Digital Commons Network^™

Leveraging Generative Artificial Intelligence To Launch An Independent Game Studio, Douglas Evans

Theses

This project report examines how Generative Artificial Intelligence (Generative AI) can be integrated into the early formation and operations of an independent/indie game studio. Using a qualitative, practice-based single-case study approach, the project focused on Boar’s Head Studio, LLC. A human-in-the-loop approach was maintained with Generative AI used to support company formation, ideation, planning, documentation, analysis, coding assistance, marketing preparation, and community-building preparation

The report concludes that Generative AI can serve as a meaningful system integrated into the studio pipeline when used with structured, repeatable, human-in-the-loop processes. The project contributes a practical, case-based framework that may be useful to other …

Edvard Munch And The Feminine Sublime, Saralyn Goodspeed

Theses

This paper explores the theory of the sublime in relation to Edvard Munch’s depictions of women. Departing from the common view that Munch was simply anxious about the “New Woman” that emerged in the late nineteenth-century, I argue that Munch’s conflicting emotions regarding women were sublime in nature, rooted in his childhood relationship with his mother. A formal analysis is conducted on three of Munch’s works: Inheritance (1897), Three Stages of Woman or Sphinx (1894), and Madonna (1895). These analyses link Munch’s representations of women to a maternal sublime.

Integrating Embodied Expertise Into Dress History Academia Through Practice-Led Actualistic Recreations: A New Methodology And Test Thereof, Rowan Paramour

Theses

This thesis examines the usage of practice-led methodology for historic dress recreation projects and how to implement and objectively analyze the findings from such research in an academically rigorous fashion. In section one, I examine the distinction between different types of recreation practices, the establishment of embodied practice within historic dress research, address concerns centering practice-led methodology, and develop a methodology for practice-led historic dress recreation projects and rubric for assessment of that methodology. In section two, I fully test the methodology and rubric by utilizing it in my own recreation and present this process using the methodology’s proposed deliverables …

Beyond The Cycle: How Menstruation Influences Gender Identity And Well-Being In Binary And Non-Binary Adults, Rin Nguyen

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Approximately 1.8 billion people worldwide menstruate, including transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) people, yet their experiences remain underrepresented in research. Given that menstruation can affect gender alignment and psychological well-being, understanding its impact on TGD people is critical. Gender congruence, or alignment between one’s gender identity and expression, is a key factor influencing well-being, with research linking it to reduced depression and anxiety. Furthermore, emerging research on gender euphoria, the joy experienced when gender congruence is experienced, suggests it may serve as a protective factor for mental health and well-being. Gender euphoria has been associated with reduced psychological distress and increased …

Great War Modernists: D.H. Lawrence, H.D., And Richard Aldington By Lee M. Jenkins, Buxi Duan

The Journal of Wyndham Lewis Studies

Book Review

Lee M. Jenkins, Great War Modernists: D. H. Lawrence, H. D., and Richard Aldington (Bloomsbury, 2024), 200pp. £85.00 (Hbk)

Bright Star: A Lighting Design, A Study On The Emotional Impact Of Lights, Dean J. Bressler

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

The purpose of this thesis will be to observe, analyze, and evaluate the design process and production for the musical Bright Star Written and composed by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell, Produced by the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film’s in house production company the Nebraska Repertory Theatre Company in collaboration with the University of Nebraska’s Glen Korff School of Music. Performed in the Howell Memorial Theatre from April 16^th, 2026, to April 26^th, 2026. Bright star was directed by Bobby Pieranunzi, the dance captain for the original Broadway performance of Bright Star in 2016, …

Eurydice | Tigers Be Still: Technical Direction Between Two Studio Sets, Rory G. Galada Brownell

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

This thesis examines the technical direction processes for two studio productions, Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl and Tigers Be Still by Kim Rosenstock, produced during the 2025–2026 season at the Nebraska Repertory Theatre. Through comparative analysis, this document explores how differing design styles—metaphorical and installation-based versus grounded realism—impact the planning, communication, and execution responsibilities of a technical director within a constrained academic production environment. Both productions operated within similar parameters, including limited budgets, student-based labor, and a shared performance space, allowing for a focused evaluation of process rather than resources. The Eurydice production emphasized abstract scenic elements, including large-scale string installations …

