College of Liberal Arts

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https://jewlscholar.mtsu.edu/handle/mtsu/4210
More than 3,600 students major in fields housed in the ten academic departments of the MTSU College of Liberal Arts. Our disciplines encompass the arts, the humanities, and the social sciences. In addition, much of the university's General Education program is located within our college, so virtually every MTSU student will take some classes with us. Our academic offerings range from freshman survey courses to Ph.D.s. in English and Public History. The college offers several dozen undergraduate majors, nearly 30 interdisciplinary minors, and ten graduate degrees. The heart of the college is our faculty, and we have more than 300 full-time faculty members.

In addition to our academic departments, a variety of other units call Liberal Arts home, including the Center for Historic Preservation, the Albert Gore Research Center, the University Writing Center, the Governor's School for the Arts, the Mineral, Gem, and Fossil Museum, and the Forensic Institute for Research and Education (FIRE).

Ours is a dynamic college, with new programs and approaches constantly being added. Yet we remain committed to the ideals of a classical liberal arts education, which introduces students to the broader world and, we hope, provides them a framework with which to understand it. Moreover, the liberal arts focus on developing students' ability to read, write, and think critically. In addition to the intrinsic value of acquiring those skills, employers increasingly report that they look for broadly-trained and quick-learning employees who can respond to the demands of our rapidly changing society.

