Old Dominion University
Xavier University - Cincinnati
Mercer University
SIT Study Abroad
Clemson University
University of Mary Washington
The College of Wooster
James Madison University
Lindenwood University
Kenyon College
Misrepresentation Of Women Of Color In Western Media,
2023
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
Misrepresentation Of Women Of Color In Western Media, Nicole C. Schutte
sprinkle: an undergraduate journal of feminist and queer studies
This paper delves into the misrepresentation of women of color in western media. From the perspective of bell hooks (1992), the commodification of the Other serves sinister societal “needs” in order to uphold the white supremacist capitalist patriarchy. Patricia Hill Collins (2000) and Judith Williamson (1986) interpret this as keeping the western racial hierarchy, gender dichotomy, and capitalist markets intact. A vast majority of people believe that any form of representation in the media is a sense of inclusion when in fact misrepresentation is counterproductive and problematic. Catherine A. Lutz and Jane L. Collins (1993) would agree that inaccurate portrayals …
Exploiting Non-Western Women In Media Representations,
2023
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
Exploiting Non-Western Women In Media Representations, Gabrielle Miller
sprinkle: an undergraduate journal of feminist and queer studies
Media representations and advertisements serve as visual mediums through which cultural values are projected and reinforced. Western capitalism relies on Eurocentric media representations that exploit perceived differences of non-white and non-western cultures to sell western products. This paper analyzes recent advertisements from Kellogg’s and Suit Supply as examples of media representations that employ Eurocentric perspectives of non-western cultures to uphold white masculinist and colonial power structures. Therefore, I suggest that the non- western cultures in the Kellogg’s and Suit Supply advertisements exist within a western capitalist vacuum. This way of consuming and representing serves to reinforce western ways of knowing …
Evocative Visualization Of Void And Fluidity,
2023
The Graduate Center, City University of New York
Evocative Visualization Of Void And Fluidity, Tomiko Karino
Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
In the last few years alone, we have seen a significant increase in a demand for inclusion and diversity in every sector in our society. While there are numerous data visualization projects that point out and raise concerns about the lack of diversity, they often merely illustrate the disparity. By using the permanent collection data of the Museum of Modern Art, this capstone project explores ways to creatively visualize gender disparity among the artists in the museum’s collection and questions what makes evocative visualizations that make an impression on the audience. It examines how to create visualizations that not only …
Reflections On The Digital Memory Of Trans-Atlantic Slavery,
2023
The Graduate Center, City University of New York
Reflections On The Digital Memory Of Trans-Atlantic Slavery, Vinh T. Pham
Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
Within the scope of digital humanities scholarship, this thesis interrogates ‘memory’ as a conceptual frame for remembering Black life, both past and present, in the face of missing historical data and in the afterlife of trans-Atlantic slavery. Such a concept—increasingly taken up as method in the humanities, along with related allusions to the ephemeral, spectral, or haunted—is sought to refuse historiographical and techno-scientific claims to empirical certainty or transparency, and instead affirm its gaps and absences as themselves productive sites for self-reflexive speculation on the complexities of lived experience. Applied to the digital study of trans-Atlantic chattel slavery, memory comes …
Small Historically Black Colleges And Universities Bridging Social Capital: The Use Of Language, Tone And Content To Share Information On Instagram,
2023
Western Illinois University
Small Historically Black Colleges And Universities Bridging Social Capital: The Use Of Language, Tone And Content To Share Information On Instagram, Pamela Peters
Journal of Research Initiatives
The COVID-19 pandemic has strained higher education institutions, especially small Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). As campuses closed and reopened, Black communities' digital divide grew, adding to the need to stay connected. This study uses social capital to examine how institutions use language, tone, content, and information to bridge social capital. An analysis of 35 small liberal arts HBCUs’ Instagram posts was undertaken to compare post frequency, types of information, engagement, tone, language, and content in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic and during the pandemic, 2020 and 2021. This study indicates that post-oversaturation in 2020 and 2021 and information …
Taking Comfort In Virtual Humor: Tolkien Memes As Adaptation And Escape,
2023
Independent Scholar
Taking Comfort In Virtual Humor: Tolkien Memes As Adaptation And Escape, Nick Polk
Journal of Tolkien Research
Presented at the inaugural Prancing Pony Podcast Moot in 2021, this paper's aim is to argue that Tolkien memes can be classified as adaptation as Linda Hutcheon defines adaptation and argue for a hermeneutic of Tolkien's concept of Escape, as laid out in his essay On Fairy-stories, as way to understand Tolkien meme creation and circulation. Concluding remarks are given to the spreadability of Tolkien memes among Tolkien fan communities.
