Arts and Humanities Commons^™

How Space Affects Perception In St. Louis, Alexis Cushshon

Kansas State University Undergraduate Research Conference

Space: the distance from other people or things that a person needs in order to remain comfortable (Merriam-Webster "Space" 2018). When looking at space, especially in a neighborhood; it is important to have safe and habitable spaces to create positive social interaction and dialogue. “Our moods and emotions color the lenses—including “moral lenses”—through which we see the world … and by extension also architecture, can have a non-negligible influence on mood and emotion and…this is true not only with individual structures but with, for instance, entire layouts of a community or with landscapes” (Haji, Cuypers, & Joye 2013). In a …

What Will Happen To Black Transgender People?, Derrius Washington

Kansas State University Undergraduate Research Conference

In this project, I asked what was likely to happen to black transgender people if federal civil rights law no longer formally protected transgender people from discrimination. To answer this question I explored what the potential ramifications might be for black transgender Kansans and black transgender folks nationally if the Supreme Court were to reverse the U.S Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling in Harris Funeral Homes v. EEOC (a case that held anti-transgender discrimination was against the law because of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, a law that bans discrimination based on sex).1 I studied the …

Argument For The Absurd, John Dotterweich

Kansas State University Undergraduate Research Conference

Feed, The Society of the Spectacle, and The Myth of Sisyphus help answer the question: how do you live authentically in an inauthentic world? As modernity and trends occupy us in different ways, we must decide how to use our time fruitfully. Keeping up with latest trends, news, and social media not only is exhausting but disjointing from meaningful experience. Total rejection of technology and norms can lead to isolation from those who do keep up with them. In other words, alienating your self from others leads to a lack of socialization, something that makes us happy members of society. …

The Decline Of Tradition & Civilization: Mishima And The West, Suan Sonna

Kansas State University Undergraduate Research Conference

On November 25, 1970, the prolific Japanese author and right-wing nationalist Yukio Mishima performed ritual suicide. His demonstration disturbed the literary, political, and intellectual world of Japan and has had far-reaching implications for the world. In this analysis, I offer a brief biographical sketch of Mishima’s life and how he became one with his philosophy, politics, and literature. My ultimate aim is to show how the hyper-“modernization” and westernization of Japan parallels many of the same conflicts Western Civilization is currently facing with the collapse of both modernity and tradition. To do this, I examine five themes of Mishima’s work …

The Battle Of Trenton, Jacob Mikuls

Kansas State University Undergraduate Research Conference

The paper considers the elements that were necessary for the Battle of Trenton to be successful and also the impact that the battle had on the remainder of the war. There is little doubt in my mind that without the Battle of Trenton the British would have won the Revolutionary War. It is George Washington’s skill as a leader and elaborate use of strategy and even spying that helped the Continental Army to secure victory at Trenton. The paper discloses the way that Colonials perceived Washington and also delves into the aspect of Nathanael Greene’s impact at the battle and …

Lesser-Known Virtues: How The Ordo Virtutum Reflects Hildegard Of Bingen’S Monastic Worldview, Nathan Dowell

Kansas State University Undergraduate Research Conference

The Ordo Virtutum, a twelfth-century musical drama by abbess Hildegard of Bingen, details a now-familiar theme: the spiritual battle between personified Virtues and the Devil over a human soul. Because this theme formed the basis for the later morality play genre, Hildegard is now considered to have written the first morality play—even though she lived three centuries before the genre became popular.

Like her work, Hildegard is also experiencing newfound prominence for predicting future trends. As a medieval musician, scientist, and abbess, Hildegard’s contributions to numerous fields are gaining increased attention. However, one consequence of this attention is that Hildegard’s …

Antiracist Academic Leadership In Wake Of Charlottesville, David S. Owen

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

What obligations do chairpersons have to confront white supremacy when it impacts departmental and campus climates? And, what steps should chairpersons take when white nationalists come to campus? Participants in this session will have an opportunity to discuss these and other questions and explore the requirements of academic leadership that is avowedly antiracist.

What We Can Learn From College Reform In The Eu, Jacqueline Kress

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

The Bologna Process—a curriculum reform encompassing 48 EU countries—engages faculty by discipline to articulate what students should be able to know, do, and understand at each degree level through academic dialogue. This session overviews its mechanisms and challenges and provides guidance for applying its lessons at US institutions.

Open Educational Resources: The What, How, Why, And Who, Kris Helge

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

Open educational resources are free, digitally available, valid and reliable textbooks, videos, syllabi, and other educational resources utilized to save students money. This session describes what open educational resources are, where to locate them, why to use them, and it reinforces their validity and reliability of use.

Ending Remedial Programs? What Your Faculty Can Do., Jacqueline Kress

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

Remedial programs have not improved graduation rates and are being dropped across the US. What’s next? What can faculty do to support students’ learning? This session overviews current issues in remediation, provides opportunities to share chairs’ experiences, and introduces a strategy set faculty can use to support diverse learners.

Clyde Cessna's 40, Ethan Levin

Kansas State University Undergraduate Research Conference

Just outside of the rural town of Rago, Kansas is a 40-acre farm that belonged to Clyde Cessna: aviator, inventor, and founder of Cessna Aircraft Co. Cessna had an impressive aviation career that placed him as the Henry Ford of aviation, spanning decades into the early 20th century. He was an innovator in the new field of aeronautics. Today his legacy is seen in the air with the name Cessna printed on the sides of countless airplanes. The untold part of the story is that without his 40-acre farm for support, Cessna would have been grounded. Clyde Cessna put his …

Perspectives On Feminist Approaches To Adult Education In International Education And Development Settings, Brigette A. Herron

Adult Education Research Conference

This empirical paper describes the preliminary results of a qualitative interview study about the feminist pedagogy of women adult educators teaching in international and development settings.

Theatre As A Medium To Discover A Pedagogy Of Activism, Ted Mccadden, Jennifer L. Pemberton, Alan Chaffe

Adult Education Research Conference

This study revisits two data sets, narratives from theatre artists exploring sexual identity and interviews with participants from queer theatre festivals, to explore experiences of activism within the participants’ reflections.

Dare To Know By Thyself (Sapere Aude): The Legacy Of The Enlightenment And Post Enlightenment In Working-Class Adult Education, Maria A. Vetter

Adult Education Research Conference

The Enlightenment and Post Enlightenment relationship to working-class adult education is examined in the case of the working class in Chile at the turn of the 20^th century.