Film and Media Studies Commons^™

Her Hideous Progeny: Frankenstein'S Legacy, Adaptability, And Contemporary Prominence To Critical Story Telling, Ryan Penske

English (MA) Theses

This thesis situates the narrative of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley with two contemporary adaptations Get Out (2017) by Jordan Peele and Poor Things (2023) by Yorgos Lanthimos. The original 1818 Frankenstein text is composed of different discourses about race, gender, monstrosity, and what it means to be an abject other. As a text full of critical discourse, it has reached great popular culture legacy and has become adapted numerous times over the past two centuries. This thesis explores and acknowledges instances where the text has been adapted and applied to harmful discourses, such as British Prime Minister George Canning’s use …

American Girl(Hood): Gender Performance, Tween Media, And Social Media Content, Mary Carol Dassau

Honors Theses

The American Girl brand of eighteen-inch dolls presents narratives of young girls throughout historical and contemporary settings, as well as manufacturing a line of dolls designed to look “just like you.” Despite the company’s commitment to female empowerment, these narratives still fall into certain tropes of societal expectations for women and are not inclusive of all girls’ experiences. Young American Girl fans and teen collectors on YouTube then take these narratives to create their own original video content, often in stop-motion animated format. These animations typically consist of original stories and characters, which both reinforce the narratives presented by the …

Urinetown: A Lighting Designer’S Process, Caroline Nowak

Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film: Theses, Student Research, and Creative Work

This thesis describes the design and production process of the lighting design for the musical Urinetown, written by Greg Kotis and Mark Hollmann, featuring music by Mark Hollmann, produced by The Nebraska Repertory Theatre in collaboration with the University of Nebraska Glenn Korff School of Music, performed in the Howell Theatre from April 25th, 2025, to May 3rd, 2025. Urinetown was directed by Ann Marie Pollard, with musical direction by Suna Gunther. The creative team included scenic designer Sariah Roberts, costume designer Breeanna Pierce, and lighting designer Caroline Nowak. The production team included technical director Ashley Faulkner and stage …

The Hodgepodge Creation: Amalgamated Adaptation In Video Games, Tom Chen, Tom Chen

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Amalgamated adaptation is a concept that involves blending multiple sources into a hodgepodge creation. This practice has become commonplace among game creators in recent years, yet it is neither readily covered nor explicitly mentioned in current video game scholarship. My previous research highlights the profound application of amalgamated adaptation to older texts, particularly myths and sacred texts from various cultures or communities. This method grants creators the autonomy to reinvent these texts in bold and extreme ways, achieved by melding borrowed ideas that complement and, at times, synergize with one another. I argue that single-source adaptations of myths, when reshaped …

Predicting Steroid Concern Through Tiktok Use And Self-Esteem, Adam Lorio, Brandon C. Bouchillon, Sisi Hu, Jennifer Mortensen

Journalism Undergraduate Honors Theses

This study examined student perceptions of steroid use through a survey of 154 participants. While self-esteem did not directly predict steroid concerns, specific TikTok engagement patterns revealed complex relationships. Using TikTok to pass time correlated with viewing steroids as a public health issue, whereas surveillance-based use was associated with lower self-esteem. Using the platform to interact was positively related to self-esteem, highlighting how different modes of engagement can shape perceptions about individual and collective health.

“But Where Are Those Good Old-Fashioned Values?”—The Racial Politics Of Animated Satire In Family Guy, Jordanne Greenidge

Master's Theses

Few animated shows have shaped American pop culture quite like Family Guy. Known for its rapid-fire cutaway gags and irreverent humor, the series has remained a television mainstay since its debut in 1999, despite frequent criticism and even two cancellations. Created by Seth MacFarlane and based on his 1995 student film The Life of Larry, Family Guy has built its reputation on pushing the boundaries of taste, especially when it comes to race, gender, and politics. Though often defended as satire, the show’s use of racial humor raises questions about its true impact: Do its portrayals of Black characters challenge …

