Digital Humanities Commons^™

It's A Match: Shaadi.Com, Tinder, And The Fantasy Of Frictionless-Ness, Purvi Rajpuria

MFA in Illustration & Visual Culture

In this essay I carry out case studies of Shaadi.com and Tinder to unpack the cultural principles underlying the apps that shape our interpersonal relationships today. I demonstrate that these apps are grounded in a fantasy of frictionless-ness, or the desire to shield the self from discomfort caused by external factors, and argue that this is a fraught cultural ideal. My analysis reveals that a fantasy of frictionless-ness gives birth to a cultural landscape of rampant subjectivity and tepid morality, which hampers our ability to form deep and meaningful connections with each other. Recognising the flaws of such a fantasy, …

Fourthspace: The Role Of Active Social Inclusion In The Workforce Entry Of Syrian Refugees In Scandinavia, Anisa Abeytia

Master's Theses

The 2015 displacement of Syrian refugees into Scandinavian countries provoked a refugee integration policy adjustment that focused on workforce and higher education entry. It is a policy approach that requires attention on barriers to workforce entry to ensure effective policy implementation. This article provides insight into the larger, often overlooked barriers of Eurocentrism and historical biases on refugee labor integration and provides policy solutions to reduce their impact. Active social inclusion (ASI) and Fourthspace are introduced as a framework to reduce biases to workforce entry and integration time barriers faced by Syrian refugees. ASI can provide mechanisms to increase access …

Contestant Theology: Toward A Play Theology Of Religions, Greg Jones

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

How can a Christian theology of religions navigate the interreligious dialogical problems of 1) the inability to fully articulate faith, 2) the lack of persuasive religious language, 3) the reality of violence among religions, and 4) the liquescent “truth” of modern times? This dissertation answers this question with a theology of religions considered through the lens of play theology. Contestant theology navigates these problems as 1) a space of cooperation and contest which 2) incorporates assertiveness (exclusivism), compassion (inclusivism), openness (pluralism) and free participation (Trinitarianism) to 3) hold together enriching and diminishing relationalities among diverse religious peoples with a view …

Uber, The Gig Economy, And African Americans: Digital Anti-Blackness In The New Technological Age, Bill Kaso

Theses and Dissertations

The digital objects and processes of the new technological age have been found to reproduce anti-Blackness, specifically among African Americans, in the United States. To understand and remedy these trends, this thesis looks at digital technology as the product of anti-Black material culture.

La Llorona. Opereta En Dos Actos. El Mito En Latinoamérica, Documentación De La Experiencia, Libreto Y Partituras, Luz Nelly Venegas, Sebastián Pineda Bautista

Ciencias Sociales, Humanidades y Ciencias Políticas

La opereta en dos actos “La Llorona” es producto del trabajo realizado por el equipo docente del programa de música adscrito al grupo UDECARTE en el marco del proyecto de investigación: Composición y montaje de la opereta La Llorona durante los años 2018 y 2019. En la primera parte de la presente publicación se presentan reflexiones teóricas transdisciplinares que hicieron parte de los cimientos sobre los cuales se desarrolló la creación artística de la opereta, la cual es incluida en la segunda parte a través de su libreto y partituras.

Not So Set In Stone: A Digital History Of The Macalester College Campus, Andie Walker

Individually Designed Interdepartmental Major Honors Project

College communities are constantly in flux, as students typically remain in school for only four years. However, parts of the physical environment of a college campus might last for centuries. This project investigates the evolution of Macalester College’s campus and asks the following questions: What has guided the design decisions for new buildings and structures at Macalester throughout its history? How have people interacted with, manipulated, and potentially subverted these spaces and places? How is settler colonialism physically embodied at Macalester? These questions have illuminated the ways that people have attempted to control the space and place that makes up …

"The Freedom To Express Yourself": The National Park Service And The African Diasporic Roots Of Black Dance In New Orleans, Ariel D. Roy

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

In partnership with the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park, my project entitled “African Dance in New Orleans: The Roots of Black New Orleans Dance” exhibit will focus on the African diasporic roots of Black traditional dance practices within New Orleans’ African American community. This project aims to diversify the public and political expressions of Black dance in New Orleans. It argues that the study of dance forms and practices uncovers narratives and fragments of African and African American cultural history in New Orleans that are impossible to glean from other sources. This thesis will support three modes of African …

Rated T For Therapy: How Video Games Portray Mental Illness And Their Effects On Social Stigmas, Christine Wendell

All Theses

Mental illness has always been a tricky subject for us to tackle as a society due to the social stigmas surrounding it. Historically, people with mental illness were seen as violent and unstable and would often need to be committed for public safety; however, a large majority of people with mental illness do not fit that bracket and often don’t reach out for help due to that fear of being “othered” by society. As time went on, these tropes faded to purely entertainment mediums but the stigmas still remain. Many video games specifically hold onto these tropes for shock value …

Making The Subconscious Conscious - Showcasing Unresolved Childhood Trauma Through Animation, Alexis Hunter

All Theses

The focus of this work is to shed light on unresolved childhood trauma that can contribute to mental hardships - whether people are aware of its presence in their lives or not. In this paper, I will discuss childhood trauma, its impact on adult life when left unresolved, self-parenting as a method to manage it, and how it is portrayed in various media. Drawing inspiration from my research on trauma and visual storytelling, I will present a proof-of-concept for a 2D animated short film, Strongholds, which visualizes the internal mental struggles through the character dynamics of the personifications of the …

Procedural City Generation With Combined Architectures For Real-Time Visualization, Griffin Poyck

All Theses

The work and research of this paper sought to build upon traditional city generation and simulation in creating a tool that both realistically simulates cities and their prominent features and also creates aesthetic and artistically rich cities using assets that combine several contemporary or near contemporary architectural styles. The major city features simulated are the surrounding terrain, road networks, individual buildings, and building placement. The tools used to both create and integrate these features were created in Houdini with Unreal Engine 5 as the intended final destination. This research was influenced by the city, town, and road networking of Ghost …

From The Lens Of (In)Visibility: A Photovoice Inquiry Into How Community Colleges Can Advance Filipino/A/X American Student Resilience, Rangel Velez Zarate

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The dearth of research on Filipino/a/x American (FilAm) community college students perpetuates the narrative that they are regarded as “invisible,” receiving limited academic and social support. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent violence and discrimination against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) has exacerbated the already distressing academic and racialized experiences of FilAm students.

