Digital Commons Network^™

Looking Inward, Looking Back: John Le Carré And The Spy Narrative After The Cold War, Rachel Lynn Hoag

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The genre of spy fiction confronts a paradigm-shifting event in the 1990s with the end of the Cold War. Despite critical speculation that the genre had outlived its usefulness, spy fiction writers navigate this period of transition, and the genre remains broadly popular with the reading public. This study examines how the work of Britain’s foremost espionage writer, John le Carré, navigates the changing geopolitical landscape of the late twentieth and early twenty-first century. In mapping this terrain, one sees two distinct impulses emerge: a tendency to look inward and a tendency to look back. To look inward, the novels …

De Médée À La Sorcière : Reconstruction D’Un Mythe Par Michelet, Caroline Strobbe

The Coastal Review

In La Sorcière, Jules Michelet uses the strength and the myth of the Medea character, which had already fascinated Corneille. In the second part of his work, Michelet creates nominative witches after authentic texts. In the first part, he creates an allegoric witch on the Medea model: the Woman, a victim of arbitrariness, injustice and repression, rises up against her oppressors, figuring the march of Humanity towards Enlightenment and Liberty. The analogies between the Witch and Medea are therefore numerous and necessary, since they help to render the defense of the oppressed against the oppressor. Would the somber Medea, …

Communicating With The Past Via Javier Cercas’ Las Leyes De La Frontera, Bobby D. Nixon

The Coastal Review

Cercas’ protagonist, Gafitas, narrates his memories of being a member of "el Zarco's" youth gang in the barrio chino of Girona during the summer of 1978, from the vantage point of the early 2000s. The novel is simultaneously viewed through the intertextual lens of José Antonio de la Loma’s cycle of quinqui films based on the life of the famous Catalan delinquent, El Vaquilla, Juan José Moreno Cuenca. There is renewed interest in these films from the Transition period of the late 1970s and early 1980s, with the success of this novel and director Daniel Monzón's film based on Cercas’ …

The Queer Performance, Owen Coldsnow

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

For my project, I decided to make a documentary focusing on the experiences of queer, University of Akron students appropriately called, “The Queer Performance.” As a member of the LGBTQ+ community myself, it was particularly important to me to document the unique challenges that queer students have to face. One specific challenge that rings true for me is putting on many different personas in different situations, and I wanted to see how this compared and contrasted with other members of the community. According to Goffman’s Dramaturgical Theory, everyone puts on an act when they are around people, but each of …

Constance After Dark, Connor Vanmaele

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Constance After Dark is an episodic screenplay, outlining the beginning, middle and end of a television comedy pilot. Set in Ohio, the story follows Brooks Riegler in his first semester at the fictional “Constance College” as he navigates the ups and downs of university life at the lowest ranked school in the state. Due to a class taught by the eccentric and nefarious Dr. Mars, Brooks learns to open up to hyperactive athletes, obsessive overachievers, and even strange, mysterious men urinating on the side of the road. Brooks, Cassidy, Jenny and Guy form a tight-knit and unlikely bond in a …

Magic Show: Themed Experiences Utilizing Animation, Emma Cuitino

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Magic Show is an animated short film created in the Unity game engine that follows a mischievous fairy named Faye, who attempts to deceive her human audience, the viewer, into believing she can do magic. My goal in the program was to create a themed entertainment experience. I created a point-of-view animated film as an alternative to traditional theme park 3D/4D attractions that typically take place in a theatrical setting with large audiences. This allows for a more intimate experience and accessibility in the absence of a physical theater. The storyline itself is a study of imposter syndrome. Instead of …

Tooth Farmer: Exploring 3d Printed Replacement Heads For Stop-Motion Animated Films, Jamie Lachnicht