Dekonstruktion Der Afd: Eine Analyse Der Rechtspopulistischen Deutschen Partei Der„Alternative Für Deutschland”, Elizabeth A. Breckenridge, Elizabeth Breckenridge

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

Die Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) ist eine rechtsextreme populistische Partei, die innerhalb eines Jahrzehnts rasch an Macht gewonnen hat, insbesondere in den ostdeutschen Bundesländern, aufgrund ihrer Betonung der Nationalisierung, ihrer populistischen Rhetorik und ihrer Anziehungskraft auf Wähler, die Ängste vor Einwanderung und kulturellem Wandel hegen. Die AfD hat es innerhalb von fünf Jahren geschafft, eine starke Wählerschaft zu mobilisieren, 2017 Sitze im Bundestag zu erringen und gilt nun als wichtigste Oppositionspartei zu den etablierten Parteien. Die AfD ist die erste rechte Partei seit 1945, die aufgrund des Aufstiegs rechtspolitischer Ideologien bedeutende Wahlerfolge erzielen konnte. Aufgrund des reaktionären Pendelschwungs nach dem …

Repair Through Recycling, Emma Murdock, Karl Aspelund

Senior Honors Projects

Repair Through Recycling is an instructional website I developed to encourage people to mend their garments rather than throw them away.I see this as a way to help address the growing issue of textile waste, where millions of garments are discarded each year. Many of these are made from synthetic materials that do not break down, contributing significantly to environmental pollution. This project features step-by-step instructional videos I created to teach the basics of mending, skills that are no longer commonly taught. These tutorials cover foundational techniques such as threading a needle and hand-stitching torn seams. The website also includes …

Wide Screen With Critical Essay "Translating A Poetry Of Cinema"., James L. Richie Iv

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation combines the creative task of translating Víctor Cabrera’s poetry collection WIDE SCREEN (2009) from Spanish into English with a critical study that analyzes the volume to highlight the uniqueness of his writing, the importance of translating such a work for an Anglophone audience, and the challenges that occur in translating this complex collection. Moreover, Cabrera’s writing engages with a variety of cultural works in ways that challenge preconceived notions of language, culture, and medium. The poetry in WIDE SCREEN draws inspiration from the films of American filmmaker Jim Jarmusch, while frequently putting these films into dialogue with works …

Remembering The Stasi On The Screen: Historical Film Analysis Of The East German Ministry For State Security, William H. Herzfeld

History Undergraduate Honors Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to assess how the history and identity of the Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (Ministry for State Security, Stasi) has been internalized by the German people through film media. Germans endured significant trauma and cultural manipulation at the hands of the Stasi and the Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands (Socialist Unity Party, SED) that is personified in many ways. The trauma that the Stasi inflicted sits heavily on the reflective interpretations of the DDR, complicating retrospection on life in the DDR and its positive elements. The Stasi have come to represent the essential negativity of life in …

Cultural Of Authenticity And Commodification: Analyzing The Aesthetic Waves And Collective Culture In The 2010s And 2020s, Stefanny Leung Yu

Student Theses

The “authentic self” is curated, aestheticized, and most notably, commodified. Digital algorithms, likes, views, and engagement are more than just digital metrics, they are the management of performance. For millions of other users — including the author herself — social media is the locus of personal expression. Most notably, sites like Tumblr, where users in the 2010s posted hazy images or overly filtered graphics along with melancholic song lyrics that match the vibe of the moment, expression was earnest and idealized. Today, social media in the 2020s, new creators like Hannah Neelaman, better known as Ballerina Farm, dress in pastoral …

Michigan Fiction, Bryce Durfey

Honors Theses

The screenplay Michigan Fiction follows a failing children's book author who is desperate for another taste of success. His father has told him his entire life that success by any means is all that matters. After a chance meeting with a more successful crime-novelist colleague, and learning of his next book idea, he decides to follow him to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to steal his idea for a book. He stays in a motel where the original killer once stayed and killed. Things go awry when he accidentally murders someone. After the town thinks it's the old killer returning, …

