Digital Commons Network^™

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 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 …

Exploring Factors That Influence Gen Z Consumers’ Adoption Of Metaverse And Brand Experience Through Metaverse, Xuan Nhat Linh Ho

Theses and Dissertations

Metaverse is an all-encompassing digital ecosystem that comprises numerous virtual worlds. Nowadays, Metaverse platforms are utilized globally for social interactions, work-related tasks, leisure activities, and online shopping. Furthermore, fashion brands now recognize immersive Metaverse technology's great potential and focus on reaching more consumers and expanding market share through Metaverse. However, it is unclear if other brands should invest in building a solid presence in Metaverse. Limited studies have investigated how these fashion-related factors influence brand experience, brand awareness, brand attitude, and purchase intention on Metaverse retail platforms. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and fashion-related …

Death Stranding: A New Digital Ecology, Jordan Long

Theses and Dissertations

This essay analyzes Death Stranding, the 2019 release from contemporary game auteur Hideo Kojima. Here, I discuss the unique potentialities of this game world, detailing the ways in which Death Stranding expresses ecological perspectives. Asynchronous multiplayer serves as a unique metagame, helping to prove that play is a process of action which facilitates ecological thinking. The world of Death Stranding is filled with strange objects. The nonhuman entities that the player encounters throughout the game, for example, seem entirely alien. And yet, when these entities are properly understood, we realize that their inclusion is necessary--and natural. Your "job" in the …

Story Network Theory, Dramaturgy, And Cinderella: An Interdisciplinary Methodization, Jessie Anne Denning

Theses and Dissertations

Story network theory (SNT) is an analytical approach designed to form connections between chosen topics as well as to study those connections in their relations to stories, distinct story elements, and one another. This will provide a unifying process through which otherwise niche projects, information, or academic disciplines can be more effectively shared and accurately represented. Dramaturgy and fairy tale studies are utilized as an example application for SNT. Chapter Two involves Judith Roof’s work in “Out of the Bind: From Structure to System in Popular Narratives” as inspiration and introductory example of SNT elements, leading to the second half …

A Woman Alone: Aphra Behn And The Symbolic Power Of Widowhood, Gillian Kathleen Genardo

Theses and Dissertations

Seventeenth century playwright, Aphra Behn, is often considered one of theatre’s “greats,” as her plays are still widely discussed and produced. Interestingly, all contemporary scholars really know about Behn is her career, for her early life still remains a patchwork of possible theories. One such theory is that she never actually married. Instead, she may have invented a husband and faked his death in order to use the benefits of widowhood to build herself a respectable life as a “woman alone.” This research project is interested in Behn’s potential subterfuge. In what way might Aphra Behn have felt about widowhood …

Optimizing Deployment Kit, Introducing Acceptance Threshold, Saleh A. Alshuhri

Theses and Dissertations

This article addresses the optimization of a specialized deployment kit crucial for air force operations, emphasizing the need for rapid and efficient aircraft deployment. Through a comprehensive analysis of historical data, the study aims to streamline the kit's contents without compromising effectiveness. The research suggests a potential reduction of 7.8%, with an impressive 60.5% decrease if a minimal 5% threshold is deemed acceptable. While the primary focus is on air force deployment, the broader implications extend to military entities, such as armies and navies, highlighting the applicability of the findings in enhancing deployment efficiency across various defense sectors.

An Integer Programming Model To Optimize Us Army Deployment Cycle And Maximize Unit Availability, Grant R. Engel

Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this paper is to determine an optimal cycle length, in months, that minimizes costs and maximizes availability for deploying units in the United States (US) Army. The US Army must be cost efficient while maintaining the flexibility required to adapt to dynamic mission demand. The current practice is to deploy units for a length between the range of 6 to 12 months; however, this varies from unit to unit and the best policy is not clear. We address these issues by forming a mathematical programming model with unique characteristics that distinguish it from others of similar design. …

Simulating Human-Autonomous Aircraft Teams In An Anti-Access Area Denial (A2ad) Environment, Michael Kaminski

Theses and Dissertations

The role of autonomy has evolved recently, demanding tighter integration between human and autonomous systems, particularly in highly contested A2AD environments. Near-peer adversaries have modernized their integrated air defense systems (IADS), diminishing the current advantages of the United States Air Force. To regain air dominance, efforts like the Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program are underway, aiming to deploy unmanned autonomous alongside manned next-generation fighter aircraft. This research assesses various operational concepts, focusing on autonomous tactics post-manned fighter loss, strike timing of independent teams, and weapon configuration observability. Using the Advanced Framework for Simulation, Integration and Modeling (AFSIM), an agent-based model …

