Arts and Humanities Commons^™

J. Sterling Morton: The Founder Of Arbor Day's Political Career And Legacy, Luke Partsch

Honors Theses

J. Sterling Morton was one of the founding statesmen of Nebraska. He played a large role in the Democratic Party throughout his life, being appointed Secretary of the Nebraska Territory, running as the Democratic nominee for Governor four times, and serving as Secretary of Agriculture in Grover Cleveland’s cabinet. A newspaper editor, Morton had a public role in shaping political discourse. He advocated for conservation and founded Arbor Day, a tree planting holiday that continues to this day. His legacy has come under criticism in recent years due to racist comments and political platforms, especially in his younger years. Through …

An Exploration Of Complementary And Alternative Medicine Usage Within The Vietnamese Community In Lincoln, Nebraska, Helen Duong

Honors Theses

Lincoln, Nebraska is home to over 5,000 Vietnamese refugees and immigrants, many of whom practice complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) as a result of healing traditions passed down through family members. This thesis explores the use of CAM among the Vietnamese population of Lincoln. The study employs an analysis of the literature on CAM among Vietnamese populations and thematic analysis of interviews conducted with members of the Vietnamese community of Lincoln, NE. Interviews explore perceptions of healthcare quality and access within this community as well as investigate the link between CAM and allopathic (Western) medicine. Findings suggest that certain CAM …

Field Guide To A Hybrid Landscape, Dana Fritz, Katie Anania, Rebecca Buller, Rose-Marie Muzika, Salvador Lindquist

School of Art, Art History, and Design: Faculty Publications and Creative Activity

In Field Guide to a Hybrid Landscape Dana Fritz traces the evolution of the Bessey Ranger District and Nursery of the Nebraska National Forest and Grasslands. Fritz’s contemporary photographs of this unique ecosystem, with provocative environmental essays, maps, and historical photographs from the U.S. Forest Service archives, illuminate the complex environmental and natural history of the site, especially as it relates to built environments, land use, and climate change.

The Nebraska National Forest at Halsey, as it is known colloquially, is the largest hand-planted forest in the Western Hemisphere, and formerly in the world. This hybrid landscape of a conifer …

Film And The Making Of A Modern Nebraska (1895-1920): A Historical Geography, William Helmer

Department of Geography: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This thesis is a historical geography of the first 25 years of film exhibition in Nebraska, primarily focusing on Southeastern Nebraska. My research chronicles how the first films were viewed, and the contemporary cultural reaction to film. I introduce my topic by explaining how it fits into geographies of media and the historical geography of Nebraska. In my second chapter I describe how film technology first came to Nebraska in 1895. Here I map the locations of the first film screenings, and provide commentary on the popular reaction to the technology. In my third chapter I examine the first Nebraska …

Fossils On The Floor Mosaics In The Rotunda Of The Nebraska State Capitol Second Edition, Robert F. Diffendal Jr.

Robert F. Diffendal, Jr., Publications

The idea for this project arose during a field trip to the Nebraska State Capitol led by my long-time friend and colleague, Joe Hannibal, of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, during the Geological Society of America’s North-Central Section Meeting in Lincoln, Nebraska, on Saturday, April 26, 2014. One of Joe’s interests is historical buildings and their building stones. He put together a very useful guidebook to the building and its decorative stones (Hannibal, 2014) that we used on our tour.

One of the many places that we visited was the State Capitol Archives, located in the basement, where the …

Https://Dot.Nebraska.Gov/Media/4yaemfil/M100-Nebraska-Buried-Archeological-Sites-Phase-Ii.Pdf, Anthony L. Layzell, Rolfe D. Mandel, Courtney L. Ziska, John R. Bozell

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

This project developed a GIS to assist with the identification of deeply buried archeological sites in alluvial settings across Nebraska with the exception of the Sandhills region. Soil survey data, previous geoarcheological investigations, landform position, and other information was used to rank the potential of any stream valley setting as low, low-moderate, moderate-high, or high potential to contain buried soils (paleosols). While the presence of buried soils does not necessarily translate to presence of buried archeological sites, the potential for such sites is far greater in paleosols. The GIS can be used by NDOT and other agencies with statutory historic …