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Tooth Farmer is a 2-minute hybrid animated short film combining stop-motion puppetry with a 3D environment. Tooth Farmer is a vital story as it was developed over four years and getting closer to the artist's goal of creating a successful stop-motion armature puppet that is durable for an entire stop-motion short. The story is a different take on the Tooth Fairy mythology that varies from culture to culture. This story offers an alternative to the world of the Tooth Fairy folklore. In Tooth Farmer, a little mouse lives inside a person's mouth to help maintain tooth hygiene. The film focuses …

For Everyone's Eyes Only: Digital Art As Public Art (Agency, Accessibility, And Aura), Linda Dai

Pomona Senior Theses

Should digital art qualify as public art? This thesis aims to explore the significance of this question in a contemporary context by cross-examining the two genres in terms of creative agency, accessibility, and aura. Through various interviews and case studies with global artists, I examine similarities and differences in materiality and engagement in public and digital art and the implications of my findings under broader, theoretical frameworks. I further seek to understand how the relationship between technology, art, and society has shifted over time. Ultimately, I argue that the fluidity of digital art allows to exist in public and private …

Inhumanity Restored: Digital Play & Poetic Drama, Ali Emir Dağlar

Comparative Literature M.A. Essays

This essay addresses the relationship of digital games to absurdism through a comparison of the 2011 video game Dark Souls with Samuel Beckett’s absurdist play Waiting for Godot. Staked in this comparison is the rhetoric not only of Dark Souls but of the contemporary digital game as a medium; establishing an analogy that speaks to the broader genealogy of modern media, my argument implicates the underemphasized yet critically meaningful kinship of computer games and poetic theater. I argue that understanding the digital game vis-a-vis absurdism means explicating how the 20th century stage, particularly that of Beckett, prefigures contemporary digital worlds …

Middle Savannah River: An A/R/Tographic Ecopedagogical Ethnography Experimenting With Rhizomatic Perspectives, Lisa Augustine-Chizmar

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

This research is an experiment in perspective. Using the four commonplaces (Schwab, 1978), I practiced letting the Savannah River teach me what there is to know about the water, the land, the people, and the other entities that depend on ki through artistic, ethnographic, and ecopedagogical lenses. The ethnographic findings describe the social actors that depend on ki and give a voice to the River. The a/r/tographic findings display the River on a canvas map through two hundred years using paint, clay, photography, video, abstract acrylics, and fabric. Together, these methods contribute to a unique ecopedagogical journey. This word cloud …

To, From: Of Time, Of Distance, Of Body And Mind, Fanxi Sun

Theses and Dissertations

This paper introduces the concepts, theories, and techniques associated with my thesis project “To, From.” The paper consists of three parts: Time as Structure, Distance as Premise, and Body and Mind. Each chapter is written in a mixture of personal narration and a general introduction to materials that are directly or implicatively relevant and important to the creation of my project. In this experimental narrative comprises film screening and live performance with multi-channel sound, I tell a story of non-story. Words and the exchange of words, movements and non- movements, objects that are being handled and subjects that are handling... …

การสร้างแนวคิดใหม่ให้จังหวัดเชียงใหม่เป็นเมืองภาพยนตร์ดิจิทัล : การใช้วิถีนิเวศวัฒนธรรมเพื่อพัฒนาแผนยุทธศาสตร์การเป็นเมืองภาพยนตร์ที่ยั่งยืน, เทพฤทธิ์ มณีกุล

