Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Delving Into The Forbidden: Banned And Challenged Literature Syllabus, Grace Burns

Senior Honors Projects

“You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them,” (Ray Bradbury).

Literature is a mirror which unites even the most unlikely characters, invites us to reflect on our lives, promotes critical thinking and discussion as well as explores the themes of humanity over time. As the world around us changes, then, it is only natural that literature changes along with it. Exposure to literature of many kinds can only aid in the development of a richer appreciation for the world around us and the many lives within it.

Further, the consistent evolution …

The Met Costume Institute: Evolution, Metamorphosis, And Cultural Phenomenon, Shelby Kanski

Senior Honors Projects

No abstract provided.

Love And Romance In Early Modern British Literature, Sophia Szeneitas

Senior Honors Projects

This paper seeks to describe and analyze the way in which themes of love and romance were presented in literature in early modern Britain, and how those may differ from or be similar to romantic themes in the media of today. The works being analyzed include plays by William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe, as well as some of Shakespeare’s sonnets. A few different lenses will be explored, including the interaction that love could have with the societal power structure and hierarchy present within the literature (such as the ways in which someone being the lover of a powerful person might …

What China’S Infrastructure Development Abroad Reveals About Its International Goals, Gillian Hodge

Senior Honors Projects

China’s Belt and Road Initiative has resulted in a variety of investment and infrastructure projects around the world, especially in developing countries. This initiative is unique in its implementation strategy, particularly the hands-on approach China takes to each infrastructure development project. Projects are financed by Chinese national banks and built by Chinese corporations utilizing majority-Chinese labor. These projects are seen by many countries as mutually beneficial; China is able to provide gainful employment and business to its national corporations in exchange for lucrative infrastructure for the host countries in the form of advanced roads, rails, ports, etc. Other countries, especially …

Sex, Suffrage, And Scandalous Ladies Podcast, Emma Hayes

Senior Honors Projects

The podcast, “Sex, Suffrage, and Scandalous Women,” tells stories of activists about whom the average listener may not be familiar. General audiences may not know the women’s impact beyond a basic level. Mainstream history lessons often gloss over the complex and nuanced aspects of feminist movement accomplishments and only trace activism in broad strokes. By disseminating this research in a podcast form I can highlight understudied aspects of women’s history in a way that is digestible and easy to understand. The podcast aims to answer questions about the motives of each movement and theme of activism, as well as the …

Ramming Capitalism: Protest And Dissent At The University Of Rhode Island, 1961-72, Kevin Hart

Senior Honors Projects

The University of Rhode Island, like many other universities, is a fertile ground for the reproduction of human capital. It houses strong engineering, computer science, and pharmaceutical programs, all highly profitable fields. Though protest and resistance are not the norms on the URI campus today, this was not always the case. Wherever capital is reproduced, so is class struggle.

The 1960s saw a new wave of dissent and protest spread throughout the globe. One of the largest movements during this period was the student movement. University students became the vanguard of a “new left.” One that dissented from the old …

Means Of Menstruation, Hannah Eddleston

Senior Honors Projects

No abstract provided.

'The Game Is Afoot': An Exploration Of Mystery Novels And The Gentleman Detective, Anna Pietropaolo

Senior Honors Projects

In the mystery genre, The Gentleman Detective has become a kaleidoscopic icon depicted continuously over the past 200 years. The brilliant sleuth’s image has been used to highlight the contemporary culture of thoughts, faiths, and fears. As a longtime fan of the mystery genre, I wanted to explore this iconic figure and see some of the ways it could be used to reflect upon current values. There was no better way to do that than to write a book of my own, featuring a master of deduction but viewing them with an outside perspective, through the eyes of my main …

Seen And Unseen, The Milspouse Project, Michelle Henning

Senior Honors Projects

MICHELLE HENNING (Art)

Seen and Unseen, The MilSpouse Project

Sponsor: Lilla Samson (Art and Art History, Emerita)

I was a military spouse for 20 years. To honor this closing chapter of my life, I developed a project to interview and paint several military friends. My intention was to create a theme of the overlooked, often unseen, spouse. This is not absolute, and it is not to detract from the service of the soldier; but Military Spouses are often misunderstood or mis-represented. I hope to celebrate the inspiring people that form the group known as "MilSpouses". For that reason, I interviewed …

