Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

The Healing Power Of The Arts - Drama Therapy And The Use Of Theatre In The Treatment Of Trauma, Brooklyn Snyder

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Theatre is an incredibly valuable therapeutic tool. In this thesis, I explore the ways in which trauma can reshape individuals lives, both cognitively and physically, impeding their sense of self, ability to trust, engagement, and many other seemingly ordinary aspects of day to day life that those of us unaffected by trauma take for granted. Additionally, I cover how employing theatrical tools, like improvisation and role play, can act as a beneficial treatment option for those who have suffered a traumatic past. Drama therapy allows individuals to reconnect with their bodies and their minds, gain new perspectives on their experiences, …

Vocal Hygiene For Musical Theatre Performers, Anne M. Koziara, Dr. Ron Scherer

Honors Projects

There have been numerous “do’s - and - don’t’s” vocal hygiene pamphlets made for voice users, however, a guide for vocal hygiene for musical theatre performers is not typically included in these pamphlets. Musical theatre performers differ from other professional voice users, because in addition to singing, they also have the taxing responsibilities of acting and dancing. As a result, many musical theatre performers have questions and often seem confused about what proper vocal hygiene should be for them. The goal of this honors project was to create an advisory brochure on vocal hygiene specifically for musical theatre performers. This …

Moving Blind Spots: Cultural Bias In The Movement Repertoire Of Dance/Movement Therapists, Ebony Nichols

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This thesis explores the need for cultural diversity in the field of dance/movement therapy and the impact of unconscious bias as it relates to cultural rhythmic patterns, movement styles, and music choices in therapeutic practice. This literature review examines the historical context that has contributed to the field of dance/movement therapy while outlining cultural competency and ethical considerations in practice as it relates to cultural and/or race identity. Common themes are summarized notating the effects of oppression, bias, and trauma on populations of statistically marginalized communities with specific emphases on African American cultural identity. With consideration toward action steps, culturally …

A Literature Review On Substance Related Grief And Expressive Art Therapy Support Groups, Holly N. St. Cyr

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

In the year of 2017, 18.7 million Americans aged 18 years or older were reported to have a substance use disorder and the pervasiveness of substance related deaths escalated (McCance- Katz, 2017). Researchers have examined how grief experienced by substance users and their loved ones is often disenfranchised by social stigmatization, loss of support, and feelings of regret, blame, humiliation, and shame. According to Valentine, Bauld, and Walter, (2016) “bereavement following a drug or alcohol related death has been largely neglected in research and service provision, despite its global prevalence and potentially devastating consequences for those concerned,” (p. 283). Studies …

An Examination Of Factors Associated With Body Appreciation, Sociocultural Attitudes Of Appearance, And Ratings Of Diverse Performing Artists, Stephanie Rathjen

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Introduction: Multiple studies have found that performing artists have low body image which may be associated with the media’s portrayal of performers. Low body image can cause negative health effects including depression and eating disorders. This study explores body attitudes among performing and non-performing arts students and the possible media influences on those attitudes.

Methods: Undergraduate students (n=522) were asked to participate in an anonymous online survey regarding their perceptions of their individual body perception. During the survey, they were randomized to watch a video depicting either slim mostly Caucasian performers (video A) or performers of different ethnicities …

Cultural Arts Access For Children With Disabilities Via Sensory Friendly Theater, Caroline Umeda

Occupational Therapy | Faculty Conference Presentations

This qualitative study investigated parent and organization experiences of a sensory friendly theater program. I will report key findings including meaningful and capacity building experiences of parents of children with disabilities and theater staff. This research illustrated the potential of sensory friendly theater and organization-level occupational therapy consultation to promote community participation at population levels and build organizational capacity in the access realm.

Informed Hearing Loss Prevention At Theatre Uni [Poster], Mallory Park

Research in the Capitol

Theatre workers face many dangers which could impact their quality of life and ability to work. One such risk is hearing loss. Given the prevalence of noise-induced hearing loss, some theatre workers may already be living with hearing loss. My purpose with this study is to discover the current conditions and attitudes toward hearing loss at Theatre UNI then provide the information necessary to theatre workers about the signs and significance of hearing loss as well as methods for prevention.

