Digital Commons Network^™

"We Pledge Ourselves To Use Our United Strength": Education, Women's Clubs, And The Woman Suffrage Movement In Tennessee, Michelle P. Harris

Theses

The state of Tennessee played a central part in the battle for ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment, which would secure women’s right to vote. While the showdown in Nashville in August 1920 when suffragists and anti-suffragists descended upon the city to lobby for their respective sides gained a lot of attention for the state’s role in woman suffrage, the increasing opportunities of women outside the domestic sphere helped launch the suffrage movement. Educational opportunities, work outside the home, and voluntary societies were just a few of the ways that women stepped out into the public sphere. These endeavors outside the …

Geographic Bias In Ai: How Llm Outputs Vary By Location, Alekya Bongu

RhetTech

This paper explores the inherent biases present in Large Language Model (LLM) outputs. As AI use becomes more widespread, it is extremely important to examine the implicit biases in these models, as AI will only perpetuate inaccuracies. By understanding the implications of using AI, we can use it in a way that causes the least harm. Using Hofstede’s cultural onion to structure research questions, I tested four LLMs—ChatGPT, Pi.ai, Qwen, and DeepSeek—across three different geographic locations: the United States, India, and Ireland. The findings demonstrate that while LLMs can adjust some content based on a user’s location, they frequently default …

Eugenics Rhetoric In C.S. Lewis’S That Hideous Strength And Essays, Michelle Griffin

RhetTech

In the book That Hideous Strength, C.S. Lewis depicts the National Institute of Co-ordinated Experiments (N.I.C.E.) as an exclusive organization dominated by scientists, academics, and state authorities, mirroring the professional middle class that shaped British eugenics in the 20th century. Throughout the book there is evidence of eugenics discourse relating to human experimentation, feeblemindedness, sterilization of the “unfit,” as well as the role of power dynamics, all of which points to That Hideous Strength being an intentional representation of the eugenics discourse happening in Britian around the same time in which Lewis wrote the book. There is substantial evidence …

Reclaiming Suppressed Symbols: Yoruba Iconography And Nuyorican Identity In The Art Of Nitza Tufiño, Ariana Williams

Theses

This thesis examines the work of Afro-Puerto Rican artist Nitza Tufiño through Yoruba iconography, diasporic memory, and gendered Nuyorican identity. Grounded within the cultural and political context of the Nuyorican Movement of the 1960s and 1970s and, this study argues that Tufiño’s visual practice reframes suppressed African spiritual symbols through a woman-centered perspective, positioning Black femininity and spiritual labor as sites of resistance to colonial erasure and racial marginalization. Drawing upon Yoruba-derived cosmologies, Santería, and processes of visual syncretism, Tufiño integrates African, Indigenous Taíno, and Caribbean traditions to articulate a gendered visual language rooted in care, ritual, and collective memory. …

Staging Collapse: Anita Berber’S Cocaine And Morphium As Disability Aesthetic Performance, Blair Summers

Theses

This thesis examines Anita Berber’s performances Cocaine and Morphium within the cultural climate of Weimar Germany, where the body became closely tied to ideals of health, productivity, and national renewal. Through the framework of disability aesthetics as defined by Tobin Siebers, this study argues that Berber transforms addiction, collapse, and bodily decay into a visual and affective language of artistic and political critique. Rather than present the body as disciplined or morally ideal, Berber stages instability, excess, and death through gesture, costume, set design, and music. In doing so, she reimagines the stigmatized female body as a site of agency …

Historic Churches Of Sheboygan, Erin Brehmer

Theses

This project focuses on the histories and architecture of six nineteenth- and early twentieth-century churches in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, and developing a museum program about them. The aim of the project is to add to the art historical knowledge of Midwest architecture by researching the Greek Revival architecture used by First Baptist Church of Sheboygan; the Gothic Revival styles used by Grace Episcopal Church, St. Luke United Methodist Church, Hope Reformed Church, and St. Clement Catholic Church; and the Byzantine ornamentation used by St. Spyridon Greek Orthodox Church. Furthermore, this project uses the historical findings to create a museum public program …

