Digital Commons Network^™

Riverside Readings: Audio Drama Development And Implementation Plan, Trent P. Mylie

Theses and Dissertations

The current state of media includes broadcasting, podcasting, and a new yet familiar form of accessible media through streaming. Numerous examples illustrate the significance of broadcasting and counter the notion that it is a niche or outdated form of media. Younger generations, including mine, have grown up in an era rich in media, witnessing the dawn and resurgence of formats that once seemed lost. As we transition into a collegiate environment, we seek to channel our creativity through a medium; for us, that medium is radio and podcasting. Riverside Readings allows individuals to explore their creative passions and engage in …

Correlations Between Parasocial Tendencies And Self-Esteem Among Romance Readers, Evelyn Smith

Theses and Dissertations

The present study evaluated the correlations between romance readership and paralove strength, as well as paralove strength with self-esteem. With the popularization of the romance genre, previous qualitative studies have shown that readers of romance books receive mood benefits from consuming these novels, as well as social benefits that they apply to their real-life relationships. Additionally, low self-esteem has been shown to have a major effect on relationship satisfaction and the perception of rejection with real-life relationships, but not parasocial relationships. The researcher hypothesized that as romance readership increased, so too would paralove scores, and that as paralove scores increased, …

The Analysis Of The Shonen Protagonist And Aragoto Warrior: The Eternal Strength Of Boyhood, Ethan J. Mcentyre

Theses and Dissertations

This paper is a breakdown of various visual and narrative elements of Kabuki and Anime, using the example of Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura, and One Piece. There is a broad overview of both Kabuki and Anime discussing their various tropes and styles. Following this introduction is a three-part breakdown of One Piece and its similarities to Kabuki theatre, with Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura as the reference point for specific examples.

The three-part comparison is structured by first discussing surface level similarities and potential coincidences unique to these two stories in conversation with each other, by looking at a few specific …

Either At The Table Or On The Menu: Strategies For Enabling Practitioner-Led Policy Co-Creation In Education Systems, Robert Reyes

Theses and Dissertations

Demands for educational transformation present unparalleled challenges for practitioners, as successive reform initiatives often exclude their voices and discount their expertise. Despite empirical evidence recognizing educators as key agents of change, systemic barriers continue to hinder their participation in policy-centered decision making. This study underscores the urgent need for education systems to invest in practitioner capacity-building, structural enablement, and cross-sector collaboration to create a more equitable and responsive future for education governance. A qualitative phenomenological approach was employed to explore how best to prepare and enable PK-12 practitioners to co-create education policy at the state level, aiming to empower them …

Lights, Camera, Action: A Student's Perspective On Reimagining Film Production Opportunities, Ma'lon I. Lane

Theses and Dissertations

The pursuit of a crew job in the film industry is a multifaceted endeavor, offering various pathways that cater to diverse aspirations and circumstances. Central to this exploration is the question of whether attending a university and obtaining a degree in film is essential for success. I was determined to answer the following: What is the likelihood that a higher education in Film Production leads to more efficient job acquisition in the film industry? The project is considered narrative, originating from the personal quality of the research questions. I used my resources to gather qualitative data through interviews of film …

The Medea Effect: The Binary Terror Of Women Existing In The Liminal Space, M. Nance

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to analyze the Medea character as a liminal figure. Taking a metaphorical approach to Victor Turner’s ideas on liminality, this study will deconstruct different binary oppositions—villain/victim, agent/object, Dionysian/Apollonian. The Medea character does not fall neatly to one side of these binary oppositions; therefore, this thesis argues that Medea instead inhabits the space between the binary oppositions in the realm of the liminal. The thesis then analyzes the same binary oppositions within a survey of theatrical and non-theatrical texts that feature characters that embody archetypes that originated within the Medea character—the she-devil, the murderous mother, …

Teaching The Twenty-First Century: A Pedagogical Approach To Contemporary Violin Repertoire From Beginner To Advanced, Holly Workman

Theses and Dissertations

Violin pedagogy has largely ignored the last century of repertoire. Students finish their training with very few of the technical or musical skills required for the successful performance of contemporary music. This document discusses why newer repertoire should be added for all students and how teachers may introduce it to the traditional program of study without excessive disruption to the existing methods of teaching. Finding appropriate repertoire can be very difficult so this document includes a series of appropriate works which encompass beginner, intermediate, and advanced ability levels. Contemporary techniques must be taught in a guided manner and each chapter …

Theatre As Sanctuary: Queer Identity, Religious Trauma, And The Path To Healing, Casey Worley

Theses and Dissertations

Growing up as a queer individual in a deeply religious Southern Baptist community, I learned early that faith and identity could feel like irreconcilable forces. I sat in the pews, surrounded by voices that preached love but often excluded people like me. For years, I struggled with the question: Can I be both queer and faithful? This tension—between belief and belonging, between the church I was raised in and the identity I could no longer deny—became the foundation of my journey, my artistic practice, and this thesis.