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

งานวิจัยนี้ได้ดำเนินการในสามส่วนหลัก ๆ ได้แก่ การวิเคราะห์กิจกรรมต่าง ๆ ในการผลิตภาพยนตร์ในจังหวัดเชียงใหม่ในฐานะระบบนิเวศทางวัฒนธรรม โดยการวิเคราะห์อุตสาหกรรมภาพยนตร์และโครงสร้างพื้นฐานของจังหวัดเชียงใหม่ในฐานะระบบวัฒนธรรมที่พึ่งพาอาศัยกันของผู้คนที่เชื่อมโยงกับองค์กร สถาบัน ธุรกิจ ระบบเทคโนโลยี และปฏิบัติการเชิงสร้างสรรค์ในการผลิตภาพยนตร์ดิจิทัล ส่วนต่อมา คือ การรวบรวมข้อมูลและประเมินทรรศนะของกลุ่มผู้มีส่วนได้ส่วนเสียในระบบนิเวศทางวัฒนธรรมเกี่ยวกับสภาพการณ์ปัจจุบัน ปัญหาสำคัญ และความต้องการในอนาคต เพื่อรักษาและเสริมสร้างระบบในงานด้านภาพยนตร์ดิจิทัลของจังหวัดเชียงใหม่ และส่วนสุดท้าย คือ การออกแบบแผนยุทธศาสตร์เพื่อพัฒนาและปรับปรุงระบบนิเวศของอุตสาหกรรมภาพยนตร์ดิจิทัลของจังหวัดเชียงใหม่ตามวิถีของความยั่งยืน แผนยุทธศาสตร์ดังกล่าวนี้ได้ระบุถึงโอกาสสำหรับจังหวัดเชียงใหม่ในการพัฒนาโครงสร้างพื้นฐานและทรัพยากรบุคคลในอุตสาหกรรมภาพยนตร์ดิจิทัลผ่านการดำเนินการสองระยะ ได้แก่ ระยะแรกเป็นการมุ่งเน้นและเสริมจุดแข็งเพื่อการเป็น “เมืองที่เป็นมิตรกับภาพยนตร์” ผ่านการจัดงานและกิจกรรมต่าง ๆ และระยะหลังเป็นการพัฒนาคุณลักษณะเฉพาะของระบบนิเวศในงานด้านภาพยนตร์ดิจิทัลของจังหวัดเชียงใหม่ไปสู่ความเป็นเมืองภาพยนตร์ที่ยั่งยืนผ่านโครงการและแผนงานที่มีขนาดใหญ่ขึ้นผู้วิจัยได้ใช้วิธีดำเนินการวิจัยแบบผสานวิธี คือใช้ทั้งการวิจัยเชิงปริมาณและการวิจัยเชิงคุณภาพ ด้วยการสำรวจความคิดเห็นจากประชาชนในท้องถิ่น การสัมภาษณ์เชิงลึก การสังเกตการณ์แบบมีส่วนร่วม ตลอดจนการวิเคราะห์ข้อมูลจากหนังสือ วารสาร เอกสาร และงานวิจัยที่เกี่ยวข้องผลการศึกษาพบว่า คุณลักษณะเฉพาะของระบบนิเวศของจังหวัดเชียงใหม่ที่ส่งผลต่อการพัฒนาอุตสาหกรรมภาพยนตร์ดิจิทัล และนับเป็นจุดแข็งที่ชัดเจน ได้แก่ ทรัพยากรบุคคลที่มีความรู้และความคิดสร้างสรรค์ โดยเฉพาะบุคลากรที่มีมากขึ้นในอุตสาหกรรมนี้ ทั้งในเชิงปริมาณและคุณภาพ และรองลงมาคือสภาพการณ์ปัจจุบันของพื้นที่ซึ่งมีความโดดเด่นและเป็นเอกลักษณ์ไม่เหมือนจังหวัดอื่น ๆ ทั้งด้านคุณภาพชีวิต โครงสร้างพื้นฐานทางเทคโนโลยีที่ทันสมัย ความพร้อมในธุรกิจภาพยนตร์ดิจิทัล สถานที่ถ่ายทำที่หลากหลาย และเครือข่ายระดับนานาชาติ อีกทั้งประชาชนในท้องถิ่นยังมีความต้องการให้มุ่งเน้นการพัฒนาคนรวมถึงการสร้างเสริมโอกาสงานเป็นอันดับแรก เพื่อให้คนเป็นกำลังสำคัญในการขับเคลื่อนการพัฒนาในมิติอื่น ๆ ต่อไปส่วนประเด็นสำคัญในการสร้างแผนยุทธศาสตร์นี้มี 3 ประเด็นหลัก ได้แก่ 1) การกำหนดแนวทางแผนปฏิบัติการเร่งรัดสำหรับการจัดกิจกรรมทางภาพยนตร์ในพื้นที่เพื่อสร้างความตื่นตัวและการมีส่วนร่วมภาคประชาชนให้แก่ผู้คนในท้องถิ่นตามวิถีนิเวศวัฒนธรรม 2) การจัดตั้งหน่วยงานเฉพาะ องค์กร หรือเครือข่ายขึ้นเพื่อดูแลรับผิดชอบงานด้านภาพยนตร์ในพื้นที่ ตลอดจนการอัปเดตข้อมูลข่าวสารและกิจกรรมต่าง ๆ ที่เกี่ยวข้อง 3) ความสอดคล้องกับแผนพัฒนาจังหวัดและเชื่อมต่อกับนโยบายภาครัฐที่เกี่ยวข้อง โดยอาศัยโอกาสในการพัฒนาทรัพยากรบุคคลและโครงสร้างพื้นฐานของพื้นที่จากอุตสาหกรรมท่องเที่ยวและอุตสาหกรรมไมซ์ ซึ่งสามารถช่วยสร้างเสริมอัตลักษณ์ของจังหวัดเชียงใหม่ให้มีเสน่ห์และความโดดเด่นยิ่งขึ้นในฐานะ “เมืองที่เป็นมิตรกับภาพยนตร์” ด้วยระบบนิเวศทางวัฒนธรรมที่สร้างสรรค์สำหรับงานด้านภาพยนตร์ดิจิทัลดังนั้น ผู้วิจัยจึงได้กำหนดประเด็นพัฒนาในแผนยุทธศาสตร์การพัฒนาอุตสาหกรรมภาพยนตร์ดิจิทัลจังหวัดเชียงใหม่ตามวิถีนิเวศวัฒนธรรมไว้ 4 ด้านด้วยกัน ได้แก่ ด้านศักยภาพของคน ศักยภาพของพื้นที่ การจัดการ และการมีส่วนร่วม โดยมีเป้าหมายในระยะสั้นไปสู่การเป็นเมืองที่เป็นมิตรกับภาพยนตร์ และปูทางไปสู่เป้าหมายระยะยาวในการเป็นเมืองภาพยนตร์ที่ยั่งยืนต่อไป

