Digital Commons Network^™

Sustainable Engagement, Sarah Crook

Architecture Theses

This thesis is my solution to how architecture can influence individuals to learn and live in a sustainable environment that excites its users. I have redefined sustainability as, “a social change involving individuals, businesses and government law to support a higher standard of ethical consumerism and healthful choices.” My thesis design is an educational facility that teaches with its architecture as well as exhibits, classes and workshops. Sustainable architecture increases awareness of healthy choices while advertising positive results.

Ethnic Diplomacy: Race, The United States, And Mexico During World War Ii, Jordan Lieser

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation begins by framing the overall relationship between the United States and Mexico during World War II and recognizes the significant economic role Mexico played in the U.S. wartime industrialization. With this framework in place, the emphasis of this research then turns to how Mexico pressured the United States government into addressing the racial prejudice which existed within the United States against what was perceived as a unified Latin American ethnic group. Thanks to the increased importance of Mexico, multiple parts of the United States government including the State Department, the Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs, the …

Using Storytelling As A Teaching Strategy To Increase Student Engagement In Stem Classes, Toni Morris

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This study investigated whether or not the storytelling strategy could be used to increase student engagement and learning among non-STEM/STEAM majors participating in STEM/STEAM courses required by their programs of study. Specifically, it examined whether or not using storytelling to teach health science content to Early Childhood Development and Elementary Education students contributed to higher levels of student engagement, retention of content knowledge, self-reported preparedness to teach the content as future teachers, and ratings of teacher effectiveness. This study employed a QUAN-qual design. A true experimental design was used for the quantitative portion of the study while semi-structured group interviews …

Composers As Parents: Selected Twentieth-Century Piano Works Written By Fathers For Their Children, Onpavee Nitisingkarin

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This research paper, "Composers as Parents: Selected Twentieth-Century Piano Works Written Fathers for Their Children," focuses on compositions by Igor Stravinsky, Luigi Dallapicola, Dmitri Shostakovich, Xavier Montsalvatge, and Norman Dello Joio. This study includes solo and four-hand piano works and examines pedagogical approaches, stylistic elements, and the historical background of each work. The pieces examined are each dedicated to the composer's child and served as teaching materials, domestic entertainment, or gifts. The music discussed represents a broad range of difficulty from late elementary to early advanced levels. A brief biography of each composer and a discussion of significant elements in …

Adapting An Icon : Adaptive Reuse Of Downtown Movie Theaters, Shawn L. Senescall

Architecture Theses

Downtown theaters serve as landmarks for many communities across our region because of their unique design features. Elaborate auditoriums, decorated facades, and flashy, grand marquees are all iconic characteristics of local theaters. The value of the theater was never in the movie; rather the theater served the community as the center for social interaction, facilitated by the nostalgia that the architecture provided. However, these landmarks have become culturally forgotten and abandoned, and our downtown’s risk losing their sense of place without the prominence and upkeep of the local theater. My project investigates adaptive reuse solutions for the rehabilitation of local, …

Performing Placeslessness: Early American Drama And The Liminal State, 1775-1859, James R. Holsinger

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In Performing Placeslessness, I argue that the lack of a consistent attachment to place--the geopathology that manifests in the problem of placelessness---contributed to the incoherence of American identity from the Revolutionary War through the mid-nineteenth century. In making this argument, I bridge the critical gap between Martin Brueckner's description of the geographic revolution (late-seventeenth to mid-eighteenth century) and Una Chaudhuri's Staging Place, in which she characterizes place as a problem in modern realist drama. Examining dramatic publications and performances from 1775-1859, I treat drama as a key site of negotiating problematic conceptions of space and place in America. This period …

Recovery Through Design, Polly Prins

Architecture Theses

The aim of this thesis is to investigate and identify the environmental psychological needs of patients receiving treatment for addiction and mental health diseases. The research aims to implement architectural spacial design and elements of nature to provide a holistic environment to support and encourage patients healing. This holistic environment addresses issues of the body, mind, and soul. The results of this study suggest that patients environment have a substantial impact in changing patients health and attitudes towards establishing lifelong behavior change.