The Future Of Taiwan, Gillian Hodge

Senior Honors Projects

In American media, Taiwan has been referred to as the potential flashpoint for the next world war. Much quantitative research has been done regarding political views and predictions for Taiwan’s future. Based on previous studies, this essay seeks to build more knowledge on public perceptions of the Taiwan independence conflict among individuals on either side of the Taiwan Strait through interview-based research methods. To do this, I interviewed five individuals born in mainland China and five individuals born in Taiwan to compare how they view issues surrounding the China- Taiwan relationship and Taiwan's political status. My central research question looks …

An Intersectional Analysis Of Lgbtq+ Healthcare In The United States, Nicole Niles

Senior Honors Projects

LGBTQ+ healthcare has made some significant progress in the last few decades, yet countless studies have shown that the American healthcare system still lags behind in equitable healthcare. My project sought to identify the issues that prevent the LGBTQ+ community from receiving quality healthcare, which involved the curation of over twenty academic journal articles for an annotated bibliography, along with a paper discussing these articles.

One of the most important concepts to gender studies is intersectionality. Coined by legal theorist Kimberlé Crenshaw in 1989, intersectionality describes the concept of how one’s individual characteristics, including race, class, and gender, intersect and …

Women's Self Perceptions And Fashion Industry Rhetoric, Grace Cody

Senior Honors Projects

No abstract provided.

Climate Change And Vaccines: Distrust Of Science In Politics And The Media, Natalie Montalbano

Senior Honors Projects

Distrust in science and the scientific process has increased significantly over the last fifty years, and this distrust is particularly apparent in the fields of climate change and vaccination. Climate change, a relatively new scientific issue, has become one of the hottest topics discussed in both U.S and world politics. The existence and real threat of anthropogenic global warming was publicly declared by National Geographic in 2004, but climate scientists had acknowledged that humans were causing the warming of our Earth as early as the 1980’s. Vaccines, despite being safe and effective in curbing the spread of infectious diseases, have …

An Analysis Of Forty Years Of Gender Archetypes On The American Silver Screen, Xaviera I. Valencia

Senior Honors Projects

Hollywood has come under fire recently from producer Harvey Weinstein’s role in sparking the #MeToo movement to the predominantly white, male composition of the Academy Awards’ voting members. Yet the film industry also provides a platform to actors, directors, and other crew members -- through acceptance speeches and movies themselves -- to spread awareness about pressing societal issues, including climate change, sexual assault, racism, and homophobia.

Art, especially film, has a tremendous effect on society and can either perpetuate stereotypes or dispel myths. For instance, Philadelphia (1993) brought into the mainstream the story of a man who was HIV+ and …

Uri And Its Students: A Contract For The Provision Of A Safe Environment, Danielle Joan Beatrice

Senior Honors Projects

DANIELLE BEATRICE (English; Philosophy; Business) URI and Its Students: A Contract for the Provision of a Safe Environment

Sponsor: Judith Swift (Communication Studies, Coastal Institute)

When students begin to attend college, they expect to be consumed with busy schedules, heavy workloads, and an exciting social life. Students do not anticipate being in dangerous situations. However, this does not mean that such situations do not occur. Therefore, it is essential to teach students to be active participants in educating themselves and their peers regarding prevention and response to emergency situations. My Honors Project aims to increase the awareness of safety-related issues …

An Anthology On Human Suffering In America: Notes On Black Lives Matter, Katelyn Dubois

Senior Honors Projects

For far too long systemic racism has protected inequality and suffering in the United States, preaching that one’s worth and opportunities are determined by the color of their skin. Despite the foundational values of freedom and equality in the United States, the Black community continues to be killed and discriminated against in disturbingly disproportionate amounts to their peers, and is precisely 3.23 times more likely than Caucasians to be killed by police. “An Anthology on Human Suffering in America: Notes on Black Lives Matter'' was created with the intent to bring greater awareness to the racism and social injustices experienced …

Seeking Asylum In A Modern Society: Global Responses To Latin American Migration, Rebecca Dickinson

Senior Honors Projects

The United States is no stranger to asylum seekers and refugees. The most famous seaport in the country houses a 305-foot-tall statue of a woman bearing a torch with words from the poem The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus etched at her feet: “‘Give me your tired, your poor, /Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.’”^[1] The Statue of Liberty is a symbolic representation of open arms to immigrants from all walks of life. But if everyone is welcome, why do so few actually gain entrance?