Irene Cox, Lindsey Arturo

Theses and Dissertations

This document explores the question of “Who is Irene Cox?” as a jumping off point for creating an artwork which navigates online information landscapes and their logics circa 2023. By using thirteen unique but similar found paintings of the same floral still life by an artist named “Irene Cox” I create a visually meandering, absurd, haunting, and comical pathway for thinking through who exactly is Irene Cox via the internet. How such a question is even asked becomes the art in which a myriad of visual techniques are used to explore the nature of the question. Included in this paper …

Rooted In Between, Manavi Singh

Theses and Dissertations

Rooted in Between is a personal project that explores the complexities of belonging and the emotions that come with navigating between spaces that we call home. This written thesis is in support of the carefully curated video based and photographic work presented at an exhibition of the same title. The project's primary objective is to delve into the physical and emotional baggage that we carry with us as we move from one place to another. The project highlights the coping mechanisms adopted by the different generations in my family while struggling to find a place where we truly belong.

You're Gonna Lose That Girl, Wilmont True

Screenwriting and Film Studies Theses (MA/MFA)

In the feature screenplay, You're Gonna Lose That Girl, by Bill True, fifty-something Jason Kite blames his failed life on getting dumped twenty-five years ago during a slow-dance cover of the iconic Beatles song. Then Paul McCartney, who is actually a wizard of space and time, shows up and sends Jason back in time to the fateful weekend to play wingman to his younger self in order to stop the breakup from happening and, in the process, fix Jason’s life.

