Digital Commons Network^™

When You Forget Who You Are (Addressed To Younger Me), Jasmeen Kaur

Gandy Dancer Archives

No abstract provided.

Naam, Amna Haider

Graduate Thesis Collection

This thesis is a collection of short stories that blends realism, speculative fiction, and South Asian folklore to examine how identity is negotiated through belief, culture, and survival across borders. The stories center characters who must continually interpret the worlds they inhabit in order to sustain self identity. Names in this collection function as sites of power and vulnerability: they are inherited, altered and concealed, shaping how characters are seen and how they see themselves. Alongside names, the supernatural and myth emerges not only as metaphors, but as lived forces, drawing from Islamic folklore and mythic traditions to articulate experiences …

The Misadventures Of Popcorn And Zelda, Lori Lynne Kullberg

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The Value of Animal Protagonists for Young Readers in Children’s Literature. This series is about my rescue cat and dog, Popcorn and Zelda, who are brought together at different ages and stages of their life. Witnessing their sweet interaction, mischievous playfulness, and close bond, I am immediately provided the inspiration for the early reader series of my thesis, The Misadventures of Popcorn and Zelda. My animals offer a constant stream of entertainment in watching how they interact with not only one another, but with me, as well. Oftentimes, Popcorn and Zelda’s behavior mirrors how I think a person would act …

Ode To The Infomercial, Edward Wade

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

'Ode to the Infomercial' is a poetry collection in five sections which explores themes of contemporary American life, parenthood, and the media landscape. While primarily written in a narrative voice, the poetic approach is as diverse as the content. Interwoven throughout the collection is religious imagery and political posturing accompanied by healthy doses of self-criticism and humor.

The Messenger, Vol. 52, No. 2

The Messenger (archival - 1870-)

No abstract provided.

Why Christians Should Read And Write Science Fiction An Examination Of The Benefits Of Using Science Fiction To Spread The Gospel, Matthew Ryan Tompkins

Masters Theses

Science fiction is a form of literature that faces many objections from the church that many people may not be aware. Many Christians assume that science fiction is about worlds and technologies that challenge the nature of God’s creation. This assumption is largely because these opposing Christians have neither read or written science fiction. What this Christian opposition doesn’t realize is that whether it be movies, books or television, science fiction continues to grow in popularity as a genre in mainstream media. This growth has created a unique evangelical opportunity to use science fiction to preach to unbelievers. If Christians …

With Love From The Front: Exploring Authenticity In Historical Fiction, Sarah E. Ray

Masters Theses

This MFA thesis is comprised of an artist statement, a scholarly essay on authenticity in WWII historical fiction, and a novel set during World War II. The artist statement outlines personal experiences, faith perspective, and writing aesthetics that shape the approach to historical storytelling, examining how a history-oriented upbringing and Christ-centered worldview inform a writing philosophy centered on crafting emotion through authentic character development and vivid sensory details. The scholarly component argues that authentic WWII fiction requires both meticulous historical accuracy and genuine emotional truth. Drawing on primary sources including interviews with former WWII Army members, wartime diaries, and period …

The Emergency Exit, Aisha Alchaar

The Graduate Review

The Emergency Exit is a short story that blends elements of fantasy and magical realism to explore themes of trauma, resilience, and self-discovery. The narrative follows Amy, a sixteen-year-old girl trapped in a life of abuse, neglect, and despair. On the verge of running away, she stumbles upon a mysterious door labeled "The Emergency Exit," which transports her to an unfamiliar world—one filled with kindness, beauty, and the possibility of a better life. As Amy navigates this seemingly perfect place, she experiences love and belonging for the first time. However, just as she begins to embrace her new reality, she …

Backspin, Ryan Juliano

The Graduate Review

"Backspin" is an experiment in metafiction. The piece's narrative features two characters contemplating greater meaning within the story they find themselves in.

The Paulsons Are Going To Be Millionaires, Mark K. Matheson

The Graduate Review

No abstract provided.

