Digital Commons Network^™

Displays Of Medici Wealth And Authority: The Acts Of The Apostles And Valois Fêtes Tapestry Cycles, Madison L. Clyburn

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The objective of my research is to explore Medici extravagance, power, and wealth through the multifaceted artistic form of tapestries vis-à-vis two particular tapestry cycles; the Acts of the Apostles and the Valois Fêtes. The cycles were commissioned by Pope Leo X (1475-1521), the first Medici pope, and Catherine de' Medici (1519-1589), queen, queen regent, and queen mother of France. The motivation for such a project lies in analyzing what is traditionally considered as two independent tapestry cycles by revealing their social, religious, political, and artistic significance through the powerful dynastic influence of the Medici. As Leo and Catherine were …

The Wow Factor: Lesbian Representation And Impact In Late-20th Century Theatre, Brenna L. Maginness

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The intent of this thesis is to investigate the influence of 1980's and 1990's lesbian playwrights on modern queer representation in theatre. By analyzing the successful works of troupes and artists born out of the Women's One World (WOW) Café, it became apparent that the greatest changes in lesbian portrayal on stage came from queer and feminist authorship. Additionally, WOW Café became the common denominator in the success of many lesbian playwrights due to the freedom it gave its writers and performers. As an independent theatre, WOW allowed its members to experiment with few rules, and offered a stage to …

An Exploration Of Integrating Visual Arts To Enhance Narrative Writing In The Elementary Classroom, Diana C. Herrera

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to integrate visual arts to enhance narrative writing. In this study I address three questions: (1) Why should educators integrate the arts in their classroom? (2) How does the content benefit the student's participation? and (3) How can we connect visual arts into narrative writing? To answer these questions, I researched several elementary teachers across the United States who have integrated the arts in their lessons. I also have researched and found multiple benefits to educators integrating the arts in their classroom. For example, a former middle school teacher used visual representation to help …

The Wonder Women: Understanding Feminism In Cosplay Performance, Amber Grissom

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Feminism conjures divisive and at times conflicting thoughts and feelings in the current political climate in the United States. For some, Wonder Woman is a feminist icon, for her devotion to truth, justice, and equality. In recent years, Wonder Woman has become successful in the film industry, and this is reflected by the growing community of cosplayers at comic book conventions. In this study, I examine gender performativity, gender identity, and feminism from the perspective of cosplayers of Wonder Woman. I collected ethnographic data using participant observation and semi-structured interviews with cosplayers at comic book conventions in Florida, Georgia, and …

Poems, Peter Gordon

The Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Journal of Florida Literature

No abstract provided.

Power To The People: Responsible Facilitation In Co-Creative Story-Making, Amanda Hill

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Power to the People: Responsible Facilitation in Co-Creative Story-Making describes and applies a tool for recording and analyzing the co-productive creation process of digital storytelling (DST) workshops to be used by project facilitators for the purposes of reflection and for developing an ethics of responsibly in story-making practices. It provides a method for analyzing digital storytelling practices that focuses on the rhetorical, dialogic, co-productive, creative story-making space rather than the finished stories or the technologies. Looking through a new media lens, this dissertation aligns the DST genre and practice in relation to alternative media broadly, and tactical media specifically, to …

Mindful Acting, Terence Lee

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As we transition into a more goal-oriented society, our ability to nurture and cultivate individual growth in emotional, spiritual, and mental awareness in the performing arts has been stifled by the desire to get ahead in our modern-day race for success. This fierce struggle brings with it a risk of subconscious deterioration in mental, spiritual and emotional health. As actors in an aggressive industry, we are often faced with the monumental task of preserving our artistry while competing in the industry, and we often find ourselves overwhelmed by the inescapable pressures in the business of acting. In "Mindful Acting", I …

The Living Hashtag Play: A Modernized Living Newspaper With Theatre Of The Oppressed Approaches To Play Development, Elizabeth Corsi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In a time where the majority of our news sources and justice movements are received, hashtagged, mobilized, and scrutinized through technology and social media, this thesis embarks to resurrect a once short lived concept of introducing theatre as an informative and educational news source. ?The Hashtag Play ?will be an experiment to create a modern living newspaper play that will utilize techniques and approaches found in Augusto Boal's Theatre of the Oppressed Pedagogy to devise meaningful and impactful art determined to educate, inform, and challenge artists and audiences while fostering a sense of community. For the purpose of this thesis, …