In this qualitative study, nine FilAm students who attended a community college in the Western United States participated in an online photovoice project which visualized their personal reflections and specific academic needs through digital photos and written narratives. Findings from this study indicated …

Żółty Dom: A Digital Archive Of A Grandmother’S Legacy, Hailey Stessman

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

Archives, as separate entities and as a practice, have been used as a means to preserve and conserve pieces of history across a range of subjects. Physical artifacts, personal photography, or important classified documents may be included within these capsules of the past. Prolific individuals have had their lives collected, organized, and stored away in such minute detail for the ease and accessibility of public use. Not only does the precise organization aid easy research, but it also lends to the art of storytelling. One can trace an individual’s legacy from their childhood to their final breath by exploring their …

Building An Immersive Simulation Of The 1785 Parisian Salon In Vr: A Guide To Recreating Historical Interiors And Digital Twins, Charles E. O'Brien

Theses

This project aims to identify a workflow for creating digital twins without access to specialized 3D imaging equipment, such as photogrammetry. The process of creating a digital twin without specialized equipment is focused more on research than data analysis. Readily available resources, such as literature, paintings, drawings, and any other historical accounts, need to be considered. The case study for this workflow was reconstructing the Parisian Salon from 1785. The Salons were a haven for men and women to have intellectual discourse. The essence of scholarly thought that was produced through these Salon exhibits makes them perfect historical event candidates …

The Landscape Does Not Care It Is A Landscape: A Utopian Pessimist Journey In Kentucky., Shachaf Polakow

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

These thesis and exhibition, invite the viewers to travel through different places in Central and Eastern Kentucky. The region’s landscape, like many other American landscapes, is often known to the public through the settler colonial lens—a lens that ignores Indigenous peoples’ history in the region. The work in the exhibition is a response to landscape art's history and its complicity with American settler colonialism- art that was recruited to create a new identity for the settlers and for the country from the beginning of the American Colonial Project. Landscape art was a crucial part of this effort, presenting the land …

User Polarization From Ai Social Media Algorithms, Theresa Colombini

Undergraduate Research Symposium

This research project delves into the contemporary phenomenon of political polarization exacerbated by artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms in online content consumption using scholarly articles and survey data. The research investigates how AI-driven recommendation systems influence the selection and exposure to politically charged content across various digital platforms. The findings of this study are intended for a deeper understanding of the societal implications of AI algorithms and provide insights into potential strategies for mitigating political polarization in online environments.

How Does Tik-Tok Present The Mid-Size Community?, Evelyn Ovando-Flores

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

The present study was a content analysis of the kairotic period created coming out of the COVID-19 lockdown and a change in women’s fashion, and whether the presentation of this new lifestyle was skewed by the rising social media platform TikTok. The videos (N = 10) selected were the top videos under the #midsize and #midsizecommunity tags, to allow for greater diversity of mid-size content, were analyzed among category, tone, color, and ages of creators. Previous kairotic times in history with women’s fashion were reviewed to support the importance of this time. Results from an unaffiliated account on TikTok under …

Promethia 2022-2023

Promethia

No abstract provided.

Adding Linked Open Data To A Digital Humanities Collection In Alma, Sai Deng, Lee Dotson

Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Working with Digital Initiatives, digital humanities and history faculty members, the Metadata Librarian at the University of Central Florida Libraries has added Linked Open Data (LOD) to Ex Libris’ Alma for the PRINT Migration Network: Pemberton Correspondence Collection. Wikidata entries on people and places in this collection are created and their Uris are linked to the cataloging records. Meanwhile, Library of Congress (LC) linked open data vocabularies, such as LC Subject Headings, LC Name entities, FAST headings and genre headings are also added to the records. GeoNames are incorporated into the University Libraries’ Institutional Repository records and are under consideration …

Patterns Of Integration: A Network Perspective On Popular Religious Connections In China’S Lower Yangzi, 1150–1350, Song Chen

Faculty Journal Articles

The spread of cults from their original homelands in the Song dynasty (960–1279) created crisscrossing ties between local communities and fostered social and cultural integration in Chinese society that transcended class and geographic boundaries. Scholars have produced numerous case studies on these translocal cults and their implications, but the pattern of connections across space created by these cults is yet to be explored. Using the data collected from local gazetteers that have survived from the Southern Song and Yuan dynasties, this article takes a bird’s‑eye view of the spatial distribution of popular cults in China’s Lower Yangzi region between 1150 …

College Esports: Grassroots Hobby Turned Unregulated Industry, Grace Ann Alexander

Honors Theses

When traditional sports teams formed on college campuses, it took decades before they looked anything like college sports teams do today. College football is noted as beginning in 1869 (Parlier, 2022), NCAA formed in 1906, and the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision launched in 1978 (NCAA, 2023). In 2009, one of the first recorded college esports matches took place. In 2014, Robert Morris Universty started the first varsity-level college esports program. Now, there are an estimated 500 college esports programs amassing thousands of student participants. It took decades, if not a century, for college football to achieve these numbers. …