Art and Design Commons^™

Nontoxic Paints Using Cornstarch As Binders, Maile Prater

Honors Projects

For this project, paints were created using different metal compounds which interacted with cornstarch and pectin to determine whether the metals would coordinate with these polysaccharides to create new types of watercolor paints. The paints that were created were ran through an RGB analysis to determine how much of each RGB color is present in a solution and then were ran through a rheometer to determine how the viscosity differed between each solution.

Archival Fashion: Commodification, Education, And The History Of Halston, Arianna Miller, Kayna Bowman

Student Scholar Symposium

No abstract provided.

Artworks As Affective Atmospheres: Dufrenne's View Of Their Aesthetic And Philosophical Significance, Dimitris Apostolopoulos

Duquesne Studies in Phenomenology

This article reconstructs and critically evaluates Mikel Dufrenne’s arguments for the claim that our embodied engagement with art is the most fundamental variety of affective experience. I show how, on his account, aesthetic affectivity, or feeling, emerges in aesthetic experience, and identify the central role that aesthetic atmosphere plays in its constitution. I propose an interpretation on which aesthetic feeling, for Dufrenne, is a founded and skilled form of intentional activity that has epistemic (evidence-responsive) and metaphysical (world-disclosive) import. An aesthetic atmosphere, I contend, is an affective and perceptual context that is tied to an artwork and exercises a regulative …

Rapture "At A Distance": Searching For Pathic-Atmospheric Aesthetics, Tonino Griffero

Duquesne Studies in Phenomenology

The paper proposes a rethinking of the role of aesthetics as a theory of sensory experience as it is encountered in the lifeworld (and only secondarily in relation to art). Accordingly, pathic and atmospheric (bottom-up) aesthetics, which centers on the ability to expose oneself to intense experiences without attempting to control them and conceives feelings as atmospheric powers that permeate a particular space without being reduced to projections of the perceiver’s moods, should replace the idealistic (top-down) approach.

Sustainability Without Sacrifice: Rethinking Convenient Eating For Young Professionals, Teresa E. Michael

Masters Theses

Young professionals want to eat more sustainably– but life gets in the way. Between long hours, limited budgets, and an overwhelming stream of content, sustainable choices often fall apart in favor of convenience. This research explores that gap between values and behavior, asking: How do young adults actually make food decisions, and how can we help those decisions become more sustainable without demanding perfection? To answer that, I grounded my work in a literature review focused on food literacy, convenience culture, digital media, and behavioral psychology. I also conducted three case studies of food-tech companies (Too Good To Go, Misfits …

Understanding Barriers To High School Teen Self-Expression, Connection & Inclusion., Susana Estes

Masters Theses

This thesis investigates the invisible barriers that prevent high school students from expressing their identities, forming meaningful connections, and experiencing a sense of belonging within school environments. Drawing on research in adolescent development, school climate, psychology of belonging, and participatory design, the study identifies structural, emotional, and social factors that contribute to student disconnection. Through a review of key theorists and three case studies, the research reveals that teens need structured opportunities for safe self-expression, visible affirmation of their identities, and accessible spaces for reflective interaction. In response, this thesis presents a research-informed interactive design solution: a two-part installation titled …

The Ultra Dilemma: Understanding The Impact Of Ultra-Processed Food, Cassia Elizabeth Brenning

Masters Theses

Ultra-processed food dominates the market, making up an estimated 73% of the national food supply and costing 52% less than healthier, minimally- processed alternatives (Ravandi et al). With such a large supply, there is a great demand to sell these products to consumers. Major food corporations rely on misleading labels, heavy marketing, and industry-funded research to manipulate consumers into buying more of their products. While these products are cheap, quick, convenient, and delicious, they are not components of a healthy diet.

This thesis argues that the best way to tackle the issue of ultra-processed food is by redirecting focus from …

Homemade For Change: Addressing The Barriers To Home Cooking Among Emerging Adults For Better Health, Finances, And Well-Being, Sarida Smitthimedhin

Masters Theses

This study investigates how a visual approach—combining design, photography, and illustration with nutrition—can encourage home cooking. In today’s fast-paced society and overabundance food culture, many emerging adults struggle to prepare meals at home. This study examines how food industry practices and cultural trends shape the eating habits of emerging adults by exploring the reasons behind the decline in home cooking and its adverse effects on health, finances, well-being, and the environment.

