Georgic Rhetoric, Virtue And The Commercialization Of Agriculture In Pennsylvania From 1785 To 1870, Naomi Ulmer

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

This research examines how farmers in Pennsylvania between 1785 and 1870 were persuaded by georgic agrarianism to take social, economic and even moral risks to abandon a semi-subsistence mode of production in favor of commercial production. The georgic rhetoric is derived from Virgil’s poem “The Georgics.” It discusses agriculture and man’s labor in nature. Virgil discusses the relationship between man, nature and his ability, or inability, to control nature to ensure his own survival. Beginning in the late 18^th century, supporters of improved agriculture, mostly wealthy and upper-class gentlemen, tried to persuade common yeomen farmers to produce for the …

Beethoven Symphony No.5 In C Minor, Op.67: Connecting Tonality To Tempo, Character, And Interpretation, Chyh Shen Low

Dissertations, 2014-2019

Abstract

Beethoven’s metronome markings aroused much controversy among musicologists and performing musicians. For Beethoven, tempo is a fundamental element of the music’s character. Beethoven included metronome markings in his music to communicate his ideas concerning tempi in a more specific manner. Ironically, his metronome markings are often ignored by many performers and conductors, as evidenced in the recordings and live performance reviews. There is a group of scholars and performers who tend to disregard Beethoven’s metronome markings, while another group believes they are sensible and workable.

This paper discusses the metronome markings and the Affective Key Characteristics in the music …

Theatre As An Intervention For Empathy Development Among Undergraduate Students, Jonathan Stewart

Dissertations, 2014-2019

Empathy is the ability feel into, or put oneself in the place of another. It is the ability to walk in someone else’s shoes. Studies have shown that this ability is decreasing among today’s college students and on the rise as a desired trait for today’s leaders. This dilemma provides an interesting opportunity to explore how institutions of higher education can help develop the leaders of tomorrow by increasing empathy among students. Specifically, this research explores theatre as an intervention for empathy development among college students.

Theatre, as a program of study, is unique within the college experience in that …

A Bridge Between Earth & Sky: How The Natural World Shaped The Civilizations Of Ancient And Early-Modern Persia, Sophia Cabana

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

This project seeks to investigate the ways in which nature shaped the culture of ancient Persia through technology, architecture, agriculture, and art. Furthermore, this project investigates how the symbols and mentalities of ancient Persia were carried forward into the early-modern period. Achaemenid Persia and Babylon are studied as societies which influenced one another and combined to create the foundation of Persian culture as it is currently understood, which then combined in later centuries with other Middle Eastern and Central Asian cultural movements to produce the Safavid and Mughal Empires. The Safavids and Mughals imitated and revived Persian culture in order …

El Vph Y El Cáncer Cervical En El Perú: Diferencias De Accesibilidad Entre Las Mujeres De Las Zonas Rurales Y Urbanas / Hpv And Cervical Cancer In Peru: The Differences In Accessibility For Rural And Urban Women, Jemma Stratton

James Madison Undergraduate Research Journal (JMURJ)

Este informe examina el estado actual del tratamiento y prevención del VPH en el Perú, y pone énfasis con problemas específicas que han contribuido al riesgo alto de cáncer cervical entre las mujeres rurales. Perú ha tomado grandes pasos en las décadas últimas para establecer programas que se dirigen al VPH y la salud de las mujeres. Sin embargo, las mujeres peruanas tienen una población más probable para contraer cáncer cervical en el mundo. Este informe compara los esfuerzos de prevención del VPH entre las poblaciones rurales y urbanas en el Perú y identificar las barreras que causando esta crisis …

Learners’ Perspectives On The Use And Support Of Student Created Video Assignments At James Madison University, Annette Bruff Liskey

Showcase of Graduate Student Scholarship and Creative Activities

This research is an exploratory analysis of the use of student created video assignments at JMU, a pedagogical strategy that is increasingly common but not widely researched. The study collected quantitative data via an online survey of JMU students with the objective of examining the use, design, and outcomes of student created video assignments at James Madison University. Survey topics included the requirements of the assignment, the course that included the assignment, resources available and/or used to complete the assignment, students’ perceptions of the learning outcomes, as well as non-identifying information about each respondent’s demographics and academic experience at JMU. …

