Arts and Humanities Commons^™

What Are The Hills Really Alive With?: Spectacle Versus Narrative Driven Musical Theatre, Kevin A. Hicks

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

American Musical Theatre is known for its entertaining qualities, but what holds the audience’s attention to stick around for the second act? Is it the dance numbers, the fancy lighting, and the spectacular numbers or is it the story and the characters? Musical theatre always uses a combination of the two elements, but one of two tends to drive an individual musical forward and engage the audience's attention. The conflict of emphasizing spectacle or narrative can bee seen initially at Musical Theatre's conception all the way down to recent shows written by Webber and Sondheim. Spectacle can be understood as …

A New Approach: The Feminist Musicology Studies Of Susan Mcclary And Marcia J. Citron, Kimberly Reitsma

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

One of the currently prevalent analytic approaches in academia is feminist theory and criticism. Its combination with musicology has influenced the field for the past four decades. The goal of the new approach, loosely termed “feminist musicology,” was to discover, analyze, discuss, and promote the representation of women and the “feminine” essence in various disciplines of music. Today, feminist musicology is highly researched, research is published in books and journals, and scholarly papers are presented at various musicological conferences around the world. This new approach introduces the ideologies of feminism to the study of music. Susan McClary and Marcia J. …

You Are What You Hear - The Formative Powers Of Music, Anna Raquet

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

Our choice of music defines what we become. Adults often perceive the musical listening habits of the young as extreme, excusing them because they perceive their choice of music as simply another aspect of their rebellion against authority or society. However, this connection between character, interests, lifestyle, and the music of choice should be extended to include people of every age. Small children and adults are just as affected by the music to which they listen. My purpose in writing this paper was to find evidence for a connection between the music we hear and the people we become. I …

The Sound Of The Silence: Music In World War Ii Concentration Camps, Jacob A. Tudor

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

Music was a constant and crucial component of everyday life in World War II concentration camps. In the concentration camps, there were many genres of music performed and written by victims of German brutality. The Germans used the power of music in the concentration camps as a way to degrade and torture the victims. On the other hand, World War II concentration camp victims used music as a response of the perception to the reality of daily life. It was also used as a coping mechanism and a way to provide the strength to survive on a day-to-day basis. Furthermore, …

Sing To The Lord A New Song: John Calvin And The Spiritual Discipline Of Metrical Psalmody, Brandon J. Bellanti

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

The purpose of this essay is to evaluate the way that psalmody - specifically metrical psalmody - serves as a sort of spiritual discipline. In other words, this essay seeks to demonstrate how the singing of psalms can be a tool to aid in spiritual growth. Much of the research for this essay focuses on the theological writings of the Protestant reformer John Calvin, as well as the way in which he incorporated metrical psalmody into his liturgical framework. The research also comprises primary writings from Aristotle, Plato, Saint John Chrysostom, Saint Basil, and Saint Augustine - all of whom …

“We Don’T Need No Instrumentation”: The Educational Benefits Of Pop A Cappella, Jeremy C. Witt

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

A cappella singing has been a standard in American vocal music for many decades. The first a cappella choir in America is said to be the St. Olaf Choir founded by F. Melius Christiansen. As we progressed through the nineteenth century many other a cappella ensembles formed, such as the Glee club. The start of collegiate a cappella is most often credited to the Whiffenpoofs from Yale. They began in 1909 and are still running today. Also, at this time we began to see the barbershop quartet take form and gain popularity across the country. It was best known for …

Gorecki's Symphony No. 3, Op. 36, "Sorrowful Songs", Alyssa K. Griffith

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

The experience of listening to Gorecki’s Symphony no. 3, op. 36 “Sorrowful Songs” is one that is not easily forgotten. It is not only musically captivating, but also historically fascinating. After its premiere in 1977, Gorecki’s piece captivated listeners across the globe as it became a cultural phenomenon in both Europe and America. The music was a stunning success in both the Classical and popular cultures. What is it about the music that is so captivating? How did the trending, popular thoughts compare to Gorecki’s original ideas and compositional motives? What actually inspired this piece? By looking at the composition …

A Somewhat Silent Protest: How Dmitri Shostakovich Used His Music, Not His Words, To Rebel Against The Soviet Government, Michael J. Wood

