Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Innocent No More: How Child Vampires Challenge The Social Narrative Of Childhood, Ashley Quinn

Masters Theses

The inclusion of children within Gothic and horror fiction has always been regarded as untoward because children are vulnerable to misrepresentation. However, excluding children from transgressive genres eliminates a space where childhood can be critically analyzed. Fortunately, authors such as Stephen King, Anne Rice, and John Ajvide Lindqvist break the taboo through the inclusion of children in vampiric narratives. These narratives encourage readers to question the social narrative of childhood within the context of vampire stories. Through an examination of ‘Salem’s Lot (King, 1975), “Popsy” (King, 1987), Interview with the Vampire (Rice, 1976), and Let the Right One In (Lindqvist, …

Anacalypsis, Kristopher David Bendrick

Masters Theses

The title of this piece, Anacalypsis, takes its name from the text Anacalypsis: An Attempt to Draw Aside the Veil of the Saitic Isis or an Inquiry into the Origin of Languages, Nations and Religions, written by Godfrey Higgins in 1836. The word anacalypsis is an antonym to the word apocalypse and comes from the Greek word ανακάλυψης which translates to find or discovery. In his two-volume treatise, Higgins attempts to unveil "a most ancient and universal religion from which all later creeds and doctrines sprang.”

Reading through Higgins’ text brought me to the intriguing idea of a time before …

Binary, Jared Tubbs

Masters Theses

bInary is an interactive sound installation featuring seven stations that represent common aspects of modern life in the digital age. Most stations center around modern technology, and its central role in many aspects of society. Users engage with each station to do various tasks, including inputting personal data, manipulating touch screens, typing out social media posts, taking selfies, and recording greetings. The combined stations, done consecutively, take on a ritualistic nature, taking habitual aspects of everyday life and exposing them to stand alone. bInary takes data from interactions with the stations to create a sonic representation of those who interact …

“Is [He] A Man? If So, Is He Mad? And If Not, Is He A Devil?”: The Influence Of Culture Versus Experience On The Brontë Sisters’ Perception Of Mental Illness, Catrina May Mehltretter

Masters Theses

Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë each presented a different perspective on mental illness within their novels. The primary reason for this difference in perspective can be found in their different responses to their brother Branwell’s poor mental state. As Branwell’s health deteriorated mentally and physically, his sisters ended up becoming his primary caregivers, giving them a unique insight into mental illness that would have been unusual for the time period, given the tendency to send any mentally ill family members away to asylums. Still, this shared experience impacted each of the sisters differently, likely due to the different relationship each …

Learning To Play A Musical Instrument Affects Student Behavioral Health, Christopher Lafser

Masters Theses

This thesis proposal, entitled “Learning to Play a Musical Instrument Affects Student Behavioral Health”, consists of a research paper detailing how learning to play a musical instrument has made a significant impact on the behavioral health of students, and the need for this study in today’s society. This study will provide readers with solid research and evidence for the results obtained from this musical education study in the hopes it can show that music therapy needs strengthening in these areas. Through research, clinical studies, assessments, test results, and surveys, this project will show if there are physiological benefits and psychological …

Meritpatch - Family Collaborative Activities, Jason Allan Crouch

Masters Theses

There is no doubt that the modern family is very busy and disrupted by outside influences. Social trends and expectations have caused many families to become disconnected. There is research that points to overuse of technology as one culprit. Other research suggests that lack of spiritualism has negatively affected families. Regardless of the cause, it can be argued that the more disconnect within a family, the more likely it is for family members to experience negative social, emotional and/or health related issues as well as broken relationships. This study seeks to define family interactions and activities that support a healthy …

The Hybrid Ensemble Model, Melanie Emily Riley-Gonzalez

Masters Theses

Music education plays a significant role within the public school and needs to be available to all students. Students should have opportunities to learn with voice or instrument and learn the art of performing for an audience. Students that are unable to attend music classes in a traditional class setting or have selected different pathways for their education other than a traditional classroom setting, may be excluded from opportunities to work with others in a collective music environment. Limited options are available for students to remain in their school ensembles when schedule conflicts arise for example, with advanced classes or …

"Seeing" Music Theory: Graduate Music Theory For The Visually Impaired Music Student, Moriah Leigh Wilson