Investigating The Relationship Between Noun Classes And Plant Folk Taxonomy In Chasu Language Of Kilimanjaro Region In Tanzania, Peter Rabson Mziray

Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

The current study investigates the relationship between noun classes and plant folk taxonomy in Chasu (G 22). The study focuses on two objectives: the first objective is to describe the plant folk taxonomy in Chasu and the second objective is to determine the relationship between noun classes and plant folk taxonomy in Chasu. Data were collected from rural villages in Same and Mwanga districts by using free listing, field interviews (jungle-walk-and-identify), and written texts containing Chasu plant names. The findings reveal that Chasu folk taxonomy reflects different ethnobotanical categories; including a unique beginner which is mmea/mimea ‘plant(s)’, and three life …

The Independent Music Scene In The Levant Between 2003 And 2023: Do-It-Yourself With The Support Of Arts And Culture Organizations, Areej Abou Harb

Regards

The beginning of the 21st century witnessed the rise of the internet and mobile technologies, as well as the expansion of the digital sphere and the emergence of the Do-It-Yourself music. Simultaneously, it experiences significant changes that reshaped the arts and cultural scene in general, and the music production in particular across the Levant. This period marked the institutionalization of arts and culture production and diffusion. It saw the formation of “intermediate” pan-Arab and regional organizations such as Culture Resource (Al-Mawred Al-Thaqafy) and AFAC (The Arab Fund for Arts and Culture), as well as the establishment of small record labels, …

Sonic Acts Of Care: Friendship-Based Networks And Grassroots Activism In Beirut, Rim J. Irscheid

Regards

The article examines a Beirut-based network of self-funded, independent musicians that translate memories and their emotions into artistic and activist practices. Drawing on musical albums created since the 2020 Beirut port explosion, the article explores the social and emotional impact of artist-run spaces for music production. Focusing on a friendship-based network around the collectively-run recording studio Tunefork Studios, it examines how care, trust, and solidarity with Lebanon’s citizens and music producers are translated into both their creative practices and their production and distribution strategies. I argue that Beirut-based musicians increasingly thematise the emotional toll and personal investment in political, infrastructural …

Creative Engagement With Ai Through Poetic Inquiry: A Posthuman Pedagogy, Amanda B. Deaton

Feminist Pedagogy

In this article, I describe an original teaching activity that explores the intersection of generative AI, poetic inquiry, and posthuman pedagogy, examining how students can critically and creatively engage with disruptive technologies. Using Rosi Braidotti’s posthuman framework (2013, 2019), I consider how generative AI might be used to challenge traditional notions of creativity, authorship, and knowledge production. Through a structured learning activity, students analyze a human poet’s work, generate AI-assisted poetry, and compose their own creative pieces, fostering non-linearity, memory and imagination, and defamiliarization—three key elements of Braidotti’s posthuman thinking. This pedagogical approach encourages ethical, affirmative engagement with AI, offering …

The Dinosaur Trials, Ashley Brooke Allen

Masters Theses

This thesis presents dinosaurs as a thematic craft element in fiction. The research portion of the thesis project describes dinosaur fiction as a genre and surveys key works of dinosaur fiction. It focuses on how the genre’s literary tradition established thematic precedent for fictional dinosaurs. The thesis highlights dinosaurs as characters and symbols while tracing the development of tropes and expectations within dinosaur fiction. It also acknowledges a potential limitation in the genre where science fiction elements constrain the creative and thematic potential of fictional dinosaurs. In response to this limitation, the thesis argues for new fantasy genre installments of …

“Mind The Gap”: The Importance Of Black Romance, Sierra Bouyer

The Kabod

“Romance is a necessary part of life,” Drew quotes Beverly Jenkins saying in an interview she did with People magazine. The topic of the discussion was the importance of Black romance due to the large influx of romance novels with white protagonists, and a lack of Black characters (or people of color) as protagonists or characters in general. This discussion took place in the 90s when Black romance was beginning to gain traction, but Black romance novels were nonexistent before the 1990s. This lack of Black romance caused a large gap to ensue between mainstream novels that were mostly white …

The Furious Flower Poetry Center: Teaching The Worlds Of Black Poetry To High School Students, Mary Beth Cancienne Phd, Hermione Dewitt, Zoe Mcdowell, Kaleigh D. Phelps, Liz Shanks James Madison University

Virginia English Journal

This article titled The Furious Flower Poetry Center: Teaching the Worlds of Black Poetry to High School Students features lesson plans that high school English graduate candidates wrote in a high school English methods course after participating in the decennial Furious Flower Poetry Conference in September of 2024 at James Madison University. High School poetry lessons featured are based on the poetry of Gwendolyn Brooks, Jericho Brown, Nikki Giovanni, Sophia Elhillo, DaMaris B. Hill, Darrel Alejandro Holnes, and Yalie Kamara. Poetic themes and craft taught and discussed in the lesson plans include identity, language, culture, hope, symbolism, tone, diction, and …

