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An Impossible Direction: Newspapers, Race, And Politics In Reconstruction New Orleans, Nicholas F. Chrastil

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis examines the racial ideologies of four newspapers in New Orleans at the beginning and end of Radical Reconstruction: the Daily Picayune, the New Orleans Republican, the New Orleans Tribune, and the Weekly Louisianian. It explores how each paper understood the issues of racial equality, integration, suffrage, and black humanity; it examines the specific language and rhetoric each paper used to advocate for their positions; and it asks how those positions changed from the beginning to the end of Reconstruction. The study finds that the two white-owned papers, the Picayune and the Republican, while political opponents, both viewed …

Song And Russian Futurism: The Early Vocal Works Of Nikolay Roslavets And Arthur Lourié, Savanna Rigling

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis analyzes Nikolay Roslavets’s Four Compositions for Voice and Piano and Ar-thur Lourié’s Azbuka and Corona Carminum Sacrorum, all works written during the height of the composers’ involvement with the Russian Futurist movement. These works represent oppo-site means of compositional experimentation. Lourié used Russian folk influences to stretch the limits of tonality through the use of peremennost’. Azbuka and Corona Carminum Sacrorum contain equal tonal centers of A minor and C major with secondary harmonic areas of E minor and G major. Roslavets, however, invented his own system of composing with synthetic chords to free himself from past artistic …

Welcome (Or Not So Welcome) Home: A Transatlantic Examination Of 19th Century Spain's National Identity Through The Literary Portrayal Of The Indiano In Galdós And Eva Canel, Shelley E. Tompkins

LSU Master's Theses

In the second half of the nineteenth century, Spain’s history was marked by political, ideological, social, and economic crisis. The resultant division on all of these levels and a paralyzing culture of decadence left the nation fragmented and unable to establish a national identity. This and the conflict between tradition and modernity largely contributed to the Disaster of 1898 in which Spain lost Cuba, the last of its remaining American colonies. This thesis presents a transatlantic examination of some of the works of nineteenth century Spanish writers Benito Pérez Galdós and Eva Canel in which I focus specifically on the …

The Ontological Nature Of Theology: On Heidegger's "Phenomenology And Theology", Casey Garrett Spinks

LSU Master's Theses

Following his newfound celebrity upon publication of Being and Time, Martin Heidegger delivered a lecture in 1927 and 1928, titled “Phenomenology and Theology,” where he discussed how his recent groundbreaking work in existential phenomenology relates to Christian theology. Far from offering his philosophy as a method for theology, he instead attempted to utterly separate the two, setting the former as fundamental ontology and the latter as a positive science more akin to history, with the Christian faith as its positive object of study. The lecture was left unpublished until 1969, when Heidegger added an appendix, a piece exemplary of the …

Let's (Not) Talk About Sex: An Exploration Of Taboo And Politeness In Modern Peninsular Spanish, Caroline Hachem

LSU Master's Theses

The social sciences have spearheaded much of the discussion about sexuality in academia, and the various subfields have within them their own versions of sex research that investigate the factors that make up our sexuality. The study at hand unites the field of linguistics with a non-English language, Spanish, to further bridge the gap in sex research. Three primary sources are consulted, a novel; CREA, the Corpus de Referencia del Español Actual; and a public sexual education packet to see how the language of sexuality manifests in different types of media. The guiding question for this research is as follows: …

Discursos Contrasexuales: Subversiones Queer, Stephanie Colin

LSU Master's Theses

Judith Butler argues that gender is a performative cultural construction; this analysis is taken to further means of discussion in reference to the revelation of sex and gender as both cultural and social constructions. Sex and gender appear as a result of heteornormative regulations imposed onto social actors, arguing that these constructions are essences naturally attached to the human body. The constructions of the sex/gender system are inflicted by a regulative discourse. In the heterocentric society this discursive control is implemented through social norms which enforce male with masculinity and female with femininity. Through various analyses of contra-hegemonic cultural and …

Me Paenitet, Joshua Stenvick

LSU Master's Theses

The coming pages will document my journey from the initial creative spark, to the final performance of a one-man show. The first chapter will chronicle the creative process and how I came about the idea. The second chapter will show you the performance text along with analysis to give a side-by-side example. The third and final chapter will detail what this thesis project means to me personally, my graduate degree and how my views on art have evolved. What was my one-man show about? It’s a story about the moment our moral compass is turned upside down, and finding our …

Coasteering, Adam James Meistrell

LSU Master's Theses

Coasteering: (noun) An adventure sport tasked with defining and exploring boundaries and coastlines. Adam Meistrell’s artwork is an invitation to interpret evidence and inspiration through making, investigation, and utility. He utilizes a variety of working methods to interpret evidence and share his understanding.

