Art and Design Commons^™

Katti-Batti : A Digital Tool For Young Adolescents To Transgress The Limitations Of Gender Socialization Through Empathy & Friendship, Chetan Dusane

Masters Theses

The genesis of this project lies in the personal experiences that led me to believe that the culturally learned and perceived gender roles, norms, and expectations limit a person’s health, educational, professional, economic, and social abilities.

The work began by finding the evidence connecting the learned, perceived gender roles, norms, and allied cultural expectations to the ability to think freely. The research revealed the limiting effects of gender roles and norms on self-identity, personal belief systems, and a place’s culture. The study further led to uncovering the link between limiting personal belief systems and cultural environment to the lack of …

Beyond Conscious: The Knowing Of Self-Owned Anxiety, Wenyu Du

Masters Theses

To achieve recognition of when we might under anxiety attack, the first step is to introduce the practice of expressing ourselves with wearable devices- Nudo for users to say “no”, “I am not in a good condition” with no words, gently reveal your emotional status and give you the sense of support. Nudo works like the defense mechanism of humans and gathers our body signals that are triggered from anxiety as a recording piece that allows users to track what’s happening during every specific moment. It also works as a reminder for those who might not recognize their own anxiety. …

Psychological Well-Being Through Music Listening, Majed Boughanem

Masters Theses

Design has gotten good at delighting and stimulating us in the short term. Could we design products that are good for us in the long run?

In this project, I looked at positive psychology for concepts to develop into features of products and use music listening as a vehicle for integrating them. I propose three music-listening features that help exercise and cultivate emotional regulation strategies:

1_The Reaction Tile

2_The Monofilter

3_The Vibelist

Each feature represents one or multiple strategies from the Process Model of Emotional Regulation.

Rebuilt The Fading Vicinity, Yifan Du

Masters Theses

Something is missing on the scale between me and the whole world. That’s also the dilemma of the Millennials. The giant gap between the ego and the world builds an invisible wall. This invisible barrier makes us nonchalant toward the trivial things happening just right in front of us. Ironically, the nonchalance makes our society more emotional and drastic. We get outraged more easily compare to the past.

How should I invite people to appreciate and care more about our surroundings? How do I rebuild the fading vicinity? Those questions are the starting point of my thesis journey.

Inside The Bubble 2.0, Sunny Yuqing Ma

Masters Theses

As a designer, I use speculation to observe. I use design to express. I want to hit people's souls directly. I want to create unexpected sparks through relaxed storytelling.

Kitsch Study And Chinese Kitsch Market, Jiaqi Ellie Liu

Masters Theses

From the old industrial age to the new information age, the accumulation of capital has led to the monopoly of the assets and technology of large enterprises, and the pressure of the middle class is increasing day by day.

At the same time, informatization has led to a substantial increase in the next round of energy and material needs, and therefore human needs for thinking, physical and emotional needs have also increased. Kitsch can meet the thinking and emotional needs of the public. Therefore, it has become the mainstream contemporary aesthetics.

Kitsch art & design are easier to be loved …

Beacon Public Library: Expanding Radical Civic Care For An Uncertain Future, Katrina Machado

Masters Theses

Stressors like climate change will put strain on our communities, making them more vulnerable. I am asserting and expanding the role of the public library as a civic space for radical care and community resilience. This work explores the ways in which the public library, as an existing institution, could adapt to the needs of its changing environment and community. Interventions are visualized by a librarian’s jumpsuit and library apron, an adapted library book cart, public signage, and a re-imagined library card.

I imagine a public library that pushes the bounds of its physical building and actively and compassionately serves …

Designing For Space; Exploring Ways Of Simulating Nature And Everyday Activities In Zero-G Environment, Sayit Alisan

Masters Theses

As a great outcome of our advanced technology, we built a spacecraft called the International Space Station (ISS) that orbits the Earth within the thermosphere and where we situated a bunch of astronauts to do scientific research for a designated period of time. For the last 20 years, ISS has been running by different astronauts who had to live in a new environment which is completely different than where they used to live before. Since they live up there for at least 6 months, one way or another they start missing any earth-like experience such as being in nature, wind, …

Shoes For Advanced Urban Surfaces, Karan Buasakdi

Masters Theses

The journey to designing shoes that use irony and mischief of everyday life in Bangkok to criticize the social-political climate and challenge the norm. In the act of desacralization while trying not to get arrested with the problematic criminal code article 112, the Lèse-majesté law of Thailand.