Through this research, I explore the intersections of queer identity, religious trauma, and …

Post Opera, Suzy Lykins

Theses and Dissertations

Post Opera is a spell and work of embodied research which explores medicalization, desire, labor, and belief. Through methods of performance, sound, text and installation, I facilitate encounters of trans-femininity, spiritual power and connectivity. An opening wound, a set of psychic scalpels, sutures and bandages prepare this text for your consumption, take care to digest her well.

Love Letter, Amy S. Duval Ms

Theses and Dissertations

I applied to graduate school to reconnect with and better understand my studio practice, acquire language, and to disrupt my known ways of making. Generally speaking, I see my practice as being about being seen, and unseen, and the pain and pleasure of being perceived. I’ve learned about my ways of being in the studio. I’ve come closer to speaking honestly about my relationship with my materials, processes, tools, how I value my own labor, and how this informs my work. I am grateful for the cascade of small epiphanies that came and left me while I worked in my …

Queer-Keying: Performing Video Processes As [Trans]Gressive Resistance, Wren Tiffany

Theses and Dissertations

As part of the 2025 VCUarts MFA Thesis Exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), I transformed the 'Sponge' gallery on the top floor of The Anderson, VCU’s historic thesis exhibition home, into The Green Room, a neon green, immersive video and performance space featuring mirrors, disco lights, a foam tile dance floor, makeup stations, and a functioning green-screen editing suite. This hybrid drag rehearsal and ‘Chroma-key’ green video production room deepened both my understandings of Queer performance art and process-based art making during the Spring of 2025, through two public performance activation …

Orb Weaver, Quinn Standley

Theses and Dissertations

Orb Weaver is a 24-minute experimental video/lm. This essay does not explain its meaning, as viewers should feel the power to trust their own interpretations. Instead, it reflects on the process of making the lm interwoven with autobiographical thoughts.

Watchpeopledie . Tv, Noah Lebien

Theses and Dissertations

The thesis piece is a performance called watchpeopledie.tv performed four times at the Anderson Gallery in the Hidden Galleries. There are two rooms in the gallery. The first room is where the audience enters. There is a line on the floor marking that the audience is not to move further into the first room or into the second room. The audio consists of verbatim comments sourced from videos of violence against trans people from the website watchpeopledie.tv, a website in which users post real videos of shootings, suicides, car accidents, etc. The main text, which is my thesis writing below, …

Show Them, Teach Them, Let Them: Empowering Undergraduate Voices Through Student-Centered Theatre, Abigail G. Norris

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the urgent need for theatrical works that resonate with undergraduate students, arguing that student-centered playwriting and production can foster deeper engagement with theatre, reflect contemporary issues, and empower the next generation of theatre-makers. Grounded in a hybrid methodology of creative practice and qualitative research, the study proposes a comprehensive, student-driven model for university theatre programs. Drawing from the author's experiences at both the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and Virginia Commonwealth University, the thesis examines institutional season selection processes, inclusive pedagogical strategies in playwriting, and the development of new works through student festivals. Central to the …

Strange World, Brooklin Grantz

Theses and Dissertations

My thesis work explores the intersections of masculine and feminine labors as they relate to the structure of domestic space. I utilize materials and processes akin to craft, construction and architecture, and domicile upkeep, noting what is shared between gendered and polarized fields while exploring uses of the grid in various instances as a structure to adhere to and antagonize: a binary. Highlighting the queerness and fluidity of materials and the similarities between seemingly disparate processes, I relate to the objects I make and alter through my own gender fluidity. I do not see masculinity or femininity as autonomous: the …

The Bitch And The Boogeyman: Violence Against Women And Gendered Morality In American Slasher Films, Davis A. Smith

Theses and Dissertations

This research examines the relationships between on-screen depictions of violence in American slasher horror films and depictions of gendered morality of victims. Slashers are a subgenre of horror film that arose out of the exploitation cinema movement of the 1970s that are characterized primarily by the presence of one or more human killers inflicting violence on a group of protagonists, typically through the use of bladed weapons. Data collected comes from a comprehensive set of thirty-six American slasher films that received a wide theatrical release, with exemptions for films whose primary genre is not slasher and only selecting three films …

The Page And The Stage: How Comics Perform, Elizabeth Buccella

Theses and Dissertations

Comics and theatre share several, often overlooked similarities, like their unique concept of the gaze, interpretation and execution of a script, and the curation of a distinct visual language. This makes comics a viable candidate for analysis using the field of performance studies and other theatrical forms of analysis. The process of comics and how they are read is discussed before a brief literature review of performance and comics studies scholarship. Two comics, one nonfiction and one fiction, are analyzed using the key concepts from the literature review.