The Legend Of Georgia Mcbride: Change In Light Of Passion, Bryce Bassett

Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film: Theses, Student Research, and Creative Work

This thesis describes the research and production processes of the lighting design for the play, The Legend of Georgia McBride by Matthew Lopez, performed in the Johnny Carson Theatre at the Lied Center for Performing Arts from October 2^nd through October 13^th, 2019. The play was directed by guest artist Steve Scott with scenic design by Marty Wolff, costumes by Rebecca Armstrong, sound design by Jeff O’Brien, technical direction provided by Austin Elledge, and master electrician Joshua Mullady.

This thesis contains the entire lighting process including the initial meetings, research, conceptualization, technical rehearsals, critical response, paperwork, and …

Czech Immigrants In Nebraska: A Question Of Identity And Assimilation, Katharine Meegan

Honors Theses

This thesis examines the dynamics of cultural and social assimilation through the experiences of Czech immigrants into Nebraska. The Czechs' long struggle to maintain their ethnic identity has shaped their experiences with assimilation. After a review of assimilation theory, I conclude that the Czech experience with assimilation follows a “straight-line” assimilation model, a progression of assimilation that is complete by the third generation. Their relatively small size, settlement in rural areas, and a strong desire to maintain ethnic identity, as reflected in the formation of Czech language benevolent associations, gymnastic societies, and Czech language newspapers, led to “social” and “structural” …

Science At Engineer Cantonment, Hugh H. Genoways, Brett C. Ratcliffe, Carl R. Falk, Thomas E. Labedz, Paul R. Picha, John R. Bozell

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

Conclusions

It is our contention that Thomas Say, Titian Peale, Edwin James, and their colleagues of the Stephen Long Expedition of 1819–1820 were heavily engaged in scientific research, which took the form of the first biodiversity inventory undertaken in the United States. This accomplishment has been overlooked both by biologists and historians, but it should rank among the most significant accomplishments of the expedition. The results of this inventory continue to inform us today about environmental, faunal, and floral changes along the Missouri River in an area that is known to be an ecotone between the deciduous forests of the …

An Engineer Cantonment Bestiary: The Art Of Titian Ramsay Peale, Hugh H. Genoways, Thomas E. Labedz

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

Includes an overview of the work of American nature artist Titian Ramsay Peale as part of the Stephen H. Long Expedition, 1819-1820, at Engineer Cantonment in eastern Nebraska, USA.

Includes textual descriptions and/or reproductions of watercolors and lined drawings by Peale of banded killifish (Fundulus diaphanous), American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrothynchos), Wood Duck (Aix sponsa), Rough-legged Hawk (Buteo lagopus/Falco lagopus), Sandhill Crane (Grus canadensis tabida), Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos), Scarlet Tanager (Piranga olivacea), American Tree Sparrow (Spizella arborea), Yellow-headed Blackbird (Xanthocephalus …

Behind The Stitches: The Fabric Of Nebraska, Elizabeth Ingraham Dr.

School of Art, Art History, and Design: Faculty Publications and Creative Activity

Works from my project, Mapping Nebraska, a drawn, stitched and digitally imaged cartography of the state (physical and psychological) where I live were exhibited in 2017 at the International Quilt Study Center & Museum in Lincoln, Nebraska in an exhibition, Regarding Nebraska, coinciding with the sesquicentennial of Nebraska statehood. As stated in the exhibition:

“I map the state where I live and document an internal and external landscape. I work with cloth and with piecing and quilting because of their references to human scale, human touch and human occupation. With image and stitch I communicate the beauty and diversity of …

A Matter Of The Soul: Our Human Relationship To Trees In Nebraska, Ariana Brocious

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

We love trees. We connect with them more closely, relate to them more intimately, than almost any other plant. Nebraska, in the country’s heartland, may be known today for its fields of corn, soybeans, and cattle. But for the last 200 years, Nebraskans have also labored to fill their prairie state with trees. This obsession has touched all kinds of things: tax incentives, state slogans, farming practices, rural homeownership, urban water bills, state celebrations, land use and conservation.