The design is based on the designer's life growing up in Bangkok. The tax use priority in Thailand doesn’t reflect the life of its people. One of the most prominent features of Bangkok is its abandoned sidewalks. The abandonment of infrastructure is part of our lives as well as the feeling that we …

The Portal : A Tool For Uncertain Times, Sophie Engel

Masters Theses

My thesis is about imagining a Positive Apocalypse. Not a utopic version of the end times, but one that sees hope in the end of our current systems and ways of thinking; a future where at the end of the world, instead of reaching for your gun, you reach out to your neighbors. Most renderings of the apocalypse we see in popular culture stem from patriarchal fears of loss of control, chaos. Most narratives depicting the end of the world devolve into inevitable violence and extreme isolationism.

In the industrial design world, narratives are used as a way to sell …

Wild Things: Outdoor Toys For Nature Play, John Mawhorter

Masters Theses

Kids are increasingly plagued by what Richard Louv calls Nature Deficit Disorder; the litany of physical and mental health problems that result from lack of free play in nature. Wild Things is a modular toy system designed to inspire children to engage in nature play. Its reconfigurability allows it to vary its form to match the variety of natural forms.

Made of recycled sail material and shaped like a balloon seed pod, the central spheroid acts as a hub for a plethora of smaller forms that can be attached to it or each other via simple velcro straps. The abstract …

After Plastic Waste : Plastic Bottle Knitting Machine - Design For Value Of Recycling Plastic, Du Cheng

Masters Theses

Plastic is the cheapest and most versatile material invented by humans. But with it comes endless pollution. In the face of plastic waste, I need to establish a direct and effective plastic reuse method.

In order to limit plastic waste to a controllable range, I try to reduce the cost of recycled plastics and increase the value of recycled plastics. After research and experimentation, I created a method of turning plastic bottles into plastic cloth through cutting and knitting. This method and material provide a new direction for the reuse of plastics. For the creation of new reuse methods, it …

The Art Of Microbe Maintenance: Value And Applications In Design, Yujin Hwang

Masters Theses

My thesis centers around designing microbial systems and objects for a sustainable future. I propose ideas to bring microbes into the home in order to make people understand them as a part of the environment. Through deep consideration of how my microbe based material could change across national and social contexts, I create accessible, attractive and friendly-looking design objects with microbes that address people’s fear of microbial life. I strive to facilitate the intersection and interaction between people and technologies in ways that are ultimately harmonious for the well being of both.

My ultimate goal for my thesis is not …

No Winners: Transgender Athletes In Cycling, Max Pratt

Masters Theses

Up until very recently, and in many ways still today, the world of cycling has been reserved for those with privilege. Professional racing has found itself in hot water, carrying gender discrimination, transphobia, and elitism throughout its avenues. Those in power are under constant pressure from all sides to make decisions that influence our entire industry.

This work explores the struggles of transgender and gender nonconforming cyclists in the context of competitive racing. Through documentary and design, we aim to bring these conversations to the forefront of the sport, and visualize what the future of cycling may look like for …

Living Objects, Katie Tzu Hua Huang

Masters Theses

Sometimes, I find myself sunk into my memories, during daytime when the sun illuminates through the seam of the shutters in my room, or at midnight, when the world is in deep silence.

The sound of flipping books brings me back to the time when my mom sat in the living room quietly, with a cup of hot black tea as always. At the time when she read, I always found a stream of light illuminating the table, covering her face partially. One page, two pages, and three pages; as she kept flipping, the repetitive sound made the quiet afternoon …

Distilling The Narragansett Bay, Parker Ives

Masters Theses

My thesis is an investigation of material vernacular and a celebration of process and material. I am manipulating locally sourced materials to pull out unexpected qualities in order to distill a unique identity associated with a place and the things that give that place its character.