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

Dmitri Shostakovich composed in an environment which was extremely hostile toward artists—especially those that were innovative. Shostakovich was denounced by the Soviet government and had to be cautious with his compositions. If the government disapproved of his work, they could have killed him, as they did other artists. Shostakovich obviously had to keep his opinions to himself for fear of being killed. Although he had to keep his unfavorable views of the Soviet government private, he found ways to make bold, rebellious statements through his music. This paper will seek to show several pieces in which Shostakovich demonstrated his disapproval …

Christian Themes In German Fairy Tales, Nikolaus Foulkrod, Grant Friedrich, Jen Johnson, Nathaniel Burrell

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

This research attempts to locate and identify Christian motifs in German fairy tales based on the research of Ronald Murphy in The Owl, the Raven and the Dove (2002). We selected 12 stories from the famous book by the Brothers Grimm, Kinder und Haus Märchen, and analyzed them in order to find direct and indirect Christian values and morals. The Germanic culture is historically grounded in Christian ideology; therefore, folk tales throughout the centuries included Christian themes as a means of infusing the culture with Biblical concepts, and to serve as a conduit for teaching Christian values. This …

Luther's Existential Imago Dei, The Deprivation Thesis, And Sanctity Of Life, Tyler M. John

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

On Ryan Peterson’s reading of Martin Luther, the imago Dei (iD) is a human’s capacity to experience God. Traditionally, Christians have understood the iD to be a property that a) qualitatively separates all human beings from all non-human animals and b) gives humans a greater moral worth than non-human animals. If Peterson’s Luther is right, humans made in the iD and no other material created things have the capacity to experience God, and this capacity makes them worth more, morally, than non-human animals.

I defend this conception of the distinctness of humans by demonstrating the following: For any human being …

The Effect Of Music Familiarity On Students’ Reading Comprehension Performance, Heidi J. Johnson, Ben B. Holdredge, William T. Mckinley

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

The current study examined 85 university students’ performance in a reading comprehension task under three conditions: silence, familiar, or unfamiliar music. The results indicated that the students in the familiar music condition performed significantly worse than those in the silent conditions, as well as those in the unfamiliar music condition.

A Qualitative Study Of Pastors' Kids At Cedarville University: A Pilot Study, Ruth L. Markham, Monica H. Arslain, Eric C. Skowronski

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

Children of pastors (PK’s) are commonly stereotyped in one of two different ways: either they are seen as the model child, or as the prodigal (Barna Group, 2013). The model child is perceived as sheltered and naïve, with expectations placed on them to follow in their parents’ footsteps of faith and practice. The rebel is perhaps the more common stereotype, where children of pastors are seen as having negative feelings toward their father’s position, and wanting to make their own mark on the world and find their own faith journey. The purpose of this study was to determine if either …

Magical And Illusory Thinking In Protestant College Students, Lynley G. Turkelson, Milton E. Becknell, Chi-En Hwang

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

Abstract

Scrupulosity (SC) is a subtype of OCD that manifests in religious obsessions and compulsions. Scrupulosity is associated with poorer prognosis and higher levels of magical ideation (MI), defined as beliefs that go against culturally accepted laws of causality. A new measure called the Illusory Beliefs Inventory was created to measure MI in scrupulous populations. However, the items on the spirituality subscale may fail to discriminate between pathological thinking and normal religious beliefs. The current study contained two purposes. The first purpose was to examine the psychometric properties of the IBI. The second purpose of the study was to clarify …

2014 Symposium Overview, Cedarville University

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

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Working Memory In Musicians Versus Non-Musicians: A Differential Study Using The N-Back Task, Kara Nonnemacher

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

The current study investigates whether long-term musical training and practice are associated with greater working memory abilities. Other studies have shown that musicians have cognitive advantages over non-musicians, including working memory. Forty-six college-aged participants were given an auditory-spatial n-back test. The n-back test requires participants to determine whether or not each auditory and spatial stimulus in a sequence matches the stimulus n stimuli ago. In this study, n=2. Participants were classified as either a musician or non-musician based on their years of musical training. Comparing n-back scores between musicians and non-musicians showed no significant findings. Since …