A Matter of the Soul: Our Human Relationship to Trees in Nebraska is a work of narrative nonfiction that looks at how …

A Three Part Analysis Of The Antiwar Movement During The Vietnam War, Gus Anchondo

Department of History: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Apathy and Activism in the Heartland: The Antiwar Movement at the University of Nebraska, 1965-1970

Modern Warriors: An Examination of The Veteran and Vietnam Veterans Against the War using MALLET and Voyant

A Historiography of the Antiwar Movement in the American West

Bibliography

2014 Journalism Graduate Skills For The Professional Workplace: Expectations From Journalism Professionals And Educators, Bernard R. Mccoy

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Faculty Publications

With 2015 graduations approaching, accuracy, ethical principles, and good news judgment were identified as top skills college journalism graduates should possess for the professional workplace, according to a national survey of journalism educators and professionals. There are sharp differences, though, between respondent groups over how well college journalism programs are doing preparing journalism graduates for journalism careers, as well as the perceived importance of social media, mobile, and digital reporting skills. The survey asked journalism professionals and educators to rank skills and experiences journalism graduates need for the professional workplace. Respondents included 665 professional journalism managers, non-managers, and educators. Respondents …

Prairie Skin: A Quilted Shelter, Elizabeth Ingraham Dr.

School of Art, Art History, and Design: Faculty Publications and Creative Activity

Mapping Nebraska is a drawn, stitched and digitally imaged cartography (physical, social, cultural, sociological) of that state. This nine-year project, now in the permanent collection of the International Quilt Museum, includes a hand-drawn Locator Map, quilted and embroidered Terrain Squares, on-the-ground documentation or Surveys, and Ground Cloths, mixed mixed media textile constructions which respond to a particular location in a more intuitive and imaginative way.

In this public talk at the International Quilt Museum I give a visual overview of my development of the fourth component of Mapping Nebraska—a large-scale textile construction, titled Prairie Skin, designed to wrap a human …

Many Worlds Converge Here: Vision And Identity In American Indian Photography, Alicia L. Harris

School of Art, Art History, and Design: Theses and Student Creative Work

Photographs of Native Americans taken by Frank A. Rinehart at the Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition in 1898 were then and continue to be part of the construction of indigenous identities, both by Anglo-Americans and Natives. This thesis analyzes the ramifications of Rinehart’s portraits and those of his peers as well as Native American artists in the 20^th and 21^st centuries who have sought to re-appropriate these images to make them empowering icons of individual or tribal identity rather than erasure of culture.

This thesis comprises two sections. In the first section, the analysis is focused on the historical …

Aquatic Invertebrate Community Structure In The Niobrara River, Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, Nebraska, 1996-2009, David E. Bowles, David G. Peitz, J. Tyler Cribbs

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

Aquatic invertebrates were sampled annually in the Niobrara River, Nebraska, during the period 1996-2009 using Hester-Dendy multiplate samplers. Collections indicated the invertebrate community in the river has shifted from one dominated by Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera (EPT) taxa to one dominated by Chironomidae and Amphipoda. Generally, EPT richness and percentage abundance of EPT of the total community, as well as percentage abundance of Heptageniidae and Leptophlebiidae, has declined across the years. During that same period, percentage abundance of Amphipoda and Chironomidae, taxa evenness, Shannon's Index, and the Hilsenhoff Biotic Index have increased. Stream discharge decreased significantly during the 15-year period …

Christopher Lasch And Prairie Populism, Jon K. Lauck

Great Plains Quarterly

Christopher Lasch was born in Omaha in 1932. By the end of his life, cut short at age sixty-one, he had become one of the most famous intellectuals in the world.l During his life of active writing from the time of the early Cold War until the fall of the Soviet Union, Lasch's distinctive voice pierced through the din of the nation's noisy political and cultural debates. The historian Jackson Lears recalled, in particular, the "spell that Lasch cast over a generation of historians and cultural critics who came of age in the 1960s and 1970s."2 A product and one-time …