Main Street Visual & Performing Art Center, Jennifer Watters

Architecture Theses

The community of North Branch, Minnesota lacks a suitable fine art culture. The school district is unable to provide a quality fine art education due to lack of funding. There are few opportunities for locals to become involved in the community, resulting in a lack of community pride. North Branch needs a focal point that will bring people and their ideas together to restore the sense of pride in the community at a minimal operating cost. The integration of art, architecture, and sustainability in this project aims to provide a supplemental fine arts education, a cultural hub with a specific …

Design Active, Alyssa Stroh

Architecture Theses

The way in which one’s environment is built has a strong influence on the individual and community as a whole. Societies across America are very diverse depending on geographical location, resources, economy, climate, and numerous other aspects that work together to influence who we are and how we work with one another. One source of influence that can easily be overlooked when analyzing the various elements used to build each individual and community is the built environment. This thesis will examine the relationship between the built environment and the influence it has on the health of the community. It will …

An Actor's Process In Performing The Role Of Oberon In William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream", Kyle Walter

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

I was actually fortunate enough to choose the role I could use to write my thesis on during my last year of graduate school here at West Virginia University. I played the role of Martin in Theresa Rebeck's Seminar in the production of the WVU School of Theatre and Dance season; however I chose to use Oberon for multiple reasons.;I was originally going to use both roles and write a sort of compare and contrast document. I realize that would have been a "Midsummer Nightmare." So this decision led me here, taking on Oberon. I wanted to attempt to put …

Pedagogical Thoughts On Liszt's Six Concert Etudes, Zhiwei Zheng

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This paper focuses on suggestions for learning or teaching each of these concert etudes, dealing with the structure of themes, keys, dynamics, programmatic interpretation, and specific technical issues. Several performing elements are discussed in detail, including melody and bass lines, musical phrasing, rhythmic pulse, tempo rubato, layered dynamics, and pedaling.

A Midsummer Night's Dream: A Transformative Process, Jacob Bigelow

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This thesis document is a written account of my design process from start to finish for a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare. This production was a product of West Virginia University; School of Theater & Dance, and was presented in the Gladys G. Davis Theater in the Creative Arts Center in Morgantown, WV; the performances dates were November 19th-21st and December 2nd-7th 2014. This document includes my analysis of the script, the steps of the design process, the execution of the design, and finally my analysis of the process.

A Journey In Magic And Realism Performing The Role Of Titania From William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream", Mya Brown

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This document consists of a detailed account of my process in developing my thesis role and the pedagogical experiences which have contributed to my artistry. The purpose of this thesis role was to allow exploration of the character Titania, from William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Titania was an interesting character to portray due to the fact that I had previously performed this role. My study consisted of applying acting methodology to Shakespeare's play in order to realistically present a fresh characterization of the role. A detailed interpretation of the text along with the engagement of my imagination provided the …

An Analysis Of The Title Role In Scapino!, Joe D. Bussey

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to serve as documentation of the performance of the title role in Scapino!. It is separated into three parts including a play analysis, a character analysis, and a summation of the rehearsal process. Each section is linked directly to the plays commedia roots, and draws a link between Moliere’s original play Les Fourberies de Scapin, and the work that resulted from the Young Vic’s production Scapino!. The conclusions that are reached serve as an informational tool for the performance of the character of Scapino.

January 2015 News Releases, University Of Montana--Missoula. Office Of University Relations

University of Montana News Releases, 1928, 1956-present

No abstract provided.

