Arts and Humanities Commons^™

The Evolution Of The Pan African Women’S Organization (Pawo): A Case Study Of Women’S Involvement In Pan-Africanism, Shukri Abdirahman Mohamed

Theses - ALL

The thesis investigates how PAWO has engaged with and defined African cultural values and practices, while also examining the social and political challenges it has faced and its prospects as a social and political organization. The research explores the formation of PAWO during liberation movements in Africa, when women played pivotal roles in the creation of new nations. As the continent transitioned from liberation movements to government development, PAWO underwent significant transformations influenced by socioeconomic events and social developments. Key factors shaping PAWO's evolution include the emergence of "femnocrats" as women gained formal political roles, a decline in local women's …

Between Imagination And Reality: Imaginary Companions In Childhood, Yuru Zheng

Theses - ALL

No abstract provided.

Tired Of Being Your Negro, Valeria Oha

Theses - ALL

No abstract provided.

Forgotten Voices: Japanese War Orphans In China, Feimo Zhu

Theses - ALL

Research on World War II (WWII) history has predominantly focused on the European theater, with limited attention given to the war’s events in Asia. The scarcity of in-depth studies conducted by Asian historians necessitates an investigation into the complex events that unfolded in this region during this significant period in world history. This study aims to shed light on the often-neglected history of Japanese war orphans in China during WWII and their lives in the post-war era. To provide readers with a comprehensive understanding of the war’s impact on the lives of ordinary individuals, this study follows the historical timeline …

Forgotten Voices: Japanese War Orphans In China, Feimo Zhu

Theses - ALL

Research on World War II (WWII) history has predominantly focused on the European theater, with limited attention given to the war’s events in Asia. The scarcity of in-depth studies conducted by Asian historians necessitates an investigation into the complex events that unfolded in this region during this significant period in world history. This study aims to shed light on the often-neglected history of Japanese war orphans in China during WWII and their lives in the post-war era. To provide readers with a comprehensive understanding of the war’s impact on the lives of ordinary individuals, this study follows the historical timeline …

A Sonic Intervention Into Authenticity And Black Metal, Easton Daniel Draut

Theses - ALL

This thesis is an intervention into the world of black metal and the role that authenticity plays within the politics of the subgenre. I explore the evolution and escalation that takes place between the theatrics, the music, and violence committed in the clamoring to be perceived as ‘true’ metal. Throughout my thesis I use a variety of approaches to create a holistic view of black metal as a subgenre and analyze the ways in which it evolved. My primary focus was studying the music itself, paired with lyrics and later subcultural analysis of my selected bands. As a fan and …

A Sonic Intervention Into Authenticity And Black Metal, Easton Daniel Draut

Theses - ALL

This thesis is an intervention into the world of black metal and the role that authenticity plays within the politics of the subgenre. I explore the evolution and escalation that takes place between the theatrics, the music, and violence committed in the clamoring to be perceived as ‘true’ metal. Throughout my thesis I use a variety of approaches to create a holistic view of black metal as a subgenre and analyze the ways in which it evolved. My primary focus was studying the music itself, paired with lyrics and later subcultural analysis of my selected bands. As a fan and …

Finding “A Self To Speak Of”: Affective Enactments Of The Self In Black And White Victorian Women’S Elegies, Kellie-Sue Martinucci

Theses - ALL

This thesis explores the genre of sentimental elegy within Antebellum Victorian America, drawing on affect studies, American religious history, and Black critical theory in order to contextualize the particular socio-political and religious influences that shaped the medium of the sentimental elegy and its role within Victorian America. This is punctuated by a close reading of six personal elegies written by Black and white women in the years 1855-1865. By attending to the differential application of sentimental norms about human bodies and their capacities for thought and feeling, this paper identifies the personal sentimental elegy as a technology of the self …

An Independent Identity, Brion Patrick Hardink

Theses - ALL

Much of my time in graduate school was spent pondering the very basic question, "what is art?" My experience was that certain distinctions separate the Illustration and Fine Art disciplines. This is something I have wrestled with. One common component between the disciplines, however, is the aspiration to communicate ideas and feelings. It is not so much the medium or mode of expression that is important as is the content. To this end, mortality is the one universally relatable truth all human beings share. The opposing ways in which different cultures have understood, accepted, and expressed this is something which …

Crafting A Family, Leah Bella Zinder

Theses - ALL

In this paper I uncover a set of conflicting desires within me. As I long for a family and community I am torn between accepted patience and frustrated impatience. I create objects for my descendants using historical craft techniques to connect to craftspeople of the past while reaching to future generations. I dream of the family who will one day join me at my table to use these objects, and for now, I begin my traditions proudly on my own.