The resulting work focuses on distilling the Narragansett Bay through the lens of three categories. Reminiscence, Impression, Composition. These works fall into the categories of being reminiscent of a place, impressed upon by a place and composed of a place.

This thesis is not a conclusion of this area of inquiry, rather it seeks …

Ars Technica, Bayan Mashrequi

Masters Theses

It’s easy to forget that we are living in an age of wonders, where the ability to perform feats that would have seemed divine miracles to our ancestors, has become mundane and routine to us. Even for people who are practitioners of this Modern Magic, the artificers and the sorcerers, the wonderfulness of the endeavor becomes difficult to appreciate most times.

Ars Technica serves a two-fold purpose here: for the uninitiated and the novice, this book aims to inspire and enable students, engineers and tech aficionados by highlighting the connection between mythology, literature, history and folklore with the wonders of …

Indefinite Origin: Decentralizing Knowledge, Tong-June Moon

Masters Theses

The RISD Digital Commons notes that “graduate education is focused on producing original contributions to a field, based on research and advance practice."

What is collaborative thesis, and what value does it bring to the process?

Indefinite Origin, is a thesis advocating for knowledge to be decentralized and treated as a shared resource. Deviating from a focus on originality, it engages in the creation of knowledge as a collaborative effort. Design flexibility is practiced through intellectual humility, negotiating methodologies and welcoming chance. This thesis explores ideas from Furtherfield’s Do-It-With-Other (DIWO) or Do-It-Together (DIT)4 philosophies that promote synergy around commons5, cultural …

Move In The Internet, Jennifer Ziyuan Huang

Masters Theses

We work in front of computers and consume digital entertainment our leisure time. Our bodies need frequent consumption of varied movements for essential physiological processes, while screens cause prolonged stationary. Our bodies need good alignment to function well for a lifetime, while devices and chairs cause bad alignments. The goal of my thesis is to design objects to encourage body movements and good body alignments throughout the day. I hope to design for a sustainable state of well-being.

For my first project for the thesis, I looked into sitting. I designed a chair that allows people to switch between kneeling …

Determining How Team Communication And Project Outcomes Evolve In A Midwestern Healthcare Company: A Case Study Approach, Gregory J. Ash

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to determine the perspective of the Business Operation team and IT team during project team communication and interaction towards an awareness of the critical business processes and systems needed to ensure project success. For companies to remain competitive, a catalyst for growth through software development projects is required. Impediments to successful software project outcomes include inefficient communication, one-sided team communication, siloed team interaction, lack of business knowledge, lack of information sharing, and insufficient training resources. This study was a Convergent Parallel Mixed Methods Design with survey questions for the quantitative component and open-ended questions …

Fine Roman Dining At Affordable Pompeian Prices: A New Evaluation Of The Non-Domestic Gardens Of Pompeii, Claire Campbell

World Languages, Literatures and Cultures Undergraduate Honors Theses

Previous scholarship has designated Roman gardens into otium or negotium designations; however, this research on Roman gardens suggests that these concepts often exist in the spaces simultaneously. To address this issue, I compiled catalogs of garden spaces identified at Regio I and Regio VI of Pompeii. This methodology cuts across traditional public and private or productive and aesthetic designations, which will allow me to draw connections between the gardens found in different types of settings. This new catalog methodology of Roman gardens presented in this thesis allows for an integrative analysis of garden spaces, which reveals that these commercial gardens …

Organizational Role Conflict: The Lived Experience Of The Long-Term Department Chairperson In Higher Education, Susan M. Frey