Critical Embodied Praxis For Social Justice And Peace Educators: A Story Of Personal Transformation Through Analysis Of My Jewish And Settler Identities, Cara Michelle Silverberg

Capstone Collection

In this paper, I examine definitions of and relationships between violence, oppression, peace, liberation, and embodiment in the context of critical pedagogy in order to construct a theory of critical embodied praxis for social justice and peace educators. Considering the body to be a tangible vessel through which narratives and mechanisms of violence are expressed and maintained, I explore the potential of the body to be a vessel through which liberatory narratives may be generated and shared. After constructing a theory of critical embodied praxis, I illustrate this framework in action through a personal narrative that explores the intersections …

Stigma Mitigation Through Fine Arts, Kendall Owens

Honors Theses

Social stigma has plagued our society for centuries. It isolates groups of people based on erroneously defined characteristics causing stigmatized persons to be viewed as socially “abnormal”. This debarment from full social acceptance results in poor population health and well-being. Fine arts have been an integral component of society since the beginning of civilization; current and past research have found involvement in fine arts to improve health and well-being in many ways. In this project, relevant studies related to stigma, fine arts, and population health will be reviewed to support the argument that “fine arts combat and mitigate the …

Space On Par: A Short Performance For One Performer, Peta Tait

Animal Studies Journal

Space on Par is a short performance text that uses gentle humour to communicate an alternative perspective on how open space is used by humans and nonhuman animals, in this instance a golf course. If playing golf for enjoyment is puzzling behaviour for a nonhuman observer, it can emphasise human refusal to recognise the physical and spatial rights of other species and their needs for survival. The effort to educate about the treatment of animals can include theatrical characters who blur the species identities to make a point, and Space on Par inverts the invisibility of the gaze of the …

If Animals Could Talk: Reflection On The Dutch Party For Animals In Student Assignments, Helen Kopnina

Animal Studies Journal

This article explores how concern about animal welfare and animal rights relates to ecological citizenship by discussing student assignments written about the Dutch Party for Animals or PvdD. ‘Animal welfare’, ‘animal rights’, and ‘ecological citizenship’ perspectives offer insights into strategic choices of eco-representatives and animal rights/welfare advocates as well as educators. The assignments balance animal issues with socio-economic ones, explore the relationship between sustainability and ethics, and attribute responsibility for unsustainable or unethical practices. Analysis of student assignments reveals nuanced positions on the anthropocentrism-ecocentrism continuum, showing students’ ability to critically rethink their place within larger environmental systems. Some students demonstrated …

‘Animals Are Their Best Advocates’: Interspecies Relations, Embodied Actions, And Entangled Activism, Gonzalo Villanueva

Animal Studies Journal

Since 1986, the Coalition Against Duck Shooting (CADS) has sought to ban the practice of recreational duck hunting across Australia. Campaigners have developed techniques to disrupt shooters, rescue injured water birds, and gain media coverage. The campaign is underpinned by embodied processes that engage empathy, emotion, affect, and cognition. Seeking to understand human-animal interrelations, I conducted multispecies autoethnographic research, during which I participated as an activist-scholar in the anti-duck shooting campaign for nearly three months. Drawing on feminist philosopher Lori Gruen and others, this article conceptualises ‘entangled activism’ and argues that embodied actions arise from interspecies interrelations. This article demonstrates …

[Review] Jacob Bull, Tora Holmberg And Cecilia Åsberg, Editors, Animal Places: Lively Cartographies Of Human-Animal Relations. Routledge, 2018. 276pp, Zoei Sutton

Animal Studies Journal

It’s 2016 and rats are ‘taking over’ in Malmö, Sweden. Forced out of the sewers by flooding, the sight of usually-hidden rats now visible on streets and playgrounds (not to mention their dead bodies in the river) has humans calling for sanitation through eradication to ‘restore’ social order. In daring to exist ‘out of place’ in their search for food the rats ‘turn from tolerated, illegitimate, but invisible waste-workers, to ‘trash animals’ (1). This dramatic scene which opens Animal Places ‘shows how space, place and human-animal relations intersect, thereby producing diversity of effect, boundary work and political action’ (1). Building …