The Eccentricities Of A Fading Southern Belle: Personalizing The Iconic Role Of Amanda Wingfield In Tennessee Williams' "The Glass Menagerie", Stephanie Freeman

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This document chronicles, from the first read-through to the final curtain call, the process of diving into the role of Amanda Wingfield from Tennessee Williams' 'The Glass Menagerie'. It details my path toward character development (personalizing Amanda's point of view and drawing on others for inspiration), the rehearsal process, and ultimately how I couldn't help but be changed by the experience. The opportunity to play one of Tennessee Williams' most famous women brought with it a myriad of emotions at the start---from excitement (due to the fact that this was a dream come true for a thesis role)---to absolute incredulity …

Lessons From The Polis : The Minneapolis Museum Of Art, Nicholas Strombeck

Architecture Theses

Philosophers Alberto Pérez-Gómez and Hans-Georg Gadamer have critiqued the modern museum as a place of art for the sake of art, where the aesthetics of the work have come to dominate the conversation. In the Relevance of the Beautiful, Hans-Georg Gadamer distinguishes between aesthetics and a works poetic beauty as a delicate interplay of showing and concealing. The beautiful is presented through play, symbol and festival. This thesis explores Gadamer and Pérez-Gómez’s arguments in an architecture which blends influence from the ancient Greek Polis. The Agora a vital public space dedicated itself to the success and longevity of the Greek …

Nuanced Didacticism, Michael Delarosa

Architecture Theses

The United States is currently at a crossroads with providing equal rights to its lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender citizens. Despite the growing acceptance for these estimated 9 million people, many continue to face the challenges of familial desertion, workplace discrimination, physical/emotional abuse, as well as sexually transmitted disease epidemics. The thesis demonstrates how the built enviroment can affect an occupants perception of social beliefs through the use of didactic architecture- a form of architecture that is built with the intent to teach an audience a lesson through carefully selected symbols and materials, ultimately swaying the beliefs of the occupant …

Living Utopia : Challenging Education As A Machine Through The Design Of Architecture, Amy Klindworth

Architecture Theses

Philosopher Jonathan Powers argues that current culture and society are engaging a utopian ideology. This model began in the 16th century when the educational system sought to reduce all knowledge to eidetic (visual) content. At this time, figures such as Tommaso Campanella created top down educational models which boxed out the importance of learning through our experience of the world. Recently, this universal model of education has been criticized by many, including Hannah Arendt, who claim that the current autonomous learning approach only responds to politics, and that learning does not equal education. This thesis examines how architecture can challenge …

Tennessee Higher Education Student Fees Report 2013-2014, Tennessee. Higher Education Commission.

Tennessee Student Fees Report

No abstract provided.

Proposition Animal Welfare: Enabling An Irrational Public Or Empowering Consumers To Align Advertising Depictions With Reality?, Whitney R. Morgan

University of Florida Journal of Law & Public Policy

No abstract provided.

Liberty, Security, And Judicial Review In The War On Terror: An Analysis Of Supreme Court Approaches To Deference In A Post-9/11 Context, Jacob Oppler

Senior Independent Study Theses

In times of war, the government acts to suppress threats to national security, often curtailing or restricting American civil liberties. Over the course of American history, the Supreme Court has reviewed this legal conflict between civil liberties and national security policies during war. Scholars generally observe the Court’s judicial review as deferential to the government. The War on Terror presents new and different challenges to American civil liberties. While this legal conflict has emerged again under the conditions of a war against terrorism, the war itself is markedly unlike past wars in American history. This research seeks to explain how …

Understanding The Judicial Conference Committee On International Judicial Relations, Sam F. Halabi, Nanette K. Laughrey

Faculty Publications

Since 1993, the Judicial Conference Committee on International Judicial Relations has coordinated outreach and exchange activities of the federal judiciary in support of rule-of-law initiatives. While the Federal Judicial Center has endeavored to publicize the Committee’s work, and members of the Committee have on occasion written and spoken about their work for the Committee, the scholarly treatment of the Committee remains sparse. What discussion does exist in the academic literature tends to depict the Committee in one of two ways. First, the Committee formed in response to the emergence of newly independent states after the 1991 Soviet collapse. Those states …

Gillespie Eco-Evolutionary Models (Gems) Reveal The Role Of Heritable Trait Variation In Eco-Evolutionary Dynamics, John Delong, Jean P. Gibert