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    Allegations of Performance-Enhancing Drug Use and Their Affect on Perceptions of Athlete Intellect
    (College of Liberal Arts, Middle Tennessee State University, 2016) Dix, Andrew
    The central objective of this study was to examine whether allegations of performance- enhancing drug use could affect perceptions of athlete intelligence. Extant literature on sports science and intellect has suggested that athletes are frequently subjected to the negative connotations that are associated with the big dumb jock phenomenon. Critical race scholarship and stereotype threat were also highlighted in the review of related literature. A total of 96 participants completed a pre-test measure that assessed their perceptions of athletes, engaged in a non-related distraction task, and then completed a post-test measure that re-assessed their perceptions of athletes. It was during the post-test administration that participants were supplied negative allegations that implied the athletes had experimented with performance-enhancing drugs. Results indicated that unsubstantiated claims of performance-enhancing drug use resulted in all athletes being perceived as less intelligent. Additional findings illustrated a significant difference exists between how we perceive a black athlete who reportedly used performance-enhancing drugs and how we percei ve a white athlete who reportedly used performance-enhancing drugs. The data from the present investigation hints that athletes are guilty until proven innocent within the intellectual arena in circumstances where allegations of perfor mance- enhancing drug use are publicly disseminated via various mass communication channels. Implications for social judgment theory and avenues for future research were appropriately acknowledged within the present research.
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    College of Liberal Arts Magazine Fall 2012
    (Middle Tennessee State University, 2012) College of Liberal Arts
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    College of Liberal Arts Magazine Fall 2013
    (Middle Tennessee State University, 2013) College of Liberal Arts
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    College of Liberal Arts Magazine Fall 2014
    (Middle Tennessee State University, 2014) College of Liberal Arts
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    College of Liberal Arts Magazine Fall 2015
    (Middle Tennessee State University, 2015) College of Liberal Arts
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    College of Liberal Arts Magazine Fall 2016
    (Middle Tennessee State University, 2016) College of Liberal Arts
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    Coping with Obesity: The Use of Problem and Emotion Focused Strategies on Weight Watchers.com Message Boards
    (Middle Tennessee State University, Department of Communication, College of Liberal Arts, 2013) Asbury, Mary Beth ; Woszidlo, Alesia
    This study examined the communication associated with overweight and obese individuals on Weight Watchers.com message boards. Data was systematically sampled from two separate Weight Watcher.com message boards and then coded for 14 various problem- and emotion-focused coping strategies. Findings indicate that on-line posters used more emotion-focused coping strategies (i.e., seeking support for emotional reasons and communicating acceptance) than problem-focused coping strategies (i.e., active coping and planning). Further, people were using the Weight Watchers site primarily as a way to elicit support and communicate encouragement rather than as a means to receive information about actual strategies to lose weight.
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    Environmental, Institutional, and Demographic Predictors of Environmental Literacy among Middle School Children
    ( 2013-02-15) Stevenson, Kathryn T. ; Peterson, M. Nils ; Bondell, Howard D. ; Mertig, Angela G. ; Moore, Susan E. ; Patterson, Randen Lee
    Building environmental literacy (EL) in children and adolescents is critical to meeting current and emerging environmental challenges worldwide. Although environmental education (EE) efforts have begun to address this need, empirical research holistically evaluating drivers of EL is critical. This study begins to fill this gap with an examination of school-wide EE programs among middle schools in North Carolina, including the use of published EE curricula and time outdoors while controlling for teacher education level and experience, student attributes (age, gender, and ethnicity), and school attributes (socio-economic status, student-teacher ratio, and locale). Our sample included an EE group selected from schools with registered school-wide EE programs, and a control group randomly selected from NC middle schools that were not registered as EE schools. Students were given an EL survey at the beginning and end of the spring 2012 semester. Use of published EE curricula, time outdoors, and having teachers with advanced degrees and mid-level teaching experience (between 3 and 5 years) were positively related with EL whereas minority status (Hispanic and black) was negatively related with EL. Results suggest that school-wide EE programs were not associated with improved EL, but the use of published EE curricula paired with time outdoors represents a strategy that may improve all key components of student EL. Further, investments in teacher development and efforts to maintain enthusiasm for EE among teachers with more than 5 years of experience may help to boost student EL levels. Middle school represents a pivotal time for influencing EL, as improvement was slower among older students. Differences in EL levels based on gender suggest boys and girls may possess complementary skills sets when approaching environmental issues. Our findings suggest ethnicity related disparities in EL levels may be mitigated by time spent in nature, especially among black and Hispanic students.
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    Ethos in Sports: An Aristotelian Examination Focused on Source Credibility and the Modern Day Athlete
    (Middle Tennessee State University, 2015) Dix, Andrew ;
    The current study analyzed source credibility in a sports related context. A review of previous literature was undertaken in order to highlight the central findings focused on the dimensions of competence, goodwill, and trust worthiness. Quantitative methods were then utilized as a means to empirically test whether unconfirmed reports of performance-enhancing drug use could negatively impact perceptions of athlete ethos. Findings revealed that athletes who were inconclusively linked to performance- enhancers were evaluated less favorably in terms of their overall competence, goodwill, and trustworthiness. The implications from this study indicate that clean athletes who are wrongfully accused should proactively communicate their innocence to the general public. Athletes who are not clean should employ various face and image restoration strategies in order to effectively manage their public credibility. Study limitations and directions for future research were appropriately addressed within the present scholarship.
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    Exploring Individual- to Population-Level Impacts of Disease on Coral Reef Sponges: Using Spatial Analysis to Assess the Fate, Dynamics, and Transmission of Aplysina Red Band Syndrome
    ( 2013-10-07) Easson, Cole G. ; Slattery, Marc ; Momm, Henrique G. ; Olson, Julie B. ; Thacker, Robert W. ; Gochfeld, Deborah J. ; Lin, Senjie
    Background: Marine diseases are of increasing concern for coral reef ecosystems, but often their causes, dynamics and impacts are unknown. The current study investigated the epidemiology of Aplysina Red Band Syndrome (ARBS), a disease affecting the Caribbean sponge Aplysina cauliformis, at both the individual and population levels. The fates of marked healthy and ARBS-infected sponges were examined over the course of a year. Population-level impacts and transmission mechanisms of ARBS were investigated by monitoring two populations of A. cauliformis over a three year period using digital photography and diver-collected data, and analyzing these data with GIS techniques of spatial analysis. In this study, three commonly used spatial statistics (Ripley's K, Getis-Ord General G, and Moran's Index) were compared to each other and with direct measurements of individual interactions using join-counts, to determine the ideal method for investigating disease dynamics and transmission mechanisms in this system. During the study period, Hurricane Irene directly impacted these populations, providing an opportunity to assess potential storm effects on A. cauliformis and ARBS.
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    Figuring Jewishness in Cukor's 'A Double Life'
    (Middle Tennessee State University, 2013) Helford, Elyce Rae ; English
    This study considers the ways in which Jewishness figures in the production of the 1947 film A Double Life, contextualized within Hollywood director George Cukor's personal experience, film oeuvre, and the post-World War II era in which it was released. Issues of cultural assimilation and discourses of gender, race, class, and ethnicity are evident in film form, content, and especially process, including casting, direction, narrative, and visual design. From the film's mobilization of blackface to its condemnation of "ethnic" femininity, this little-studied, Oscar-nominated thriller about a murderous Shakespearean actor offers valuable commentary on Jewish identity and anxieties in mid-twentieth-century America.
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    Passport, Volume 1, Issue 1, December 1969
    (SHAFR; Middle Tennessee State University, 1969-12) Gerald E. Wheeler
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    Passport, Volume 1, Issue 2, May 1970
    (SHAFR; Middle Tennessee State University, 1970-05) Gerald E. Wheeler ; DeConde, Alexander ; Alexander DeConde
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    Passport, Volume 10, Issue 1, March 1979
    (SHAFR; Middle Tennessee State University, 1979-03) Nolan Fowler ; James W. Cortada ; Thomas A. Bailey ; William Z. Slany ; Richard Dean Burns
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    Passport, Volume 10, Issue 2, June 1979
    (SHAFR; Middle Tennessee State University, 1979-06) Nolan Fowler ; Marilyn B. Young ; David Haight ; Thomas D. Schoonover ; Robert L. Beisner
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    Passport, Volume 10, Issue 3, September 1979
    (SHAFR; Middle Tennessee State University, 1979-09) Nolan Fowler ; Joyce S. Goldberg ; Homer L. Calkin
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    Passport, Volume 10, Issue 4, December 1979
    (SHAFR; Middle Tennessee State University, 1979-12) Nolan Fowler ; Thomas S. Burns ; Thomas A. Bailey ; Thomas D. Schoonover ; Homer L. Calkin
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    Passport, Volume 11, Issue 1, March 1980
    (SHAFR; Middle Tennessee State University, 1980-03) William Brinker ; William Stueck ; J. Garry Clifford
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    Passport, Volume 11, Issue 2, June 1980
    (SHAFR; Middle Tennessee State University, 1980-06) William Brinker ; John Lewis Gaddis ; Warren Kimball ; Milton O. Gustafson
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    Passport, Volume 11, Issue 3, September 1980
    (SHAFR; Middle Tennessee State University, 1980-09) William Brinker ; Irwin F. Gellman ; Clifford L. Egan ; Thomas A. Bailey