Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Notes Toward A Personal Afrofuturism, Jalen T. Adams

Theses and Dissertations

This paper is penned by a young adult who is generally confused about a lot of things regarding life, but has one singular focus that is perhaps larger than life—trying to find the bridge between a future already lived, and a past yet to happen. These are his findings so far.

Through The Lens Of Glass, Paul J. Van Den Bijgaart

Theses and Dissertations

Glass is a key component of the development of the modern world and within this China has become the leading producer and consumer of the material. Through the dedication to my skilled craft as a glassblower I use my material understanding to explore eastern and western philosophical associations and artistic concepts through painting. As well as investigate the relevance of how craft contributes to the development of culture through consumables. An intuitive expressionist painting style is explored in relation to landscape painting with glass as a practice towards mindful engagement within an age of digitized globalization.

A Sacred Gift: Rebalancing Our Relationship With Water, Noora Naser Melhim

Theses and Dissertations

In the Middle East, and specifically Qatar, water has significant cultural history and preciousness as a commodity. Today, the rapid economic development has resulted in a disconnection from the past leading to subconscious overconsumption of water.

This thesis investigates water from the context of cultural relevance, by examining systems of distribution before and after the discovery of oil. It reinterprets the materiality of the traditional ceramic vessels used to contain and preserve water with the intention of using the natural properties of clay, such as cooling and filtering, to produce new artifacts. The intent of this research is to critically …

I Am An Author: Performing Authorship In Literary Culture, Justin R. Greene

Theses and Dissertations

Authorship is not merely an act of putting pen to paper or fingers to keyboard; it is a social identity performance that includes the use of multiple media. Authors must be hyper- visible to cut through the dearth of information, entertainment options, and personae vying for attention in our supersaturated media environment. As they enter the literary world, writers consciously create characters and narratives around themselves, and through the consistent and believable enactment of these features, authors are born. In this dissertation, I analyze the performance of authorship in U.S. literary culture through an interdisciplinary framework. My work pulls from …

Egyptianization: Culture Hacking As A Method, Hadeer Omar

Theses and Dissertations

In a broad sense, cultures undergo a metamorphoses due to the external influences and systems impacting the evolution of internal identities. Conversely, Individuals within cultures react to those external influences and systems.The act of hacking a culture is an opportunity to challenge an existing or imported system in order to bring about change and improvement. An aspect of culture hacking is to create messages of satire or irony in order to criticize, or completely reject established systems within cultures.

Post Arab spring, Egyptians practiced culture hacking by applying their cultural tools to external systems and influences, producing a process of …

Hybrid Gulf — Excavating Future Identities, Robert Canak

Theses and Dissertations

This Project examines the coexistence of two cultures?–?in this case the host Gulf, and the imported Western?–?and addresses certain problems that still need attention. This Project celebrates the creation of the third, hybrid, culture as a result of their intermingling. In this Research, Postcolonial Theory? and Transitional Object Theory? are used as conceptual frameworks, and are combined with Archaeology and Design as a practice. On a personal level, the Project evolved out of my cross-cultural origin and experiences. On an academic level, the Project serves as an experiment, trying to fill the gaps in the Gulf region’s search for identity. …

A Cultural Lens Into The Story Underneath: A Resource Guide Of African American Art, Artists And Culture For Art Education, Valerie Graves

Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this study is to create a qualitative resource guide of African American culture, art, and artists for an art education curriculum. This project encompasses four main themes to reflect an area of African American culture via a work of art created by an African American artist. These themes are, Family with the sub themes African American Male, Matriarch, and Children; Spirit with the sub themes Faith, Spirituality, and Inspiration; Identity with the sub themes Artist’s Voice, Triumph, and Hope and Vision; Community with the sub themes Ancestors, Social Issues, and Cultural Voice. These themes constitute …

Dr. Who?: The Science And Culture Of Medical Wear Design, Patricia Duignan

Theses and Dissertations

The multi-million-dollar medical uniform industry has not utilized advancements in garment and textile technology that could positively impact the protection of healthcare professionals and patients. In most cases the uniforms meet basic requirements – they clothe the professional in a recognizable way. Little innovation in design, function and performance, has been applied to these garments. This is particularly evident in the case of the stereotypical white lab coat worn by many physicians, despite evidence indicating that these lab coats may carry contamination and play a role in the spread of deadly bacteria. Healthcare Associated Infections (HAIs) are among the most …

Lashes To Ashes, Exploring The Hidden Dimensions Of Human Hair, Rania Chamsine

Theses and Dissertations

Hair is power, beauty and seduction: a reflection of ethnicity and religion, and even a canvas for self-expression. A key feature in defining identity and social status, it holds the essence of our individuality. However, once removed from its original and natural setting—the epidermis—hair is seen as waste, and often evokes disgust. The objective of this thesis is to explore human hair, which particularly in the Arabic-Islamic region, carries great significance and raises many religious, cultural, and gender issues. Through design, and informed by critical design theory, I explore how this corporeal material can be reused and re-presented as a …

Blues Trope As A Cultural Intersection In Alice Walker's The Temple Of My Familiar And Sherman Alexie's Reservation Blues, Julia Leuthardt

