Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Arts and Humanities Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 20 of 20

Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities

Beyond Light, Medium, And Dark: Diversity And Inclusivity In The Makeup And Beauty Industries, Adrienne Werle Oct 2019

Beyond Light, Medium, And Dark: Diversity And Inclusivity In The Makeup And Beauty Industries, Adrienne Werle

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

The goal of this project is to promote diversity within beauty and continue the push for representation and inclusivity. I conducted research on the history of makeup in America during the 1900s and studied how the makeup industry has evolved into what it is today. Rihanna’s launch of Fenty Beauty in 2017 was seen as the start of a new era, challenging beauty brands to be more inclusive. As Fenty created a new industry standard of 40 shades, many other brands followed suit. I then compared my findings with the experiences of real women in my community. I interviewed 10 …


Public Perceptions Of Angela Merkel And Other Female Politicians In Germany: A Mixed Survey Approach, Erin Woggon Oct 2019

Public Perceptions Of Angela Merkel And Other Female Politicians In Germany: A Mixed Survey Approach, Erin Woggon

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

This thesis seeks to understand public perceptions of women politicians in Germany, specifically Chancellor Angela Merkel, and evaluates these perceptions based on gender, region, and representation of CDU/CSU female legislators in the Bundestag. While literature suggests that there are benefits of greater female representation in legislatures, there is a lack of research regarding how this representation impacts perceptions held by the citizens these women represent. Important to the study is also the difference in perceptions according to gender and the former East/West divide in order to understand the gender gap in Germany and the extent of the social impact left …


Transcendence: An Elegy To Transgenerational Systematic Adaptation, Nicholas Struck Apr 2019

Transcendence: An Elegy To Transgenerational Systematic Adaptation, Nicholas Struck

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

When major tragedy occurs, it tends to strike grief in the minds and hearts of people throughout the world. When we engage in conversation about our individual vulnerabilities, we discover a realistic, but often beautiful mundaneness to life that is often lost. Channeling the mundane into art and community helps us to better understand the nuances of humanity. This gives the opportunity for us to connect through storytelling— using narrative as an outlet to express our feelings of grief, hope, and sacrifice. This project is a devised performance piece that explores how tragedy affects community, how people respond to major …


The Art Of Connecting: A Collection And Study Of Community-Based Arts As Restorative Practice, Hilarie Spangler Apr 2019

The Art Of Connecting: A Collection And Study Of Community-Based Arts As Restorative Practice, Hilarie Spangler

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

“One thing life has taught me: if you are interested, you never have to look for new interests. They come to you. They will gravitate as automatically as the needle to the north. Somehow, it is unnecessary, in any cold-blooded sense, to sit down and put your head in your hands and plan them. All you need to do is to be curious, receptive, eager for experience. And there’s one strange thing: when you are genuinely interested in one thing, it will always lead to something else.” ― Eleanor Roosevelt, You Learn by Living The power that is wielded when …


Factors That Promote Women Representation In State Legislatures, Kara Lowry Apr 2019

Factors That Promote Women Representation In State Legislatures, Kara Lowry

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

As more and more women run for elected offices, the need for information surrounding women in politics is growing. Scholars have extensively researched the factors that deter women from running for state legislature, but few have studied factors of the states and their populations that could potentially be promoting more female representation in state legislature. This research will compare the relationship between the state’s geographical location, the education level of the population, and the religiosity of the population to the percentage of women serving in the state legislature as of 2018. Additionally, this study will examine how Donald Trump’s presidency …


Perception: Exploring Cognition And Consciousness Through Visual Art, Summer Shepherd Apr 2019

Perception: Exploring Cognition And Consciousness Through Visual Art, Summer Shepherd

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

The concept of consciousness has perplexed humankind for thousands of years. Countless scientists, philosophers, and artists have devoted their lifetimes to solving humanity’s questions about our relationship with the world we live within. The creative arts, such as music, theater, and visual art, can facilitate critical thinking and meaningful interpersonal communication. This paper explores the visual artwork of the author, Sunny Shepherd, through examination of historical and contemporary artistic influences on the work, as well as the psychological and philosophical concepts that fuel it. Months of research, planning, and creating went into the manifestation of the final exhibition, Metamorphosis , …


Addicted To Drug Control: The History Of American Drug Prohibition And Its Consequences For Modern Psychedelic Medicine, Seth Mcdowell Apr 2019

Addicted To Drug Control: The History Of American Drug Prohibition And Its Consequences For Modern Psychedelic Medicine, Seth Mcdowell

