Digital Commons Network^™

Walking The Line: The Legacy Of The Lost Cause In Redefining Femininity At The Normal, 1909-1942, Jennifer D. Page

Masters Theses, 2020-current

The students who attended the State Normal and Industrial School at Harrisonburg during the early period (1909 – 1942) used social organizations to echo, amplify, and rehearse Lost Cause hierarchies of class, gender, and race. The Lee and Lanier Literary Societies were the two elite groups on campus which provided spaces for the women to practice these societal norms. These groups created a system of gatekeeping that ensured exclusivity and elevated the social standing of those who were members. These organizations were spaces to rehearse refinement and to practice the white women’s own roles in society. Their understanding of their …

Girls Rock Camp, Erica Lashley

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

The objective of this creative honors project was to create, plan, fund, and spearhead a week-long day camp for girls ages 8-18 to learn the basics of a rock instrument and collaborate with other girls to form bands and perform. This paper synthesizes my experience organizing, fundraising for, and counseling Harrisonburg’s first Girls Rock Camp, which took place August 14-19, 2017. In this paper, I outline the purpose and importance of Girls Rock Camp, the research and planning conducted to design the project, and the camp experience. I aim to provide insight, words of wisdom, and inspiration for future projects …

Theatre Education For Homeschooled Children, Jonathan A. Martin

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

In recent years, the push for theatre education from arts education advocates has been increasingly prevalent, especially in the face of substantial budget cuts from many public schools’ arts programs. While there is still a long way to go before theatre education will be integral to school curricula, there are clear steps being taken to promote theatre education in the United States.

Similar to the recent push for theatre education is a rise in homeschooling in America. Homeschooling has been on the rise domestically for several years now, continuing to grow between 2% and 8% annually. It is now estimated …

Old Furnace Artist Residency: Art Is A Conjunction, Jon William Henry

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Old furnace artist residency is an ongoing body of work that encompasses a long-term art project that relies upon social aesthetics. This project weaves together social sculpture, relational aesthetics, intervention, gesture, performance, community art, and participation art to create a praxis of social justice and art. The underlying principles of the project are rooted in feminist and queer theories of activism that focus on enacting social, political, and economic liberation. Thus, old furnace artist residency focuses on using art as a tool to weave people together.

Tried It With Glasses Off Too; Sometimes., Nolan John Fedorow

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

I use a small wedge of wood as a tool to pick out food scraps that find themselves lodged between my teeth. I also use a small wedge of wood as a tool to keep a straight door from swinging freely on a crooked house. The small wedge of wood I stuff in between the floor and door as a tool is a controlling apparatus, much like landowners who use fencing to keep people from walking repeatedly through their land and inadvertently creating a path where they shouldn’t. A wooden door stopper will come to adorn a perpendicular-patterned patina across …