The Heartman: The Impact Of Its Evolution On The Barbadian Cultural Landscape, Kelsia Kellman

Theses - ALL

The Heartman: The Impact of its Evolution on the Barbadian Cultural Landscape, examines the impact of cultural evolution on the Barbadian cultural landscape, using the folkloric belief of the Heartman as the point of focus. This thesis seeks through the analysis of newspaper articles, novels, graphic novels, short stories, and informal interviews to provide the historical and cultural backgrounds of Barbados, and to provide insight into the evolution that has taken place within society and how it is reflected within the minds of the Barbadian populace. In other words, how has the evolution of the Heartman affected the ways in …

The Psychological Experience Of Astronauts And How It Can Be Depicted In Artworks, Xuan Liu

Theses - ALL

The aim of this thesis is to investigate the psychological phenomena that astronauts experience during long-term space missions and to find their relationship with space-themed artworks. By analyzing the psychology of space exploration, this thesis finds that by inserting those phenomena into an appropriate plot and exaggerating it can create compelling and imaginative work. Secondly, this thesis categorizes several plot types that are frequently found in space- themed sequential artworks. This thesis also reflects on the impact of the current Covid-19 epidemic on human psychology, similar to long duration solitude impact on cosmonauts. Finally, this thesis discusses the visual thesis …

Dynamics Of Secrecy In The Sworn Book Of Honorius, Connor Feliu

Theses - ALL

This thesis seeks to examine the cultural activity and discourse of the logics of medieval clerical magical secrecy and investigate how these covert logics become textualized in the Sworn Book of Honorius. In order to perform this examination of medieval clerical magical secrecy, this thesis extends the methodologies of engaging with medieval secrecy that Karma Lochrie establishes in her Covert Operations: The Medieval Uses of Secrecy. I primarily draw from two aspects of her methodological work: the focus on the dynamics of secrecy as opposed to the secret itself, and the attention to the relationship between magical knowledge and power.

White Snake:A Representative Story Of The West Lake, Zhiying Chen

Theses - ALL

As one of the Four Classic Folktales of China, The Legend of the White Snake, which happened in Hangzhou, is a representative folktale of Chinese culture. The story has been developed for thousands of years and we see it as a reflection of Chinese history and culture.

The first part of the thesis is going to trace the development of this story back to its origin and analyze the changes in the content of each story version of The Legend of the White Snake with respect to its cultural, religious, and social backgrounds. Secondly, it will focus on contemporary writer …

Between Homeland And Hostland: Imagining Diasporic Indigeneity With The Center For Babaylan Studies, Elizabeth Rae Herrick

Theses - ALL

This thesis proposes "diasporic indigeneity" as a new heuristic tool for Religious Studies to capture how diasporic subjects evoke indigeneity through processes of religious/spiritual (re)indigenization. By reconnecting to lost homeland heritages while learning new hostland responsibilities, diasporic indigeneity begins to articulate how diasporic people can "belong to place(s)." Through textual analysis and ethnographic methods, the Center for Babaylan Studies (CfBS) serves as my case study. They represent an organization for Filipinx-Americans who grapple with colonial mentality from the historical colonization of the Philippines and their imbrication in ongoing Turtle Island settler colonialism. To heal from these intergenerational wounds, the CfBS …

How To Survive The Apocalypse: Using Film, Television, And Video Games As Gateways To Self-Analysis, Braeden Raymer