[Review] James Hevia, Animal Labor And Colonial Warfare. Chicago University Press, 2018. 328pp, Peta Tait

Animal Studies Journal

James Hevia’s very accomplished history, Animal Labor and Colonial Warfare, actually contains more than one history. A history of the military’s reliance on nonhuman animal (animal) labour emerges from a history of the administrative procedures of a British colonial regime. Some years ago, I went searching for this type of animal history to contextualize colonial war re-enactments with circus and menagerie animals. Hevia provides statistical information about the animals involved in colonial military ventures, breaking down the figures by species and compiling total numbers and percentages. He develops an in-depth analysis of the monumental scale of animal deployment – the …

Animal Liberation: Pathways To Politics, Paola Cavalieri

Animal Studies Journal

After making its appearance in analytic moral philosophy at the beginning the 1970s, the animal cause in its modern form – that is, as a challenge to human supremacism and as a defense of interspecies egalitarianism – is recently undergoing a profound change thanks to the advent of new political approaches. Politics now dominates the intellectual scene in at least three main forms: as the devising of new social arrangements, as a critique of the prevailing order, and as an emancipatory project. It will lie with the contemporary animal liberation movement to explore these alternatives in order to definitely assert …

Animal Abuse And Advocating For The Carceral: Critiquing Animal Abuse Registries, Jessica Ison

Animal Studies Journal

Animal activism has an increasing focus on carceral based punishment that argues for animal abuse to be harshly prosecuted. One of the emerging trends is advocating for Animal Abuse Registries similar to the US-style of Sex Offender Registry. This paper challenges the effectiveness and suitability of these Animal Abuse Registries through a critical reflection on Sex Offender Registries. As a result of this, Animal Abuse Registries are extrapolated to be ineffective and perhaps damaging to animals and animal advocacy. The contention that arises from this paper is what constitutes animal cruelty in a society that has industrial slaughter? Further, the …

The Cow Project: Analytical And Representational Dilemmas Of Dairy Farmers’ Conceptions Of Cruelty And Kindness, Nik Taylor, Heather Fraser

Animal Studies Journal

This paper explores different conceptions of cruelty and kindness as they relate to the Australian dairy industry. Findings are drawn from the Dairy Farming Wellbeing Project: 2017- 18, which we affectionately call The Cow Project (also see thecowproject.com.au).1 Funded by Animals Australia, this study was designed to consider the many issues affecting the health and wellbeing of dairy farmers, their families, cows, calves, and to a more limited extent, bulls. The primary objective was to investigate whether farmers themselves identified (potential) links between their own wellbeing and the wellbeing of their farmed animals. A total of 29 qualitative interviews were …

‘Fishing For Fun’: The Politics Of Recreational Fishing, Dinesh Wadiwel

Animal Studies Journal

In this paper, I will seek to understand the peculiar politics of recreational fishing. While I will draw from international research, my focus here will be the problem as it is understood within Australia, a wealthy nation with high standards of living and relatively high participation rates in recreational fishing. The paper explores the conceptual issues that surround how we understand and frame recreational fishing as a form of hunting, drawing on Australian research to understand the extent and characteristics of this enterprise. The second section explores the institutional and epistemic dimensions of recreational fishing. I finally examine how animal …

Finding Your Balance: An Investigation Of Recovery–Stress Balance In Vocational Dance Training, Peta Blevins, Shona Erskine, Luke Hopper, Gene Moyle

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Professional dance careers require years of intensive training. Stress experienced during training must be balanced with adequate recovery to prevent overtraining and burnout. Little is known, however, about how dancers achieve recovery–stress balance. This study examined dancers’ recollection of stress and recovery during their vocational dance training to identify potential stressors and recovery behaviors in vocational dance training. Twelve current and ex-professional ballet (n=4) and contemporary dancers (n=8) participated in the study. Four general dimensions, based on the extant overtraining literature in athletes, were identified: dance culture, intrapersonal, interpersonal, and situational factors. Cultural norms, health factors related to injury and …

