Digital Commons Network^™

Scenic Design: Learning How To Think Outside The Black Box, Ashley Jensen

Theses and Dissertations

During my time in the scenic design MFA program at the University of South Carolina, the most important thing I learned is how little I knew before starting this journey. This thesis will explore the challenges I faced and the growth I experienced through the pain of it all. I will demonstrate what I learned by going through each design process step-by-step, and how I became a better artist for it.

Women Gaze Back: Affect And Apparatic Disintegration In Funeral Parade Of Roses And Perfect Blue, Jessi Ivie

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores how films Funeral Parade of Roses (1969) by Toshio Matsumoto and Perfect Blue (1997) by Satoshi Kon subvert the male gaze of the camera by having the female main characters look back at the audience. The characters Mima (Perfect Blue) and Eddie (Funeral Parade) take control of the camera to subvert the hierarchical relationship between apparatus, audience, and characters. Through the lenses of apparatus and affect theory, these films show how the world of film includes the audience instead of precluding them. Experimental editing and heightened emotional situations unsettle the audience's voyeuristic position, bringing them closer to …

The Voice As Identity: How Opera Has Influenced Dubbing In Italy And The United States, Brynn Allison Staker

Theses and Dissertations

An enduring Italian tradition of celebrating the voice and the Italian language as seen by the Italian perception and interest in opera has created an environment of celebration for Italian dubbers. The long-established history of opera in Italy, as well as the modern reception of Italian opera, have effectively placed the voice at the forefront of the Italian entertainment industry. This can be seen through an examination of the careers of Italian dubbers and the success that they saw in their industry. The United States did not have a longstanding operatic tradition, and when opera was introduced it was under …

Understanding Policy On The Move: The Workings Of School Policy And Teachers’ Emergent Positioning Through Narrative, Ryan Kerr

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the ways that school policies are understood and taken up by teachers. A review of the relevant literature suggests that much school policy, even that which is explicitly designed to ameliorate inequities that exist within schools and school systems, often have an inverse effect. It is also established that teachers, for many reasons, often subvert school policies in their daily practice. Using a transliteracies framework, this study seeks to explore the intimacies of these disconnects for teachers through a close look at their narratives surrounding school policy and the ways that certain policies affect their identities. This …

Perceptions Of Primary Grade Teachers About Reading Curriculum And Early Literacy Intervention, Melody Carr

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the perceptions of reading curriculum and early literacy intervention of primary grade teachers. The purpose of this study was to answer the following research questions: How do primary grade teachers view early literacy intervention? How do teachers perceive the basal reading program, Reading Wonders? While there are studies that focus on teacher perceptions, research is limited in the area of teachers’ perceptions of reading curriculum and early literacy intervention. Data was collected using a qualitative approach using a survey, interviews, and a focus group discussion. Findings reveal that teachers feel that they need to be prepared when …

Wayward Utopias: Time In Wilde And Goethe, Kafi Moghrabi Mr

Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, I study the dialectical relation between the Utopian imagination and a reality perceived in every way as antagonistic to hope. In the first chapter, I present Ernst Bloch’s Utopian vision, as presented in The Principle of Hope, which offers an exposition of the author’s Romantic Marxism. The second chapter engages Oscar Wilde’s only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, demonstrating how a life devoted to self-gratification only results in the constant deferral of Utopian longing, and how, undone, Dorian’s demise opens up Utopian possibilities as anticipated by Bloch. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s version of the …

Processing The Kaay Collection: Reeling In The Am Era, Dora L. Bradley

Theses and Dissertations

The KAAY Collection of reel-to-reel tapes was received at the Central Arkansas Library System at the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies and stored in the archives temporarily before being sent for digitization. The collection was not fully processed. This project was to include organizing and labeling the materials before cataloging descriptive information about each reel-to-reel tape. Further plans included digitizing and collecting metadata from each reel, as well as creating finding aides for the materials before they could be stored in the archive. Though a deed of gift was signed awarding ownership of the collection to the archive, interviews and …

Egypt’S Legal Modernism: Challenging The National Discourse, Mohamed A. El-Deeb

Theses and Dissertations

Egypt’s legal modernity is the story of the modern Egyptian state itself. Reforming the country’s judiciary in the late nineteenth century was meant to achieve ambitious aims beyond the functionality of a justice system. The utmost goal was the country’s independence from the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire. The judicial reforms modernized the Egyptian state and built a judiciary and legal community like no other place. Egypt achieved its independent judiciary before gaining its political independence. That was a remarkable achievement of the judicial reform. That rich part of Egypt’s modern history is negated and disregarded from public awareness. Not …

Communicating Politics Without Talking Politics: The Role Of The European Union In The Game Of Egyptian Culture., Mona Massoud