Accessible Theatre In The Face Of Transition: A Collaborator's Journey Through Sarah Ruhl's Orlando, Ty R. Robbins

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This thesis discusses the various types of accessibility observed in practice during a production of Orlando by Sarah Ruhl at the University of New Orleans. Throughout

the chapters to come, I will focus on gathering theatrical dramaturgy, my process as a company

actor, the successes and setbacks of accessibility in theatre, and reflections from community

artists on how they view accessibility in the workplace. I will evaluate my findings and those of

fellow theatre makers to outline the strengths and weaknesses of accessibility in relation to

collaboration in theatre, an art form that is continually given a cold shoulder in …

Adaptability From Tv & Film Into Theatre | The Subversion Inspiration In Celia’S Identity Versatility Throughout William Shakespeare’S As You Like It, Emani White

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the inspiration of adaptability skills, pivoting from television and film into theatre, and the potential of unconventional pathways as a catalyst for reconciling anti-traditionalism within the mediums. It offers insight into the obstacles, segues, and adversities faced during the journey of a former athlete turned television and film actor, and into a theatre actor. It illuminates agency as a subversive identity (the disguise), the sacrifice of status, and the need for an emotional anchor of resilience—acknowledging the systemic transitional barriers in performance, career, and education. The paper also discusses the understandings gained from my journey as an …

House Of Ill-Fame: A Historical, Cartographic, And Archaeological Study On The Spatial Evolution Of Commercial Sex Work In New Orleans, 1875 – 1925, Austin Roebuck

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This research examines the historic spatiality of commercial sex‑work in New Orleans by analyzing targeted addresses associated with the trade across three census years. Using the establishment and closure of Storyville (1897–1917) as a temporal frame, it compares demographic patterns in dwellings labeled as “houses of ill fame” in 1880, 1900, and 1920 to trace changes in household composition and social identity. Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, newspapers, and city directories contextualize these patterns within three ten‑year intervals (1875–1885, 1895–1905, 1915–1925), revealing how sex‑work spaces were regulated, represented, and embedded in the urban landscape. The study also incorporates an archaeological assemblage …

Rationalizing The Despicable: Creating Talthybius In Euripides’ The Trojan Women, P Rob Brown

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A reflection on my personal work and development as an actor and performer over the three years of this program, specifically focusing on the work of creating the character of Talthybius in Euripides’ The Trojan Women.

H.A.G.S., Erin Pinkham

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

H.A.G.S (Have A Great Summer) The book transports the reader into a Y2K southern suburban landscape, influenced by Texas Megachurches, the height of the shopping mall era, and the upcoming and ever present loom of the internet. It narrates through this world by diving in and out of a younger and older voice. A voice that remains in the present tense as it searches through the speaker’s understanding and observance of the world around them and the danger looming over their young girl body. This book looks to uncover these moments where we as young girls might better understand why …

Proud To Be Lao: Examining Lao American Identity Through Transnational Music And Performance, Zechary Phouthavong

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

For some time, Lao popular music has not received the same global recognition as other genres emerging out of Asia, such as K-Pop and Bollywood. In recent years, however, Lao-pop artists like Thinlamphone and Zamio P have broken onto the global stage, with music that showcases a unique blend of traditional Lao instrumentation with hip-hop, pop, and R&B styles. This emerging trend is particularly poignant for Lao Americans, as Lao-pop allows for Lao Americans to negotiate their experiences of being both Lao and American, further signifying its importance to constructing identity. This thesis explores the unique process of Lao Americans …

Writing Through The Plague: Memory, Trauma, And Survival In Arabic And English Narrative, Zainab Abbood Jawhar Aldaoseri

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines how Arabic and English literary and intellectual traditions responded to the Black Death as a shared yet differently articulated experience of collective trauma. Drawing on trauma theory, particularly the work of Cathy Caruth and Dominick LaCapra, it analyzes how plague narratives function as cultural mechanisms for processing mass suffering. Through a comparative study of Arabic historiographical, theological, medical, and poetic texts alongside English allegorical, mystical, autobiographical, and satirical writings, this project argues that both traditions developed distinct narrative strategies to render the trauma of plague intelligible. Arabic plague literature, represented by figures such as Ibn Khaldūn, Ibn …