Oblivion, Michael Stumbras

LSU Master's Theses

I am fascinated by the myriad ways humans construct meaning in the face of existential uncertainty. For the exhibition Oblivion, I endeavor to provide a gallery experience, a body of metaphorically charged functional vessels, and a number of ritualistic accoutrements that address death, futility, and the passage of time as it inexorably flows toward obsolescence. The process of handcraft and the method of firing that I employ highlights the absurdity of the endeavor of the handmade: the seemingly futile and interminable quest for perfection and meaning. This futilitarian pottery exaggerates the errors of the hand and flaunts artifacts of the …

Lines, Tina Korani

LSU Master's Theses

Sometimes one is unaware of one thing: a rule, a boundary, a difference — all of which we cannot see with our eyes, but learning certainly present. When one rcognizes the reality of it, decisions are made. Those decisions shape the world as we know it. “Beyond the Lines” is an exploratory project that aims to increase one’s awareness and reveal that humans are whole beings that can surpass barriers that life places in front of them. This thesis explores human connections and separations, by using the concept of dots and lines, in ways both literally and metaphorical. Through visual …

Redefining The Image Of The Afro-Puerto Rican Woman In Recent Narrative By Mayra Santos-Febres, Chassidy Latrece Simmons

LSU Master's Theses

Many 20th century Puerto Rican writers focused on establishing a national identity through their works. Although the island has very diverse culture, some aspects of Puerto Rican identity have been ignored entirely or inaccurately represented in popular and literary culture. In this thesis I use Nuestra señora de la noche and La amante de Gardel by Mayra Santos-Febres to examine how the writer depicts race and gender based issues in Puerto Rico. With post-colonial theory and otherness theory, I examine how Santos-Febres—a descendant of colonized Puerto Rican people—decolonizes the Afro-Caribbean woman through her writing techniques and reconstructs the image of …

Dislocation, Brian Randall Deppe

LSU Master's Theses

This photographic project, Dislocation, seeks to document the current state and decline of Cortana Mall in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The mall was built in 1976 during the height of shopping mall construction and was one of the largest shopping centers in the country with five anchor stores and 139 retail spaces. Now, just 48 stores and two anchor stores remain open. This high vacancy rate and deterioration of the mall is due to suburban flight, the building of new shopping centers in southern Baton Rouge, and changing consumer trends, which has led to malls closing across the country. My photographs …

Cathartic Ethics In Psychoanalysis, Dylan Timothy O'Brien

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis examines the complex role of ethics within Psychoanalytic theory, finding not a prescriptive ethics, but a reference to ethics in the cathartic methodology that I argue underpinned Psychoanalytic thought from the very beginning. The introduction provides the reader with the necessary background to the material to be covered. The first chapter examines the neglectful attitude found throughout the foundational writings of Psychoanalytic theory in the work of Sigmund Freud, as well as covering two different methods by which ethics are often reduced, and which Freud successfully avoided. The second chapter seeks the origin of an alternative ethics in …

Assessing Entrepreneurial Attitudes And Intention To Start A Business Among College Students Majoring In Textiles, Apparel Design, And Merchandising, Charity Hope Washington

LSU Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to understand the factors and/or constructs that influence intent to pursue entrepreneurship. The study of entrepreneurship as a theoretical framework has increased significantly over the past two decades. Many undergraduate and graduate programs now have courses, majors, and minors dedicated to entrepreneurship education. Therefore, it is critical to understand what influences one to pursue entrepreneurship so that the most effective concepts can be taught. Eight major constructs were presented in this study to test their influence both directly and indirectly on intent: perceived desirability, perceived feasibility, subjective norm, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, prior exposure to entrepreneurship, …