Theses - ALL

This thesis serves as an investigation on the use of film, television, and video games as access points for personal analysis in imagined scenarios. When creating a fictional world, characters' motivations and behaviors are often based on real-life experiences. In the apocalypse genre, understanding how a character might behave in such an extreme circumstance can be difficult to predict, considering few have lived through comparable conditions. To supplement personal experiences and observations, a creator might use other stories as gateways to self-examination. The investigation begins in film, exploring how stories provide a viewer with new experiences that they can then …

In Search Of Systemic Liberation: Black Feminist Activism Amongst French Women Of African Descent In Contemporary France, Jordan Thomas

Theses - ALL

"In Search of Systemic Liberation: Black Feminist Activism amongst French Women ofAfrican Descent in Contemporary France" examines the activisms of Isabelle Boni-Claverie, Assa Traoré, and the anti-racist and feminist collective, Lallab. In so doing, this thesis examines how the collective of each challenges France's narrative around race, belonging, and national identity. Through the analysis of the works by Boni-Claverie, Traoré, and Lallab, as well as the analysis of the responses from French media and French politicians, this thesis examines the ways in which these activists' political ideology and organizing pushes against France's national narrative of color-blind universalism in the present-day. …

Jin And Ming - An Intergenerational Study Of The Roles Of Women In East Asia, Yanyi Liu

Theses - ALL

This thesis discusses some of the current dilemmas faced by women in East Asia. Women from different life backgrounds may make different choices when faced with life paths, but whether they choose to pursue a career or return to the family, there are potential pitfalls and no easy paths left for them. In the first part, the paper explores gender issues from a global perspective, the road to gender equality for women in Asian countries lags far behind that of the Nordic countries and has a long way to go. This thesis then analyses the situation from within the East …

To Have And To Hold, Michael Kalish

Theses - ALL

The relationship between mere objects, richly aesthetic objects, and the emotional structure ofexperience is considered in three parts. The first part attempts to develop the relationship between object-ness and art-ness from the intellectual tradition of ordinary language philosophy. The first part ends with the death of my wife. The second part provides a view of the emotional structure of grief-experienced in the form of a poem. The third part attempts to reconcile the lost and the kept, as intellectual and emotional structures are re-aligned. The thesis therefore attempts to both show and tell the origin and nature of the material …

On The Use And Abuse Of Violence For Life: Affect, Witnessing, And Protest, Harrison Maurice Lucas

Theses - ALL

Following the murder of George Floyd in May of 2020 by police officer Derek Chauvin, a protest began in the city of Minneapolis that resulted in the burning down of the third precinct police building, the looting of a local Target, and the destruction of over one hundred buildings in the area. But despite this violence, the Minneapolis uprising sparked a wave of protests that spread to over sixty countries on every continent of the globe. Why was Floyd's murder so politically mobilizing? And why did this protest inspire so many others? To answer these questions, I treat the video …

Save And Continue?, Douglas Boyd Johnson

Theses - ALL

The purpose of this thesis is to describe the research I completed and the body of work produced during the course of my Master's studies. The paper begins by briefly recounting early influences and the nature of my practice at the time I began the program. Then elaboration follows on the development of my work across various media, both traditional and digital. The work centers on formal questioning of pictorial media and draws conclusions on the nature of picture making, and the motivations I have for pursuing pictorial art.

Carrying The Longings, Shuoran Zhou

Theses - ALL

The objective of this paper is to reveal the origin and evolution of the work I have made, thereby establishing the foundation for my future practice. The core purpose of my work is to provoke introspection and to question, if not reverse, entrenched and stereotypical assumptions toward women. I derive inspiration from my confrontational relationship with my mother, who is a prominent female figure in my life. Our confrontations arise from our differing perspectives and beliefs regarding the roles and aspirations of women. These unpleasant confrontations are the origin of my practice, which is based on questioning assumptions and norms …

Forget Forgot Forgotten, Kevin J. Frazier

Theses - ALL

The purpose of this thesis is to support a series of works that represent different ideas on my life experiences through memory, attachment to social media use, and digital appearance. By showcasing these works together, viewers can experience the ways in which I choose to visualize how digital content alters our memories, as well as our own opinions of ourselves.The paper begins with a background of myself, detailing how I arrived at this project and why I am interested in the relationship between memory and social media. It then provides examples of previous work I created to inform the reader …

