Digital Commons Network^™

Mysteries Solved And Unsolved In The Search For The Missing Cryptoqueen, Claudia Calhoun

RadioDoc Review

The Missing Cryptoqueen, produced for BBC Sounds by Jamie Bartlett and Georgia Catt, investigates the cryptocurrency scam fronted by Dr. Ruja Ignatova, self-described “cryptoqueen.” The series benefits from the engrossing complexity of a sprawling conspiracy: The podcasters travel across continents to find both the scammers and their victims, making important stops in the U.K., Germany, Bulgaria, the Netherlands, and Uganda. The series also benefits from its own breathless narration, which keeps listeners in the present-tense of the storytelling. This was an especially compelling series for the large audience who listened as the weekly episodes were released, as the series integrated …

Subjects Of Economy: Social Documentary Poetics And Contemporary Poetry Of Work, Michelle B. Gaffey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Although the term “documentary” originated in film and photography studies, it has been used to describe a range of compositional and research strategies in discussions of twentieth and twenty-first century poetry as well. A study of such documentary poetics, however, requires us to distinguish between documentary poetics in general and social documentary poetics in particular. To illustrate this distinction, I discuss five contemporary books of poetry and photographs: C.D. Wright’s and Deborah Luster’s One Big Self: Prisoners of Louisiana, Cynthia Hogue’s and Rebecca Ross’s When the Water Came: Evacuees of Hurricane Katrina, Chris Llewellyn’s Fragments from the Fire: …

"Revolution", Noelle Lilley

Capstones

When faced with gun violence in 1990s Canarsie, one 17-year-old carried his community on his back. “Revolution” chronicles the rise and fall of the Canarsie arts youth-led movement, Team Revolution, and the man at the center of it all: Divine Bradley.

Como Olvidarte, Emilce Quiroz

Capstones

Being in both the Spanish and Documentary concentrations, I had to produce a short documentary in the Spanish language and produce a piece of written work to go along with it. For my capstone, I chose to focus on a homicide case that happened in Mexico City in 2015. It caught international attention and although many people have their own thoughts and beliefs as to what happened that day, I wanted to provide a platform for the families to express their own feelings of loss, injustice, and their own versions of the truth. This case was highly distorted by the …

Almost There: A Portrait Of Peter Anton: Cultural Reproduction, Attitudes, And Meaning In The Category Of Outsider Art, Andrea Fritsch

Field Notes: A Journal of Collegiate Anthropology

An analysis of the debate surrounding the art exhibit Almost There: A Portrait of Peter Anton at Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art in 2010 reveals sets of actors with competing interests and claims on the term outsider art. I explore the public fascination with madness and outsider art, suggesting actors engage outsider art in three attitudes—aesthetic, instrumental and investigative. Aesthetic attitudes operate within an expanded definition of official ‘Art’ that allows outsider artwork, but not the outsider artist, to participate in the reproduction of fine art conventions. Instrumental attitudes engage outsider artwork and perceptions of madness as …

Almost There: A Portrait Of Peter Anton: Cultural Reproduction, Attitudes, And Meaning In The Category Of Outsider Art, Andrea Fritsch

Field Notes: A Journal of Collegiate Anthropology

An analysis of the debate surrounding the art exhibit Almost There: A Portrait of Peter Anton at Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art in 2010 reveals sets of actors with competing interests and claims on the term outsider art. I explore the public fascination with madness and outsider art, suggesting actors engage outsider art in three attitudes—aesthetic, instrumental and investigative. Aesthetic attitudes operate within an expanded definition of official ‘Art’ that allows outsider artwork, but not the outsider artist, to participate in the reproduction of fine art conventions. Instrumental attitudes engage outsider artwork and perceptions of madness as …

Steven Soderbergh, Contagion (2011), Aras Ozgun

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

No abstract provided.

The Life Of Dan, Jeremy S. Levine

Theses and Dissertations

The Life of Dan is a hybrid film about the complications of brotherly love and working through the horrors of the past. The film explores past traumas between brothers Dan and Jeremy through their shared love of horror films. As they work through unsettled moments from their childhoods, building towards Dan’s temporary hospitalization, the documentary transforms into a horror film about mental illness and traumatic memory.