Stitching As Knowing: Mapping Nebraska With Textiles And Thread, Elizabeth Ingraham

School of Art, Art History, and Design: Faculty Publications and Creative Activity

Mapping Nebraska is a drawn, stitched and digitally imaged cartography of the state (physical, social, cultural, sociological) where I live. The interrelated components of this on-going project are:

• A 15 foot wide hand-drawn “Locator Map” of Nebraska, with every city, town, park, railroad, river, lake and creek drawn to scale on 95 Tyvek sections which were then stitched together.
• Terrain Squares, quilted and embroidered fabric relief forms of the physical topography of selected locations, using software to be able to see the terrain at a much larger scale (1 inch = 596 feet) than the Locator Map.
• Surveys, or on-the-ground …

New Records Of Carrion Beetles In Nebraska Reveal Increased Presence Of The American Burying Beetle, Nicrophorus Americanus Olivier (Coleoptera: Silphidae), Jessica Jurzenski, Daniel G. Snethen, Mathew L. Brust, W. Wyatt Hoback

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

Surveys for the American burying beetle, Nicrophorus americanus Olivier (Silphidae), between 2001 and 2010 in Nebraska resulted in 11 new county records for this endangered species and 465 new county records for 14 other silphid species. A total of 5,212 American burying beetles were captured in more than 1,500 different locations. Using mark-recapture data, we estimated the population size of the American burying beetle (ABB) for six counties in the Sandhills. Blaine County (2003) had the largest population, with an estimated 56 ABBs per km² (1,338 ± 272 ABBs). The remaining estimates were between 2 and 36 ABBs per …

Historical Biogeography Of Nebraska Pronghorns (Antilocapra Americana), Justin D. Hoffman, Hugh H. Genoways, Rachel R. Jones

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

Archeological and paleontological records indicate that the pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) have a history of at least 20,000 years of occurrence within the current boundaries of Nebraska. Pronghorns occurred throughout the state for much of its history. With the evidence at hand we concluded that the eastern boundary of the geographic distribution of the pronghorn south of the Niobrara River in Nebraska at the beginning of the 19th century was along the western perimeter of the eastern deciduous forest and tallgrass prairie. This excluded most of the easternmost tier of counties in the state. This geographic arrangement persisted throughout …

Joining The Great Plains In Space, Place, And Time Questioning A Time Zone Boundary, Rob Kuper

Great Plains Quarterly

Standard time zone boundaries are invisible in the landscape, yet they abruptly delineate a temporal difference of one hour between two large areas located relative to one another on Earth. In most cases, standard time zone boundaries follow political ones and define areas within which daylight saving time (DST)-the seasonal advancement of standard time by one hour-is observed. Moving time zone boundaries and the decision to observe daylight saving time occurs throughout the world for various reasons that result in the synchronization of socioeconomic and political activities within and between communities and the simultaneous separation from others.

The zone boundary …

Meatpacking And Immigration: Industrial Innovation And Community Change In Dakota County, Nebraska, 1960-2000, Dustin Kipp

Department of History: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Latino immigration to the Midwest during the twentieth century has received significant attention from historians, but most have focused on the early and middle decades of the century. The later decades of the twentieth century, when a significant new wave of Latino immigration brought many new arrivals to small rural communities have received less attention. This study examines the intersection of the restructuring of the meatpacking industry and Latino immigration to rural Midwestern communities from 1960 to 2000. Dakota County, Nebraska--home to the flagship operation of Iowa Beef Packers, Inc. (IBP) from 1964 until the company was sold to Tyson, …

Workplace Religious Accommodation For Muslims And The Promise Of State Constitutionalism, Peter Longo, Joan M. Blauwkamp

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

This article considers whether state constitutionalism provides greater possibilities for workplace religious accommodation than is currently available to religious minorities within federal law under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. We approach this question via a case study of the controversy over religious accommodation for practicing Muslims employed by the JBS Swift and Company meatpacking plant in Grand Island, N E. The case study consists of analyses of the requirements for religious accommodation under federal law, examination of the reasons why religious accommodation under federal law was not achieved in the Grand Island case, and analysis of …

