Arts and Humanities Commons^™

The Legends Of Bigfoot: Or How I Regained My Manhood, Blaine Mccarty

Master of Arts in American Studies Capstones

Masculinity is a culturally defined identity that exists with no single way to express it. However, the cultural politics police masculinity to appear natural and non-changing, but masculinity changes over history influenced by events and the culture from which it gets its definition. Because of this twofold influence on the identity, there is a constant struggle of the appropriate ways to express masculinity in its attempt to normalize itself by defining what is and is not masculine. This work examines how Bigfoot, the hairy fabled monster, embodies conversations about masculinity during a shift in the masculine identity in a constantly …

Identity-Based Assignments And Student Disinterest In Fyc, Benjamin F. Pearce

Master of Arts in Professional Writing Capstones

This project attempts to investigate the position of identity-based assignments in FYC and identify the student response to these assignments. If individuals teaching and studying FYC can determine that identity-based assignments raise first-year student interest in academic writing then we should intensify the study and use of these assignments.

Teaching While Lesbian And Other Identities: Sexual Diversity, Race, And Institutionalized Practices Through An Autoethnographic Lens, Sondra S. Briggs

Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership Dissertations

The implicit acceptance among educators and in institutions of learning that discussions around LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) issues are off limits perpetuates the marginalization of these identities and those who inhabit them. In K-12 schools and college classrooms the prevailing silence sends disturbing messages about the treatment of adults and children when their sexual orientation fails to fit neatly into prescribed binary classifications. As one who has been silent as well as silenced, I understand this dichotomy from a unique perspective. Moreover, my lived membership within diverse cultural and racial groups that have been routinely marginalized through institutionalized practices …

Editing In America, Don W. Fruman

Master of Arts in Professional Writing Capstones

A survey and discussion of modern copy editors that attempts to provide perspective on their role in the communications and publishing industry. This capstone compares past research perspectives on copy editors with new survey responses to create a modern context for professional copy editors, discussing their skills, work environment, outlook, and professional role. This research also discusses the influence of evolving technologies on the role of copy editors and their perspectives.

"I'M Rich Bitch:" Black Class Performance And The New Nouveau Riche, Nykia Hannah

Master of Arts in American Studies Capstones

With its multitude of sub-genres, larger than life personalities, and fifteen minutes of fame offerings, reality television has quickly changed the face and economics of television culture. This research examines the disruption of traditional roles of race and class in reality television. Interdisciplinary in content and methodology, this study uses Real Housewives of Atlanta to identify the ways in which various representations of blackness challenge hegemonic understandings of what it means to be black in the United States. Focusing on the fluidity of identity, "I'm Rich Bitch" highlights the role that popular culture plays in redetermining populist perceptions of blackness.

If You Don’T Want To Talk About Food, Don’T Sit Next To Me, Judith L. Polk

Master of Arts in Professional Writing Capstones

If You Don’t Want to Talk About Food, Don’t Sit Next to Me has as its main characters the same qualities taken from the new philosophy of Le Cordon Bleu: “Aspire, Discover, Flourish, Delight, and Thrive,” and the memories made while a full-time student.

The Dirty Five, Mackleen Desravines

Master of Arts in Professional Writing Capstones

No one woke up in the morning and decided, yes, I’m going to take something that isn’t mine. It usually starts with a thought. That thought taps into desperation, which causes the imagination to run wild. When Aqua suggested to us that we take what we wanted, at first it didn’t seem like stealing.

If only the world had been kinder to us. If the world told us the truth about how cold it was and you are nothing until you prove something, maybe we wouldn’t have done it. If we had the virtue of being patient, perhaps we …

A Journey Of Tears: What They Don't Tell You About America, A Memoir, Nilufer Gokmen

Master of Arts in American Studies Capstones

This capstone project explores different themes ranging from bureaucracy to suburban life, from popularity of guns in the South to suburban life and metal fandom, both borrowing ideas from scholars who have done research on these subjects before as well as employing different experiences of mine as an international student, trying to survive in a country where international students are not much welcomed in practise. Comparing my own experiences with other people's experiences, especially with those who are from other Middle Eastern countries, this project aims to show how life can be hard for foreign students, and how little Americans …

Lymphomania, Kristi S. Martin

Master of Arts in Professional Writing Capstones

Lymphomania is a blog that follows the author's journey from diagnosis of Hodgkin's lymphoma through treatment, relapse, more treatment, and relapse again. It looks at the bright, the dark, and the funny side of illness while challenging the reader's sense of his own mortality. This blog (www.seegirlwrite.com) will continue indefinitely and will also eventually become the backbone of a creative nonfiction collection of essays.