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Psychedelics have been used medicinally and as vehicles for spiritual discovery for millennia. They achieved international notoriety in the decades following Albert Hofmann’s accidental discovery of LSD’s psychological effects, which spurred an explosion of psychedelic research. While much of the research showed psychedelics to have tremendous therapeutic potential, some studies declared them to be dangerous. By the end of the 1960s, LSD and other classic psychedelics had become cultural pariahs, linked to the counterculture, chromosome damage, and birth defects. For this reason, Congress outlawed psychedelics in the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Control and Prevention Act of 1970, which consolidated more than …


The Antagonist Of The Sino-Children, Danielle Earley Apr 2019

The Antagonist Of The Sino-Children, Danielle Earley

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

My research declares that the One-Child Policy has had a huge impact on foreign adoption and causes Chinese adoptees to have similar patterns of behavior, such as unique identity issues despite different life experiences. In addition, I researched effective coping mechanisms for adoptees and hypothesized that conversing and openness with adoption is beneficial. This topic is crucial for aiding scientific understanding of psychological processes in adopted individuals as well as aid others and adoptees themselves on how to effectively cope with the unique adoption experience. I personally deem this topic important not only because I was born in China, but …


Sustainable Messaging In Film: A Survey Of A College Community, Chelsea Faught Apr 2019

Sustainable Messaging In Film: A Survey Of A College Community, Chelsea Faught

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

The concept of sustainability encompasses environmental, social, and economic issues. A sustainable approach encourages a balanced earth in both well-being and resource conservation for the sake of future generations. Unfortunately, awareness of and participation in various dimension of sustainability are currently inadequate given the current projections of the negative impact of climate change to humanity. Therefore, this project was designed to research if there was a relationship between viewing sustainably themed films and becoming more sustainably-conscious as a way to explore a potential avenue for mental and behavioral change. Furthermore, this project examines audience perception of sustainable messaging and content …


The Importance Of Clothing In 1960s Protest Movements, Nicole Ziege Apr 2019

The Importance Of Clothing In 1960s Protest Movements, Nicole Ziege

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

The 1960s became one of the most tumultuous decades in American history because the decade experienced ideological polarization between the younger and older generations, and there was a mass influx of protests by many from the country’s younger generation in support of political and social changes for the country. Protest movements, including the anti-Vietnam War movement, the women’s liberation movement and the Civil Rights movement, became significant to the political and ideological landscape of the 1960s. Clothing became a central visual tactic to create cohesion between the protesters of these movements in order to make their protests more effective and …


Through Children's Eyes: Teaching Inclusivity And Understanding Of Communication Disorders With Children's Books, Rachel Peavler Apr 2019

Through Children's Eyes: Teaching Inclusivity And Understanding Of Communication Disorders With Children's Books, Rachel Peavler

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

“Through Children’s Eyes” is a series of children’s books that focus on describing different aspects of four different communication disorders. The topics covered in the books include augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), dementia, and dysfluency. The illustrations were drawn and colored by hand, and the text and background were added digitally. The goal of this project was to create materials to effectively inform and instruct children about the nature of various cognitive, speech, and developmental differences to foster greater understanding of and tolerance towards people with communication differences.


Storytelling In Contemporary Ballet, Abbey Lutts Apr 2019

Storytelling In Contemporary Ballet, Abbey Lutts

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

The goal of my thesis is to challenge the conventions of classical ballet and fully grasp storytelling within contemporary ballet in a way that appeals to modern audiences. I used postpositivist research, historiography, and dance ethnography as modes of research to uncover common themes and trends of traditional ballet, which led to a deeper understanding of contemporary ballet and the modes choreographers and educators use to challenge classical ballet stereotypes. My methodology was to identify common themes from folklore, classical ballet, and traditional storytelling. I have studied traditional folklore and fairytales and have evaluated and reviewed the thematic content of …


Appalachian Goodbyes, Emily Houston Apr 2019

Appalachian Goodbyes, Emily Houston

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

This is a collection of poetry and nonfiction using the Japanese poetic form of haibun (a back and forth between haiku and prose, both sections attempting to clarify and further each other while approaching the subject in entirely different manners) as a form of memoir instead. This collection is about my home that has not always felt like home and what it means to love and hate an Appalachian identity. It is also about my relationships, both with Appalachia and the world outside it and with the people who call it home and the people I have met when I …


Why Do You Want To Teach? Interpreting Stem Pre-Service Teachers' Motivations Through A Semantic Lens, Delaney Holt Apr 2019

Why Do You Want To Teach? Interpreting Stem Pre-Service Teachers' Motivations Through A Semantic Lens, Delaney Holt

