Arts and Humanities Commons^™

My Last Concussion, Shannon Valkr

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

MY LAST CONCUSSION is a thesis consisting of a critical introduction, a number of poetic influences, and a collection of poems. The introduction touches on the themes of the collection, my personal history with my subject, my changing approach to poetry, and a brief evaluation of the work as a whole. It details my approach to Catholicism, paganism, transgender identity, and oppression. My work grapples with both my current understanding of myself and my inability to enunciate my reality in the past. I aim to view divinity and personal history through a lens of queerness.

Advisor: Kwame Dawes

The Work Of The Dying, Autumn Kasprowicz

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

The Work of the Dying is a short collection of poetry inspired by the life of the author and her experiences with love, loss and family. This work explores themes of grief, mental health, home, and death and is influenced by the author's life in the Pacific Northwest. Poems in this project reflect on the death of two individuals close to the author, the start and end of a relationship, growing up with OCD, and learning how to live in the aftermath of these events.

E-Lit's #1 Hit: Is Instagram Poetry E-Literature?, Kathi Inman Berens

English Faculty Publications and Presentations

Preface

A lot has happened in the world, and in e-literature, since my essay débuted as a conference presentation then a publication in electronic book review in 2018. Global protests against the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor during the pandemic summer of 2020 sparked reckoning with how banal, mainstream, and lethal is white supremacy. Six months later, in response to specific critiques about access and equity inside the Electronic Literature Organization, its Board of Directors published a statement about Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) as a core value. As an editor of the Electronic Literature Collective Volume 4, …

Poetry Style Experimentation, Ian Mcguckin

Honors Projects

This project is an experimentation in different craft and stylistic approaches to poetry. Each week, a different major contemporary poet was studied through one of their collections. Their work was analyzed and dissected to reveal some of the main stylistic choices they make to achieve their individual effect. After analysis, a handful of these elements were chosen to replicate in the author's own poems. Guided by crafted prompts created to inspire the author towards the chosen poet's style or subject, two to three poems were drafted each week and then revised at the end of the week. In total, this …

Poetry As A Means Of Adding Depth To Character In Memoir, Kasey Brianne Carr

Masters Theses

The sections of this thesis proposal were written in a natural progression as the author pursued a yet-to-be-known truth she believed could be found within herself. The artist’s statement details the domino effect of questions that led her to ultimately pursuing the concept of writing a memoir. It roots the reader in the mind of the author as she establishes exactly what it is she is wanting to do with her manuscript: to finally find her place in the world. In her critical theory paper, the author investigates the best way to tell her story by studying the impact of …

You Are Here: Experiencing Place Through Poetry, Janet Reeves

Masters Theses

This thesis contains a collection of poems about Whidbey Island, its plants, wildlife, landscape, character, historical and community events, legends, and landmarks. I have written these out of curiosity about my new location as I begin to claim this place as my home. Imagery will help readers understand the place. Yet some aspects of the place may also, sometimes, function as analogies to help readers understand something else. I have used my knowledge of Whidbey Island in a way that I hope will help readers grasp more than what people can see, hear, touch, smell, or taste in this place. …

I Wrote This Instead Of Being Productive, Timothy Hill

Honors Scholar Theses

"I Wrote This Instead of Being Productive" is a poetry chapbook focused on the mythos of productivity in our modern era, from the perspective of a college student. What does productivity mean at the end of an empire? In recent years, culture has become obsessed with new forms of productivity and time management. We optimize our schedules, compete against each other, and attempt to dissociate from the harsher realities of our lives. An omnipresent internet culture motivates us to generate more value from our time, even if it feels hollow. ‘Scientific’ explanations point towards dopamine deficits and cultural narratives emphasize …

Haunted: Writing Poems As A Shadowy Intellectual, Atreyee Majumder

Articles

An academic and writer reflects on the circumstances and stimuli—in the form of poetry—that led her to find a voice that was as intimately her own as it was public.