US interventionism policies in the 20th century have defined the lives of millions …

Exploring The Associations Between Femininity, Burnout, And Health Behaviors Among Middle Age Women, Adelaide Brown

Senior Honors Projects

To date research on how traditional feminine traits and gender role ideology may impact burnout and health behaviors in women is limited. This paper examines how the aforementioned may be associated with higher burnout rates in a community-based cohort of middle-aged women (40-65 years). This study focuses on western traditional feminine traits and gender role ideology, which describe an individual's attitude regarding their assigned role in society and the strength of association with their role. Women who report a stronger connection to more traditional traits or ideology were expected to report higher rates of burnout.

This study also assesses whether …

Plato, Aristotle, And The Political Landscape Of The Present, Tanner J. Pacheco

Senior Honors Projects

Plato, Aristotle, and the political landscape of the past are all decidedly far removed from our current place in time and space. The works of the former two philosophers, and the political ecosystem established two millennia ago can appear too foreign to retain any relevance to today’s society. Though, I argue that these thinkers’ insights into political philosophy can serve as support for addressing our own political challenges either indirectly, or in some cases directly.

Few would contest that in the United States we face a variety of substantial difficulties concerning the wellbeing of our political system. In fact, a …

Can We Make It? Coming-Of-Age In A Covid Kitchen, Maila Erickson

Senior Honors Projects

The Covid-19 pandemic has shifted how we interact with our communities and how we carry out our daily lives. If stories in the news and in social media are any indication, food seems to be a surprising focus of the pandemic for young and old. Personally speaking, I delved into cooking. I experienced the tensions at the grocery. I adjusted my food shopping habits. I felt like I grew up. I began to wonder how other people my age might have modified their food preparation habits and what the experience of cooking in quarantine meant to them. In this honors …

U.S. War Crimes And Accountability With The International Criminal Court: A Critique, Johanna M. Leffler

Senior Honors Projects

JOHANNA LEFFLER (International Studies, French)

U.S. War Crimes and Accountability with the International Criminal Court: A Critique

Sponsor: Kristin Johnson (Political Science)

Throughout my undergraduate career I have studied a variety of subjects within international affairs. The fall of my 2019-2020 year while studying abroad at The Institute for Political Studies of Rennes, France, was where I studied a particularly thought-provoking subject, Mondialisation et Droit de l’Homme (Globalization and Human Rights). We studied the evolution of international law, the justice institutions which uphold it, and how modern globalization impacts human rights. The subject matter and discussion with my international classmates …

“Mortality’S Wilting Flower:” Terror Management Theory And Music In Animated Films, Lauren Bertsch

Senior Honors Projects

There’s something about animated films - so full of light and wonder - that invokes this “warm and fuzzy” feeling when you sit down to watch it. Yet an entire spectrum of human emotion is demanded from us as an audience. Buried in the heart of animated films are these dark themes, problems that lie in the bedrock of humanity. And it leaves us pondering: why? The answer may actually stretch back to when our species developed thought and reason. In 1973, American anthropologist Ernest Becker uncovered the mental foundation that allows us to live, function, and thrive in a …

East Of Adams, Autumn Walter

Senior Honors Projects

East of Adams is a photography project that explores the conservationist messaging ofAnsel Adams’s historical work and translates this work into shooting the Acadia National Park in Maine. Adams is well known for his documentation of our national parks in the western United States during the 1930s and 1940s. Armed with his large format camera he created his images in order to speak to the importance of conserving the natural beauty ofAmerica’s unique wild lands. Inspired by Adams’s drive to use photography in order tomotivate conservation, East of Adams will focus on similar goals within the Eastern United States at …

An Examination Of Non-Traditional Bridal Wear And Its Primary Consumer, Erica Thalmann, Kristina Dimaria

