Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Once The Ashes Settled, Brittany Parker

Honors Theses

She grabbed her ballcap that she had worn almost every day for the last thirteen years and started the short walk. A three blocks jaunt had its advantages on days like today, especially this morning. He promised he would pick up the roses and meet her here at eight which hopefully allowed them enough time to have a private moment before people started moving about. As she waited, she stole a few glances at the space around her, the water a constant reminder of what all had been taken in the background. It had changed so much over the years, …

An Analysis Of The Historiographical Treatment Of Athenian Democracy, John Thomas Ryan

Honors Theses

The government of Athens has had an uncommon influence through time. This influence is revealed by historians and writers who have examined time and time again this single city. Athens has been critiqued and praised by these writers ever since the city-state gained a position of prominence in the Greek world. The writers were all writing from different viewpoints and backgrounds and these clearly affected the tone and purpose of their writings. The Athenian government developed as a democracy slowly over centuries. This included periods of domination by tyrants such as Cylon, Peisistratos, and Hippias. These periods were often followed …

A Musical Exploration Of 'Yes And...': History And Applications Of Free Musical Improvisation For College Students, Amy Lytle

Honors Theses

As music majors at universities, students often spend hours a day focused on improving their musical skills. They work on advancing on their instruments, further understanding advanced music theory, memorizing entire works for music history exams, improving their artistic interpretation, increasing their precision, and more. They spend so much time focusing on how much they need to improve while not appreciating where they currently are in their skills or the application of those skills.

It does not have to be this way.

I was inspired to further study free improvisation because I learned firsthand how truly freeing it can be …

The Evolution Of Military Tactics: A Series, Bethany Lenards

Honors Theses

"To be prepared for war is one of the most effective means of preserving peace," said George Washington.

Military tactics have been widely studied by a vast group of people, but to some, they may seem hard to understand. Graphic designers, like myself, find solutions to problems such as these. The solution to this problem is to analyze the information and create an infographic about four of America's war tactics (Revolutionary War, Civil War, World War I and World War II) in order to show the evolution of those tactics in a simpler, visual, but still informational way.

Military tactics …

Stories From Elsewhere: A Novella, Andrew Crook

Honors Theses

It's certainly rare to see people with animal heads while walking down the street, but it has been known to happen. On the occasions when a person does see someone with an animal head, they think something along the lines of, "Oh, what a quaint performer!" or something equally as posh and oblivious. Peter, however, was a man who didn't trust his own reasoning. Not if he could help it. So, when he happened to see a person with an animal head while walking down the street one fine Saturday, he paid attention. There it was, down the alley: a …

Does God Change His Mind? An Old Testament View, Colton Sims

Honors Theses

God is changeless. That is perhaps the simplest way to define the doctrine of Divine Immutability. Such a definition is non-controversial in the Evangelical world. For the most part, such a definition is non-controversial in Christendom as a whole and has been readily affirmed by Christians for two thousand years.

Unfortunately, Immutability is not that simple. The three-word definition of "God is changeless" does not address an important and highly controversial issue. What does it mean for God to be changeless? Even among evangelicals, there is significant debate over what it means for God to be changeless. One of the …

Heirs To Those Before Us: An Exploration Of The Influences On A Young Artist, Hannah Saunders

Honors Theses

The central concept of this thesis all started in March of 2018, when a friend of mine recommended I listen to Joni Mitchell's album, Blue. I loved it immediately. There was something raw and honest about the words she wrote and something fresh about the melodies. Nothing was forced; everything was natural. Not only did I love it, but the melodies constantly swimming around in my head started to sound similar in style. The recitative-like rhythms and the flowing melodies had worked their way into my head. So I started to wonder- how can I use this in my …

Lions, And Dragons, And Wolves (Oh My): A Study Of The Series "Game Of Thrones" And Political Theory, Emily Manus

Honors Theses

Game of Thrones has a reputation for being unpredictable. Fans watch in anticipation as their beloved characters face dangerous situations, not knowing if they will make it our alive or not. No character is safe. While this reputation, may lead one to think that there is no way to know what characters will do and how they will react to certain circumstances, if one looks at them through the sphere of political theory and ethics, one can possibly piece together what actions characters will take and what outcome these actions could possibly have. Looking at the characters through these lenses …

Crafting Comics: My Journey Through The Creative Process, Carrie Hill

Honors Theses

When I was 12 years old, I drew a short, goofy comic book that followed the adventures of Carrie Hill and her wacky friends. Now as a 22-year-old graphic design student, I've continued to draw comics because they can tell stories with great depth using only a sequence of images. Whenever I read Ben Hatke's Zita the Spacegirl or Kate Beaton's Hark! A Vagrant, I dream of publishing a graphic novel or comic strip. This dream prompted me to create several comics for my thesis, exploring different genres and styles. My original intention was to develop several 10-page comics, …

Shame: Its Place In Life And American Drama, Lauren Elisabeth Terry

Honors Theses

I spent my twenty-second birthday driving six hours by myself through the back roads of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. I was traveling to Hattiesburg, Mississippi to interview at the University of Southern Mississippi for their MFA Theatre Directing program. As someone who loves birthdays, spending this time by myself with only my nerves to accompany me was difficult. However, it was during this trip that I stumbled across something that would change my life.

Leading up to that trip to Hattiesburg were years of theatre involvement. On a whim, in eighth grade, I auditioned for a production of White Christmas …