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Heritable trait variation is a central and necessary ingredient of evolution. Trait variation also directly affects ecological processes, generating a clear link between evolutionary and ecological dynamics. Despite the changes in variation that occur through selection, drift, mutation, and recombination, current ecoevolutionary models usually fail to track how variation changes through time. Moreover, eco-evolutionary models assume fitness functions for each trait and each ecological context, which often do not have empirical validation. We introduce a new type of model, Gillespie eco-evolutionary models (GEMs), that resolves these concerns by tracking distributions of traits through time as ecoevolutionary dynamics progress. This is …

Mahler The Enigma: Progressive Composer, Traditional Conductor, Anna Gatdula 15

Honor Scholar Theses

No abstract provided.

Two Pieces For Bassoon By Dan Welcher: A Guide To Performance And Analysis, Including A Survey Of Welcher’S Chamber Music With Bassoon, Reed Aaron Hanna

Theses and Dissertations

This study is a performance guide that traces the compositional style of Dan Welcher, a well-known composer and former principal bassoonist of the Louisville Symphony and professor of bassoon at the University of Texas, through an examination of two works in which the bassoon is a prominent solo instrument: Concerto da Camera (1975) and The Wind Won’t Listen (2002). These works, a concerto and a chamber piece, span a period of almost 30 years in Welcher’s career. The study also includes a survey of other chamber music by Welcher involving the bassoon. It relates the two focal pieces to the …

A Survey Of The Career Of Baritone, Josef Metternich: Artist And Teacher, Diana Carol Amos

Theses and Dissertations

Joseph Metternich, (1915- 2005) a prominent, internationally acclaimed opera singer of the mid-twentieth century, distinguished himself primarily in Italian baritone bel canto roles. In a career that spanned four decades, he performed in the major opera houses of the world, becoming one of the premiere operatic recording artists while portraying the heroes and villains of the operatic repertoire. At the height of his career, from 1946 to 1952, he was contractually bound to five opera houses at the same time, including theaters in Vienna, Austria as well as in East and West Berlin, Hamburg, and Munich in Germany.

From 1952 …

Play Doh's Cave And The Pursuit Of The American Cream, Becky S. Sellinger

Theses and Dissertations

Take a minute. Imagine Wiley Coyote and Road Runner are in a domestic partnership. What would that look like? Close your eyes and Pause for 30 seconds. Don’t you see? Coyote never catches up. They keep running faster and faster. Everything in the house gets swept into the whirlwind they’ve created in their paths - the books, the shelves, the bed, and the desk lamp. Their circling movement creates a vacuum, which ultimately causes the entire structure to implode upon itself.

This text is an examination of my work and its relationship to the economic and the domestic. The metaphor …

The Impact Of Singing-Integrated Reading Instruction On The Oral Reading Fluency And Motivation Of Elementary Students In An Out-Of-School Time Program, Yvette M. Moorehead-Carter

Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of singing-integrated reading instruction on the oral reading fluency and motivation of elementary students in an after school program. Participants were third graders (n = 29) who attended the singing-integrated oral reading fluency (SI ORF) intervention twice a week for eight weeks. Components of the intervention included teacher-modeling of fluent oral reading, oral support, repeated reading and singing activities from a variety of children’s literature, and individual free-time.

The adapted Elementary Reading Attitude Survey (ERAS; McKenna & Kear, 1990) measured recreational, academic, and composite reading attitudes. The Qualitative …

An Exploration Of Costume Design For David Emerson Toney's "Frankenstein: Dawn Of A Monster", Emily Atkins

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis details the Costume Design process for David Emerson Toney’s Frankenstein: Dawn of a Monster at Virginia Commonwealth University. Toney’s original adaptation interprets Mary Shelley’s genre-defying novel as biography, directly influenced by the tragic events of her young life. Costumes differentiate the two narratives, with Mary Shelly in gray scale, regency-inspired modern dress and the novel in period and color. This follows the design process from concept to production to execution.