Theses and Dissertations

The European Union has provided various democracy aid programs to Egypt since 2013, yet the country’s democracy index has gone down since then[1]. Despite the stagnation in the trajectory of democratization, the EU expanded its democracy promotion aid programs in 2016 to encompass the independent cultural scene in Egypt. This thesis critically examines the reasons for the stagnation of democratization processes in Egypt, a MENA country that continues to be a recipient of the EU’s democracy promotion programs. It argues that there is a discrepancy between the EU’s stated democracy promotion rhetoric and its actions, a factor that …

An Exploration Of Power Relations In Select Plays Of Girish Karnad A Foucauldian Perspective, Srinivasa Yogananda Rao Netrakanti

Theses and Dissertations

The present study, ‘An Exploration of Power Relations in Select Plays of Girish Karnad: A Foucauldian Perspective‘ aims to study power relations among the different characters in the three plays of Girish Karnad viz., Tughlaq, Naga-Mandala and Tale- Danda through Foucault's three modalities of power viz., bio-power, disciplinary power and sovereign power.

Chapter 1, Introduction gives a bird-eye view of Foucauldian concepts of power followed by the three modes of objectification and dividing practices, subjects and power relations, inter-connectedness between power and knowledge, panopticism, bio-power and discourses, the application of Foucauldian theories of the three major powers. Next, a Girish …

Examining How Artistic Expression In The Classroom Can Increase Students' Academic Performance And Understanding Of Course Material, Jake Taylor Marrazzo

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative research study examined how artistic expression in the classroom can increase students’ academic performance and understanding of course material. This study consisted of graduate students in the Masters of Arts in Higher Education program at Rowan University, during the Fall/Spring 2023-2024 semesters, enrolled in at least one of the following courses: Crisis Management, Higher Education in America, and The College Student. The study utilized an artistic expression activity, painting, in connection with participants' course material and readings to understand the benefits of artistic expression on student success in the classroom. Some findings of this study show that artistic …

The J In Danger, Zachary Delamater

Theses and Dissertations

“The J in Danger” merges autobiographic and formal concerns in sculpture and installation to describe the existential hazards contemporary life poses to Queer and Disabled individuals. The paper utilizes silent letters as thematic device to connect notions of precarity to a broader sense of contemporary “doomerism.”

Édouard Manet’S Defense Of Modernity: Recontextualizing The Cat In Olympia, Rebecca Schiffman

Theses and Dissertations

The black cat in Édouard Manet’s seminal painting, Olympia, has often been relegated as a crude joke or symbol of reprehensible sexuality. This thesis argues that the cat plays a larger role in Manet’s representation of modernism, and functioned as a defense mechanism by the artist against his critics.

Human Experience In The Immersive Experience Economy, Beliz Yuksel Inal

Theses and Dissertations

This study explores the growing trend of immersive experiences, examining how they are designed and experienced. It compares the artistic Machine Hallucination and the commercial Van Gogh Immersive Experience examples. Analyzing audience engagement and social contexts, the research aims to understand the impact of immersive experiences on individuals and society.

A Taste For The Distasteful: The Aesthetics Of Gore In The Giallo And Horror Films Of Mario Bava, Thais Casado Bignardi-Engstrom

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis analyzes the Italian experience with horror in cinema in both psychoanalytic feminist and cognitive Marxist critical film theories through a study of visual renderings of excessive violence and sex in gothic and thrillers known as giallo films created by the film director Mario Bava. This is an art historical study that looks at Bava’s work against the Italian cultural landscape in the post war period.

Stages: Social Dance Forms As Catalyst For Recovery, R. Austin Marquez

Theses and Dissertations

Dances originating in social settings have served as catalysts for community building, liberation, and healing for decades. Hip hop, house, krumping, voguing, and other forms of dance have empowered communities in their struggle against oppressive forces and have subsequently become influential in media based popular culture. This research explores how social dance forms promoting empowerment are popularized through mediated culture and how this process informed the creation of Austin Marquez's MFA thesis, "STAGES.""STAGES" is an interdisciplinary performance that integrates Marquez's album and choreography to explore his recovery from alcoholism. This study investigates how choreographing narratives of recovery using social dance …

Rehearsing Attention: Contemporary Dance As A Practice Of Sustained Focus, Eve J. Jacobs

Theses and Dissertations

This paper contextualizes the influences, details the creative process, and reflects on the relevance of choreographer Eve Jacobs' artistic research for her MFA thesis, "Four Statements on Attention." She draws upon the legacies of choreographers Merce Cunningham and Anna Halprin; publications by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Johann Hari, Jenny Odell, and others; and resources from the activist coalition Friends of Attention to articulate how her dance practice continues to shape her capacity for sustained attention in an age of distraction.

The Mailroom, Davis Alianiello

Theses and Dissertations

Nadia takes a job in the mailroom of a sinister Boston ad agency. Her coworker is a disciple of Uncle_Hogshit, a radical online extremist. As the packages pile up and the wealthy disappear, we discover that Nadia is not who she seems.

