Digital Commons Network^™

Refigured: Separations In Portraiture, Caroline Myers

All Theses

Utilizing traditional painting techniques embedded with digital syntaxes, Refigured: Separations in Portraiture, serves as a catalog of my experiences with communication in a hyperconnected world. Processing illegible information caused by my hearing loss informs the process of imposing similar boundaries within my paintings. Like a technical glitch, these obstructions create an illegible visual experience, with evidence of my process remaining as a clue for the viewer’s understanding of the image.

Though personal in nature, I expand from my experience with auditory communication to employ pertinent explorations into the sustained unpredictability of today’s ever-expanding medium that is technology. My paintings …

Fragments Of The Self, Jessica Swank

All Theses

This body of work addresses humanity’s relationship with digital technology from a personal perspective. Through constructed photography and sculptural work, I point to the connections between humans, machines, and nature, emphasizing the blurred lines between each of these entities. By revealing overlaps and associations between them, I seek to reconcile digital connection and emotional connection. I believe reconciliation may come through the acknowledgment of digital technology’s influence, and the subversion of convenience for the sake of quality human connections.

The images within this series reside at the intersection of self-portraiture and documentary. A dialogue is formed between the subjects through …

Man And Technology: The Glitch In Nature's System, Carey W. Morton

All Theses

This work acknowledges the tangible and intangible attributes found in the complex relationship between man and nature. The human capability of manipulating the environment continues to grow at an exponential rate. The technology by which this is achieved has progressed to unprecedented heights. While this evolution has made leaps and bounds in the continuous struggle to achieve mastery over the natural world, advancements in technology challenge the very foundations of human experience. Processing this phenomenon through my own background in the rural American South, there is a nostalgic and anthropologic component to the display and content of the installations as …

Synthesized: A Narrative Exploring The Perception Of Analog Synthesizer Enthusiasts' Identity And Communication, Christoph Stefan Kresse

All Theses

This document is a written reflection of the production process of the creative project Synthesized, a scholarly-rooted documentary exploring the analog synthesizer world with focus on organizational structure and perception of social identity. After exploring how this production complements existing works on the synthesizer, electronic music, identity, Communication and group association, this reflection explores my creative process and decision making as an artist and filmmaker through the lens of a qualitative researcher. As part of this, I will discuss logistic, as well as artistic and creative, challenges. This includes how I negotiated limited access, resources, time constraints, selecting an event …

Mobile Interactive Fitness Technologies And The Recreational Experience Of Bicycling: A Phenomenological Exploration Of The Strava Community, William Smith

All Theses

Technology is now embedded in many aspects of daily life. Over the past few years, fitness related smartphone applications have steadily grown in popularity. Despite the prevalence of technology in recreation and leisure experiences, the topic remains to be thoroughly examined from a qualitative interpretive viewpoint. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand and describe how cyclists use and experience Strava--a GPS enabled smartphone application that tracks bicycle rides and uploads the data to an online community of other users. Particular attention was given to user motivations, affordances of the technology, and notions of community. After participant observation …

Women In Engineering: Identity Communication In Social Media, Dongni Wang

All Theses

This thesis examines women engineers' experience in social media with a focus on identity communication. Framing as a case study, this study attempts to explore women engineers' online presence and how they utilize social media in their daily activities. Using the concept of intersectionality, this study addresses the differences of social media usage among women engineers in terms of the use of social media by professional organizations of women engineers and the use of individual women engineers. Thematic analysis was conducted to analyze the public available data from a Facebook page maintain by a well-known women engineers' professional organization. Online …

Driving Down The Virtual Broadway: Testing The Feasibility Of Educating Young Drivers In Virtual Worlds, Christopher Ball

All Theses

The Clemson University Automotive Safety Research Institute funded the creation of a three-dimensional virtual representation of an established teen driver education program. This virtual safe driving program was created within the public virtual world of Second Life. The overall objective of this project was to explore the use of virtual worlds as potential mediums for teen driver education. The specific objectives of this study were: (1) to adapt and translate the Petty Safe Driving Program curriculum into a virtual world; (2) to create a virtual learning environment that can exist as an engaging, entertaining, and educational program addition; (3) to …

Unconventional Means: Technology And Resistance In The Emergence Of Three Forms Of New Media, Caroline Stone

All Theses

The media change we currently witness, the numbers of newspapers that have recently folded, those that face a similar fate and the degree to which the death of print generally is predicted within and outside of academic circles, all call for more research into shifts in forms of media over time. From the first American colonial newspaper Publick Occurrences in 1690 in Boston, to the first punk rock zine Punk in New York City in 1975, to the emergence of the massively multi-player game World of Warcraft in 2004, understanding the factors which may have led to the emergence of …