge from civil conflicts, and the important role of ideational change during periods marked by uncertainty.Item Popular Theatre in Iran: Critical Perspectives on The Historiography of Lalehzari Theatre(2024) Haeri, Q-mars Mazandarani; Hildy, Franklin J.; Theatre; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)By the mid-1950s a class of performers occupied the theatres, concert halls, and nightclubs of the Lalehzar entertainment district in Tehran. Many of these performers had abandoned their lives in small villages in faraway provinces. Many had come from poor neighborhoods in Tehran to pursue their dreams for theatre, dance, and music. Their diverse and varied performances known as “Lalehzari” (adjectival form) made deep and affective connections to the audience in the Lalehzar district. For the first time, a great population of Tehran’s spectators, who were often characterized as “uncultured” by various scholars, had finally found a body of performances that they could relate to, those that could speak to their struggles and sorrows, and that responded to political and social issues within their society.This dissertation considers the “Lalehzari” performances of the 1950s and 1960, the ways in which these performances originated in the 1940s, the ways in which they subverted the status quo, and the ways in which they have been described, theorized, and historicized in Iranian historical studies of theatre. Major theatre histories have been written with a Marxist lens by writers who had a relationship with the Tudeh communist party. As a result, such histories tend to emphasize, admire, and affirm so-called “committed theatre” and dismiss, denounce, and stigmatize Lalehzari popular theatre. Hence, there is a major gap in the available literature that represents Iranian modern cultural history as one-sided and political. This is not to deny that culture is always political but at a time when knowledge of Middle Eastern cultures in the US is limited to political discourse alone, an academic endeavor of the cultural history of Iran is crucial for understanding this multifaceted society. This dissertation addresses fundamental questions about how notions like immigration and class challenge the ways in which we think about culture and how cultural history may be written without erasures. To reconstruct the history of Lalehzari theatre, I am organizing my dissertation into these chapters: Lalehzar’s unique geographic location in Tehran and the history of its theatre houses (chapter 1), the improvisatory popular performers of the 1940s and how they gained access to Lalehzar (chapter 2), the stigmatization of Lalehzar (chapter 3), Racial depiction in performances in the district (chapter 4). Each of these chapters has a historical part that explains the cause and effect of events, the continuation and changes of performance styles, and the operation of theatre houses. Each chapter also offers a close reading and analysis of a few artists whose lives and performances reflect the class tensions between the Lalehzar district and the outside theatre scene. I am looking at the ways in which history unfolded and also how it affects us today, therefore, the dissertation addresses the preservation quest for Lalehzar theatres (chapter 5) and how lasting narratives about Lalehzar shaped the Iranian culture today (conclusion).Item The Development of Theater in Post-Revolutionary Iran from 1979 to 1997(2022) Ahmadian , Nahid; Keshavarz-Karamustafa, Fatemeh; English Language and Literature; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This research studies the development of Iranian dramatic literature and theater in post-revolutionary Iran. In a historical survey from the 1979 revolution to the beginning of the Reform Era, it explores the connection of the dramatic literature and their productions to their cultural contexts and studies the ways these contexts impact the function and formation of Iranian theater. In a chronological survey, this research examines the ways Iranian theater developed new theatrical forms to meet and reflect on the political, social, and cultural demands of an important phase in Iranian history. This research benefits from the methods of postpositivist theater historiography to advance a revisionist historical narrative based on the dynamic dialectics between Iranian theater and its cultural setting. This is summative, analytical, and archival research. Based on archival research grounded in nearly 2000 documents, and 200 plays it also provides resources on Iranian theater history and historiography. By bringing together the list of scholarship, theatrical productions, and historical documents of the 1980s and 1990s, it provides a resource on Iranian post-revolutionary history in one of the most transformative periods in Iranian contemporary history.Item Les identites opprimees: approche coloniale; mirage ou derive(2020) Ngadi, Inaam; Eades, Caroline; French Language and Literature; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)ABSTRACT Title of dissertation: OPPRESSED IDENTITIES: COLONIAL APPROACH. MIRAGE OR A DRIFT Inaam Ngadi, Master’s Program, 2020 Dissertation directed by: Doctor Caroline Eades Department of French Literature Our contemporary times throughout the past decades have known an unprecedented killings and massacres that keep recurring repeatedly. This recurring cycle of violence goes beyond any human reasoning and increases social