Fashion Slow: Poetic Threads Of Fate And Decay, Adrienne Rugg

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

This collection of multimedia art, poetry, and embroidery pieces showcases the process of learning and working in a new medium. This project prompted me to engage with a new mindset of constantly adapting, combining, and practicing new skills throughout the learning curve. Inspired by the urge to create something more meaningful than the onslaught of new “art” produced by AI, I spent the past months finding meaning in the process of creation rather than the product. The product is only a stationary glimpse into an ever-changing collection of ideas—but proof that the very human work of creation is more powerful …

The 22nd Annual Masquerade, Isabella Royster

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

A blasphemous, queer, and occasionally obsessive coming of age through poetry and photography. This book is the labor of love of four years in college, compiled and designed for your reading pleasure.

Appealing To Truancy: How Mary Oliver Escapes Americana, John Wise

Student Writing

How the work of Mary Oliver disagrees with the American Cultural way of thinking.

Impractical Ecologies, Samantha Burgh

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

This project consists of reconsiderations towards ecological views and interdisciplinary practices. Initial pieces are repurposed into their various formats that exist throughout this document. Impractical Ecologies are the spaces and places; writings; identities and ideas, which are fragmented into their foundational or indistinguishable elements. Fragments are reworked across a variety of artistic mediums, which convey the importance of works-in-question. Impractical Ecologies begins with standard methods of academic writing, then branches towards hybrid forms of essay, poetry and collage work. This exists to implement the critical reconsiderations of original works – in what these attempt to communicate, and the necessity for …

A Hope More Violent Than Any Despair, Elinor Hendricks

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

A Hope More Violent Than Any Despair is a book-length poetic sequence inspired by and organized according to the twenty-two cards that constitute the tarot’s major arcana. The work takes its name from a section of The Hour of the Star by Clarice Lispector. As the foundational figures of the tarot, the major arcana are The Fool, The Magician, The High Priestess, The Empress, The Emperor, The Hierophant, The Lovers, The Chariot, Justice, The Hermit, The Wheel of Fortune, Strength, The Hanged Man, Death, Temperance, The Devil, The Tower, The Star, The Moon, The Sun, Judgement, and The World. Given …

Context Clues, Rachel Blood

Healy Poetry Prize

No abstract provided.

Psalms Of Unknowing: Poems, Heather Lanier

College of Communication & Creative Arts Departmental Research

No abstract provided.

Inscape: An Anthology, Parker White, Polyna Alexseev, Logan Hattle, Allie Emberson

Featured Student Work

No abstract provided.

Palm (Excerpt From Northern Flicker), Fiona Martinez

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

Palm is a poem excerpted from the collection titled Northern Flicker. The collection traces themes of the pressing co-existence of violence and tenderness, entanglement with people and nature, and evolving ideas of home, language, and self.

The Woman And The Well, Lauren Luomala

Honors Projects

A collection of 16 poems inspired by personal life experiences, containing themes of the natural world, relationships, and faith.

Development, Line By Line: An Introspective Case Study On Narrative Identity And Development Through Poetry, Milla Miller

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

Situated at the intersection of creative writing and psychology, this project analyzes the author’s adolescent poetry alongside her current work to explore psychosocial and narrative identity development. Specifically, the work contrasts poems written about developmental stages in process with those written in reflection of previous stages in order to reveal how the understanding of self evolves. In addition to the complexities revealed by these temporal differences, structural elements unique to the poems provide further levels of understanding: choice of form and figurative dexterity show cognitive and narrative advancement; themes reveal psychosocial conflicts; and repetition across a poetic lifespan identifies the …

Booklet Of My Life, Gabrielle Vincentsen

Research Learning Experiences (RLEs)

An autobiographical booklet about country identity featuring poetry and prose.

Bi, Bi, Bi, Zac Holt

Research Learning Experiences (RLEs)

A zine utilizing a poem, a short story, a comic, memes, and a handwritten mural of words to articulate a message of bisexuality influencing the author’s life.