The Exploration Into The Influence Of Social Unconscious On The Individual Through Cyberpunk, Jiarong Lin

Theses - ALL

The main purpose of this thesis is to explore the influence of the social unconscious on human beings in a future context. In Fromm's view, the social unconscious refers to Individuals who are afraid of being separated from the society they live in, they often adapt and distort their human needs to meet the requirements of our social system. However, with the strengthening of personality and self-awareness in the present society, how will the relationship between the social subconscious and people's selfawareness change in the future? This is the key issue of this thesis. In the first part, by studying …

Bio Design For Clothing: Creating A Biodegradable Biomaterial With A Direct Application To Clothing, Faezeh Tabatabaeimanesh

Theses - ALL

Throughout the world, both the textile and fashion industries play a major role in environmental pollution. On a daily basis, the processes employed cause serious damage to the environment, both through raw material use and as a result of the various ways textiles are processed. Many environmental issues can be addressed through the proper selection of raw materials and by transforming production processes into sustainable closed loop systems. This project aims to address these important issues by developing an eco-friendly biodegradable material with applications to the fashion and textile industries. This project employs a bio design approach to develop a …

Transcendentalism, Art, And Social Change: An Overview For A New Generation, Nidra Kilmer

Theses - ALL

The purpose of this study is to investigate the philosophy, art, methods, and outcomes of the Transcendentalist movement in 19th century America, with the aim of identifying strategies for creative practice that may inspire artists and educators in the 21st century. In the introductory section, the need for such an inquiry is established. Correlations are drawn between transcendental art from China, India, and America, in order to enrich the conversation by examining how ideas of transcendentalism, art, and social change are approached from different cultural perspectives. The historical context and philosophical roots of the American Transcendentalists is summarized, followed by …

The Symbiotic Relationship Within Practices Of Collecting And Making Studio Art, Todd David Conover

Theses - ALL

I am a collector and an artist. There is a direct correlation between what I collect and the artwork that I make. While some areas of my collections are very focused and complete, others are more varied, sentimental, emotional and impulsive. The difference between collecting versus making artwork is that collecting, for me, is a personal experience and although the process of creating artwork is also personal the resulting work becomes much more public as it distances itself away from the studio process. This paper outlines my experiences and observations that the act of collecting and the collected pieces themselves …

Crossing The Threshold: An Analysis Of The Hero's Journey, Megan C. Hulings

Theses - ALL

The Hero's Journey is well-known amongst storytellers the world over as a useful structure to create compelling characters and engaging plots, though many see its use as derivative and uninspired. After its explosion in popularity in the 1970s, audiences have come to expect stories to hit every step of the Hero's Journey beat-for-beat.

This thesis will explore the history of the Hero's Journey, from its conception to its modern interpretation. It will examine the individual parts that can elevate this simple structure into a complex narrative. By navigating the works of both Christopher Vogler and John Yorke, this thesis will …

Mourning Earth; Ritual Expressions Of Ecological Grief, Katlyn Brumfield

Theses - ALL

This thesis considers the potential of grief and mourning to foster meaningful engagement with global ecological crises. I explore this potential through my own studio practice, positioning artworks and creative processes as vehicles for articulating collective experiences of loss, anxiety, and bereavement. To create these artworks, I draw from scientific knowledge, regional folkways, geologic history, and intergenerational experience with an emphasis on local culture. By forming sustained confrontations with the negative emotions of ecological destruction and loss, I advocate for the acceptance of grief as a reality of our time and as a possible means of imagining different ways of …

Designing An Online Platform To Support Long-Distance Romantic Relationships, Jiayu Kang

Theses - ALL

Nowadays, Long-Distance Relationships (LDRs) are increasingly popular and ubiquitous for many reasons, including travel for career, education, and parent care. Compared to geographically-close relationships; it seems LDRs face many challenges: difficulties in communication, time zone difference, temptations from others, and lack of physical engagement, among other things. While the rise of computer-mediated communication provide many channels for interaction for LDR partners, statistics show that many long-distance relationships still don't last. I focused on two important factors that can impact relationship satisfaction—self-disclosure and a caring response. I employed an online survey to understand how partners self-disclose and show a caring response …