Creating Equitable Employment Practices For Adjunct Faculty: Perceptions Of Academic Administrators At Public Institutions In A Great Plains State, Constance Mciver

Theses and Dissertations

Adjunct faculty are a substantial feature of the higher education classroom. Their increased prevalence has contributed to elevated concerns regarding the employment practices of these part-time faculty. While numerous published accounts of adjunct faculty experiences are available, recorded perceptions of academic administrators are less prevalent. Eighty-six academic administrators from six public universities in a Great Plains state participated in a researcher-developed survey to determine the expectations placed upon and compensation practices for adjunct faculty, as well as perceptions of the strengths and weaknesses of the adjunct system and the feasibility of providing more equitable compensation. Survey findings suggest there is …

Intersectionality And The Canon Of Romanticism, Serenah Minasian

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation discusses the origins of the canon and the place it has in British Romanticism studies both past and present. This research begins unpacking what has already been done in this sector of study and takes it steps further by the use of Crenshaw’s “intersectionality” theory. The “Introduction” unpacks past scholarly work and its role in the present studies and how we must move beyond the past. “Chapter I” serves as a historical breakdown of the canon’s role and impact in both literary studies and Romanticism studies in specific. “Chapter II” provides an in depth analysis of two major …

Promoting A Pedagogy Of Critical Engagement: Teaching English Grammar And Usage Through A Socio-Historical, Investigative Approach, Robin E. Cross Halsey

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation introduces and explicates a novel pedagogical approach to a university course that focuses on the application of English grammar and usage for writers. This approach to the teaching of English grammar and usage is grounded in several related disciplines and fields of study, including linguistics (specifically historical linguistics and sociolinguistics), language ideologies, and inquiry-based education.

The course curriculum combines examinations of historical ideologies and attitudes that have influenced debates about language usage and the value of teaching grammar with explicit instruction of specific grammar terms and concepts. The initial phase of the course introduces rhetorical grammar, usage and …

Making Monsters: The Intersection Of Black And Queer Characters In Vampire Fiction, Jalissa Jones

Theses and Dissertations

For centuries we have looked at the vampire as a monster, one that skirts the line into acceptability not only because of the vampire's motivations, but more importantly because our depictions of vampires make them desirable to us. This thesis explores the vampire archive, and the question of how the monstrosity of the vampire interacts with race, sexuality, and gender to further uphold notions of white supremacy. This thesis will look at the classic vampire canon set forth by Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu and two contemporary black vampire narratives: The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez …

Barriers To Mental Health Among International Students: Identifying Challenges And Developing Support Strategies For Depressive Symptoms, Esi Tb Afful

Theses and Dissertations

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine barriers to mental health service utilization among international students, with a specific focus on challenges related to depressive symptoms and their coping mechanisms. The study also sought to identify factors that influence international students’ engagement with mental health resources.

Method: A total of 30 international students enrolled at a midwestern university participated in this mixed-methods study. Data were collected through an online survey, which included both closed- and open-ended questions. The quantitative portion of the survey assessed demographics, cultural and immigration challenges, mental health service utilization, and social support. Hierarchical multiple …

Lady Macbeth's Maternity And Morality, Lauren Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the ways in which adaptations of Lady Macbeth from the seventeenth century to modern day have functioned to vilify or redeem Lady Macbeth based on her connection with her maternity as well as on the contextual, cultural, and political opinions surrounding both a woman’s place in society and the importance of maternity. This thesis examines William D’Avenant’s 1674 stage adaptation of Macbeth, Han Tae-Sook’s 1998 stage adaptation Lady Macbeth, and Lisa Klein’s 2009 novel adaptation Lady Macbeth’s Daughter to capture a range of cultures and the evolution of the character.