An Introduction To World Art History: Course Curriculum, Skyler M. Bancroft

Theses

Art history as a field has inherent biases that are primarily rooted in Western traditions. A majority of the content which students are exposed to focuses on regions such as Europe and the Americas, with less focus on Africa, Asia, and the Pacific. The purpose of this thesis project is to develop a secondary school curriculum that approaches art history from a world perspective to foster students’ sense of cultural awareness and empathy, as well as the development of skills such as critical thinking and visual literacy. Students will leave this course with a greater understanding of art from various …

Concerned Philosophers For Peace, Vol. 34 (2026), Concerned Philosophers For Peace

Concerned Philosophers for Peace

In addition to organizational information, honors, awards, and calls for papers and abstracts, this issue contains the following articles:

• “Genocide, Evil, and The Madman's Bluff: The Moral Stain of President Trump's Shameful Threat to Annihilate Iran,” by Andrew Fiala
• “Lest We Forget,” by Anna Malavisi
• “Ancient Lessons on Peace from a Roman Dissident,” by Court Lewis

“The Thorns Of The Most Severe Virtue”: Education, Religion, And Cultural Power In Michigan, 1798–1855, Kyle Christopher Vanderwall

Dissertations

This project seeks to demonstrate the centrality of education and religion as cultural power levers used by Americans, Odawa, and Catholic missionaries. Though the power of each culture was uneven, efforts to create educational institutions imbued with different denominations of Christianity, as well as continued contestation over land, remade the cultures of all involved. Americans privileged state-building practices, the Odawa acculturated to remain in Michigan when removal policies were enacted throughout the United States, and the Catholic church attempted to proselytize Indigenous communities.

Although the ethnohistorical method needed to be understood in order to write this project, it is not …

Investigating The "Party Consciousness": Gender Normativity & Affect In Woolf’S Party Scenes In “To The Lighthouse” & “Mrs. Dalloway”, Chelsea Goodman

English

In 1925, Virginia Woolf wrote in her diary, “…I should like to investigate the party consciousness…where people secrete an envelope which connects them and protects them from others, like myself, who am outside the envelope” (DIII 13). Woolf’s metaphor of the “envelope” reflects how parties have the potential to be places of community and, conversely, of alienation. In literary criticism, Woolf’s parties are often simplified and read as sites of communion. I argue that instead of a suspension of normativity across all characters, which one might expect in a party scene, Woolf’s domestic party scenes solidify, reflect, and enforce …

A Word From The Writing Team (May 2026), Pam Walter, Mfa, Laura Deloretta, Phd

A Word From the Writing Team (Newsletter)

No abstract provided.

Reigniting Identity: Rediscovering My Teaching, Lifelong Learning, And Myself, Rachel Griffith

Master of Arts in English Plan II Graduate Projects

A culmination of two years of work and self-discovery represented through three different types of writing, two academic and one creative. The academic works explore communication and autism in the English classroom, as well as teaching technical writing in practice ways. The creative work is a poetry portfolio that is one of the author's proudest works from their degree track, covering a variety of topics from love to nostalgia to inner turmoil. Together, they narrate three reasons why the author writes, teaches, and lives.

The Course Of Empire Causes Us Much Grief: Imperialism, Slavery, And Genocide In The Theological Education Of Berkeley Divinity School, The Episcopal Seminary At Yale, Alden Fossett

Yale Divinity School Theses

The history of Berkeley Divinity School, the Episcopal seminary at Yale, traverses centuries and thousands of miles between Ireland, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. Abundant institutional narratives concerning Berkeley Divinity School’s origin and development over time rehearse a mythology connecting the Anglo-Irish philosopher and bishop George Berkeley (1685–1753) and the establishment of Berkeley Divinity School in 1854 by Massachusetts-born professor and bishop John Williams (1817–1899). This thesis intervenes in the historiography of Berkeley Divinity School by situating John Williams’s allusion to George Berkeley’s unfulfilled dream to establish a college training Anglican missionaries on the island of Bermuda within a British imperial …