Masters Theses

Visually impaired individuals often encounter obstacles when seeking to become financially independent and obtain marketable skills. An increase in technology has allowed visually impaired persons, who desire to further their musical skills, the capability to seek further education. However, there is a lack of curriculum, especially in higher education, for teaching music theory skills to visually impaired individuals. Because a foundational knowledge of music is developed through music theory, it is essential that music educators at higher education institutions are prepared and equipped to properly and adequately teach and prepare visually impaired individuals for the music industry. By building on …

Folk Music In New England: A Living Tradition, Monica Diane Littlefield

Masters Theses

This master’s thesis investigates traditional folk music in New England in an effort to recognize its current practices and understand how this music creates and reflects identity for participants. Often described as a living tradition, folk music culture is deeply embedded in a historical context but is constantly shaped by musicians that play it today. During fieldwork in Vermont and Maine I examine this relationship between the music and musicians, recognizing that folk music provides a holistic experience that is deeply meaningful to participants. With an emphasis on fiddle and via an outsider lens, I discover what a beginner can …

In Search Of A More Republican Naval Defense: Thomas Jefferson, Congress, And The Gunboat Debate, 1802-1810, Ethan David Zook

Masters Theses

In 1801, Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States, sought to reduce the national debt, eliminate taxes, and reduce spending regarding the U.S. Army and U.S. Navy. To this end, Jefferson enlisted the assistance of congressional Republicans to authorize and fund the construction of lightly armed, coastal-defense gunboats. By examining Jefferson’s writings and congressional speeches, “In Search of a More Republican Naval Defense: Thomas Jefferson, Congress, and the Gunboat Debate, 1802-1810” explains both Jefferson’s interest in the small warships, and why from 1801 to 1809 Congress appropriated $1,205,500 to build approximately 180 gunboats. This thesis argues that Jefferson …

"Members One Of Another": Heteroglossic Utterances As Critiques Of Injustice In Charles Dickens’S Bleak House, Cale Baker

Masters Theses

Charles Dickens often dealt with societal injustice within his work, and he often used the different languages—the language of the poor, the rich, the religious, the political—of various social strata to expose the disparity between the high and the low social classes. Within Bleak House, Dickens inserts different voices common to Victorian London through his third-person narrator to highlight the upper class oppression of the poor. To see Dickens’s insertion of these different voices, I use Mikhail Bakhtin’s work on heteroglossia and dialogism as a framework for understanding how Dickens inserts these different voices to specifically expose injustice. Additionally, I …

Translingualism: Breaking The Language Policies And Politics In Composition Pedagogy And Protecting Cultural Identities Of International Students, Md Fahad Hossain

Masters Theses

This thesis explores the debates and conversations relating to a translingual pedagogical approach that helps preserve the cultural and ethnic identities of international students who take college composition courses in universities across the United States of America. Since domination of English in teaching, learning, and research in the United States of America is prevalent, this thesis explores much talked pedagogical approach – a translingual approach – in college composition that intends to protect the cultural and ethnic identities of international students studying in universities across the country. The translingual orientation in composition pedagogy is constantly adding new conversations to teaching …

Boutique Branding: Televisually Signifying The Feminine Business-Owner, Payton Blakney

Masters Theses

While women-owned businesses continue to grow, increasing 58 percent from 2007 to 2018 (Guidant Financial, 2019),producing on-brand communication content remains a challenge. Adding to the challenge, this branded communication must combat the societal narrative that women are less capable of running a business than men and utilize the complex mode of televisual storytelling. The purpose of this creative thesis was to incorporate the work of woman television producers and writers from the comedy-drama genre with semiotics theory to create five webisodes of branded entertainment that married the contradictory sign systems of woman and business owner. By analyzing and implementing the …

Music Identity And Listening Preferences Of Students In High School Performing Ensembles, Caitlin Harris

Masters Theses

The purpose of this qualitative action research study was to examine and identify the listening preferences and musical identity of high school members of performing ensembles. Participants were involved in five stages of data collection; the initial questionnaire, the first listening journal, a feedback questionnaire, the second listening journal, and individual interviews. Data was collected during the 2017-2018 school year, and participants completed all phases during their personal time. Three research questions framed this study:

1) How do the listening preferences of students help shape their musical identities?