Evaluating The Outcomes Of Social Media Marketing Alongside Traditional Promotional Techniques In Library Outreach, Liana Bayne, Caroline Hamby

Showcase of Graduate Student Scholarship and Creative Activities

James Madison University MALA (Madison Academic Library Associates) graduate assistants worked together with Special Collections and the library’s Outreach department to help market and support JMU’s First Annual Pulp Studies Symposium in Fall 2016. Social, digital, and physical ultimately came together to highlight and surface Special Collections’ extensive holdings of pulp magazines. Hashtags, archival ephemera, and everything in between melded in this multi-part exhibit. Since one of the least known and studied genre of pulps are the romance pulps, Love Story Magazine was the focus of our social media outreach project. Its florid narratives led organically to the idea of …

An Alternative Visual Narrative: Latoya Ruby Frazier's The Notion Of Family, Madison Schultz

James Madison Undergraduate Research Journal (JMURJ)

LaToya Ruby Frazier’s body of photographic work titled The Notion of Family (2003-2014) explores the toll the steel industry in Braddock, Pennsylvania, took on the black community there. The history of black Braddock is riddled with social, political, racial, economic and environmental hardship spurred on by the steel industry. Frazier intimately chronicles the lives of three generations of women—herself, her mother, and her grandmother—and their place in that history. The alternative visual narrative that Frazier creates commands viewers’ attention in telling a story that has been largely ignored by the American public. This essay contrasts Frazier’s work with that of …

Prohibition In Rockingham County: Exploring A Digital Archive, Craig Schaefer

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Prohibition in Rockingham County: Exploring a Digital Archive, is a digital prehistory thesis project that preserved and made select Prohibition-era records publicly available from the Rockingham County Courthouse. The records are now part of Exploring Rockingham’s Past (ERP), an ongoing collaboration between James Madison University’s (JMU) History Department, JMU Libraries, and the Rockingham County Circuit Court. These digital documents have been released into the public domain as keyword searchable and fully described PDFs at https://omeka.lib.jmu.edu/erp/. A digital exhibit is used to showcase the records: https://sites.lib.jmu.edu/prohibition/. The website introduces the reader to Prohibition but mainly strives to put the records …

Mi Semestre Con La Experiencia Inmigrante: Todos Podríamos Aprender Un Poco, Rachel C. Ziemba

VA Engage Journal

Mucho del conocimiento común sobre la inmigración en los Estados Unidos se basa en los estereotipos de las comunidades inmigrantes. La falta de entendimiento obstaculiza las vidas de los inmigrantes. Por lo tanto, la educación del público es la única manera de mejorar esta situación y cambiar la actitud social con respeto a los inmigrantes hispanos y latinx. El aprendizaje y uso generalizado del español también ayudará a traer consigo una sociedad norteamericana más receptiva de los inmigrantes. El bilingüismo inglés español es una solución útil y fácil para aumentar la inclusión de los inmigrantes de origen hispano en los …

The Role Of Refugee Women Narratives In The U.S. Resettlement Process, Alys Sink

VA Engage Journal

Within resettlement scholarship, there exists a distinct absence of direct narratives by refugee women about their resettlement experiences within the United States. This study delves into this absence of voice, investigating the ways in which refugee women’s narratives are received and utilized within a refugee resettlement agency. This ethnographic study includes independent interviews with refugee women and resettlement staff. Utilizing Ernest Stringer’s method of action research and Cheryl Glenn’s Rhetoric of Silence, I argue that refugee women’s narratives are not wholly absent or silent, but rather that they are rarely acknowledged, often devalued, or inadvertently made a non-priority within larger …

Slashing Signs: Mary Richardson's Attack On "The Rokeby Venus" As Semioclasm, Robyn Epstein