We Are Still Here: A Narrative Inquiry Examining The Experiences Of Black Women Chief Diversity Officers At Historically White Institutions, Jasmin M. Robinson

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study explores the lived experiences of Black women serving as CDOs in higher education institutions to understand their unique challenges, opportunities, and contributions as diversity leaders. The study uses a narrative inquiry approach, comprising of in-depth, semi-structured interviews, observations, and document analysis to understand how six Black women CDOs lead DEI efforts at historically White institutions, what their identities mean to them, and the lessons learned along the way. Eight core themes emerged from the findings addressing institutional commitment to DEI, institutional perceptions of CDOs, chief diversity officer responsibilities, how Black women understand their race and gender, how …

Dinah Whipple: The Black Community’S Fight For Access To Fair And Equal Education, Isabelle C. Fortier

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This thesis illuminates the story of Dinah Whipple, a former enslaved and literate woman of color living in Portsmouth, New Hampshire during the early 1800s. Dinah opened the Ladies Charitable African School, the first school for Black children in New Hampshire, and as an educator she was a community leader and championed social issues facing her community. This thesis will use the Ladies Charitable African School and Dinah Whipple’s work in New England to show the lengths local communities went to, to establish accessible schools. The major academic discussions surrounding education in the 18th-century to 19th-century revolve around earlier Black …

Exploring The Significance Of Hyper-Feminine Fashion Within Gen Z, Riley D. Frymark

Apparel Merchandising and Product Development Undergraduate Honors Theses

This study examines the rise of hyper-feminine fashion within Gen Z and the role that social media plays in shaping trends. Through a social media content analysis, this study explores how hyper-feminine fashion and aesthetics gained popularity and how it is perceived by Gen Z women. The findings suggest that Gen Z associates hyper-feminine fashion with empowerment, agency, and a sense of nostalgia redefining and challenging traditional expectations of femininity. These findings informed a fashion design developed to reflect key themes and design elements identified in the content analysis such as a pink color palette, lace, bows, and ruffles. Overall, …

The Creek And The Cave, Zoe Geltman

Student Theses

A play.

Tropical Hardware, Shane Chase

Student Theses

A collection of poetry.

Preface: In the spring of 2022 I lived in Bethnal Green, a once working-class neighborhood in East London. I grew attached to the area as it gave me a life I couldn’t have back in Florida. Everything needed to subsist was contained within walking distance. My connection to the place grew strong each time I walked through Middleton Green or passed Keeling House rising up out of the fog as I made my way to work. Gradually, I developed a sense of isolation, smelling the salt from the gulf, an ocean that wasn’t there. The threat …

Stone Pace Dog Hill, Haley Lee

Student Theses

A collection of poetry and prose.

Another Inconsistency: A Collection, Christy Luong

Student Theses

A collection of stories.

Selfown, Richard Hollman

Student Theses

A play.

Scenic Design: Ariadne Auf Naxos, Riley Lathrom

Student Theses

riadne auf Naxos was made in collaboration between librettist Hugo von Hofmannsthal and composer Richard Strauss between 1911 and 1916. While it was not the first or last project the pair would do together, it was one that dared to reinvent the form of early 20th-century German opera. Both artists understood that, in order to evolve with the modern world, their art form needed to reflect the changing culture around them. Hofmannstal envisioned “a totally unified creation of the contributing art forms, harmoniously and inseparably blended into a superior vehicle of expression” (Davidsen et al.) I find this mindset one …

Self-Fashioning In Contemporary Figurative Painting, Hal Hardin

School of Art Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper positions my painting practice as a form of resistance to historical constructions of gender, identity, and visibility, shaped by my experience as a queer, nonbinary person navigating womanhood in the American South. Drawing on Stephen Greenblatt’s concept of self-fashioning and Judith Butler’s theory of gender performativity, I argue that Western figurative painting has long disciplined the feminine body, exploiting it and commodifying it into an easily consumable object.