Homemade Booklet, Winter Adams

Research Learning Experiences (RLEs)

Autobiographical booklet featuring original prose, poetry, and illustrations.

Poems From Haruki Murakami Quotes, Kylee Walton

Research Learning Experiences (RLEs)

A handmade booklet of original poetry constructed from fragments of the work of Haruki Marukami.

Antología Vol. Iii Crónica, Cuento, Microrrelato, Poesía Y Relato, Jose Higuera Lopez, Dejanira Alvarez Cardenas

CUNY Mexican Studies Institute

Creada por iniciativa del Instituto de Estudios Mexicanos de CUNY,

la Feria Internacional del Libro de la Ciudad de Nueva York es el espacio

por antonomasia de la promoción del español en la ciudad más

vibrante y cosmopolita de los Estados Unidos. Un español que se

mantiene vivo y cambiante por las muchas migraciones que componen

el entramado de la metrópoli y cuya vitalidad se ve reflejada en

la expresión escrita de la lengua; no solo en el terreno de la literatura

sino también en los de la academia y el periodismo.

La literatura producida en español en la ciudad …

What It Means To Have Meaning: Ai’S Poetic Appropriation Of The Human Imagination, Samuel Louis Spencer

Masters Theses

This thesis is an exploration of human imagination and creativity as it pertains to poetry. With the rise of “intelligent” machines, it is the duty of scholars, thinkers, philosophers, and artists to gauge the ethics of using robots to create art, create information, and create in general. With that in mind, this thesis aims to distinguish the definitions of natural and artificial intelligence. This distinction is at the heart of what makes poetry inherently human. AI poses a threat to poetry and the act of artistic expression. Additionally, AI poses a threat to the human imagination. The aim of the …

The Mirror: How Writing Is The Reflection Of An Author’S Emotions, Tamia Charón Ranae Branch

Masters Theses

This thesis examines research that shows writing can be more than just putting words on a page. Writing, especially in prose and poetry, can be therapeutic as it allows for the individual to separate the problem from themselves, analyze, reflect, and simultaneously lead the individual to a path of healing.

Spit Brimming With Futures, Penny Molesso

School of Art, Art History, and Design: Theses and Student Creative Work

SPIT BRIMMING WITH FUTURES is an immersive video and audio installation that uses ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) to investigate the intersection of transgender and neurodivergent identity, expressing an urgent need to imagine stories about transgender, autistic people that affirm our agency and autonomy amidst a political climate that weaponizes neurodivergence to delegitimize trans experiences. The American political right’s vilification of transgender people is used to uphold structures of white supremacy and heteropatriarchy that become destabilized when rigid binary gender categories are challenged. The political right has a vested interest in keeping trans people out of public view, thus weaponizing …

Word Into Idea Online -- User Guide For Group Activity, Stephen Fried, Sam Tamburri

Open Educational Resources

In response to feedback from classroom users, access is provided to a video guide for hosting the group version of Word into Idea Online, an activity currently available on CUNY Academic Works.

All Patched Up!: A Collection Of Poetry And Prose Detailing Life And Personal Journey, Lukas Spring

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

"all patched up!" is a poetry chapbook compiling works from across the author's time at university, portraying a journey filled with ups and downs through mixed media presentation of written word. The result is a patchwork quilt of experiences including exploration of identity, gender, struggle, community, and mental health.

Derivatives, Mikayla Goodkin Et Al

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

Derivatives, a multimedia and multi-authored project, accounts for the shapes and movements made visible in the epistemologies and ontologies of structural change and liberation/healing in two fields: Modern Elegy and Rhetorical Practices. In three distinct yet inextricably connected movements, this project relies on the chronology of the scholarly year, while leaning into its nonlinearity, to practice writing poetry and making visual art as mediums for thinking and feeling into various inquiries. Its collaborations ask the question of what conversations can be had and what works can be created when we are intentionally and organically in relationship with all the humans …