Volume 11, Jacob Carney, Ryan White, Joseph Hyman, Jenny Raven, Megan Garrett, Ibrahim Kante, Summer Meinhard, Lauren Johnson, William "Editha" Dean Howells, Laura Gottschalk, Christopher Siefke, Pink Powell, Natasha Woodmancy, Katharine Colley, Abbey Mays, Charlotte Potts

Incite: The Journal of Undergraduate Scholarship

Table of Contents:

Introduction, Dr. Roger A. Byrne, Dean

From the Editor, Dr. Larissa "Kat" Tracy

From the Designers, Rachel English, Rachel Hanson

Synthesis of 3,5-substituted Parabens and their Antimicrobial Properties, Jacob Coarney, Ryan White

Chernobyl: Putting "Perestroika" and "Glasnot" to the Test, Joseph Hyman

Art by Jenny Raven

Watering Down Accessibility: The Issue with Public Access to Alaska's Federal Waterways, Meagan Garrett

Why Has the Democratic Republic of the Congo outsourced its Responsibility to Educate its Citizens? Ibrahim Kante

Art by Summer Meinhard

A Computational Study of Single Molecule Diodes, Lauren Johnson

Satire of …

Remembering The Huia: Extinction And Nostalgia In A Bird World, Cameron Boyle

Animal Studies Journal

This paper examines the role of nostalgia in practices of remembering the Huia, an extinct bird endemic to Aotearoa New Zealand. It suggests that nostalgia for the Huia specifically, and New Zealand's indigenous birds more generally, has occurred as both restorative nostalgia and reflective nostalgia. It argues that the former problematically looks to recreate a past world in which birds flourished. In contrast, the paintings of Bill Hammond and the sound art of Sally Ann McIntyre are drawn on to explore the potential of reflective nostalgia for remembering the Huia, and New Zealand's extinct indigenous birds more generally, in a …

Animal Studies Journal 2019 8 (1): Cover Page, Table Of Contents, Editorial And Notes On Contributors, Melissa Boyde

Animal Studies Journal

Animal Studies Journal 2019 8 (1): Cover Page, Table of Contents, Editorial and Notes on Contributors.

Is There A Turtle In This Text? Animals In The Internet Of Robots And Things, Nicola J. Evans, Alison Rotha Moore

Animal Studies Journal

This essay looks at the paradigm shift underway in human relations with artefacts from an animal studies perspective. As the Internet of Things (IoT) produces objects that are smart, sensate and agentive, how does this impact the continuing struggle for recognition of these same qualities in nonhuman animals? As humans acquire new digital companions in the form of therapeutic robots, what happens to perceptions of other ‘companion species’? Nonhuman animals are ubiquitous in IoT discourse as researchers draw on animal metaphors, models and analogies to think through the social and ethical implications of these new technologies. Focusing on representative texts …

First Dog, Last Dog: New Intertextual Short Fictions About Canis Lupus Familiaris, A. Frances Johnson

Animal Studies Journal

The double short story sequence ‘First Dog, Last Dog’ explores interdependencies between domesticated animals and humans. The first story, ‘The Death of the First Dog’, re-reads and quotes from Homer’s The Odyssey and the encounter between Odysseus and his aged hunting dog Argos. Its companion piece, ‘The Carrying’, is set in a speculative future. Exploiting qualities of the Borghesian fable, both tales are interspecies tales of love and loss. This work was read at the 2018 Melbourne Writers Festival ‘Animal Church’ event curated by Dr Laura McKay.