2025 Fall Quiz & Quill Magazine, English Department

Quiz and Quill

Table of Contents

• Front Cover: Strangler Fig by Grace McKenney
• Letter from the Editors by Freddie Borer & Wrenne Grone
• i dreamt we spoke by Mary Koeppen
• What Was I? by Worthy Wilson
• Will by Mars Scott
• My Life Flashing in Sixty Minutes by Grace McKenney
• Creatures of Discord & Dismay: Failure by Liticia Makhloufi
• St. Anthony by Helen Darrough
• Creatures of Discord & Dismay: Guilt by Liticia Makhloufi
• Three Layers by Freddie Borer
• A Week of Thought by Mars Scott
• Contributor Biographies
• Q&Q&A

Zero Textbook Low Cost Syllabus For English 2100 (Writing 1), Anne Grevenitis

Open Educational Resources

In English 2100, our focus will be on autoethnography as a genre of writing. To write an autoethnography is to examine the value of the personal and use traditional modes of research to flesh out the narrative of the self. Through diverse research methods (interviews and site observation) and a multiple-step writing process (journaling, drafting and peer reviewing), your autoethnography should make a substantive contribution, have aesthetic merit, have reflexivity, make an impact, and express a reality.

Brochure: 48th Annual Literary Festival, 2025: Suspend Your Disbelief, Kris Cameron, Sarah R. Glaser, Supercompstudios

48th Annual Literary Festival at ODU: October 5-10, 2025

No abstract provided.

The Grape Cries Out!: Revising And Updating An Anthology Of Contemporary Wine Poetry, Sarah Cecil, David Alvarez, Elly Mccausland

Annual Student Research Poster Session

This project aimed to update an anthology of poetry about wine to make “winespeak” more accessible to the general public. While professional wine critics have a nuanced palette and experience with wine, casual readers of wine poetry can unlock the sensations of wine that may escape them otherwise. In total, over 140 contemporary poetry books were read, primarily focusing on a list of 56 contemporary poets. This project was advised by DePauw Professor of English David Alvarez, as well as Elly McCausland, a professor of English Literature at the University of Ghent and published author of books on Taylor Swift.

I'M Saving Money Now To Buy A Gun, Jacob Feiner

Student Publications

A nonfiction story

English 11000, Spoken Adaptation Of Language And Literacy Narrative, Samantha Hernandez, Missy Watson

Open Educational Resources

The Spoken Adaptation assignment builds on a previous English Composition assignment, the Language and Literacy Narrative (LLN). The LLN asks students to write a detailed narrative about a personal experience they have had with Language and Literacy. Over the course of the semester, students are required to rewrite and revise this essay a number of times. This particular assignment tasks students with transforming their written work into an oral presentation.

Grateful To The Tide, Sophia S. Chesner

Student Publications

Creative writing nonfiction piece

A Flower's Farewell, Fragile Stillness, Days That "Stay", Sophia S. Chesner

Student Publications

Creative writing set of three poetry pieces

The Call, Sophia S. Chesner

Student Publications

Creative writing screenplay

Until They're Gone, Sophia S. Chesner

Student Publications

Creative writing fiction piece

Poetry And Empowerment In Islam, Stephanie Kerr

Journal of the Symposium of University Research and Creative Expression

Project Mentor(s): Katharine Whitcomb

In this collection I hope to express the abundance of empowerment my religion, Islam, has given me. Before my conversion I, like many, believed some misconceptions about women in Islam but now I have gained confidence and discovered I am capable of more than I ever thought. In this community I have also met many Muslim women who feel the same sense of empowerment. Presentation recording available in the SOURCE 2025 playlist: https://www.youtube.com/@cwusource5518

News And Notes

Appalachia

A Look Back at the Appalachian Mountain Club’s Long-Ago Membership Practices. 350th Year Since King Philip’s War on Talcott Mountain in Connecticut. Northeast Snow Survey Feasibility Study. All Out: AMC’s Action Plan for 2025-2030.

Matty's First Hike: Hiking Spain's Northwest Coast With A Baby And A Beagle, Katy Dycus

Appalachia

New parents venture along the coast of Galicia, from the Cliffs of Loiba to O Esteiro and back, with their son in a carrier.