Market-Driven Pressures And Institutional Biases At A University: A Review Of The Tv Series The Chair,
2023
Halmstad University
Market-Driven Pressures And Institutional Biases At A University: A Review Of The Tv Series The Chair, Manoella Antonieta Ramos
Markets, Globalization & Development Review
“The Chair” is a series that explores important contemporary issues such as cancel culture, institutional racism, sexism, and ageism in the context of a university setting. The series follows the story and struggles of Professor Ji-Yoon Kim, the first woman, and an Asian-American, to be appointed chair of the English department at the elite Pembroke University, as she tries to protect the employment of a young African-American female professor and to raise her adopted daughter as a harried single parent. This media review essay examines the themes and issues addressed in this TV series, including the challenges faced by women …
Witnessing Conspiracy Theories: Developing An Intersectional Approach To Conspiracy Theory Research,
2023
Western University
Witnessing Conspiracy Theories: Developing An Intersectional Approach To Conspiracy Theory Research, David Guignion
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
This dissertation proposes an intersectional approach to conspiracy theory research that engages conspiracy theories and conspiracy theorists by considering their proximity and affiliations with hegemonic power structures. Against challenges to conspiracy theories based on their lack of empirical legitimacy (Rosenblum and Muirhead 2019) and building on arguments that propound their status as “subjugated knowledges” (Bratich 2008), this dissertation argues that conspiracy theories can be vectors of anti-oppressive resistance against systemic forces that disenfranchise racial, gender, and class minorities. Conspiracy theories are not a homogenous phenomenon; they are particular instances of potentially generative suspicion against powerful forces. The dissertation deploys Kelly …
(Not) Accessing The Castle: Grappling With Secrecy In Research On Security Practices,
2023
Cornell university
(Not) Accessing The Castle: Grappling With Secrecy In Research On Security Practices, Lilly P. Muller, Natalie Welfens
Secrecy and Society
This article discusses how to deal with secrecy and limited access in ethnographically inspired research of security fields. Drawing inspiration from recent debates about secrecy in Critical Security Research and from Franz Kafka’s The Castle, we propose to treat access limitations and the secrecy we encounter as methodological tools that provide insights into social relations and power structures of security fields. We develop the argument in two steps. First, we argue for a more fine-grained taxonomy of secrecy, that allows to distinguish between mystery, concealment and the relational dimension of secrecy. Second, we apply the taxonomy to our respective …
Seven Minutes In Hell: Hells In Fantasy Games,
2023
Southwestern Oklahoma State University
Seven Minutes In Hell: Hells In Fantasy Games, Nyssa Gilkey
Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)
Join Nyssa Gilkey on a tour through several different fantasy video game depictions of hell. We’ll spend about seven (-ish) minutes looking around each hell or underworld before moving on, touring Helheim in God of War and God of War: Ragnarok, Hades and Elysium as portrayed in Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey DLC, and the Duat of ancient Egypt in Assassin’s Creed: Origins DLC. With sufficient time and interest, we can tour other fantasy depictions of hell. Participants will be able to ask questions and discuss throughout the journey.
Frights And Forests: The Hellish Landscape Of The Dark Forest, From Sleepy Hollow To The Forest Of Arden,
2023
Southwestern Oklahoma State University
Frights And Forests: The Hellish Landscape Of The Dark Forest, From Sleepy Hollow To The Forest Of Arden, Minna Nizam
Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)
This paper seeks to explore forest settings in fantasy, and its hellish landscapes. From the headless horseman in Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, to the frights and horrors of mythical creatures in fantasy settings placed in forests. The purpose of this study is to dive deep into the fear of the forest, its early days in storytelling, to more modern renditions. Sources used will be primarily books, and texts within books, such as The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, The Lord of the Rings, and much more.
Panel: The Rings Of Power Season 1: Underworlds, Overworlds, And Ocean Worlds,
2023
Southwestern Oklahoma State University
Panel: The Rings Of Power Season 1: Underworlds, Overworlds, And Ocean Worlds, Tim Lenz, Leah Hagan, Grace Moone, Pablo Guss
Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)
Now that the first of five planned seasons of Amazon’s big budget Second Age adaptation The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has aired, we will provide a retrospective of Season 1. We will compare Tolkien’s Second Age writings with the realized version in the show, including how the writers and showrunners have interpreted certain specific passages from the texts, and where significant departures were made for sake of adaptation. We will highlight themes of the season, as well as specific characters, relationships, and settings that have resonated with audiences, and speculate on where the series could potentially …
Political Demons: Society As Hell In Hellblazer And Sandman,
2023
Southwestern Oklahoma State University
Political Demons: Society As Hell In Hellblazer And Sandman, Andrew Burt
Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)
In the Hellblazer and Sandman comic book universes, hell depends on the writer’s worldview and often on the decade in which they are writing, appearing as a twisted version of a dreary regular world. Thus, this hell is often related to the contemporary Western political and cultural landscape as seen through Judeo-Christian conceptions of hell, demonology, and fears of everlasting torment and damnation, just like Dante’s Inferno and many other representations for centuries. In creating a hell that mirrors the modern world and accounts for contemporary folklore about the supernatural, the creators humanize the character’s quests and reify the fruitlessness …
