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Columbus State University Honors College: Senior Theses, Fall 2021/Spring 2022, Savannah A. Bridges, Samuel Belisle, Sophia Brown, Meredith Cohen, Jessica Demarco-Jacobson, Samuel Dixon, Carlie Dollar, Alexis Eubanks, Ariadna Gastou, Kailey Katzfey, Maria Paula Loria, Nameera Khan, Katherine Lovern, Chelsea Nguyen, Jessica Odum, Heidi Parsons, Dillion Power, Snhea Rajeev, Dwija Shah, Ainsley Steeves, Gabby Story, Adriana Tenorio-Zelada, Stephanie Thompson, Emma Wigington

Senior Theses from the Honors College

This is a collection of senior theses written by honors students at Columbus State University during the Fall 2021 and Spring 2022 semesters.

Titles:

- "A Look at the Past: Rephotography in Person" , by Samuel Belisle

- "Liver Histopathology Evaluation as a Biomarker of Fish Health in Largemouth Bass (Micropterus Salmonoides from Warm Springs National Fish Hatchery and the Chattahoochee River, Georgia, USA" , by Savannah Bridges

- "The Girls and The Gays Own God: The Christian Right, Queer, Community, and Religious Reclamation" , by Sophia Brown

- "A Study of Distortion in Translation Using "Hombres Necios" By …

Poem No. 125, May 2021, Huntsville Literary Association (Huntsvile, Ala.)

POEM

The Huntsville Literary Association was founded in 1967 to provide a community for writers, readers, and artists through workshops, readings, and educational programs. One of their key contributions is the literary magazine titled POEM which showcases original writings from both established and emerging writers. This issue features poems from various writers.

Contemporary Women's Poetry And Leaning Into The Senses, Samantha Keebler

All Theses

This project reveals the ways in which contemporary women poets return to and embrace the senses. Sensory expression has long been a source of shame, especially for women. Our fear of embracing our bodies and their situation in the world is symptomatic of misogynistic tropes and the phallocentric order. By prioritizing the body, poets like Jorie Graham, Carolyn Forché, and Morgan Parker subvert the patriarchal order and make space for women in the literary canon. They also challenge us to recognize sensuality as a valuable facet of poetic expression, a locus of untapped information, and a great source of power. …

On Moving Beyond And Looking Behind: An Analysis Of Contemporary Queer Of Color Digital Art And Performance, Caroline Kinderthain

All Theses

Queer theory has long limited its revolutionary potential by prioritizing white gay cis men in the fight for political and social change. Theorists like Roderick Ferguson, José Esteban Muñoz, Gloria Anzaldua, Audre Lorde, and Jasbir Puar, to name a few, have expanded the foundations of queer theory to account for queer people of color and the potential for queer futurity. The innovative work on queer utopia that is set up in Muñoz’s Cruising Utopia is the foundation for the performance and art analyses that shape this project. To contextualize the queer utopian looking that I find crucial to these objects, …

Young Adult: A Poetic Exploration Of Modern American Life, Ellie Bixler

Honors Theses

Adrienne Rich, in her 1993 essay “Someone Is Writing a Poem,” writes “In a political culture of managed spectacles and passive spectators, poetry appears as a rift, a peculiar lapse, in the prevailing mode.” In this collection, I make my own attempt to part with the prevailing mode. I use my poetry as a means of engaging and contending with the American socio-political dialogue that often feels both deeply pervasive and largely inaccessible. Grounded in the thematic conventions of political and ecological poetry, this collection is an exploration of what it means and how it feels to come of age …

Heavy Is The Head, Elizabeth Wiles

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

"Heavy is the Head: how my mental illness made me a writer" is a collection of poetry about a journey in and through mental illness. It engages the social action issue of mental health awareness. "Heavy is the Head" tells a story of mental illness, how it was accepted, how it was used to improve, and how it can pave the road to self-acceptance.

A Collection For A Better Misunderstanding, Mark Smeltzer

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

What if being understood becomes even more dreadful than being isolated? This collection of poetry stands between two extremes, using form and language to reflect the struggle of living on a continuum between being understood and being alone. By echoing the direct style of poets like Charles Bukowski and Mark Strand, as well as more abstract figures like May Swenson and Sylvia Plath, this collection asserts that the contradictions we carry can coexist, and even complement one another. Part One features original poetry that relies on the senses to recover old memories. A direct style in Part One seeks to …

The Correlation Between Traditional And Modern Day Performance Poetry: Where Music And Poetry Collide, Jaya Hodges

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

"Music and poetry have similar roots that have made them both into what they are today. From chants to church hymns, they both have kept the Black community intact during times of sorrow and grief. The words that ride along the rhythm and structure of any song brings an unforgettable emotion out of these art forms. This paper will discuss how they have merged themselves together along with the influences they have made within Jame Weldon's "Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing" and Lauryn Hill's "Doo Wop (That Thing)".

The Second Half, Lindsey Bronwyn Fisher

Theses and Dissertations

In Wordsworth's "Tintern Abbey" and Coleridge's "Frost at Midnight", internal restoration becomes achievable via the natural settings. In both poems, the narrators move through a three-step process to achieve this internal restoration: First, they begin with the act of acknowledging, like a mental note taking where the narrator lists and absorbs the various elements of the scene. Next, those elements are converted to memories where the narrator can tap into the preserved moments of pleasure while trapped in the city. Finally, the narrator shares their place of natural comfort with someone else to expand this preservation within a shared experience. …

The First Flowers Of Spring, Gretel Valdes

Senior Theses

This creative writing thesis contains a series of poems by Gretel Valdes.