Lost Channels, Joshua P. Johnson

School of Art, Art History, and Design: Theses and Student Creative Work

LOST CHANNELS Josh Johnson, M.F.A University of Nebraska, 2010 Adviser: Mo Neal My current body of work derives from notions of an inward nature. Things that are difficult to put your finger on for very long are my focus. Sensations as obscure as the lump in the pit of your stomach or the itch in the back of your mind that turns sleep into a game, conditions that both stifle and propel an individual. These hazy passengers churn within, coating themselves with the residue of memories, concerns, desires and other intangible features of the body; waiting to be released from …

Two Kings: An Account Of The Preparation And Performance Of The Role Of Edgar In William Shakespeare's King Lear, Ryan Kathman

Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film: Theses, Student Research, and Creative Work

This work is my graduate thesis documenting the creative process behind my performance of the role of Edgar in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s 2009 production of King Lear by William Shakespeare. It is comprised of five sections including an introduction, pre-rehearsal research, rehearsal and performance journal, post-production responses and conclusion. The introduction outlines my impressions of Edgar and King Lear prior to researching or rehearsing the role. In my research section, I attempt to better understand Shakespeare, his play and the role of Edgar by studying the playwright’s life and the history of the character and play, while also making …

A Catalogue Of Everything In The World: Nebraska Stories, Yelizaveta P. Renfro

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

A CATALOGUE OF EVERYTHING IN THE WORLD: NEBRASKA STORIES is a collection of linked short stories, all set in Nebraska, that explore the ways in which the forces of geography—being from or choosing to live in a particular place—affect identity and influence the course of lives. They feature a wide range of characters, from a bus driver mourning the death of his infant daughter to an octogenarian former doctor preparing for her death, from a young girl trying to cope with her parents' divorce to a woman whose obsession with a decades-old crime has literally taken over her life. Just …

Gis Spatial Analysis Of University Of Nebraska At Kearney Alumni Cohorts, 1930–2004, Paul R. Burger, Brett R. Chloupek

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

The purpose of this study was to utilize Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology and spatial analysis coupled with the University of Nebraska at Kearney (UNK) alumni data from 1930 to 2004 in order to compare and contrast the changing distribution patterns of five-year alumni cohorts. Mean centers, location quotients, and cluster analysis were used to assess the degree to which UNK alumni cohorts have migrated over the 75-year period, the extent to which any regionalization or lack thereof occurs, and the proportion of UNK alumni per county compared to college graduates as a whole. These spatial patterns were then compared …

Long-Term Agricultural Land-Use Trends In Nebraska, 1866–2007, Tim L. Hiller, Larkin A. Powell, Tim D. Mccoy, Jeffrey J. Lusk

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

Although landscape changes from anthropogenic causes occur at much faster rates than those from natural processes (e.g., geological, vegetation succession), human perception of such changes is often subjective, inaccurate, or nonexistent. Given the large-scale land-use changes that have occurred throughout the Great Plains, the potential impacts of land-use changes on ecological systems, and the insight gained from knowledge of land-use trends (e.g., to compare to wildlife population trends), we synthesized information related to land-use trends in Nebraska during 1866–2007. We discussed and interpreted known and potential causes of short- and long-term land-use trends based on agricultural and weather data; farm …

Prairie Suite: A Celebration, Twyla Hansen, Paul A. Johnsgard

Paul Johnsgard Collection

25 poems by Twyla Hansen, with illustrations by Paul A. Johnsgard, including:

Walk on the Prairie

There is mystery here, in the shapes of grass,
in the dim movements of an inland sea,
connections to an earlier time. Wander barefoot,
hypothesize the dance of millennia, the unbearable
carvings of the built environment, this ragtag escape.

Let its divine simplicity ooze into your pores.
Comb the steel from your hair, blanket your
tongue with orange. Your breathing will slow.
Breathing slow, unbutton the child within.
Give her permission to go fly a kite.