Where Doubts Fade And Stars Glow: A Costume Designer’S Journey In Silent Sky By Lauren Gunderson, Randy Tabiliran Olarte

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study employs a practice-based design methodology grounded in historical research, visual analysis, material experimentation, and collaborative production processes. This thesis, Where Doubts and Stars Glow: A Costume Designer’s Journey for Silent Sky by Lauren Gunderson, explores the process of design and creation of costumes for the production of Silent Sky at the University of Arkansas. Silent Sky portrays an astronomer whose work in the early 1900s profoundly impacted the study of photographic plates for mapping stars. Specifically, the astronomer closely analyzes Cepheid variable stars, discovering that their consistent brightness fluctuations aid in determining stellar distances and the universe's size. …

Hitler's Foreign Legions: Non-German Recruitment And Formations In The Waffen Ss, Jacob O'Bannon

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

During the Nazi regime, the armed bodyguard of the National Socialist Party the, the SS grew rapidly and eventually recruited foreign manpower. This thesis analyzes the rapid expansion of the SS as an armed military force and traces their forays into non-German states to recruit as the demands of World War II increased. The SS fielded thirty-eight divisions by the end of the war with hundreds of thousands of members not being from Germany. This rapid expansion, undertaken with soldiers from a variety of backgrounds, created a series of fractures between the ideological tenets of the SS and their practices. …

Silent Sky: Exploring The Universe Of Theatre Through A Directorial Lens, Sarah Behrend-Wilcox

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis documents the directorial process of a production of Lauren Gunderson’s Silent Sky, produced by the University of Arkansas Department of Theatre. This document follows the director’s journey from initial script analysis through closing night, with an emphasis on the successes and challenges found in mounting this fully realized, artistically unified production. The central argument of this thesis is that through careful documentation of a single production, it is possible to identify both successful strategies and areas for growth in the collaborative process. This thesis is organized in four chapters: The Big Bang, The Matter, The Dark Matter, and …

“Blessed Solace”: Playing The Stoically Vulnerable Marmee, Marjorie Joann Gast

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, I will explain my journey bringing a well-known literary character, Marmee March from Little Women: The Broadway Musical, to life on stage. This thesis will also discuss the development of my original one-person show Pearl, its drafts and iterations, and the intended future expansion of the piece. Finally, I will include my statement of artistry, production programs, posters, and photographs; website link, headshot, and resume.

Performing The American Dream: Passing And Identity In The Great Gatsby (1925) And Passing (1929), Olivia O'Sullivan

Master's Theses

In this thesis, I explore how Jay Gatsby, protagonist in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, and Clare Kendry, protagonist in Nella Larsen’s Passing, pass in order to achieve their American Dream. Both characters rely on carefully crafted identities to gain social mobility and access to worlds that would otherwise be out of their reach through the people they surround themselves with, their clothing, their mannerism, and even their intimate relationships. Throughout my close reading and analysis, I determine that Jay Gatsby and Clare Kendry’s attempts to pass to achieve the American Dream are futile, which demonstrates the idea that …

Maa’: An Analysis From The May Weber Ethnographic Study Collection, Claire T. Chilla

Department of Anthropology

An analysis of Maa’ textiles from Sulawesi Indonesia. Discusses both the artistic symbolism, possible physical creation, and the spiritual connection of the textile for the Torajans. Informs through the lens of globalization, colonization, and funerary practices from the country of origin.

Dutiful Wife, Grieving Mother: Examining Medieval Joban Allusion Through A Matricentric Affective Lens, Morgan Lee

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis uses concepts of matricentrism and affect to examine the legacy of Job and its frequent medieval allusions in stories featuring grieving mothers. It specifically analyzes how, in order to be considered noble, steadfast sufferers, women were expected to relinquish their maternal grief and adopt a stoic affect. This was often to the benefit of or in the direct service of their husbands. The analysis covers three women in particular: Job’s wife (who is examined through the medieval commentary written about her), Prudence from Chaucer’s "Tale of Melibee," and Griselda from Chaucer’s "Clerk’s Tale." This thesis utilizes medieval conduct …

Wildflower Season: A Semi-Somnolescent Retrospective, Connor Johnson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

I came to graduate school under the impression that I would be working on my own. I believed the process of playwriting to be an individualistic pursuit, where my plays came from my mind and my mind alone. Instead, through the process of writing my thesis play, Wildflower Season, and its subsequent production as part of the ArkType New Play Festival, I discovered that writing a play was a collective endeavor, and that one of the great pleasures the theatre has to offer is creating it with a group of other people.