Teachers’ Perceptions Of The Factors That Challenge And Advance Music Education In K-12 Schools: A Qualitative Study In Lebanon, Khaldoun Abou Dargham

Theses and Dissertations

Music education plays a crucial role in developing students on the individual level and societies on the communal level. Despite its benefits on the human brain, student learning, physical and mental health, and its contribution to culture and the creative economy, music education still faces challenges that prevent it from fulfilling its potential. Due to scant research on the factors that impact music education in Lebanon, this phenomenological study explored the perceptions of six K-12 music teachers in Mount Lebanon through in-depth interviews regarding the issue. Drawing upon the constructivist and humanistic learning theories, the research investigated how the Lebanese …

May The Soil Be Everywhere: Portraying A Family's Love And Revolution Through Oral History, Performance, And Film From A Granddaughter's Perspective, Yehui Zhao

Theses and Dissertations

May the Soil Be Everywhere is a feature-length documentary film that tells an intimate four-generational family story about farming, survival, and regeneration. Set against a backdrop of war, famine, and rapid urbanization, May the Soil Be Everywhere delves into oral history, trauma, family heritage and generational love. It represents a community’s collective effort to preserve its identity.

Stourhead In Arcadia Ego: The English Countryside And The Expanding British Empire In Eighteenth-Century, Rachel C. Sherr

Theses and Dissertations

Stourhead Gardens, an emblematic eighteenth-century landscape, reflects Britain's socio-cultural and imperial changes. Owned by the Hoare family, it melds classical influences and Enlightenment ideals. Existing research deciphers its iconography, but this thesis broadens the perspective, placing Stourhead in its era's socio-cultural context. It's a narrative rich in cultural and historical significance, shedding light on identity, art, and culture, past and present.

From Sins Of The Cities Of The Plain To Letters From Laura And Eveline: Boulton, Park, And Pornography’S Reaction To Transmisogyny, Daniel Falco

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis builds on the emerging work of scholars who view pornography as literature with sociocultural relevance and adds to trans scholarship through a dissection of gender construction and transmisogyny in a Victorian underground subversive culture. Centering the 1883 erotic novel Letters from Laura and Eveline, I examine how language and biology are unfixed to highlight fluidity within queer sex and gender, and how this helps the novel evade the taxonomical-obsessed era in which it was produced. I examine its roots in the real historical figures of Ernest “Stella” Boulton and Frederick “Fanny” Park, two crossdressers who were arrested a …

Discursive Exclusion Of Chinese Americans:A Case Study Of New York City’S Political Media Landscape, Andrew G. White Iv

Theses and Dissertations

The aim of this study was to answer the following question: Between November 2020 and November 2021, were Chinese Americans discursively excluded from New York City’s political media landscape? The Chinese American experience has been punctuated with countless examples of faith and investment in the American ideal. Despite that fact, it has also been marred with periods in which that faith was tested and in which the return on their investment fell short of expectations. To arrive at this study’s findings, a summative content analysis of two-hundred-forty-three news articles was conducted. To reinforce these findings, a subsequent, discursive analysis, of …

Notes On A Centrifugal Chiller: Listening And Breathing The Boundaries Of Circulatory Architecture, Chrystine Rayburn

Theses and Dissertations

"Notes on a Chiller" unfolds as a series of site responsive and performative exercises that activate, modulate, and translate the immense voice of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Siegel Center water-cooled chiller, a climate control system that regulates the atmosphere of the university’s sports arena. Using individual and collective listening and sound-making practices to harness the building’s noisy system, the piece culminates in a multi-channel, audio-visual installation and performance that explores the multi-sensory exchange and entanglement of listening, breathing, and moving with a building’s circulatory system.

Taking Risk As A Storyteller, Megan Liguori

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Sense Make Before Book, Bradley Sinanan

Theses and Dissertations

“Sense Make Before Book” is an Indo-Caribbean turn of phrase which refers to common sense being more important than book smarts. My sister sent me a post the other day on Instagram of an Trinidadian woman using this phrase, saying it was one of Indo-Caribbean origin. I was interested and asked my mom about it. My mom says that when she was younger my grandpa said it often around their house in Princes Town, Trinidad and Tobago. This adage feels charged thinking about the history of indenture and its effects on the Indo-Caribbean diaspora.

The written word of archival history …