In response, I appropriate and distort these visual conventions. My figures refuse to behave: they stretch, slouch, and linger in ambiguity, resisting fixed interpretation. Placed in spaces of visibility and …

A Modern Cabinet Of Curiosities: Patronage, Narrative, And The Foundations Of American Art At Crystal Bridges Museum Of American Art, Amelia Quinlen

School of Art Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis examines the 2025 reinstallation of the “Foundations of American Art” galleries at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas as a case study through which to analyze how museum narratives are constructed, negotiated, and presented in the twenty-first century. Drawing on the historiography of museum display, from early modern cabinets of curiosity to nineteenth-century salon-style exhibitions, it argues that galleries function not as neutral containers for objects, but as interpretive frameworks shaped by curatorial decisions, spatial organization, and institutional context. While the reinstallation positions itself as a reconsideration of the “foundations” of American art through thematic …

The Role Of Music In Storytelling, Eliot Z. Tenberg

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Music is often thought of as a background element in storytelling, something that enhances a scene but is not essential to its meaning. However, this perspective overlooks the powerful role music plays in shaping how stories are understood and experienced. Across film, theater, and even interactive media, music does far more than accompany images or dialogue. It actively guides emotional response, constructs narrative meaning, and connects audiences to stories on a deeper psychological level. Unlike visual or verbal storytelling alone, music has the unique ability to communicate emotion without explicit explanation. A shift in melody, harmony, or rhythm can signal …

Tarot - Reimagined: Monotype Tarot Landscapes, Eleanor B. Nelson

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

Printmaking is a form of artmaking that utilizes transferring marks from the matrix to the final piece of paper, often through a press. These processes are able to create an edition of multiple identical prints. This is typically considered the highlight of using print processes; however, the process of making monotypes allows for one original piece. Through the process of researching and creating watercolor monotypes, I made a collection of ten original pieces, all depicting different landscapes throughout the Tarot deck. Each piece is 9” x 12” printed on a 13” x 17” piece of paper and created with watercolor, …

Cartoons From Dickinson Poetry, Abby B. Tarr

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

This zine interprets poems by Emily Dickinson through cartoons. The drawings do not replace the poems. They offer a different way to understand them, translating abstract language into clear, visual moments. This approach shows how meaning can shift when it moves between forms, from text to image. The zine invites readers to engage with Dickinson’s work in a different format while still preserving the original work and context.

A Modal Analysis Of Human Dignity, Alexander S. Eberspacher

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

This work examines the history of the human rights tradition and philosophically compares it to the natural law tradition as most pre-eminently developed in Catholicism. It then turns to examine how Catholicism offers a philosophically sound base for universal dignity through the light of Saul Kripke’s modal work, while the Universal Declaration of Human Rights cannot account for such.

Pussy Protest! Protest Zines To Uplift Marginalized Voices, Alekz Nelson

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

A publication of 4 separate zines made up of 12 pages each. The zines delve into the history of the Americans with Disabilities Act, trans women and their music artistry, lack of lesbian media, and inmate working conditions. These zines aim to not only raise awareness towards these issues, but spark action from readers by providing practical and doable options to pursue. With societal attitudes and political administrations becoming more conservative, spreading this information and awareness is vital to ensure that these alternatives ways of life are not forcibly erased.

Writing Center Alumni: How Their Work Works For Them, Summer Dingman

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

Writing centers (WC) serve as an indisputably useful campus resource that serves a broad group of students and faculty. With their role of helping individuals at any and all stages of the writing process, they prove that all writing skills can be supported and grown through visit(s) Though as proved by existing scholarship – which serves as the foundation for this project – from the University of Wisconsin Madison’s Peer Writing Tutor Alumni Research Project (PWTARP) designed by Harvey Kail, Paula Gillespie, and Bradley Hughes as well as Florida International University’s version of PWTARP titled “Writing Tutor Alumni Takeaways: Pros …