MAD-RUSH Undergraduate Research Conference

When art is the victim of violence the object itself isn’t the only thing under attack. I see acts of violence against art as a two-step process: an attack on the physical art object and an attack on the icon, symbol, or sign it represents. This paper examines the 1914 slashing of the Diego Velàzquez painting The Rokeby Venus (1647-51) by British suffragette Mary Richardson. Using this attack as a case study, I argue that the event is semioclastic, as opposed to iconoclastic or vandalistic, meaning that it is an attack on the painting as a sign and is therefore …

“The Living Nightmare: Deathlok And African American Slavery In Contemporary Society”, Christian Organ

MAD-RUSH Undergraduate Research Conference

Deathlok #1-4 (July-Oct. 1990), produced by an African-American team lead by writer Dwayne McDuffie, features the first iteration of a black man, Michael Collins, being Deathlok, a character who had previously seen multiple rewrites through the lens of different white men. Along with the skin of the character changing, the tone of the comic changes to highlight the subservient, slave like, nature of Collins’ relationship to corporate America. While other research has correctly observed the prominent parallels to slavery in Collins relationship to corporate America after his transformation into the killing machine Deathlok, this paper asserts that Collins’ slavery and …

Move: Philadelphia's Forgotten Bombing, Charles Abraham

MAD-RUSH Undergraduate Research Conference

On May 13^th, 1985, the city of Philadelphia erupted into flames. Under the orders of Mayor Wilson Goode, the Philadelphia Police Department dropped a bomb onto the rowhouse containing MOVE, a cult-like organization, on Osage Avenue in West Philadelphia causing a fire which killed eleven people, including five children, and burning down sixty-one other houses. But instead of the bombing ending his political career, Mayor Goode was reelected, and the bombing slipped into obscurity outside of Philadelphia. This major event in the history of Philadelphia was forgotten because of the lack of connection between the city and the …

Love, Sex, And Marriage In Ibn Battuta's Travels, Rachel Singer

MAD-RUSH Undergraduate Research Conference

Abu ‘Abdallah ibn Battuta was a Muslim legal scholar who traveled nearly 73,000 miles in the mid-fourteenth century and wrote a popular rihla, or travel diary, of his experiences. The rihla was a public and impersonal genre that traditionally contained little, if any, biographical material about its author. However, Ibn Battuta’s rihla includes detailed narratives about its author’s marriages, concubines, and sexual exploits. Although discussion of these themes is virtually unseen in other contemporary rihlas, few historians have discussed why Ibn Battuta breaks tradition to include this material.

This paper argues that Ibn Battuta describes his marital and …

From Complaisance To Collaboration: Analyzing Citizens’ Motives Near Concentration And Extermination Camps During The Holocaust, Jordan Green

MAD-RUSH Undergraduate Research Conference

The role of local peoples near concentration camps, extermination camps, and mass shooting sites in Europe during World War II is a widely unexplored area of the Holocaust. Although locals both knew of these sites and their purposes, many chose to be complaisant while others collaborated with the Nazi regime. Therefore, non-persecuted Germans and occupied peoples near the camps played a substantial role in the atrocities committed during the Holocaust. These civilians’ actions, or lack thereof, in response to the crimes against humanity before their eyes were driven by three main factors: economic gain, antisemitism, and fear. Regardless of motive, …

How Dumbledore Saved Europe: A Comparison Of Fascist Rhetoric In European History And In The Harry Potter Franchises, Emma Pederson, Natalie Rice

MAD-RUSH Undergraduate Research Conference

In recent years, the popularity of the Harry Potter franchise has seen a resurgence with the release of the first two Fantastic Beasts films and accompanying screenplays. As parallels have been drawn between Voldemort’s Death Eaters and Nazis, it is time to examine the relationship between Gellert Grindelwald and real-life fascists. Through such a comparison, we can see common rhetoric in both real and fictional fascism.