Theses and Dissertations

Though bound historically through hundreds of years, the African-Native American relation has not received much attention by scholars of literature; hence, the emphasis of this thesis is to investigate the literary portrayal of the interethnic relation between African Americans and Native Americans through the blues trope. The blues trope provides an intriguing literary platform for the psychological and physical struggles in finding an identity within such a diverse multiethnic society like the United States. For African American writer Alice Walker and Native American author Sherman Alexie the blues trope is a successful literary device in expressing long lost and rediscovered …

Visualizing Cultural Impermanence Through Entropic Design, Clifford Meena Khalili

Theses and Dissertations

Entropy is a process of gradual decline as a system loses the strength to maintain itself. It begins with disorder and results in complete transformation. As a multi-cultural American, it has been my experience that the maintenance of my Iranian heritage parallels this concept. A method of visual communication that incorporates entropy is able to express notions of impermanence, disorder and transformation. This project is focused on employing entropy in the process of design and image making by using the transformation of my cultural identity as primary content.

Culture And A Connection, Chris Arias

Theses and Dissertations

Culture and a Connection In the Spanish province of Asturias, many homes built in the16th and 17th centuries are constructed of dry-stacked stone and large timbers for floor joists, rafters, decking. They are topped with large, irregularly shaped roof slates. Alongside many of these homes stands a rectangular granary called a cabazo. The cabazo, similarly constructed, is a stand-alone structure about twenty feet tall, six feet wide and twenty feet long. The main portion, (the storage area), stands ten feet off the ground atop two large, tapered columns. The upper level is typically separated form the lower level by a …

Media To Medium: Representations Of Violence, War & Women In Pop Culture, Althea Georgelas

Theses and Dissertations

My work is inspired by the mass Media and how it affects the world around me. I am interested in how violence, war and women are represented in popular culture and how this has trickled down into social behavior. I also wonder how much entertainment media reflects deep social ideals. I define mass media as the viral proliferation of ideas using television, cinema, video gaming and the Internet. I am concerned about the social and psychological affects of violent media and how it impacts the lives of women and girls. This is of particular interest to me because I am …

Would You Believe Me If I Said I Didn't Need You, Andrew Kozlowski

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is an attempt to expand upon the ideas that permeate the practice of art making that has developed over the past two years. Art criticism, theory, history, and practice are used to give definition to the boundaries of my ever-shifting body of work. Focusing on the elusive nature of communication in both public and private spheres, these projects range from installation and sculptural work, to web projects, photography, and drawing.

The Huhugam Heritage Center: An Administrative History And Case Study In Tribal Museum Issues, Christina Esposito

Theses and Dissertations

The Museum Studies thesis project represented by this document entailed the compilation of a board of directors orientation packet for the Gila River Indian Community's recently established Huhugam Heritage Center (HHC) in Chandler, Arizona. The packet, including an administrative history of the institution and an annotated bibliography of museological resources on issues relevant to tribal museums, provides current and future members of the HEZC Board of Directors with information needed to effectively carry out their duties. Research and preparation of the administrative history constituted a case study of Native American tribal museum development. The history supplies members of the HHC …

Bridging The Gap: Why Many High School Writers Are Not Successful In College Composition Classes, Amy Stutzman Park

Theses and Dissertations

It may be useful to identify this so-called gap that seems to plague first-year college writers before attempting to discover why it exists. In order to identify the gap, I want to define these writers who are leaving high school and finding difficulty in college composition classes. Patricia Bizzell defines basic writers as "those who are least well prepared for college" (Bizzell "What Happens When Basic Writers Come to College?" 294). I'd like to broaden her definition of basic writers and use the term "inexperienced writers" as the field now defines them. In order to fully understand why most college …

The Generation Of Forms And Thai Typeface Design, Pornprapha Phatanateacha

Theses and Dissertations

Changes in culture, design, fashion and lifestyle are very common for a developing country such as Thailand. Losing the identity and significant quality of Thai culture is the biggest concern in this rapid movement in Thai society. The biggest challenge is to preserve the existing culture within the development in the society. These problems within the rapid change not only affect Thai lifestyle and fashion but also Thai graphic design. There is a trend in poster design, advertising, and packaging to follow Western design. That influence suggests that Thai design follow a Western model in order to be as successful. …

A Study Of Art Unions In The United States Of America In The Nineteenth Century, Jane Aldrich Dowling Adams

Theses and Dissertations

During the first half of the nineteenth century in many cities in Germany, England and the United States, free and public galleries were opened to encourage the purchase of art works. Some sponsoring organizations were controlled by artists and some by interested lay persons. All of the sponsors hoped to educate the public and to elevate artistic taste as well as to sell works of art. Many of the organizations offered a premium in the form of a yearly engraving to induce interest and to promote membership. Often there was an annual distribution of paintings and other works of art …

Chinese Cultural Center, Wei Dong

Theses and Dissertations

During this period of high technology, designers are eager to create environments that have strong emotional appeal to people's physiology and psychology. Our exploration of the natural living space has become all the more an elusive search as modern technology advances. Interior design, in its concern for environmental engineering, endeavors to exploit the spiritual aspect of human resources. Through this message, people are inspired to higher planes of existence.A. PROJECT To design a Chinese Cultural center. B. PURPOSE 1. To introduce the traditional and contemporary Chinese culture to western people. 2. To illustrate and describe the philosophies of Chinese life …