African American Youth-Identity, Invisible Powers & Hypnotic Blaxploitation-Themed Film Tropes: From Superfly & Drug Culture To Black Panther & Wakanda, Daniel Mitchell

Screenwriting and Film Studies Theses (MA/MFA)

This thesis project explores the most influential effect of the blaxploitation era. It is during a time shortly after the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements, where black youth are still enduring identity issues. The point of departure for central discussion of this work revolves around the mesmerizing Hollywood blaxploitation film, Superfly. It arrived on the big screen in 1972. The hit movie and its soundtrack seemingly hypnotized countless young African American youth in urban areas to become drug dealers and users. This coincided with Nixon’s War on Drugs collusion with government agencies, and the secret COINTELPRO operation. They …

Slaughterville, Kristjan Kay

Screenwriting and Film Studies Theses (MA/MFA)

Jim Reaper has it made. He's one of the best employees at Afterlife Incorporated and has gotten his work down pat. But when he's given a new employee to mentor he finds his secret is at risk: Jim pretends to be mortal in the small town of Slaughterville, Oklahoma, and has a mortal wife!

Princes, Princesses, And Socialites: Feminism And Class Transgression In Hollywood Romantic Comedies, Justina Marie Clayburn

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation explored how characters in romantic comedies negotiate and transgress class boundaries as the films conform to and challenge genre and social expectations, focusing primarily through a feminist lens. Specifically, it addresses the different ways the films negotiate ideas about American identity and economic systems, simultaneously trying to acknowledge problematic elements while upholding social and nationalistic ideals. Feminism has a complicated relationship with Hollywood romantic comedies. While the genre often focuses on issues of interest to women and forefronts female characters and their professional and personal experiences, the denouement generally reinforces heteronormative monogamous relationships above others and the traditional …

Bibliography, Kristi Branham

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

Bibliography of publications by Kristi Branham.

Identities Of Women In Indian Art And History, Nalini Rao

Monsoon: South Asian Studies Association Journal

The stereotypical image of Indian women portrayed in the art of stone sculpture is often interpreted as images of beauty that are sensuous, religious as well depict social life. There are historical reasons for depicting her as such. This paper inquires into the changing depiction and social forces that influenced feminine imagery. This paper examines the portrayal of beauty through idealization of female body which has evolved over the centuries in India. It also aims to understand their changing status and explores issues of feminine identity, status, and empowerment largely in ancient and medieval India. It also provides a brief …

La Radical Imperfección Del Mundo: El Crimen Perfecto De Jean Baudrillard Y El Crimen Ferpecto De Alex De La Iglesia, Maria A. Gomez

The Coastal Review

Le parfait crime (1995) by Jean Baudrillard and Crimen ferpecto (2004) by the Basque director Alex de la Iglesia are two works that not only have in common almost identical titles. They both reflect on how in consumer societies, an imperfect real world is substituted for an illusory hyperreality in which the distinction between subject and object has disappeared. While Baudrillard explains how the denial of a transcendent reality in contemporary society is “a perfect crime” that destroys the real, Alex de la Iglesia uses black humor and a mix of genres (mainly grotesque comedy and thriller) to show the …

Uno Sguardo Oltre I Bordi Della Fotografia Coloniale, Simone Brioni Dr.