Intersecciones Entre Cine Documental Y Archivos Queer: Notas A Propósito De Sexilio., Lazaro J. Gonzalez

Master's Theses

For decades, documentary filmmakers have combined academic research and narrative non-fiction, making the genre of documentary a resourceful tool to address certain agendas that exceed the boundaries of traditional research methodologies. My feature film Villa Rosa (2016) as well as the work in progress of Sexilio (2020…) combine the scholarly and cinematographic realms as a strategy to foreground queer issues and the preservation of individual and collective memory. More specifically, my thesis will focus on rhetorical strategies used by queer filmmakers and archivists when the so-called historical archive appears deficient. As a result, the filmmaking process itself must create the …

Female Leaders Navigate The Arts, Post 'Me Too', Peyton Kennedy

Senior Honors Projects, 2020-current

As the lights dim and the curtain rises on a theatrical production, there are roles to fill onstage and off. Perhaps the most important roles in modern theatre are those of leadership. Leaders in the arts have the power to influence company communication, shape the culture of the rehearsal room and navigate through a crisis. However, leadership and power can be manipulated, as the world witnessed through the ‘me too’ movement. As allegations rose against prominent leaders, the push for change strengthened. We are now three years past Hollywood’s ignition of the ‘me too’ movement, which prompts the question: have …

Exploring A Qualitative Approach To Arts Advocacy And Evaluation, Lycette C. Belisle

Undergraduate Theses

The quantitative impact of the arts has become an increasingly important factor in determining the overall value of a project, and is often used to determine acceptance of submissions, public recognition and funding disbursement. This project evaluates current understandings of how the arts function within society, popular methods for determining the value of the arts and explores how qualitative reasoning can be utilized to communicate the value of supporting artistic endeavors. While placing a numerical value on the arts based on data collection can be important, this project will aim to evaluate the implications of relying so heavily on facts …

Virtually Invincible: The Impact Of Social Media Presentation On Rock Climbing, Lilly Posner

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Rock climbing, a distinguished and culturally relevant ‘extreme’ sport, has experienced a remarkable increase in popularity and media attention. Sparse research has been conducted on the impact of social media presentation and how it may inspire athletes to intensify risks. This element introduces a paradox in the evolving nature of extreme sports that warrants a deeper examination; Can the authenticity of a private, individualized sport be retained in a social space dedicated to public spectacle? By method of documentary and inspired by a descriptive phenomenological approach, this research explores the meanings, motivations and risk perceptions of rock climbers to discover …

Cruces, Carlos Mario Tobon Franco

Theses

Cruces is a multimedia installation depicting immigrant conditions and experiences throughout landscapes, Latinx communities, and borderlands. Made during the last two years, it is constructed as a multivocal ethnography of immigrants with varying legal statuses, countries of origin, and stages in their journey. The imagery, sounds, and narratives are composed of the distributed yet relational geographies of immigrants’ experience and the pieces are structured to highlight the constitutive elements of human mobilities, such as trains, rivers and immigration hubs, as well as the natural obstacles they face in their perilous transit, such as forests and deserts.

The fieldwork was carried …

Counter Stories In Counterpublics: Exploring Documentary As A Form Of Activist Media To Counter Reinforced Stereotypes About The Criminalization Of Black Men, Tirrea S. Billings

Masters Theses

A story told can change the world. Storytelling has been around since the inception of human communication and has been used as a tool to educate, preserve cultural values, and make meaning of our existence. More recently, storytelling has been used in activist and social change movements. One approach to social justice storytelling is through filmmaking: creating films as a tool to disrupt, interrupt, amplify, organize, shift power and create lasting, transformative change in communities. Specifically, social justice-oriented documentary film and media can be used as a vehicle for those who are in counterpublic spaces to argue against mainstream discourses …

Law Library Blog (April 2020): Legal Beagle's Blog Archive, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Law Library Newsletters/Blog

No abstract provided.