New Jersey Communication Association’S Adjunct/Contingent Faculty Certification Program: What Makes A Communication Classroom?, Christopher Lynch, Anita Foeman, Theresa Nance

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

The New Jersey Communication Association’s Adjunct/ Contingent Faculty Certification program provides a place of reflection for potential adjunct or contingent faculty and prepares them for teaching in a communication classroom. New Jersey state law requires an oral communication course for every college student. Disciplinary departments who may not have a direct connection with the field of communication often sponsor and teach these classes. Recruiting potential candidates to teach a communication class raises challenges for administrators and department chairs especially when many sections of the course are needed. The perception of non-communication administrators is sometimes that anyone can teach this core …

Linked Data In The Library & Openrefine, Sai Deng

Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Session on linked data and OpenRefine in "Stay Savvy with Scholarly Communication Brown Bag Lunch" at the University of Central Florida Libraries. It covers the following topics: Why does linked data matter? How can libraries and librarians embrace linked data? Linked Data in the Library and the Web (Cases, Standards and Vocabularies); Linked Data Design Principles, Building Blocks & Creation; Current Digital Repositories and Linked Data; Data Editing Tool: OpenRefine (Features, Examples); Possible Ways to Get Involved.

Serial Murder Mysteries: Revisiting Definitional Issues, Data Challenges, Archaic Theories, And Myths Using Empirical Evidence, Jolene Vincent

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

While serial killings have been the focus of much scholarly research, the definition of what it means to be a serial killer has been debated by law enforcement agencies and academics for decades. This overall lack of understanding about serial killers and the murders they commit has contributed to the numerous limitations concerning the general knowledge about this unique form of homicide. Furthermore, serial killers have typically been examined using psychological models, psychiatric approaches, or the external drives/motives of the offenders, while the development of a sociological perspective has received less attention. This current research uses arguably the most complete …

Central Florida Future, Vol. 42 No. 41, June 28, 2010

Central Florida Future

Alumni giving out legal aid; Get the scoop; Rock the Vote event sets group canvassing in motion.

A Step Forward: Adding Linked Data Vocabularies To Digital Repositories, Sai Deng

Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Linked data has been a recent endeavor in the library community and various libraries have experimented with linked data in their traditional library catalog and digital collections. This presentation will review the different linked data practices especially focusing on those related to digital collections in academic libraries, explore the current digital library systems’ capabilities in accommodating linked data and present how linked data vocabularies have been added to the digital repositories at the University of Central Florida (UCF) Libraries. The UCF Libraries have been adding linked data vocabularies to its institutional repository from the Library of Congress’ authority files and …

University Of Central Florida Undergraduate Catalog, 2018 - 2019, University Of Central Florida

UCF Catalogs

No abstract provided.

University Of Central Florida Graduate Catalog, 2018 - 2019, University Of Central Florida

UCF Catalogs

No abstract provided.

Civilizing The Metropole: The Role Of The 1889 Parisian Universal Exposition's Colonial Exhibits In Creating Greater France, Michael D. Brooks

The Pegasus Review: UCF Undergraduate Research Journal

During the era of New Imperialism, the French state had the daunting task of convincing the French public of the need to support and to sustain an overseas empire. Stemming from its defeat in the Franco-Prussian War and hoping to regain its former global position, the French state set out to demonstrate the importance of maintaining an empire. Since the vast majority of the French people were apathetic towards colonial ventures, the French state used the 1889 Parisian Universal Exposition not only to educate the French about the economic benefits of the empire, but to entertain them simultaneously so that …

Silence Of The Sexes: Gender Inversion In Jonathan Demme's The Silence Of The Lambs, Megan Evans