2) Do students’ listening preferences outside of school conflict with their in …

“That New Africa Is Ready To Fight Its Own Battles": Kwame Nkrumah, The United States, And The Quest For A Modern Ghana, 1957-1966, Godwin Gyimah

Masters Theses

This project examines the United States-Ghana relationship and how the relationship transformed Ghana, 1957-1966. African leaders such as Dr. Kwame Nkrumah had declared: "That new Africa is ready to fight its own battles and show that after all, the black man is capable of managing his affairs." Despite the non-alignment philosophy, Ghana was not neutral regarding the West and East blocs rivalry. The thesis argues that it was through the United States' government and private firms' contributions that Ghana was able to achieve the mark of a modern nation through industrialization, universal education, and the expansion of international trade economy. …

Effects Of Exposure To World Folk Music On Preference For Unfamiliar Music In Elementary General Music, Jessica Doty

Masters Theses

The purpose of this action research study was to discover whether students' experience with folk music from other countries influenced their preference for other unfamiliar music genres. Third grade students were assigned to one of two groups. Students in Group A participated in four weeks of lessons centering on folk music from Ghana, Japan, Israel, and Mexico. Students in Group B participated in four weeks of lessons centering solely on American folk music. Students in both groups answered questions on a listening survey which gauged their preference for unfamiliar pieces of music. The listening survey was given to students before …

How Thick Is The Stained-Glass Ceiling?: An Exploration Of Heteronormativity In Religious Circles, Hannah Rae Smothers

Masters Theses

The 2012 National Congregations Study found that only 11.4% of the total clergy in the United States were women (ARDA 2012). As the congregation size grows, that number declines further, with data indicating only 3.4% of congregations with 1,000 or more members have a female leader. The number of women religious leaders increased by less than one percent between 1998 and 2012. These statistics work well to outline a phenomenon for female religious leaders, their inability to break the stained-glass ceiling. Many religious groups in the United States allow women to become ordained leaders. However, some of the largest religious …

First-Generation Black Males’ Challenges In Attending A Pwi: Understanding What Makes Them Persist, Shakeitra Simmons

Masters Theses

Using qualitative methodology, the researcher studied the challenges and persistence factors for undergraduate First-generation Black males to persist at a Predominantly White Institution. Through conducting six one-on-one semi-structured interviews, the researcher identified the challenges faced by this group of students as mental health, lack of support, and racism/microaggressions. The researcher also identified the factors for persistence at the PWI to be upward mobility, family and school personnel support, and campus involvement.

Persistence Of African American Students At Predominately White Institutions, Candace Thompson

Masters Theses

Using qualitative methodology, the persistence of African American students at predominately White institutions was analyzed. This was conducted through semi-structured interviews by six participants which evaluated African American students’ overall persistence. Participants expressed what determined their selections of institutions as well as what institutional and personal factors negatively and positively affected their matriculation throughout the institution. In addition, the study provided recommendations to student affairs professionals to better serve this population.

Shaking The Ceiling: First Leadership Role Attainment For Collegiate Women, Elizabeth J. Siecinski

Masters Theses

Using qualitative research methodology, factors and barriers influence leadership role attainment for collegiate women were explored and examined. The study used semi-structured interviews with four participants to look at factors influencing leadership attainment and why women decide to lead. The researcher identified factor before and after college that impacted a women’s decisions to lead, and her ability to attain a role. Challenges and barriers that women face in their leadership role attainment were also found. Overall, the research found that due to barriers and challenges women struggle to lead authentically, and that they see leadership as way to contribute to …

The Cast Of A Giant's Shadow, Angela Kay Steineman

Masters Theses

Adapting fairy tales and folklore has been an ongoing endeavor by storytellers and artists since the very first story was repeated. The evidence can be seen in the many versions of fairy tales like those of the sleeping beauty, from Giambattista Basile’s “Sun, Moon, and Talia” to Walt Disney’s Maleficent. However, unlike their European counterparts, adaptations of American tales outside of children’s literature are not as ubiquitous. My writing rectifies this by adding to the resurging interest as seen in recent retellings like Matt Bell’s Appleseed: The Monstrous Birth (2019).