Enhancing Climate Change Awareness In Children Through Augmented Reality: A Study On Educational Engagement., Jubair Islam

Theses and Dissertations

As the need to address climate change becomes more urgent, introducing children to environmental conservation has become increasingly important. This thesis explores how augmented reality (AR) technology can turn traditional storytelling into an exciting and educational experience to help children learn about climate change. Sam and Mia’s Earth-Saving Adventure, a 10-page graphic storybook enhanced with AR, allows children aged 3-10 to interact with the story through animations and sound effects that respond to their choices. Developed using Adobe Aero, the book creates an immersive and fun way for children to engage with environmental topics.

The study uses a combination of …

"We Are All About Equality": D/Deaf Inclusivity In Little Wimmin, Ruth Ann Leber

Theses and Dissertations

Figs in Wigs integration of a British Sign Language interpreter in their performance of Little Wimmin is a compelling example of inclusive theatre for D/deaf audiences. By examining the works of foundational D/deaf studies scholars Neil Glickman and Paddy Ladd alongside the works of contemporary D/deaf scholars such as Tom Humphries, Carol Padden, and Michael Richardson we can gain valuable insight into the evolution of the D/deaf culture and identity. This paper will refer to diversity scholar Susanne Ricee when defining the difference between accommodation, access, accessibility, and inclusivity. It will explore the current advantages and limitations of D/deaf accommodations …

From Classical To Contemporary: Popular Music's Role In Shaping Opera And Vocal Training, Craig Allen

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation advocates for the integration of contemporary popular music into classical voice education, addressing the evolving landscape of the performing arts. As the boundary between classical and popular music fades, incorporating popular elements into traditional opera training equips performers for modern industry demands.

The first chapter offers a historical analysis, tracing opera’s origins from the late 16th century and showing how popular music influenced its development. Composers incorporated folk melodies and dance rhythms into early opera, setting a precedent for blending styles. Contemporary operas, such as Nkeiru Okoye’s Harriet Tubman and Nmon Ford’s House of Orfeus, continue this tradition, …

Retrospective Of My Experience At The University Of South Carolina, Karl Dickey

Theses and Dissertations

Theatre is, by its very nature, a collaborative process. No show lives in true isolation. Even in its smallest version, it takes at least one to perform and one to listen. The theatre that is produced in the 21^st century is deeper and more complex a process than the finished and polished shows that are presented to the audience. Behind, underneath, and all around a single performer on a stage are hours of thoughtful contemplation and execution on the part of the director, designers, and fabricators. There is something to be learned and gained from every human interaction in …

“We Don’T Know What We Don’T Know”: Improving The Quality Of Stem Teaching In A British International School By Developing Teachers’ Stem Pedagogical Knowledge And Stem Instructional Practices, Matthew James Fagg

Theses and Dissertations

This research aimed at improving the quality of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) teaching at a British international school in Brunei Darussalam. Evidence from a range of sources suggested that teachers at the school were not employing common STEM instructional practices when giving their pupils STEM problems to solve. The purpose of the two research questions was to identify how STEM lessons were being taught in Grades 2 to 7 in the school, and to measure the influence of STEM-related professional development sessions on teachers’ STEM pedagogical knowledge and STEM instructional practices. The researcher followed an eight-stage action-research cycle …

Elements, Andres L. Sanchez

Theses and Dissertations

Elements is a dissertation that presents my work as an out-of-the-Academy conceptual writer that loves teaching even though I won’t ever teach again. The dissertation includes a critical introduction, “Do You Actually Want to See This?” that seeks to examine conceptual poetry in the light of Sianne Ngai’s stuplimity and Antonin Artaud and Bertolt Brecht’s performance theories so that we may rethink conceptual poetry’s effect on the audience when it is performed. The creative manuscript, “Elements,” is the result of a process stolen from Raymond Queneau to be used on David Hilbert’s The Foundations of Geometry but is instead redirected …

Low-Power Sensor Design And Fusion To Edge Devices For High-Speed Object Detection And Enhanced Soldier Situational Awareness, Scott Patrick Wood

Theses and Dissertations

Threat detection and physiological monitoring of soldiers from fused sensor data collected in real time is currently limited to running deep neural networks with substantial computing needs. The lack of data acquisition from sensor readings and efficient detection of novel enemy signatures motivates the need for a low-power, low-cost, wireless multisensor fusion computing system. We propose the current trends in Internet of Things to deploy a chargeable, wireless multi-channel acquisition system that can be interfaced to a high speed, Single Board Computer (SBC) such as the NVIDIA Jetson Orin capable of running object detection models, such as YOLOv7-tiny to enable …