The Image Of Satan In Evangelical Children’S Fantasy,
2023
Southwestern Oklahoma State University
The Image Of Satan In Evangelical Children’S Fantasy, Melody Green
Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)
Over the last few decades, niche publishers have presented several children’s fantasy series marketed as being “in the tradition of Lewis and Tolkien.” These publishers, however, are neither British, nor are they Anglican or Catholic. They are instead American Evangelical organizations, providing a space for faith-informed stories that wander somewhere between allegory and parable. Within the pages of these texts can be found not only the expected Christ-figures, but there are also Satan-figures and hellish landscapes much more likely to reflect concepts from Dante, Milton, and medieval witch-hunting guides than from the Bible, the text that evangelicals claim to be …
Hell As An Exploration Of Sin: A Comparison Of Alan Moore’S Providence To Dante’S Inferno,
2023
Southwestern Oklahoma State University
Hell As An Exploration Of Sin: A Comparison Of Alan Moore’S Providence To Dante’S Inferno, Zachary Rutledge
Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)
In Alan Moore’s graphic novel Providence, Robert Black travels Lovecraftian New England and suffers a series of horrifying encounters—each an allusion to a Lovecraft story. These encounters contain direct references to various sins and taboos, thereby making explicit much of the sublimated sexuality in Lovecraft’s works. Therefore, Black’s journey constitutes not only a trip through Lovecraft’s mythology but also reads as a cataloguing of sins reminiscent of Dante’s passage through the levels of sin in Inferno. This paper identifies and explores the similarities between Dante and Black as examples of those who descend to the underworld along with a …
The Tar Sands Of Mordor,
2023
Southwestern Oklahoma State University
The Tar Sands Of Mordor, Nadia Schafer
Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)
After a 2008 flight over the Athasbasca oil sands, UN Water Advisor Maude Barlow sparked controversy when she compared the site to J.R.R. Tolkien’s Mordor. Over the next six years, debates and discussions revealed the power of metaphor and a fascinating case study of the impact of The Lord of the Rings on Canadian environmentalism. By tying the image of Mordor to the Athabasca oil sands, there can be both better understanding of the environmental cost of the project as well as providing a new schema for an individual’s reading of Mordor in the works of J.R.R. Tolkien.
Pullman’S Problematic Paradise: Dissolving Into Dust,
2023
Southwestern Oklahoma State University
Pullman’S Problematic Paradise: Dissolving Into Dust, David E. Isaacs
Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)
In the His Dark Materials trilogy, Phillip Pullman has openly positioned himself as the anti-C.S. Lewis who attempts to embed the gospel of atheism through his fantasy novels. Pullman recasts classics such as Paradise Lost and Blake’s The Marriage of Heaven & Hell so that humans triumph over the oppressive Authority by learning that sinning is simply enjoying life. This paper will specifically explore Pullman’s depictions of the underworld and his alternative vision of Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven in The Amber Spyglass, examining Pullman’s attempts to assure readers that by rejecting Christian views of the final translation, one can …
Who The Hell Is Helen Of Sparta?,
2023
Southwestern Oklahoma State University
Who The Hell Is Helen Of Sparta?, Nyssa Gilkey
Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)
The rising popularity of Greek mythology is due in some part to female authors such as Madeline Miller and Natalie Haynes lending a fresh perspective to the Homeric tradition. However, these female authors tend to actually reduce the importance of one of the most important female characters of the Trojan War: Helen. Helen of Sparta has been an enigma to writers throughout the last 3000 years, her story changing with each iteration and era. Since Homer’s Iliad, the most beautiful woman in the world has been victim and villain, strong and weak willed. She has chosen husbands, and been …
Planes Of Oblivion In The Elder Scrolls,
2023
Southwestern Oklahoma State University
Planes Of Oblivion In The Elder Scrolls, Michael Barros
Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)
The planes of Oblivion from The Elder Scrolls (TES) series are not explicitly Hell; they are any dimensions of reality which are not under control of the Aedra, the benevolent spiritual entities. As a result, these planes may be totally unknown, pleasant, chaotic, or horrifying, depending on who is in charge, reflecting the personality of its ruler. These planes are at the heart of the franchise, and the intrusion of the planes of Oblivion and its inhabitants is a constant in the series. The planes of Oblivion are a reimagining of Hell as a place of potential, rather than evil. …
Hellish Landscapes In J.R.R. Tolkien’S Legendarium,
2023
Southwestern Oklahoma State University
Hellish Landscapes In J.R.R. Tolkien’S Legendarium, Willow Dipasquale
Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)
J.R.R. Tolkien’s Legendarium is rich with magical and mythological elements—enchanted rings, powerful wizards, stories told long ago—and near-Biblical struggles of good over evil, power over life and death, and the inexorable passage of time. The Halls of Mandos in Valinor even have echoes of the “afterlife,” serving as a liminal place for the spirits of Elves to await their next destination. Interestingly, though, a “hell” in the classic sense (that is, a spiritual region of eternal torment and suffering) does not seem to truly exist in Tolkien’s imagined worlds. However, Tolkien does fill those worlds with hellish landscapes: Utumno and …