In an effort to reframe the American tall tale …

Developing Text-Based Writing And Working Through The Revision Process, Valerie Clark

Masters Theses

A narrative continuation is designed to assess a student’s ability to comprehend a text selection and use their own creativity to redesign the text’s conclusion. This study took a narrative continuation writing assessment and analyzed the process which 41 sixth grade students followed, specifically looking at the prewriting and revision procedures. The goal was to determine if the supports and resources provided were effective for the type of writing and student population. Throughout the process, students’ behaviors which indicated motivation levels were noted (participation in discussions, level of focus, attentiveness, and amount of redirection required). Student work was then reviewed …

Effect Of Religious Support And Perception Of Available Social Support On Seeking Formal Psychotherapy, Adaeze W. Akubueze

Masters Theses

This study sought to investigate the relationship between perceived availability of social support and religious support on willingness to seek professional mental health counseling. Sixty-five (41 females and 18 males, 6 gender unspecified) students at Eastern Illinois University completed measures of religiosity (the Duke University Religion Index; DUREL), perceived availability of social support (the Late Adolescent Social Support Inventory; LASSI), religious support (from God, from religious leaders, from fellow religious participants; the Multi-Faith Religious Support Scale; MFRSS) and willingness to seek counseling (Willingness to See a Counselor scale; WSC). Religiosity did not play a significant role in influencing the willingness …

Representations Of Africa In Us Media: A Semiotic Analysis Of Ebola: The Doctor’S Story And Body Team 12, Olubusola Akinpelu

Masters Theses

The Western media has often been criticized for biased coverage of happenings in and around Africa. The 2014 Ebola outbreak created a lot of media attention for West Africa, and by extension, the entire continent. This study examined to what extent postcolonial discourses were infused in two films from the HBO Trilogy: Ebola: The Doctor’s Story (2015) and Body Team 12 (2015). To analyze these texts, I took a semiotic approach by identifying, describing and interpreting the signs in both films, to discuss the postcolonial discourses in three broad themes. Ebola: The Doctor’s Story (2015) was analyzed in the …

"There Is Nothing Else Like It": The Innovative Personality Of Lowney Turner Handy, Nathan Crews

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

A Combined Language: The Application Of Poly-Stylistic Techniques To Concerto Sonata For Alto Saxophone And Piano, James Calderon

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Principles For Starting A Song-Writing Ministry, Carson Ka Siu Li

Masters Theses

With the approval of Dr. Keith Currie and Dr. David Schmal, I have chosen to complete the Music & Worship Ministry Project as the Final Thesis for the Masters of Art in Music and Worship. The objective of the project is to produce an Extended Play Record (EP) that contains five original worship songs written specifically for this EP. The components of this project include: songwriting, arranging, performing, recording, and producing. This project will achieve two purposes: first, the songs in this EP are meant to be sung in my local church – Koinonia Evangelical Church (KEC); second, this project …

The Resurrection Of Christ: A Bayesian Analysis Of Explanatory Hypotheses, Nicola Jérôme Liebi

Masters Theses

The goal of this thesis is to determine under which circumstances a supernatural hypothesis should be preferred over the most probable natural hypothesis to explain a set of historical facts. The supernatural hypotheses include the objective vision hypothesis and the resurrection hypothesis, while the subjective vision hypothesis is taken to be the most probable natural hypothesis. Each of them can be found in the recent literature on the Resurrection and is still advocated by major proponents. The facts by which these three hypotheses are judged are agreed upon by most scholars. They include (1) Jesus’ death by crucifixion, (2) the …

Rhetorical Analysis Of Statements Of Purpose (Sps) For Admission To Graduate School: A Shared-Understanding Perspective Of The Sp Genre, Priyanka Ganguly

Masters Theses

"In this study, I analyzed twenty-four statements of purpose (SPs) submitted to the Department of English and Technical Communication at Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) by current and former students. My goal was to determine the applicants' shared understanding of the SP genre. I analyzed the SPs from three dimensions: rhetorical moves, rhetorical appeals (pisteis), and rhetorical style (elocutio).

To understand the rhetorical moves used by the applicants, I analyzed the content of their SPs according to the categories (moves) and codes (steps) validated in my pilot study. To understand the arguments used by the …