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study is a hermeneutic investigation into the phenomenon of organizational role conflict as experienced by five long-term department chairpersons, four long-term department heads, and two former long-term department chairpersons working at universities and colleges located in Indiana, Illinois, and Massachusetts. Organizational role conflict for department chairpersons and department heads is a byproduct of their frontline manager position. By occupying a position between the collegiate and administrative branches of their institution, these managers serve as an important link in the chain of command, but suffer from ambiguous, contradictory, and competing expectations placed on them because of their hybrid status as …

Critical Success Factors For Implementing Blockchain In The Supply Chain For Product Traceability, Gary Lee

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Satashi Nakamoto’s introduction of blockchain in 2008 initially directed the technology for the use of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies (Nakamoto, 2008). In recent years the technology has been identified for other use cases. Businesses are currently developing this technology to reduce or eliminate transactional costs. Along with this anticipated use, businesses are using this technology to include traceability across the supply chain. This research looks at implementing blockchain technology in supply chain traceability. Clohessy (2019) identified critical success factors for implementing blockchain, but what is not existing in the literature are the relative importance of each factor for implementation of …

(Personal Protective Equipment) Ppe Design Prompt, Kohar Scott

All Assignment Prompts

No abstract provided.

Subsistence Marketplaces: Journal, Knowledge-Practice Portal, And Organization, Madhu Viswanathan

Subsistence Marketplaces

Subsistence Marketplaces: Journal, Knowledge-Practice Portal and Organization

These Are My People: An Ethnography Of Quiltcon, Kristin Barrus

Department of Textiles, Merchandising, and Fashion Design: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This thesis presents the first ethnography of QuiltCon, the annual fan and artist convention for quiltmakers who identify with and participate in a social phenomenon called the Modern Quilt Movement (MQM) within the 21st century quilt world. QuiltCon (QC) is one product of this movement. This study considers the following questions: What kinds of people attend QC, and what types of experiences and encounters do they expect at the convention? What needs are met at QC for this subset of quiltmakers who attend and for the greater community of Modern quiltmakers? What role does QC play in cementing the identity …

3d Printing Of Human Microbiome Constituents To Understand Spatial Relationships And Shape Parameters In Bacteriology, Jacques Izard, Teklu Kuru Gerbaba, Shara R. P. Yumul

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

Effective laboratory and classroom demonstration of microbiome size and shape, diversity, and ecological relationships is hampered by a lack of high-resolution, easy-to-use, readily accessible physical or digital models for use in teaching. Three-dimensional (3D) representations are, overall, more effective in communicating visuospatial information, allowing for a better understanding of concepts not directly observable with the unaided eye. Published morphology descriptions and microscopy images were used as the basis for designing 3D digital models, scaled at 20,000×, using computer-aided design software (CAD) and generating printed models of bacteria on mass-market 3D printers. Sixteen models are presented, including rod-shaped, spiral, flask-like, vibroid, …

Callicore, Cole Miller, Galen Ogg, Jasmine Phun, Yajnesh Vedanaparti, Morgan Hutchinson, Md

Phase 1

Transporting children in SPICA casts in a safe, comfortable, and convenient manner so that the parents can feel more at ease.

Gratitude, Elizabeth Reimer

Master's Theses

Gratitude is a concept that has impacted my life in an enormous way. Along with being a key element in this exhibition, it blends in well with me as a person and my personal life. I am extremely blessed to have the heritage that I do from both sides of my family. Gerdy’s Community Market was built on that same family concept. The gratitude celebrated after a harvest with family and community is the foundation that Gerdy’s was built on. I wanted each of the pieces I designed to support that same foundation and highlight the culture surrounding my family’s …

Yolkkh: The Story Of My People, Amna Zelimkha Yandarbin

Theses and Dissertations

The name of my project is: Yolkkh, The Story of My People. With this project I present a series of scarves each one bearing an illustrated scene in order to tell a story – my story and the story of the Noxci people. Noxci are the people who are referred to as “Chechens” by Russians and are generally known by that title. As a Muslim, I have witnessed the way Western media tend to dehumanize my community. In order to contrast this dehumanizing process, I thought that telling the story of my family would help reverse Islamophobic tendencies and raise …