Using Multimedia To Counteract The Csi Effect, Haley Wagner

Honors Theses

The CSI Effect is a phenomenon where people’s views of forensic science and the criminal justice system are unfavorably influenced by watching television crime dramas. The dramatized elements from the fictional shows are thought to give viewers unrealistic expectations of forensic evidence, which is debated by researchers if this could cause real-world consequences, especially where the court room is concerned. Surveys were sent to EKU students to gauge the level of awareness students have of the CSI Effect, particularly comparing the awareness of forensics majors to non-forensics majors. Interviews were also conducted with professionals in the fields of forensic science …

Producing A Documentary Film On Dish-Ability, A Local Organization, To Examine The Conversation Surrounding Empowering People With Disabilities In Butte, Montana, Emmy Keenan

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

People with disabilities are underrepresented, both in media and real life. Historically, they haven’t always been portrayed accurately and ethically on screen. In everyday life, they are sometimes overlooked, especially when it comes to the workforce. This project employs the core competencies of Technical Communication and uses documentary filmmaking to examine the conversation surrounding people with disabilities. This document serves as a meta-text that accompanies the film, Food for Good, created and produced by myself. It details how I used a lens of communication to follow a local organization in Butte, Montana that empowers individuals with disabilities to prepare …

Topics In Animation, Pilar C. Newton

Open Educational Resources

Topics in Animation syllabus. In this class we learn about and create different types of Non-fiction animation.

Apocalypse And Eschatology In John Ford's The Grapes Of Wrath (1940), Nancy Wright

Journal of Religion & Film

John Ford’s The Grapes of Wrath (1940) visualizes conventions of the apocalypse genre to represent not simply a particular historical setting, the Great Depression, but also a vision of history to be interpreted in terms of eschatology. Expressionistic photography transforms the characters’ experiences into enigmatic visions that invite and guide interpretation. A comparison of montage sequences in Ford’s The Grapes of Wrath and Pare Lorentz’s The Plow That Broke The Plains (1936), a Farm Security Administration documentary, clarifies how Ford’s narrative film aligns spectators within and outside the mise-en-scène.

Enhancing Creative Thinking Through Open Awareness Walking Meditation, Oliver Carmack

Mindfulness Studies Theses

A documentary which follows 8 novice meditators as they engage in a 20-minute walking open awareness meditation practice for 6 weeks. The goal of the documentary is to explore if open awareness walking meditation enhances creative thinking. This project is important because it brings together several budding research fields: creativity, mindfulness, and walking. The topic of the documentary is inspired by several studies that demonstrate a positive correlation between walking, open awareness meditation, and increased divergent thinking ability—a key element in creative thinking. The participants report many positive experiences and some surprising benefits for doing this practice. Participants report that …

The Mock Doc Film Series: History Of The Mockumentary Film, Victoria Napolitano

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

As documentaries developed a more narrative approach to storytelling, filmmakers increasingly turned to scripted or fictional elements (events, characters, etc.) to depict or recreate “reality.” Robert Flaherty, John Grierson and other pioneering documentarians employed numerous fictional devices in their movies. These filmmakers, however, were relentlessly criticized by documentary film purists who steadfastly believed that the blending of fact and fiction was in many ways unethical and an unforgivable betrayal of the genre. Such critics feared that if truth, the key characteristic of the documentary film genre, were manufactured by filmmakers then the documentary genre would lose its uniqueness. More importantly, …

The Whelming Sea, Sean Hanley

Theses and Dissertations

The Whelming Sea is a thirty-minute experimental documentary that reveals the moments of entanglement between three animals living along the Mid-Atlantic shoreline; curious humans, spawning horseshoe crabs, and migratory shorebirds. Working from the realm of multispecies ethnography, the film shifts the subjective positioning of the viewer between the human and nonhuman to suggest the complexity of our enmeshed experience. In the face of this current era of mass extinction, the film explores the limitations and poetic possibilities of scientific encounters with the lives of others.