Gellert Grindelwald and Albus Dumbledore have not only a Nazi-like goal of racial purity, but employ Nazi-like language to defend themselves. Related fascist rhetoric is woven throughout other European history, particularly in the dialogues …

Dissent And Disruption: How Artists Redefine Museum Spaces And Audience Engagement, Paige E. Sellars

MAD-RUSH Undergraduate Research Conference

This paper delves into the concept of artistic creation from engagement with museum collections and the intimate connection between museum curation the post-modern and contemporary artist. I discuss the work of Nedko Solakov at the Frans Hals Museum, Jenny Holzer and Donald Judd at the Museum of Applied Art in Vienna, and Fred Wilson at the Baltimore Historical Society. These artists intentionally reengaged with art and museum objects via deliberate installations and clever interventions to broaden the narrative and in some instances, contest the hierarchical dissemination of knowledge provided by the curator and the museum. Museums of the past espoused …

Blood, Meth, And Tears: The Super Soldiers Of World War Ii, Nicholas Racine

MAD-RUSH Undergraduate Research Conference

Day and night, soldiers in World War II were physically and mentally strained by fatigue and psychiatric distress. Consequently, many soldiers were left exhausted and demoralized. War efforts hinged on soldiers succeeding in missions, thus a fast-acting solution was needed. Development of the psychostimulant drugs Benzedrine and Pervitin in the 1920s and 30s spurred enthusiasm among scientists, the media, the public, and various governments. Potent and powerful, these drugs exert effects that promote wakefulness, elevated mood, and improved field performance. Governments quickly began researching use of stimulants to improve their war efforts. By the early 40s, both drugs had millions …

A Critical Analysis Of The Metaphysics Of Limit And Unlimited In Plato's Philebus, Ashley Lascano

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

This paper examines several key passages within Plato’s Philebus and analyses the underlying metaphysics that exists at the heart of the dialogue. Plato implements the metaphysics in the dialogue by utilizing the terminology of “the limit” and “the unlimited”. This paper examines the Pythagorean origins of the limit and unlimited and depicts how Plato has adapted the terms from their original intent. The Philebus is examined to show the metaphysical importance of the limit and unlimited. The dialogue displays an example of the metaphysics of the limit and the unlimited through the debate between pleasure and intelligence, which is a …

The History Of Lizzie Borden: Burying The Axe, Christian Ford

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

In 1892, a wealthy Massachusetts couple, Andrew and Abby Borden, were hacked to death during broad daylight in the comfort of their own home. A few weeks later Lizzie Borden, Andrew’s daughter from his first marriage, was arrested for double homicide. Newspapers across the country took hold of the story from the very first day; a wealthy, white, woman being accused of murder was no ordinary affair. For the next year, the nation was gripped to the news as the case revealed an everlasting list of strange characters and showed the dark underbelly of the small industrial city of Fall …

Moments As They Pass, Jesus Armenta

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

This is a creative project titled “Moments as They Pass.” It’s an anthology of poetry with over 106 original pieces, spanning over 135 pages. These pieces all center on the thematic elements of existential philosophy and its intersection with beauty, time, and concept of self. Each poem will explore a particular facet of existentialism. The anthology will be broken up into chapters that reflect each concept accordingly. There is a dialogue that occurs within each piece that will encourage readers to reflect on their own lives and how they navigate their own search for meaning. Ultimately, this creative …

The United States' Shifting Relationship With Taiwan Due To Cold War Influences, Hunter Pratt

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

The struggle between the Kuomintang (KMT) and Communist Party of China (CPS) shaped the direction of future American-Chinese relations by seismically uprooting the dynamics between the two states amidst the backdrop of the Cold War. President Harry Truman and later President Dwight Eisenhower were responsible for shepherding the United States through this new period of crisis as the ideological debates of the 21^st century were beginning to simplify into the East vs the West, communism vs. capitalism, and democracy vs. authoritarianism. China serves as one of the proto-battlefields of this ideological battle. Truman’s personal qualities, temperament, and beliefs influenced …

Donald Trump Did A “Very Good” Job: A Rhetorical Analysis Of Candidate Trump’S Campaign Speeches, Caroline Mohan