Trace, Naomi Katy Louise Clement

LSU Master's Theses

The pots in the exhibition Trace speak both to my desire to belong, to connect to my beginnings, and yet to still trace my own path forward; they are about making connections and missing connections. Through these pots I ask questions of myself and the world around me in an attempt to negotiate the edges of my life. How do I feel connected and present in my own life and relationships? How do I feel connected to my family and my roots, while still finding my own path? What does it mean to belong in a family that is divided …

Main Line, Michael Pepp

LSU Master's Theses

Main Line was developed as a 20-minute solo performance piece by the influence of my graduate training at Louisiana State University’s M.F.A. acting program. The writing and the performance of this project served as a graduation requirement as well professional experience and exploration of my personal aesthetics of storytelling, actors craft, production design, and independent theatre making. This thesis acts like a guide to my process of devising theatre. I was inspired and determined to produce work that was meaningful, political, and entertaining. Main Line explores the narrative of black experiences within a New Orleans culture that centers the movement …

Collecting And Selecting, Masy Hebert

LSU Master's Theses

In Collecting and Selecting, I am exploring the way others adorn their lives and how these elements add up to emblematize the keeper of the treasures. With linoleum relief prints and drawings, I compose a unique type of portraiture that reveals the parallel identity between the way we dress ourselves and our living spaces. Within my process, I capture moments with photographs, draw, carve, print, and cut out the elements that hold a presence of the owner. Utilizing a heightened sense of contrast with black and white images, the textures and details of these objects come alive. Each gallery wall …

Chronicle & Character, Taryn Moller Nicoll

LSU Master's Theses

In this thesis paper, I argue that the works in the exhibition 'Chronicle & Character' aim to demonstrate artistic citizenship and can contribute positively to society by provoking conversation about universally applicable (but often uncomfortable) topics. Experts such as David J. Elliot state that being an artistic citizen means that one’s concerns as an artist must shift from issues constrained to the artist alone to those of the artist’s surrounding community. The exhibition 'Chronicle & Character' contains works that serve as detailed chronicles of the medical or physiological experiences of my loved ones. This body of work presents how three …

Urban Illusions, Haley R. Hatfield

LSU Master's Theses

Urban Illusions is an immersive and interactive documentary experience that curates moments of reality in virtual environments to educate and expose viewers to a string of social and political issues that have been exposed in Baton Rouge. These moments also reflect a transformative time across the United States. The research and exhibition experiments with 360-degree videos and virtual reality to document issues occurring from racial tension stemming from prejudicial police violence and residual segregation that is still present in Baton Rouge. The intent of this work is to establish a methodology benefiting from modern technology in order to document real …

One Two One, Brianna Morgan Ozanne

LSU Master's Theses

These things, they speak in whispers. Come close, lean in, listen up. Whisper back. Tell me everything. I know you’ve been here, too. I know you’ll understand. I know you have a shoebox full of memories just like these hidden deep inside your closet. I know.

A Man Without: A Search For Personal Identity, Nitin Govindrao Mane

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis documents the process of devising, writing, rehearsing, and performing a solo show named A Man Without. The play depicts the posthumous trial of a multi-religious man named Neelkanth Khan. To be freed from limbo, Neelkanth must defend his life before Jesus, Krishna and Allah. Unfortunately, Neelkanth loses his case; yet another failure for a man whose life was a series of failures due to his circumstances and his character flaws. On the thematic level, this story implies that mankind’s failure to understand religion and the Gods leads to religious fanaticism. The backbone of this project is the training …

Dig, Spin, Repeat, Brittany Anne Sievers

LSU Master's Theses

Dig, Spin, Repeat, is a body of process based installation objects that uses minimalistic aesthetics placed strategically in the gallery to highlight the architecture of the room. By connecting these unique architectural elements, the work aims to achieve mindfulness similar to the research of Ellen Langer: encouraging active observation. Drawing from my background in sports and factory work, I create multiple repetitive forms out of hand-spun yarn and sourced clay. The room-sized installation objects produced from these raw materials explore the value of staying in the present moment for both the viewer and myself.

After;Life, Morgan Lynn Anderson

LSU Master's Theses

After;life is an exploration of the time and space between life and death. The installation, created from dozens of woodcut prints, creates this imaginary place, and encompasses viewers through sight, smell, sound, and touch. All elements of this installation are heavily influenced by Southern Louisiana culture and wildlife, and are meant to be familiar enough to provoke personal memory and experience. A set of rituals in the form of three poems, corresponding to three different spirit guides: The Black Dog, The Alligator, and The Opossum, lead the reader through the space from life, through liminal, into death.