discomfort globally. These attacks occur on a worldwide scale, nevertheless according to an international study made by George Washington University in 2017 , France is the country that is the most affected by radical “Islamic” terrorist acts in Europe (Figaro.fr, 2017). The source of these suicidal and criminal acts has been systematically attributed to religion, ethnic or national factors without looking deeper into the source of the matter. In fact, the media has been systematically associating suicidal acts of terror to Islamic movements that are claimed to be deriving from Islamic religion. What I am trying to assess through this research work, is the fact that there are rather economic, political, and cultural factors associated with colonialism and neocolonialism that have strongly influenced the current global violence climate and the resulting social discomfort. In fact, the violence of the colonial and subsequent neocolonial regimes has led to a global disorientation and to the negative climate experienced currently.Item TWO STRIKES AND YOU’RE OUT: THE CONVERGENCE OF COLD WAR POLITICS, LABOR, AND ETHNIC TENSIONS IN THE JULY 1946 STRIKES AT KIRKUK AND ABADAN(2019) Hobson, Tiffany Claire; Wien, Peter; History/Library & Information Systems; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This thesis explores the convergence of Cold War politics, labor issues, and ethnic conflict on the local scale during the labor strikes which occurred in July 1946 at the oil refineries in Kirkuk, Iraq and Abadan, Iran. The roles of the local communist parties in leading the strikes are weighed against the workers' economic concerns to determine that the workers’ motivations for striking extended beyond political support for any particular party, and claims that the violence which ended the strikes was the result of inherent ethnic conflicts are debunked through examination of both regions’ ethnic histories.Item Not your terrorist: Case studies examining the intersectional identities and aspirations of Arab American Muslim middle school boys(2017) Shafey, Dina; Turner, Jennifer D.; Curriculum and Instruction; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Arab Muslim boys living in the United States have experienced varying levels of public scrutiny since 9/11 and prior to. Public perceptions of these experiences are centered on media-driven representations; often inaccurate depictions of the nuanced lives of these boys. While Arab Muslims have lived in the United States more than a century, their lived experiences, particularly experiences while in school are missing. This research study examined how Arab American Muslim Middle School boys perceived their intersecting identities while navigating instances of bias. To address this, one overarching research questions guided this study: “How do key intersecting social classifications race, gender, culture, and religion, impact Arab American middle school boys’ ethnic identity perceptions?” To further explicate on these nuances four sub-questions were addressed, including: “How do these boys define success and achievement in relation to schooling?”; “How have middle school Arab American boys experienced cultural bias/or how have they perceived cultural bias?”; To what extent do Arab American boys seek out resources (community family, religion), through their social networks?” and “How have they navigated schooling as framed by these experiences of cultural bias?” Using an Intersectional Identities Theoretical Framework (Crenshaw, 1989; Phelan, 1991; Collins, 2009), this study explored the multifaceted nature of identity perception, namely the boys’ experiences with power relationships resulting from these identifiers. Four themes surfaced including how they operationalized power and oppression across identity categories namely, Religion, Culture, Gender and Race. To delve into these questions and to represent the experiences of each boy with detail, a qualitative case study design (Bodgen & Biklen 2003; Erickson & Shultz, 1992; Merriam, 1998; Yin, 2006) was used to analyze and produce rice and detailed narratives. This study will promote discussion about the very nature of the lived experiences of Arab Muslim boys growing up in the United States. It will also serve as a platform for administrators and policy makers in the daily decisions, for example curriculum decisions, impacting this scrutinized population.Item NECK CIRCUMFERENCE AS A NEW ANTHROPOMETRIC INDICATOR FOR PREDICTION OF CARDIOMETABOLIC RISKS IN SAUDI POPULATION(2016) Albassam, Reem Sulaiman; Lei, David; Nutrition; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Background: Recent studies have associated neck circumference (NC) with metabolic and cardiovascular disease risk factors. No studies designed to examine NC as a measure of cardiometabolic risks have been performed in Saudi Arabia (KSA). Objective: This study aimed to analyze the association between NC and several cardiometabolic risk factors, and to determine the cut-off point value of NC for predicting women at increased risk of metabolic syndrome (MetS). Methods: This cross-sectional study comprised of 700 participants (623 women and 77 men aged 18–70). Study performed in Riyadh city, KSA. International Diabetes Federation (IDF) guidelines were used to diagnose MetS among the subjects. The main indicators studied were NC, waist circumference (WC), body mass index (BMI), body fat %, blood pressure, plasma