Let The Mystery Be: Meditations On Process, Wildness, And Collaboration In The Creation Of The Play Camp Wyldwood, Basilton Parnell

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is a mix of personal reflection and examination of my time in graduate school and the creation, development, and subsequent production of my full-length play, Camp Wyldwood. Camp Wyldwood was performed as a part of the spring 2026 ArkType New Works Festival at the University of Arkansas.

Reframing Little Women: Renovating A Classic For Modern Audiences, Claire Wewers

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis serves as the documentation of the director’s process in creating a production of Little Women: The Broadway Musical for the Main Stage season at the University of Arkansas in the fall semester of 2025. This thesis will serve as in-depth record from the initial reading of the script through the opening of the project using the metaphor of the building of a house. In Chapter 1 “Introduction,” the document will provide context for the thesis. It presents several of the materials used in the creation of the thesis, discusses the methodology of the study which is mostly historical …

Volume Cxlv, Number 20, May 1, 2026, Lawrence University

The Lawrentian

No abstract provided.

The Oncoming Light: An Experiential Approach To Psychological Exposition Through Dialogue-Driven Narrative, Benjamin G. Dewitt

Honors Theses

Narrative is a lens through which we understand ourselves, our histories, our futures, and our ties to those around us. Narrative form has undergone vast transformations over time, and in the case of “postmodern” literature, pushes the boundaries of form into the experimental, questioning the truth of knowledge itself. While these experimental works can give rise to uniquely powerful emotional experiences, some components of narrative, when abandoned, may only hinder the immersion of the reader. This thesis evaluates several experimental, dialogue-driven narrative works against these components: linguistic, literal, emotional, and intellectual significance, in a hierarchy of importance as proposed by …

“Who Are We?”: Exploring Adolescent Identity And Community Through Collaborative Mural Art, Rachel E. Stacy

Honors Theses

This thesis explores how participation in a high school mural club influences students’ sense of personal identity and community. By creating and leading a mural club, I guided students in designing and painting murals around their school and extending this work into the local community, all focused on how students defined themselves within the context of the school’s motto: “A Star is Rising”. I used qualitative methods including surveys, observational notes, artist statements, and visual documentation to examine and analyze how students experienced identity and collaboration throughout the process. The findings show that the creation of these murals provided students …

Creative Nonfiction Essays, Colby S. Langley

Honors Theses

To write about the present with any authority requires a keen eye for the past. To write from our lives into meaningful creative nonfiction requires a firm understanding that experience is the composite of life experience blending into the current moment. The writing is then drawn irreversibly towards emotion: indulgent and oppressive. The extremity of emotion dictates the difficulty of transcribing the experience onto the page, and violence is a source of both extreme emotion and experience. It is important to note that I am primarily considering personal violence for this essay, while societal and institutional violence have their own …

Emotional Detachment In A Second Language: Exploring Emotional Expression In Bilingual Adults, Daniela Salas Lopez

Honors Theses

This qualitative study explored how bilingual and multilingual adults experience emotional detachment when using a second language and how language shapes emotional expression. This study aimed to examine how bilingual individuals personally experience these emotional differences in everyday life. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six bilingual or multilingual adults from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Findings revealed five major themes: emotional detachment in a second language, reduced emotional intensity and meaning, increased cognitive effort and emotional fatigue, authenticity and emotional comfort in the first language, and identity and personality shifts across languages. Participants consistently …

Unraveling The Modernist Grid: An Exploration Of Femininity And Containment In Design History, Riley Hayes

Honors Theses

This paper examines the Swiss grid as both a foundational tool of modernist graphic design and a cultural system embedded with ideological assumptions about order, neutrality, and authority. While the Swiss design tradition is widely celebrated for its clarity, rationality, and universality, this study argues that such principles are not neutral but historically situated, shaping how postwar Western visual culture organizes information, bodies, and value systems. Focusing on the circulation of Swiss design principles through editorial and advertising media, the paper situates the grid as a structuring logic that extends beyond layout into the framing of identity and gender. This …