Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Earth Needs Help, Rhiannon C. Barto

English Department: Research for Change - Wicked Problems in Our World

Humans destroy earth by polluting the atmosphere and wiping out other living things. Climate change is a human created problem that is increasing the rate at which the damage is occurring. The temperature is increasing at the fastest rate that it has in 10,000 years. With change happening this fast, it is hard for nature and animals, including ourselves, to adapt. Climate change is one of the biggest things causing this change and it is crucial to take action before it is too late. We need to stop deforestation, stop CO2 emissions, and stop the use of fossil fuels. The …

(Fun)Ction: Developing Games From A Narrative Standpoint, Julian Barocas

English Summer Fellows

My goal with this project has been to deepen my understanding of why people play games, how to make games narratively compelling, and what technical methods are effective in play. This has allowed me to investigate both the technical, scholarly assessments of board game dynamics while also exploring their real-world applications, successes, and weaknesses. Building on my research, my project has culminated in a full prototype of an original board game that has both narrative structure and an engaging gameplay structure. I have also produced a reflection paper on the experience and an annotated bibliography of my research texts and …

Another Perspective: Telling The Hero’S Story Without The Hero, Renee Hopper

Honors Projects

Can a YA story be effectively told through the lenses of side characters that typically exist to further the main character’s plot? What gives a side character agency? How do you make a hero without ever getting close to them through the narrator? This Honors Project seeks to answer those questions through a YA-style novella in which four different "side characters" tell their stories, and the hero's point of view is never followed.

Forgiveness, Freedom And The Inmate Issue, Taylor Smith

Master of Arts in Professional Writing Capstones

Forgiveness Freedom and the Inmate Issue:

It is no secret that the United States has a mass incarceration problem. The war on drugs, traffic violations, and the Three Strikes Law, are just pieces of the systems being used to repeatedly place people behind bars. What we are facing now as a society is the repercussions of reintegrating under educated, digitally literate, mentally abandoned individuals back into society. In addition to post jail operatives like parole fees, fines and probation scheduling are re-sentencing these individuals into a society they no longer relate to, that socially struggle to adapt to and that …

Willowcreek Middle School Alternative Program: Successfully Working Through Trauma, Debra B. Ekdahl 6061

National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference

Willowcreek Middle School in Portage Indiana is not your typical alternative school. We offer trauma informed practices in place of student expulsions. A safe structured environment, reduced class time, academic strategies, mindfulness, yoga, and community service, all help to provide the educational and social/emotional support necessary to help students at risk reach their potential and eventually transition back to the traditional classroom.

Pitiless Cruelty: Cynicism, Capitalism, And Gambling In The Writing Of Mario Puzo, David Schwartz

Executive Vice President & Provost Faculty Publications

The Godfather made him a wealthy man, but Mario Puzo’s long years as a struggling writer and childhood in New York City’s Hell’s Kitchen conditioned him to treat money—and those who made a great deal of it—with suspicion. This paper explores how Puzo’s cynical views of capitalism were buttressed by his experiences as a self-described “mildly degenerate” gambling, and how they are expressed in both his fiction and non-fiction.

Solitary Solidarity: Vignettes Of The Appalachian Trail, Noah L. Booth

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

This past Summer, I spent two months solo-hiking the first third of the Appalachian Trail. I completed 737 total miles, starting at Springer Mountain in Georgia and continuing through North Carolina and Tennessee, before finishing my journey in central Virginia. I am no stranger to backpacking, but the rolling Blue Ridge Mountains of the Southeast were completely foreign to me. Throughout this two month excursion I kept a daily journal, logging everything from mileage and geographical features, to encounters with wildlife and humans alike. Over six months have elapsed since I completed my journey and, having had plenty of time …