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

This qualitative study sought to examine the relationship between the motivational profiles that pushed undergraduate STEM pre-service teachers (N = 181) to enter the teaching profession and the word choice used to articulate those motivations. Through the application of a semantically-analytical lens, this study aimed to uncover preliminary patterns that could predict STEM pre-service teachers’ overall commitment levels to the completion of the STEM education major and overall certification. Written responses to the question “Why did you want to become a teacher?” were gathered from a longitudinal survey administered from spring 2011 to fall 2016 as part of the Knowing …


She's The Jazz: An Exploration Of Dance And Society In The Age Of The Flapper, Jillian Terry Apr 2019

She's The Jazz: An Exploration Of Dance And Society In The Age Of The Flapper, Jillian Terry

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

The 1920’s, most affectionately known as “The Roaring Twenties,” was a time of dramatic social and political change. Economic growth pushed Americans into an unfamiliar consumer society where people bought the same goods, heard the same songs, danced the same dances, and used the same slang. Prohibition laws led to the underground sale of alcohol in speakeasies where new freedoms were found through communities uniting in music and dance. Here we saw the emergence of flappers. Unlike the generations that came before, these women were seen performing unladylike actions, such as drinking and smoking, while embracing their sexuality. While not …


Motivated To Learn: Motivational Differences In High School And University-Level Foreign Language Classroom Experiences, Roy Williams Iv Apr 2019

Motivated To Learn: Motivational Differences In High School And University-Level Foreign Language Classroom Experiences, Roy Williams Iv

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Student motivation in the context of foreign language learning is a complex topic that influences many areas of language study. Dornyei’s L2 Motivational Self Model and the concept of future self guides give some insight into the underlying motivational orientations when used to analyze self-reported survey data regarding language learning and its perceived benefits (Dornyei & Ushioda, 2009, p. 456). This analysis brings to light some of the major differences between these two contexts, challenges the idea that they are identical or equivalent in learning outcomes, and suggests some practical application to the foreign language classroom at Western Kentucky University.


Sound And Emotion: The Use Of Music In The Cinematic Experience, Sarah Schulte Apr 2019

Sound And Emotion: The Use Of Music In The Cinematic Experience, Sarah Schulte

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

To portray the radical importance of music in stimulating emotion within cinema, to appeal to an audience’s selective attention to sounds, and to detail the process of creating an original film score, I have scored WKU student Tori Mills’ short film Come Up for Air. Film music is traditionally defined as any music that accompanies a film, though today it more specifically refers to music intended to advance the film’s narrative. Music has played an increasingly important role in transmitting emotion to film audiences, feeding the psychological connection between spectator and on-screen action. To achieve this emotional connection, a film …


Fire And Skye: The Magic And Misadventure Of Filming Traditional Music Videos In Scotland, Katie Daniels Apr 2019

Fire And Skye: The Magic And Misadventure Of Filming Traditional Music Videos In Scotland, Katie Daniels

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

As part of my study-abroad experience during the fall of 2018, I was awarded a Benjamin H. Gilman Scholarship. One of the components of this nationally competitive scholarship was to complete a follow-on service project to share my experiences abroad with a wider audience and give back to the community. My project was to bring my harp and a DSLR camera and film 4-5 music videos, contextualizing Scottish music in the Scottish landscape and capture, at least a little bit, a sense of what it was to be abroad. The final project consists of four videos, each one highlighting a …


Racial Hierarchies In Latin America That Affected My Black Experience, Tiye Gardner Apr 2019

Racial Hierarchies In Latin America That Affected My Black Experience, Tiye Gardner

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

I was able to study abroad three times, as well as study away. I went abroad to Buenos Aires, Argentina (fall 2016 for three months); Oaxaca, Mexico (fall 2017 for three months); New York City, New York (spring 2018 for four months); and Heredia, Costa Rica (winter 2019 for three weeks). These opportunities have changed my life tremendously. But no one told me what all going abroad entailed. When a person goes abroad, they do not have a bubble around them that shields them from the way that country operates. Students all over the world learn about Christopher Columbus but …


From The Hill To The World: Increasing Diversity Abroad Through Intentional Outreach, Ar'meishia Burrow Jan 2019

From The Hill To The World: Increasing Diversity Abroad Through Intentional Outreach, Ar'meishia Burrow

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

This summer I had the honor of studying abroad in Spain for four weeks where I studied Spanish language and culture. As an African American female I experienced study abroad both as a scholar and as a minority. Through research and personal experience I have developed a thesis that aims to increase diversity and inclusion abroad, increasing representation of ethnic/minority U.S. students in education abroad. By sharing my journey through outreach I will educate students of color about financial opportunities to study abroad, in addition to resources regarding the minority experience abroad. This outreach series will help minority students better …