Senior Honors Projects

Bridal wear has traditionally been viewed as big white dresses. But as times change, so do brides’ preferences for bridal wear. Jumpsuits, rompers, short dresses, and other “non-traditional” choices are experiencing an increased demand in the market. Unfortunately, brides who seek these options are often not met with a promising assortment. This study examined primary consumers of non-traditional bridal wear. Specifically, we sought to find out whether women who belong to the LGBTQ community choose to consume more non-traditional bridal wear compared to heterosexual brides. The study also examined through which channels (e.g., online, in store, etc.) consumers predominantly purchase …

Locked Up And Locked Out: True Stories Of Individuals Who Experienced The Intersection Between Homelessness And The Criminal Justice System, Jean Johnson

Senior Honors Projects

JEAN JOHNSON (Criminology & Criminal Justice)

Locked Up and Locked Out: True Stories of the Interlocking Cycle of

Homelessness and the Criminal Justice System

Sponsor: Jill Doerner (Criminology & Criminal Justice, Sociology & Anthropology), Heather Johnson (Writing & Rhetoric)

Key locks work when a key made with teeth is placed into a cylinder with a series of pins and tumblers. If you don’t insert the right key one or more of the pins will remain in the way, preventing the key from turning and the lock will remain closed. According to the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, tens of …

Rhetoric And International Human Rights: The Case Of The Senegalese Talibés, Christopher Parisella

Senior Honors Projects

CHRISTOPHER PARISELLA

(Political Science, Writing & Rhetoric, French)

Rhetoric and International Human Rights: The Case of the Senegalese Talibés

Sponsor: Lynne Derbyshire (Communication Studies, Honors Program)

While in Senegal, I witnessed the hurdles faced by proponents of international human rights standards. Thousands of Muslim boys, called talibés, undertake their Koranic education in Senegal. Many are forced to beg in the streets by their educators, and abuse in the schools is common. Still, this education is considered a valuable part of the boys’ spiritual development. Despite the multitude of countries that have openly supported and ratified international human rights compacts, many …

Socrates As A Philosophical Exemplar, Aria Mia Loberti

Senior Honors Projects

In Plato’s dialogues, Socrates famously denied being a teacher. Nonetheless, others took him to be a teacher, and there is no doubt that his attempts to encourage people to philosophy are pedagogical. So, we are presented with a puzzle—one that is still with interpreters today, despite important work on the issues (e.g., Nehamas 1985, 1992). In this project, I approach these issues from a different angle, asking not whether Socrates is a teacher (or whether philosophy can be taught) but considering Socrates as a philosophical exemplar. I contend that this question will help us to understand not only Socrates but …

Horror Literacy: Why We Write The Stories That Scare Readers, Ashley Schwegler

Senior Honors Projects

Children’s books often have animals as central characters with the animals displaying human traits in order to explore basic values in a general manner, or poke fun and invert values in order to provide gentle criticism and moral lessons. Seldom, if ever, do children’s books aim to scare readers or invert values and call them into question. In recent years, however, a few children’s books have begun to rewrite classics like Clifford The Big Red Dog in order to introduce elements through grotesque, irrelevant, cynicism, or horror. Such a rewriting is called a remix. It can be simply an inversion …

What's In A Genre?: The Relationship Between Reader And Text, Anabelle Mahoney

Senior Honors Projects

The way in which literary genres are understood shapes how one reads and interacts with different texts. Genre expectations affect both how individuals choose texts to read, and then how those texts are understood. Therefore, labeling literature as a certain genre affects the relationship between writer and reader. Literary nonfiction is unlike most genres as it promises a certain truth to its readers. One cannot deviate too far from “the truth” in nonfiction writing and still fulfill the genre; the relationship a reader has with a text changes if it is not considered “true enough.” Author James Frey, who marketed …

Morals And Martial Arts: A Woman's Place Of Empowerment Through Judo, Sydney Wall

Senior Honors Projects

This study explores the experiences of women within the world of judo, a combat sport derived from ancient samurai hand-to-hand combat techniques. Although judo was founded as a sport in the 1880s, there was no women’s section until 1923 and, even then, women were barred from competition out of concern for its impact on their ability to have children. It would not be until 1992 that women’s judo became a part of the Olympic program. These limitations on women’s participation have simultaneously resulted from and contributed to the association of judo with notions of masculinity. Despite almost thirty years of …