Life And Death With Horses: Gillian Mears’ Novel Foal’S Bread, Deborah Wardle

Animal Studies Journal

Gillian Mears’ novel Foal’s Bread (2011) invites an examination of horses in fiction, opening a platform for exploring the horse in Australian literature from a zoocritical perspective. This paper argues that writing horses into stories involves addressing, indeed flouting the ‘sin’ of anthropomorphism. The problems and paradoxes of ascribing subjectivity to fictional equine characters are discussed. The death of the main equine character, Magpie, is framed as a site of disregard, an example of human disconnection from the lives and deaths of animals. Using excerpts from the award-wining novel, Foal’s Bread, as well as examples from other equine literature, the …

Greyhounds And Racing Industry Participants: A Look At The New South Wales Greyhound Racing Community, Justine Groizard

Animal Studies Journal

Subsequent to the exposure of live baiting and animal cruelty within the NSW greyhound racing industry in 2015, a public debate emerged about animal welfare, oppression and exploitation. It resulted in a community outcry, an inquiry into live baiting and animal welfare within the industry and a proposed ban of greyhound racing in the state of NSW. Whilst the proposed ban of greyhound racing was celebrated amongst animal activists, it was met with a mixture of sadness, shock and animosity from people from within the industry. Many of the people within the greyhound racing community felt stigmatised and discriminated against, …

[Review] Sue Coe, Zooicide: Seeing Cruelty, Demanding Abolition. With An Essay By Stephen F. Eisenman Ak Press, 2018. 128pp, Wendy Woodward

Animal Studies Journal

Eisenman imagines, in 2050, in a scenario devoutly to be wished and striven for, that animals are no longer ill-treated in zoos, factory farms or laboratories. His informative essay substantiates debates in animal ethics, historically and in art, relating the ‘thingification’ of animals to colonial notions of ‘racial’ superiority. Sue Coe’s work, he demonstrates, comes from a long history of protest against the treatment of animals in zoos and menageries. Like John Berger in Why Look at Animals? (Penguin, 2009), he connects zoos with money-making, dismissing the claims that zoos are geared for conservation. Eisenman regards Sue Coe as the …

‘Let’S Find Out! What Do I Make?’ [Review] Kathryn Gillespie, The Cow With Ear Tag #1389. University Of Chicago Press, 2018. 272pp, Hayley Singer

Animal Studies Journal

I’m halfway through Kathryn Gillespie’s book when it hits me. This enormous shadow lake of sadness I’ve been walking around with – it’s dairy. It’s the electric prods that move cows through pens. It’s the endless stream of bovine bodies flowing around the world. It’s the ginormous global wet market of milk and semen. It’s the aftermath of shotgun blasts delivered to immobile cows, to fugitive cows, still ringing in my ears. It’s the call of mothers and children separated at auction yards. It’s that we’re living in a context of (almost) compulsory dairy consumption. It’s that writing about the …

[Review] Michael Lundblad, Editor, Animalities: Literary And Cultural Studies Beyond The Human. Edinburgh University Press, 2017. 249pp, Wendy Woodward

Animal Studies Journal

Lundblad’s introduction defines and separates human-animal studies, animality studies and posthumanism. While there are perhaps more cross-overs than Lundblad suggests, the introduction provides a lucid discussion of these fields, sub-fields and their provenance. In addition, each essay in Animalities locates its analysis in relation to these categorizations. Cary Wolfe’s essay on ‘The Poetics of Extinction’ considers the case of Martha, an individual, named passenger pigeon who was the last of her species, partly via Michael Pestel’s installation which memorialises her and seems to offer some hope that she might live again. Neel Ahuja continues with the spectre of extinction and …

Many Happy Returns: Eradication, Re-Wilding And The Case Of Lord Howe Island, Helen Tiffin

Animal Studies Journal

Colonialist concepts continue to drive Parks and Wildlife/ Conservation Department policies and practices in Australia and other settler colonies. In the case of Australia, returning the country to its pre- European invasion (pristine) condition becomes policy dictate, even where the often draconian implementations of these parameters prove unsuitable or even dangerous. And the notion of restoring Australian ecosystems to their pre-1788 condition is closely linked to the fetishisation of species purity. Australia has one of the world's highest extinction rates, and conservation of what remains is obviously of paramount importance. But the emphasis on eradication of so-called ‘pest’ species can …