The Pegasus Review: UCF Undergraduate Research Journal

"Silence of the Sexes: Gender Inversion in Jonathan Demme's The Silence of the Lambs" focuses on the role gender plays in and between the characters of Clarice Starling, Buffalo Bill, and Dr. Hannibal Lecter in Jonathan Demme's film The Silence of the Lambs (1991). Specifically, the paper focuses on the struggle for Clarice to masculinize herself to be accepted in her career, and the struggle for Buffalo Bill to feminize himself in order to accept himself. The paper then discusses the inability for the one person to succeed while the other is still an obstacle in his or her …

Virtual Reality Technology And Customer Delight In Theme Parks: The Role Of Experience Quality, Chenge Jia

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

With the rapid development of Virtual Reality (VR) technology, theme park companies are eager to apply VR technology to their attractions. Operating as highly hedonic consumption businesses, theme parks need to make sure that they offer unique and memorable experiences to customers in order to enhance their competitive advantages. However, empirical data is needed to understand whether and how VR technology will enhance visitors' experiences, including the quality of their experience, customer delight, and customer loyalty. Therefore, this study aims to examine how VR influences visitor's theme park experience quality, customer delight, and customer loyalty. Based on an in-depth literature …

Marketing Practices Of Socially Responsible And Sustainable Businesses, Brooke A. Bivins

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The topic of this research is marketing practices of socially responsible and sustainable businesses. It examines the strategies companies and brands use to represent themselves to the public through products, advertising, and philanthropy. This includes an evaluation of existing frameworks and case studies, as well as in-depth interviews. The question that this research will answer is as follows: How can new or existing companies embrace and integrate social responsibility or sustainability in a way that is authentic and contributes to a positive public reputation?

Younger generations are increasingly willing to switch to and, in some cases, pay more for products …

Filling The House: Engaging A Millennial Performing Arts Audience, Sarah Schreck

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The purpose of this research is to identify best practices for public relations professionals when engaging with a Millennial performing arts audience, focusing on Hon and Grunig's relationship management theory (1999) and Kent and Taylor’s theory of dialogic communication (2014) to build interactivity in a digital space. Performing arts organizations have successfully engaged with previous generations, but are facing new challenges when communicating with millennial audiences. Changing demographics have led to a stagnation and decline of performing arts attendance as the millennial generation has come of age. This massive population has new priorities for spending and consumption of entertainment, and …

Emergent Narrative: Stories Of Play, Playing With Stories, Eric Murnane

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Emergent narrative, a phenomenon of unexpected contextual stories arising through play, has been researched in the field of game studies since 1999. However, that discussion largely lies in the realm of theoretical stories which are generated by either the system or the player. The purpose of this dissertation is to deepen our understanding of emergent narrative by examining real-world examples of the phenomenon. Four hundred player posts were gathered from forums relating to the video game Skyrim (a large, open world fantasy roleplaying game) and analyzed using a mixed-method framework which is informed by digital ethnography, fan studies, and game …

Exploring A Three-Dimensional Narrative Medium: The Theme Park As "De Sprookjessprokkelaar," The Gatherer And Teller Of Stories, Carissa Baker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the pervasiveness of storytelling in theme parks and establishes the theme park as a distinct narrative medium. It traces the characteristics of theme park storytelling, how it has changed over time, and what makes the medium unique. This was accomplished using a mixed methods approach drawing data from interviews with creative professionals, archival research, fieldwork, and an analysis of more than eight hundred narrative attractions. The survey of narrative attractions revealed the most common narrative expressions to be dark rides and stage shows. Source material tends to be cultural tales (legends, fairy tales) or intellectual properties (generally …

Anything But Crazy: How American Musical Theatre Can Change Societal Stigmas Against Mental Illnesses, Benjamin Walton

Honors Undergraduate Theses

There is a societal stigma that villainizes or degrades anyone diagnosed or associated with any mental illness. While many different forms of media have attempted to destroy this stigma through psycho-centric narratives, I wanted to argue that musical theatre has the greatest potential as a live entertainment source to deconstruct and reduce the stigma surrounding mental illness. For my research, I theorized that musical theatre can most effectively change societal stigma about mental illness by communicating a clear understanding of the disease through music, and achieving popularity in the public eye longer than other live forms of theatre. I chose …

Learning Spaces Are Wac: Investigating How Classroom Space Design Influences Student Disciplinary Identities, Landon Berry

