Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Approaching Protest With Affect: An Analysis Of The Images Spread By News Media During The George Floyd Protests, Kenneth L. Ward

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the characteristics of images that are most prevalent in news media coverage of the George Floyd Protests during 2020. To do so, I have examined gallery images from nine different news source which cover the gamut of the entire political spectrum.

Through my research, it was determined that the characteristics found in the images correlated greatly with the political leanings of the publication, with right-wing publications far more likely to depict scenes of meaningless violence, and left-wing publications far more likely to show linguistic messaging and images of group solidarity.

In conclusion, …

Brown Eyes, Black Magic, Marcus Duane Norris Jr

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis consists of a large composition for chamber orchestra titled Brown Eyes, Black Magic and an accompanying analytical paper. The piece, approximately twelve minutes long, is a tribute to women of color in America. The title pays homage to the “Black Girl Magic” campaign that CaShawn Thompson founded in 2013 to empower women of color by highlighting their achievements in different fields (Wilson 2016). Although the piece is not programmatic, I tried to create a mysterious sound world, in which the listener focuses on the beauty of ever-shifting sonic colors. The composition explores musical texture and timbre, and is …

Voces - Drama In One Act, Juan F. Mansilla

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis consists of a chamber-staged composition for soprano, baritone, modified Pierrot ensemble (flute, clarinet, piano, violin, viola and cello), Colombian tiple, and fixed media, together with an analytical paper in which I discuss my compositional techniques and their historical antecedents. The composition is an interpretation of an acute schizophrenic episode of a young female patient that is committed to a mental health facility. It was inspired by the need to bring awareness about mental illness and the struggles that these patients experience every day. In this work, I explore the inclusion of a folkloric instrument, the Colombian tiple, within …

Stf, Gilbert Kong

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

STF is a large ensemble work in three movements: "Fatwa," "Hitchens," and "Albino Sex." It is scored for piano, double bass, cello, viola, violin, French horn, clarinet in Bb, bass clarinet in Bb, flute, baritone, tenor, alto, soprano, narrator, and electronics. Its underlying concept is how religious worldviews can collide with freedom of speech, atheism, and fundamental human rights. In extreme cases, zealots will interpret disease as evidence of divine intervention or even demand the death of blasphemers. The text in the first movement, “Fatwa,” expresses freedom of speech and incorporates passages from Salman Rushdie’s “The Satanic Verses.” The second …

Reimagining Reflection: Gender, Student Perception, And Reflective Writing In The Composition Classroom, Cayce M. Wicks

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to discover any existing correlation between gender and student perceptions of reflective writing in the composition classroom. Seventy-five students at Florida International University participated in a survey that explored their approaches to and understanding of reflective writing. In order to connect the specific results of this study to the larger context of composition theory, this thesis includes an examination of the theoretical background of gender and reflective writing. The results of the survey indicate that the only identifiable difference between male and female student responses resulted from their definitions of reflective writing. Beyond this …

Vocal Synthesis And Deep Listening, Chelsea A. Bruno

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

My composition, Maitreya, combines vocal synthesis techniques with the theoretical concept of Deep Listening. This essay discusses developments in vocal synthesis and digital signal processing (DSP) software that can be performed in real-time and contributed to my composition. Deep Listening involves meditative practices to make one more aware of sounds that are both audible and inaudible. The composition utilizes recordings of male and female voices that recite poetry, chant, and are phase-vocoded.

The composition also features various DSP techniques, and a custom-built modular synthesizer. The composition has three sections that were compiled and edited in Ableton Live 8.2.2.