Although research indicates that most adults recognize that home cooking is the healthiest choice, they often do not practice it, citing time and lack of cooking knowledge as their …

Commonthought (2025), Commonthought Staff

Commonthought

This issue features works created by Lesley University students and covers a broad range of topics. The work itself crosses many disciplines from creative writing to visual arts.

Showcasing Student Artwork In An Academic Library, Holly Gabriel, Jan Juliani

Collaborative Librarianship

In this paper, the collaborative efforts of a Government Documents Librarian, an Art Librarian, and an Emerging Media and Digital Arts Professor at a regional public university with a liberal arts focus are detailed. The collaborative project began as a way to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the university library's membership in the Federal Library Depository Program. The authors asked students in a graphic design class to each create a poster featuring a randomly assigned government agency to display in the library as part of the anniversary celebration. The professor and librarians framed the poster project as a real-world design …

Infinite Loops, Betsy Selvam

Ought: The Journal of Autistic Culture

Artist’s Statement: In this composition, blue arms and hands loop through one another, their curved pathways forming an infinity symbol, representing autism and neurodiversity. The intertwining arms create loops that depend on one another for completion, and no single form stands alone, but rather each contributes to the pattern of the whole. This signifies interdependence and how the individual is part of a larger collective. As with Infinite Links, I used a palette of blues, the overlapping colors and curves creating depth and fluid movement while maintaining chromatic unity. The spectrum of blues also suggests the heterogeneity within the …

Trading Posts And "Old Pawn": Diné Navajo Trade And The Native Art Industry, Dustin Roberto

Native American Studies Student Publications

"Old pawn" is widely used to describe antique Native American jewelry and goods once pawned for credit at trading posts in the Four Corners region. This article traces how the trading post pawn system influenced Diné Navajo economic life from 1868 through the 1970s, when federal regulators documented exploitative practices such as inflated interest, withheld mail, and items sold without notice. Weavers and individuals pawning jewelry typically received store credit or overvalued commodities instead of cash, a result of the power dynamics of the setting. Today, "old pawn" functions as a marketing label for vintage goods, often without documentation. The …

How Did Creative Expression Impact Advocacy And Accessibility For Female Reproductive Freedom During Second Wave Feminism In America?, Vivian Fitch

Saint John’s Preparatory School Student Work

This paper analyzes how poetry, visual art, and rhetoric have impacted accessibility for female reproductive freedom. The time period is 1960s through the 1990s; referred to as second wave feminism. The feminist art pieces examined are mediums such as poetry, visual art, and rhetoric. To find the implication of these art forms, I inspected each form of art and focused on literary devices, artistic technique, and Aristotle’s method for persuasive language. I conclude that art has a deep emotional, social, and legal effect on society. This art is accessible, conveys a clear point, and is rhetorically complex, which inspired change …

Expanding Epilepsy Representation: On Education And Awareness, Aliyah Wise

Honors Projects

The present-day American public education system has evolved to try to teach young students about more cultures and people of different lifestyles. However, despite these reforms to push for an inclusive education system, there is still minimal effort to teach students about disabilities and the people who live with them. As a student living with epilepsy, I have observed a lack of education or conversation about this disability. The purpose of this research project is to ask: How does miseducation on epilepsy contribute to harmful stereotypes and lead to real issues for people living with this disability? How should neurotypical …

West, Brand Hagerman

Philomathean

No abstract provided.

Hollowed Faith, Brand Hagerman

Philomathean

No abstract provided.

Till The Cows Come Home, Caroline Green

Philomathean

No abstract provided.

Grandad’S Toolshop, Kayla Stanley

Philomathean

No abstract provided.

Broken Angel, Andrii Simonov

Philomathean

No abstract provided.

In Life One Is Always Balancing, Maria Paz G. Esguerra

Philomathean

No abstract provided.