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Since mid-2015, Donald Trump has shaken the political arena with an unprecedented yet effective public rhetorical repertoire. Regardless of alleged scandals, frequent social media usage, and extemporaneous and fiery rally speeches, the president’s approval ratings remain steady and he continues to move forward in his international and local political endeavors. Though these factors often posed large obstacles for past presidents, Trump has overcome them by use of audience identification, transparency, honorific pandering, and shrewd control of a vulnerable political sphere. In this study, rhetorician Kenneth Burke’s fantasy-theme and cluster criticisms are used to analyze Trump’s overall rhetorical themes, in social …

Margulis Revisited: Once More On Program Notes And Audience Enjoyment, Jocelyn Abrahamzon

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

In a 2010 study, Elizabeth Margulis finds that audience members enjoy classical music less when they read information about the piece before they hear it. Her result is surprising because conventional wisdom suggests that such pre-concert information would add to an audience members’ enjoyment of a concert. To gain further perspective, I decided to conduct a similar study on JMU’s campus that differed from Margulis’ in many ways. For example, participants attended a live concert rather than listening to excerpts of music through headphones. I created a survey that asked participants questions about their experience at a concert they attended …

How To Live: Lessons From Old English And Old Norse/Icelandic Wisdom Literature, Rhys Frazier

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Medieval wisdom literature is a genre that is difficult to define and it has not been extensively studied. Scholarship is typically concerned with translation and manuscript emendation concerns and with identification of sources in addition to an analysis of religious influences. There has not yet been any scholarship concerned with the ways in which religious themes and concerns about life after death are meant to influence the behaviors and attitudes of the living reader. The present study seeks to analyze the ways in which the Old English poems “Maxims I,” “The Gifts of Men,” and “The Fortunes of Men,” as …

Learning In The Light Of Freedom: The Mississippi Freedom Schools Of 1964, Emma E. Appleton

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

This paper investigates the “freedom schools” of the Mississippi Freedom Summer Project of 1964. It argues through a combination of a powerfully designed curriculum, the implementation of student-centered pedagogy, and a focus on relationship building and personal efficacy, freedom school students were given the skills and confidence needed to become young leaders in their communities and bring change to Mississippi. Through this paper, I hope to encourage current educators apply freedom school principles and practices in their own classrooms to inspire our students in the same way.

"Playhouse Creatures:" A Study Of Restoration Actresses, Emily Laplante

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Creatures. Women. Actresses. We are here because of women like Mary Betterton, Doll Common, Nell Gwyn, Elizabeth Farley, and Rebecca Marshall. Theatre is about telling stories. Their story is a timeless one: of suffering, resilience, dedication, love, and comradery. Actresses were first permitted by royal decree to act upon the stage in 1669 by King Charles II of England. This decree created a spark within the playhouses to see actresses in the flesh perform. With this came a ripple effect of a host of expectations and suppression. This Honors Capstone is a comprehensive look into the themes of April De …

Enmesh: The Art Of Trauma And Recovery, Joanna Pottle

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Liminal Space is an artistic installation within the ongoing, interdisciplinary creative/research project "Enmesh: The Art of Trauma and Recovery.” Utilizing a combination of research methods, creative processes, and cultural inspirations, this project asks the following questions: how can the artistic process (this project serving as a preliminary case study) parallel various modes of recovery and healing? How can this objective be visually communicated through a mixed media approach of drawing, painting, and printmaking and how can this approach be an effective tool of communication? What can we conclude from both modes of work (solitarily or collectively)? How do they accomplish …

Universal Design And Accessibility In Taipei City: Definitions, Design, And The Disability Rights Movement, Hannah Goulette

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Abstract

In Taiwan, the disability rights advocacy movement has existed since the 1980s. The lift of Martial law in 1987 allowed multiple social movements to flourish. Specifically, the disability rights movement adopted language developed by other global social movements, such as Universal Design. This social movement worked closely with the government to make effectual infrastructural change to institute accessibility in Taipei, the capital city. However, a close review of government objectives and initiatives in published works, and the goals and initiatives of disability advocate groups, reveals that there has been a shift in the definition of accessibility in the advocacy …