Social Media And Discourse: A Comparative Study Of English And Spanish Apologies, Adam Logan Majors

LSU Master's Theses

This research is based on the combination of the age-old discussion between written and oral discourse with the emergence of using multimedia to publish apologies for widespread audiences. Because social media applications like Twitter and YouTube give instant publication access to its users, the continuum between written and oral discourse is continuing to shorten not just amongst Americans, but numerous cultures. The aim of this thesis is to observe a number of tweets and videos to determine whether or not multimedia is aiding this movement, as well as whether English and Spanish speech act-making strategies (specifically for apologies) are affected. …

The Truth About Your Monsters, Cassidy Creek

LSU Master's Theses

The Truth About Your Monsters is an immersive and dialogical exhibition formatted as a walk-through storybook environment. Viewers are transported into a child’s make believe world through hands-on stations. By building on the skeleton of an archetypal narrative, audience members are encouraged to tap into their own experience as they contribute imagery and action to the narrative. I call on audience members to discuss personal or universal fears by prompting them to draw images of monsters that represent their fear.

The Slow Evolution Of A Chimeric Field: Perceptions Of Chymistry Through Early Learned Journals, 1665-1743, Amanda J. Arceneaux

LSU Master's Theses

Scholars have made the argument that during the eighteenth century “alchemy” came increasingly to be seen as a fraudulent science or a science for charlatans, while chemistry retained its intellectual prestige. Around the same time "alchemy" and "chemistry" began their divergence, the legitimacy of science came increasingly to depend on public demonstrations. The term chymistry has become accepted amongst scholars of the field when discussing this etymologically complicated period when the terms alchemy and chemistry were both used by contemporaries to describe the field of knowledge without the distinctions that are placed on the terms today.

This study examines 1,029 …

Make American Great For Mexicans? The Effects Of Donald Trump's Political Campaign On Public Opinion Of Mexican Immigrants, Brooke Ann Biolo

LSU Master's Theses

ABSTRACT: The present study examines the effects that U.S. President Donald Trump’s political campaign has had on public opinion of Mexican immigrants. By examining the long history of oppression of Mexicans on U.S. soil and even prior to the establishment of the U.S., the study creates a base and then employs a discourse analysis that proves that Trump’s rhetoric is perpetuating some of the same stereotypes that have followed Mexicans since Europeans began settling in the Americas. Public opinion was gauged using a carefully constructed survey and the results show that overall, Trump’s harsh stereotypical rhetoric has spurred a narrative …

The Treasure Of Welks-Kreer, Lance Rasmussen

LSU Master's Theses

This paper is intended to document the process of developing and performing The Treasure of Welks-Kreer, a one-man show written by Lance Rasmussen in fulfillment of the requirement for his Master of Fine Arts in Acting degree at Louisiana State University. Harkening back to the memories of his childhood and his current passions and interests, Lance wrote The Treasure of Welks-Kreer as a story of hope and exploration. The story follows The Metaphor, a superhero who finds himself transported back to the basement where he used to play table-top roleplaying games with the group of friends who eventually formed his …

Terrible Telegrams, Cara Lindsay Reid

LSU Master's Theses

In compliance to the curriculum at Louisiana State University and Swine Palace’s Actor Training Program, M.F.A. Acting candidates are required to create and develop a one-person show. The objective is to foster the actor’s creative virtuosity and to give them the confidence, capability, and skill set to continue to create their own work after graduation. My play is about Lucy James, a recent college graduate, who moves to New York to follow her dreams of becoming an actress. Lucy's love for the craft is challenged when she takes a demoralizing job and her life begins to spiral out of control. …

Damon Hill, Elizabeth Welch

LSU Master's Theses

“Damon Hill” acts as a physical record of the family folklore of a group of people formed by landscape and kinship. As a member of this group, I have translated my family’s stories into a visual narrative as a way to process my own identity in relation to our shared identity. The focus of “Damon Hill” rests primarily on the lives of my female predecessors, as a way for me to contribute their unique voice to the overarching feminine narrative. I incorporate the visual representation of traditionally feminine handicrafts in order to relay their stories through the primary means of …