This House Is For Laughing, Sam Walsh

Theses and Dissertations

Kendra has the perfect all-American family. She’s made sure of it. But when her brother Ben proves uncontrollable, she’s forced to confront her concept of family and how we choose to show up for one another.

Corridors, Miguel Antonio Alfredo V. Luarca

Theses and Dissertations

After twenty years away, Anj has come home to the Philippines, where three generations of women mourn the death of her estranged father. But one day in her family’s ancestral house is enough to remind her why she left. And why she might never escape.

Last Gold, Minna Lee

Theses and Dissertations

At the Winter Olympics sponsored by Beef Bowls ™, figure skating’s three-time silver medalist Chili must compete against their perfect girlfriend for one last shot at gold. In an arena filled with penguins, Beef Bowls ™, and real Olympic history, love and success go head to head.

My Sauce! Living In The Polyrhythm, Zakiya Harris

Theses and Dissertations

This paper contextualizes “Ghana: The Place Where the Chief Sleeps,” for which Harris served as dance captain, rehearsal director, dancer, stager and choreographer. Harris details how her work living inside the polyrhythms of performance, practices, and pedagogies can produce a holistic West African dance education for students.

Oblique, Edward Kijowski

Theses and Dissertations

Oblique is a multi-sensory art installation that provides a story of fragmentation in sound and light rendered by an obtuse hexagon arrangement of speakers and associated lighting prompts. The oblique direction of the soundwaves creates sonic sculpturing that propels listeners into an active state.

Container Film, Dena Kopolovich

Theses and Dissertations

Container Film is an experimental nonfiction short film that explores the theme of carrying. Drawing inspiration from a blend of anthropological, religious, and artistic sources, the film is guided by an unknown narrator who contemplates the origins of humanity. Unlike conventional storytelling, the narrator’s uncertainty and inner dialogue punctuate the narrative, challenging a traditional linear structure. Jumping between diverse thoughts, she resists depicting human history with a singular hero or linear trajectory. Visually, the film unfolds through vivid tableaux vivants, dance sequences, and curious object arrangements, illustrating the subtle relationship between human cognition and materiality. Through its nuanced, tactile approach, …

Erase The Record, Anne Sofie Noerskov

Theses and Dissertations

Erase the Record follows a young immigrant as she embarks on a magical journey to unearth her vanished memories and elusive cultural identity.
The film delves into the malleable nature of memory in an allegorical universe in which myth, dream, and magic coexist. Slowly unfolding themes of immigration and the imagination, the film sprung from a personal desire to approach immigration as a psychological experience. Erase the Record explores how the physical landscapes we inhabit affect us, and how memory, language, and time are stored in a body and in a landscape.

The Morbs, Jennifer L. Diamond

Theses and Dissertations

Three best best BEST friends/sorority sisters get stuck in a cabin during an outbreak of a terrifying illness known. Good thing they know each other better than anyone. Right? THE MORBS is a comedy/thriller about friendship, cold soup, and the people we become.

The Set Falls Apart, Thomas F. Tait

Theses and Dissertations

Using systems, puppets, and reappropriated technologies as central features of my practice, in my work I explore allegorical connections and cross-affiliations between otherwise separate ontological categories. In this text, I draw on sources such as affect theory, science fiction, theater, and the uncanny, to consider our affectual relationship to the nonhuman.

間, Lele Dai

Theses and Dissertations

LeLe Dai makes contingent participatory public interventions using sensory materials such as sound, flickering light, and water. This paper examines their works through the lens of Chinese character Jian (間), meaning “gap/slit/incision,” to investigate the concept of “in-betweenness.”

Affective Life, Mobility And Unity In U.S.-Mexico Transborder Families, Aaron A. Adame Sosa

Theses and Dissertations

There has been abundant research on transnational families and their lived realities, but most of this research focuses on analyzing family relations across long distances. This thesis examines transnational life at the borderlands and develops new frameworks for understanding family unity and separation. Using concepts from the sociology of emotions, I find that economic and opportunity inequalities structure much of transborder life and that the emotional work different family members do for the sake of their family unity is largely based on mobility privilege and the idea that the U.S. is economically better off, even as the relative poverty between …

The Role Of Caloric Intake On Achilles Tendon Health In Pre-Professional Ballet Dancers, Annie G. Smedley

Theses and Dissertations

Background: Achilles tendinopathy is a common and debilitating condition among female ballet dancers due to the large repetitive loading forces placed on their Achilles tendons during rehearsals and performances. Tendon health problems in females are exacerbated by a lack of understanding about how energy availability influences tendons. Ballet dancers, as aesthetic athletes, are vulnerable to low energy availability and can enter a spectrum disorder, relative energy deficiency in sport, that consists of low energy availability (with or without disordered eating), menstrual cycle dysfunction, and low bone mineral density (BMD). Aims: 1) To investigate the relationship between insufficient caloric intake and …