Making Of A Musical Meme: Wendy Carlos & Hector Berlioz, Alexander Ludwig

Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

A “Little” Solution To A Big Problem: A Documentary About The Hattiesburg Pocket Museum, Savannah Humber

Honors Theses

A “Little” Solution to a Big Problem is a documentary film that revolves around the Hattiesburg Pocket Museum and how it positively impacted its community during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Pocket Museum is a small alleyway located in downtown Hattiesburg, Mississippi and is filled with small objects, scenes, and fun activities. The thesis includes interviews with Vicki Taylor, creator of the Pocket Museum, and Lissa Ortego, the first artist to paint in the alleyway. They explain the history behind the museum, the circumstances that led to its creation, and how they kept the museum relevant during and after the COVID-19 …

A Modern Prometheus: Frankenstein's Relevance In Our Modern Society, Amanda C. Partida

Theses and Dissertations

For over two hundred years Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein has been in the public consciousness. It took only five years for the first adaptation, Presumption; or the Fate of Frankenstein, to be staged in 1825. Since then, there has been at least one adaptation every decade, with Universal Studios’ 1931 Frankenstein as the most famous adaptation, which shows just how much Shelley’s novel of science and hubris has resonated with audiences for many years.

This thesis aims to connect the ever-changing scientific anxieties of society with the most well-known Frankenstein film adaptations. By focusing on four specific films Frankenstein (1931), …

Pedro Aceves Mfa Thesis, Pedro M. Aceves

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

My Work is about looking at Cruising through a queer decolonial lens. Using multiple mediums such as photo, glass, Augmented reality, and film, I explore these queer histories and aesthetics through not just an anthropological approach but also an artistic epistemological approach weaving together narratives of prehispanic and modern queer Latinidad.

'She Hys Dwelling-Place': Corporeality And Female Sanctity From The Medieval To The Post-Modern, Noelle Trejo

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The intention of this thesis is to explore the ways that medieval sanctity has been performed by the female body in the Middle Ages and now, and how the sanctity represented and received in the hagiographical writings of the Middle Ages is redeployed in the visual culture of 21st century horror film. In other words, it will trace how medieval hagiographical conventions surrounding sanctity either persist in their original forms or are altered for 21st century audiences, to the end of contributing to ubiquitous discourses of femininity as it relates to the corporeal body.

Perfecting The Pride Of All Nebraska, David Swotek

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

For my thesis, I completed a creative project focusing on my involvement in the College of Journalism and Mass Communications. I created a documentary/YouTube-style video about the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Cornhusker Marching Band and how much work goes into creating their performances. I wanted to see what work happens behind the scenes that their large audiences never get to see.

To get all the information I needed to create an efficient and effective piece, I interviewed 13 band students ranging in years, instruments, ranks, etc. It was very important to get a large range of perspectives on this piece because …

Horror Films And Why We Enjoy The Genre, Jessica Thomason

Theses

This project focuses on the research of horror films and why certain individuals enjoy the genre despite having taboo subjects. The primary focus is to find the answer to the research question “why do some individuals enjoy horror?”. The aim of this research was to identify a connection between why individuals enjoy horror through the content. The research then informed the creative process behind the painting series that accompanies this project.

"A Miniature Replica Of Life": Reality, Critique, And The Burden Of Representation In Oscar Micheaux's Body And Soul, Maria Lagomarsino

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

With the release of his controversial silent film Body and Soul (1925), filmmaker Oscar Micheaux elicited strong reactions from censors, critics, and audience members alike. While some praised the work as a triumph of Black filmmaking, others were horrified by Micheaux’s corrupt preacher storyline and supposedly negative characterizations. The creation of this film occurred during a particularly fraught period of history, which saw some Harlem Renaissance figures argue that only positive depictions deserved a place in the public discourse. With Body and Soul, however, Micheaux refused to be limited by this undue burden of representation. In this thesis, I further …