glucose, total cholesterol, lipoproteins, triglycerides, and homeostasis model assessment-estimated insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) levels. Covariance, and logistic regression analyses were used to evaluate the association of NC to cardiometabolic risk factors separately by genders. Receivers operating characteristic (ROC) curves analyses were used to determine the optimal cutoffs. Results: NC is associated with BMI and WC in men and women. In women, it is associated with cardiometabolic risk factors beyond other anthropometric indices. NC is independently associated with all cardiometabolic risk factors except LDL (P < 0.001). Fully adjusted OR (95% CI) values for incremental increases in NC for women were 1.70 (1.48–2.94) for raised fasting glucose; 1.29 (1.15–1.45) for raised blood pressure; 1.25 (1.13–1.38) for high triglycerides; 1.20 (1.02–1.40) for insulin resistance; and 1.14 (1.02–1.40) for low HDLc. Women in the largest NC quartile were 13 times more likely [OR (95% CI): 13.39 (6.35 - 28.23)] to have MetS compared to the lowest NC quartile after adjustments for possible confounders (all P < 0.01). Finally, our results indicated that the appropriate NC to predict three or more metabolic risk factors in Saudi women is 35.5 cm. This cutoff value was associated with a much greater risk of MetS in participants with both high and normal BMI and WC values. Conclusion: NC is significantly and independently associated with cardiometabolic risk factors in adult Saudi women.Item The Demobilized Body: Transgressions of Personal Space and Political Participation(2016) Abdo, Carla Beth; Calvo, Dr. Ernesto F; Government and Politics; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Grounded in the intersection between gender politics and electoral studies, this dissertation examines the demobilizing effects of violations of personal space (in the form of domestic violence, control over mobility, emotional abuse, and sexual harassment) on the propensity to vote. Using quantitative methods across four survey datasets concerning Lebanon, the United States, Morocco, and Yemen, this research concludes that cross-regionally, familial control over mobility reduces the propensity to vote among women. Conversely, mechanisms of empowerment such as education and employment increase the propensity to vote.Item DE-MONOPOLIZING THEATRE: FORMATION OF A SPACE OF AN INDIVIDUAL EXPRESSION IN IRAN(2015) Mesgari-Houshyar, Maryam; Harding, James M.; Theatre; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Since the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979/1357, the organization of theatre, and theatre festivals, in particular, have been subject to the control of the Islamic government. In 2008/1387, however, the Leev theatre group founded the MonoLeev Festival, Iran’s first independent theatre festival authorized by the Dramatic Art Center, the theatre branch of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance. The MonoLeev Festival emerged as a result of the cultural transformations started during the Reformists era. In this study, I analyze achievements of the MonoLeev Festival in de-monopolization of the DAC’s dominance over the theatre in Iran. I investigate the scope of this de-monopolization in three main domains: the phenomenon of festival, the theatrical space, and the discourses concerning the notion of personal and political identity. Additionally, I explore how this festival connects the disintegrated spheres of public and private, in Iran.Item Capital Development: Mandate Era Amman and the Construction of the Hashemite State, 1921-1946(2015) Guthorn, Harrison Brent; Wien, Peter; History; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This dissertation explores the modern history of Amman during the British Mandate and how the city’s development was closely tied to the evolution of the Hashemite state. This study explores the significant cultural and political hybridization of the local population in Amman because of the state’s centralization project. Few historians of the Middle East have examined in depth the formation of capital cities in nascent nation-states and even fewer have studied the city of Amman. The development of Amman must be understood in its regional context because it acts as a mirror for the development of the Jordanian state as a whole. This dissertation posits that Amman developed as a hybridized amalgam of Ottoman, Arab, and British characteristics. The Transjordanian state could not have existed if it had not borrowed countless Ottoman institutions and practices. The Anglo-Hashemite state used the Legislative Council of Transjordan to incorporate formerly autonomous elites into the machinery of the Jordanian state, transforming Amman into a Hashemite Versailles. By the end of the Mandate, Amman’s gilded cage both constrained and supported the elites within. The cage of Amman simultaneously limited elite influence and power, while protecting and reifying their muted authority as Transjordanian officials. Furthermore, Amman’s urban fabric was a reflection of its diverse heritage and cultural practices. The development of Amman as a “dual city,” divided between prosperous Westernized “West Amman” and the impoverished traditional “East Amman,” originated in the Mandate period. Finally, Amman’s central square, Feisal Square, became the figurative embodiment of the heart of Amman and the heart of the state.