Department of English Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Joker Controversy: An Origin Story, Brandon Bosch, Lisa Kort-Butler

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

The Joker has been in the Batman comics for over 80 years and appeared on small and large screen as Batman’s violent arch-nemesis. In the month prior to its theatrical release, commentary about the 2019 film Joker spurred a viral media reaction with concerns about the film inciting violence. To understand this phenomenon, we used Google Trends to trace a timeline of online media reactions mapped to events. Then, we analyzed over 200 news stories, commentary articles, and film reviews for explanatory narratives. We noted four key moments: the Venice Film Festival; an open letter by family members of victims …

The Burden Of Artificiality: Always The Servant, Never The Patron, Alia Biswas

Scripps Senior Theses

I examine three robots in Science Fiction, Data from the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, David from the movie A.I.: Artificial Intelligence, and Deckard from the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? to examine how they are analogous to marginalized bodies. I analyze how the marginalization of robots works to disorient robots so their labor can be extracted, as I focus through their embodiment of a happy object, and how their desire is directed towards the narrative of the good life, the myth that a happy life is achieved through adhering to heteronormativity. I use heteronormativity as …

Music For Visual Media Of The 21st Century What Role Does Music Have In Visual Media, Sigrid Heugen

Doctoral

This research consists of a composition portfolio which examines new perspectives on musical experiences in virtual environments, through the exploration and development of immersive adaptive music for a visual medium. The research addresses the usage, adaptation, and creation of music in visual media such as Virtual Reality (VR) and other Extended Realities (XR).

Social Media Strategies That Lead To Success In The Film Industry, Elisa O'Keefe-Smith

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Social media influence is important to movie industry leaders as it directly affects film revenues. The problem is that independent film managers often fail to increase revenues due to limited resources and a lack of social media marketing strategies. Grounded in the conceptual framework of social media marketing management (SMMM), this multiple case study was an exploration of the social media strategies used by independent film managers to increase film revenues. Participants were 10 U.S.-based independent film managers who successfully leveraged social media strategies in the film industry. Data were collected using semistructured interviews, publicly available documentation, data found on …

From Art To Propaganda: The Shift In The Concept Of The “Most Dead” In True Crime Literature, Hannah Mcconkey

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This thesis studies the shift of the true crime genre from art to inescapable propaganda. This change is due, in part, to the politization of the genre by modern society. This includes the concept of the “most dead” seen within the true crime genre over the past several decades. The idea of the most dead is the belief that some victims of crimes are more or less dead depending on how marketable their demographic is. For instance, a blonde, Caucasian child would be considered the most dead while a woman of color in the sex work industry would be the …

Blood And Oil: How Vampiric Literature Bolsters Big Oil’S Power, Sarah Marie Demond

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This thesis examines the relationship between blood and oil, that is, the multitude of ways in which the petromodernity industries harvests and threatens vitality. The introduction of this thesis is concerned tracking how petromodernity is a byproduct, offspring, or extension of colonialism. In this way, petromodernity can be thought about as “petro-colonialism.” Ursula K. LeGuin’s “Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction” informs the argument that the way thay petro-colonialism came to be and also maintains itself is by utilizing the “killer story.” This thesis also employs autorheoretical techniques informed by Lauren Fournier to show how petro-colonialism or “oiliness” sticks to its …

Has Bollywood Lost The Plot? Analyzing The Influence Of Item Songs On Rape Culture In India, Donna Susan Mathew

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

An item song is a provocative musical song and dance sequence that appears in Bollywood films that have little to no connection to the film’s plot, performed by an item girl for the male gaze. Contemporary Bollywood item songs have become highly contested social and political texts in the discourse surrounding rape culture in India. This research explores the socio-cultural context of rape culture in India and examines what makes item songs a popular and acceptable form of entertainment in a patriarchal, conservative society where sexualized violence against women is a major cause for concern.

The study also addresses the …

A Part From You, Kenneth Rick Briggenhorst Jr.

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

I invite empathy through art that is technologically assisted to find alternative interpretations for nontheologically informed faith. The sudden passing of my dearest friend, Jimmy, encouraged me to dig through my archives of data, to cherish all the bytes that remain of him. In this endeavor, I find that death is not the end, but a post-physical state of being. I express this sentiment in a part from you, where the work utilizes inanimate constructs to place your faith in, to make sense of the complexities of grief in a digitally tethered way of life. This life that allows many …