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation used classroom observations, movement mapping, instructor interviews, and student focus groups to examine the ways in which both instructors and students navigated the classroom spaces they were assigned in upper-level, discipline-specific courses. By focusing on three diverse disciplines (writing and rhetoric, education, and chemistry), this dissertation makes arguments about how the design of classroom spaces (as well as the tools that are housed therein) support, facilitate, and detract from a student's ability to develop a disciplinary identity, which is defined here as the social and linguistic construction of a practitioner of a discipline that is shaped by the …

Golden Years, Sienna Malik

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Golden Years is the culmination of the author's studies in Creative Nonfiction writing, with attention to hybrid forms of the genre, combined with her professional background in screenwriting, and research interests in nostalgia and cultural preservation in the modern age. In the collection of essays, the author blends established forms of Creative Nonfiction, such as the braided essay, with literary conventions borrowed from other forms of written communication, such as the screenplay ("You Must Remember This," "Driver's Seat"), the cookbook ("Tip of my Tongue"), a travel guide ("A Trolley Runs Through It") and fabulist fiction ("Selkie on the Shore"). Through …

A Methodology On Weapon Combat Effectiveness Analytics Using Big Data And Live, Virtual, Or/And Constructive Simulations, Won Jung Ii

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Weapon Combat Effectiveness (WCE) analytics is very expensive, time-consuming, and dangerous in the real world because we have to create data from the real operations with a lot of people and weapons in the actual environment. The Modeling and Simulation (M&S) of many techniques is used for overcoming these limitations. Although the era of big data has emerged and achieved a great deal of success in a variety of fields, most WCE research using the Defense Modeling and Simulation (DM&S) techniques were studied without the help of big data technologies and techniques. The existing research has not considered various …

Evaluating Hydrologic Fluxes Through Stormwater Treatment Systems: Implication To Freshwater Springs In A Karst Environment, Nyle Rice

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In recent years, concentrations of nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus have increased in surface and groundwater resources, due in part to non-point source pollution associated with stormwater runoff. The elevated nutrient concentrations found in stormwater runoff have prompted the design of best management practices (BMP's) to mitigate the problem. The overall objective within this thesis is to analyze the performance of innovative surface BMPs and investigate connections between the BMPs and groundwater flows to freshwater springs within a karst environment. The performance of two stormwater BMPs, blanket filters and vertical reactors containing Bio-sorption Activated Media (BAM), are assessed in …

Structural Inclusion Tools For Theatre Teaching Artists, Leah Thomas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The term "inclusion" has been increasing in its use with students of various abilities, specifically students with autism. Creating inclusion work is a growing need within the field of theatre, and a catalyst for this work can be seen through the creation of the Theatre Development Fund's sensory-friendly performances in 2011. These sensory-friendly performances are primarily marketed to families and students who have been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, as ASD often creates a sensory sensitivity to bright lights, sudden movements, or loud sounds. As a theatre practitioner, the guiding question of my research is exploring whether inclusion practices can …

Gee, Officer Krupke: An Actor's Casebook, Eric Eichenlaub

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In 2016, I was cast as Officer Krupke in a production of West Side Story at Orlando Shakespeare Theater in Partnership with UCF. Even though Krupke can be thought of as a minor character in the play, bringing him to life required a great deal of research and imagination. In order to ground myself in the reality of the role, I researched the effects of implicit bias in modern policing, applied that research to Uta Hagen's Nine Questions, and brought that knowledge into the rehearsal hall and onto the stage. I examined how my character's interactions with Lieutenant Schrank influenced …

When Coquis Sing: Introducing Young Audiences To Death And Bereavement Through An Original Play, Michelle Loricco

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis documents the play development process of When Coquis Sing, an original play for young people that introduces the death of a parent on stage. Through the analysis of research from leading child psychologists and practical instruction from the Dougy Center, the National Center for grieving children and their families, this research defines important terms and demystifies language surrounding death to aid caregivers in having clear and concise conversations with children about death. The purpose of this document is to counter the American cultural perception of death as a taboo topic for children. Hosting open conversations about death leads …