Setting The Terms Of Our Own Visibility A Conversation Between Sam Feder And Alexandra Juhasz On Trans Activist Media In The United States, Alexandra Juhasz

Publications and Research

In the summer of 2016, I sat down at my computer and Skyped with my friend and fellow queer media activist Sam Feder about their film, Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen. What follows is a highly edited transcript of our conversation, paying particular attention to Sam’s core research findings about trans representational history and how their findings might align with their processes and goals as a trans activist media maker committed to telling this complex story.

A Hard Row To Hoe: Suicide Among Kentucky Farmers, Olivia Eiler

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, male farmers die by suicide at nearly twice the rate of the general population. My research focuses on understanding the factors contributing to this trend and identifying potential solutions, with a specific focus on the Commonwealth of Kentucky. I have collected qualitative data through video interviews with political leaders, scholars, and youth who are active in the agriculture community. These individuals have identified several key stressors, including stigma, a lack of healthcare providers in rural areas, financial insecurity, a lack of appreciation from the public, and uncertainty due to decisions made …

Becoming The Lion's Historian, Khadija-Awa Diop

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

This professional project examines the ways in which French colonial documentaries were used in conjunction with governmental legislation to enforce dominant narratives and repress marginalized perspectives about the nature of colonialism and the roles of the French and West Africans in its execution. Through the limitations and powers of documentary filmmaking, this project explores the ways in which counter narratives can allow media professionals today to remedy the one sided dominant narratives about marginalized communities that have existed for decades. The culmination of this project is in the creation of a documentary treatment and sizzle reel that will be the …

Repairing A Nation: A Visual Exploration Into The American Debate On Reparations, Desi Jeseve Lapoole

Senior Independent Study Theses

The debate on reparations for slavery in the United States of America has persisted for generations, capturing the attention and imagination of America in waves before falling out of public consciousness over the decades. Throughout its longevity, the debate on reparations has had many arguments in support of and opposition towards the idea and has inspired many different proposals which seek to solve many different problems. Today, reparations have found new mainstream attention, thanks in part Ta-Nehisi Coates’ article, “The Case for Reparations,” published in The Atlantic, and to two new reparations bills in Congress. My research explores the …

A Look Inside The University Of Akron Dance Team, Kristen Dauber

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Video is one of the most media-rich forms of content. When the elements of production come together, it can shed light on issues, provide information about a cause, and bring about an opportunity to connect with the world. One of the most informational forms of video is a documentary film. Documentaries that are focused on the stories and experiences of people bring a sense of reality to matters that may otherwise seem distant and irrelevant. Having a visual to relate to can help bridge the gap between a disconnected viewer and the issue at hand, and create awareness, empathy, and …

Brothers, Sing On: The Story Of Nuance, Kyle Reynolds

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

For this project, I have elected to create a documentary detailing the chronological history of the University of Akron’s all-male contemporary pop a Cappella group, Nuance. The Documentary is titled: “Brothers, Sing On: the Story of Nuance” as a reference to the song “Brothers, Sing On!” by Edvard Grieg, and was named such because of the theme of brotherhood I have showcased in the documentary. I have been a member of Nuance since the Spring Semester of 2018 and have served as the president of the group since Spring Semester 2019. Nuance was founded in 2004, making it one of …

Representations Of Africa In Us Media: A Semiotic Analysis Of Ebola: The Doctor’S Story And Body Team 12, Olubusola Akinpelu

Masters Theses

The Western media has often been criticized for biased coverage of happenings in and around Africa. The 2014 Ebola outbreak created a lot of media attention for West Africa, and by extension, the entire continent. This study examined to what extent postcolonial discourses were infused in two films from the HBO Trilogy: Ebola: The Doctor’s Story (2015) and Body Team 12 (2015). To analyze these texts, I took a semiotic approach by identifying, describing and interpreting the signs in both films, to discuss the postcolonial discourses in three broad themes. Ebola: The Doctor’s Story (2015) was analyzed in the …