I.

• Pillowtalk
• Autumnal Hues
• Mis Cejas
• Intimacy
• Without You, in San Francisco
• Sundown of Person

II.

• drinking honey with the bees
• The Lady of Crescent Lake
• A Collection of 2 am Thoughts
• Cold Feet
• Another Year of Thankfulness
• My Grandfather’s First Time in the ICU
• For Oregon Where I Have Yet to Fall in Love

III.

• The First Flower of Spring
• A Dandelion Before the Wind
• Weightless
• Aubade to the Other Woman
• To Denica
• Someday Soon

IV.

• Recovery
• Anxiety
• On the first girl I ever kissed
• Drinks I …

Unraveling Lessons From Mary Oliver, Sarah Audsley

Appalachia

A young poet describes the ways Oliver’s commitment to the craft inspired her.

Poetry Beyond The Page: A Case For Spoken Word Poetry In Florida's Secondary Classrooms, Sarah Matherly

Senior Honors Theses

Florida’s B.E.S.T. Standards, Florida’s most recent K-12 educational standards to promote literacy, lack the rising art of Spoken Word Poetry. However, Florida’s Department of Education should integrate Spoken Word into Florida’s Secondary curriculum. Spoken Word Poetry, by its definition, holds researched benefits that align with the B.E.S.T. Standard’s poetry recommendations and literacy-centered goals. In light of such benefits, Florida’s Department of Education should consider various Spoken Word poets and poems to include in Florida’s Secondary Curriculum, as well as explore the resources and integration methods included in this thesis for both teachers and students.

The Presence Of Spirituality In May Swenson's Poetry, Karcin Harris

Student Research Symposium

May Swenson was raised in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and because of that influence on her childhood the religion became a part of her identity and work. After leaving home, Swenson began to explore ways of life contrary to Latter-day Saint beliefs. She stopped attending church, took up smoking, had relationships, and tried new things. However, even after she stopped actively participating in the church, Swenson still had an interest in spirituality and religion, and wrote about those topics in her poems. Many of her poems feature thought-provoking descriptions of higher beings, man’s relationship to the …

Seeds - 2021, Jim Jones

Seeds

Contributors include: Cathy Colton, Diana Garifas, Rebecca Gawo, Alondra Marisol Herrera, Najlah Iqbal, Mahnoor Jamal, Jon-Paul Kreatsoulas, Saarah Junaid, Hailey Jurasek, Ayushi Kumar, Gabriela Lopriore, Abena Motaboli, Kayla Nuszen, Becca Petros, Margarita Rivera, Marco DeLa Rosa, Adriana Santillan, Loni Stratch, Hana D. Urban, Joanna B. Vaklin, Mike Fudacz, Laura Gaerditz, Rodrigo Haro, Roger D. Hicks, Rameen Karar, Ken Konopka, Jonathan Lee, Morgan Mowbray, Zinnia Nguyen, Andrew R. Torres, Ayesha A., Veronica Cerda, Joshua Cordero, Alexandra Galvan, Brian Garbrecht, Kellie Jarr, Katelyn Krabacher, Xena Lopez, Brandi Navarez, Jorge Ortega, Jacqueline Sanchez, Mary Sheehan, Rache Singel, Michael Edward Supranowicz

Finding Mostly Air: Poems, Sidra Elvey

Honors Projects

This project is a self-produced poetry chapbook. It explores themes of connection, art, dreams, and self-reflection.

The Messenger

The Messenger

forward

onward so as to make progress; toward a successful conclusion.

“There is a way forward

and yes

it is with a broken

heart

but it is our own way

collectively convened,

pondered,

Shared.”

Alice Walker

From Poet To Activist: Sarojini Naidu And Her Battles Against Colonial Oppression And Misogyny In 20th-Century India, Madisyn Staggs

Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History

Sarojini Naidu was a prominent poet and activist during the early twentieth century, yet few have ever heard her name. A child prodigy turned romantic poet, she shocked the world with her words and used her growing fame to advocate for Indian independence alongside famous nationalist Mahatma Gandhi. Her fluidity as a poet helped her captivate international audiences, and her charisma moved the masses to support her causes. Fighting for nationalism, she never forgot about her sisters, and Indian women still celebrate Naidu today for her impact as a feminist. Naidu’s poetic mastery, her charisma as an orator, and her …

(Trans)Form: Spoken Word As Queer And Transgender Testimony, Kaileigh/Wesley Strobel

Undergraduate Distinction Papers

(Trans)form will explore the importance of spoken word poetry in and for the queer and transgender community. Especially underscoring the significance of public voice in a culture that often wants to conceal or minimize the lived lives of LGTBQIAP+ people. (Trans)form will be a collection of self-authored spoken word poems that are influenced by—and in dialogue with—powerful transgender spoken word authors. The project will open with an essay on the importance of spoken word poetry and voice.

“No Roses, White Nor Red, Glow Here”: The Motif Of The Garden In Two Proserpine Poems By A. Swinburne And D. Greenwell, Cristina Salcedo González

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

In this article, I discuss Algernon Swinburne’s and Dora Greenwell’s engagement with the myth of Proserpine through an analysis of the motif of the garden, which takes central stage in both accounts. The examination will illustrate how the authors’ outlined images of the garden challenge the dominant representation of the motif within Western literary tradition, offering a re-interpretation of the myth as social commentary.

Richard Wilbur's Book Of Nature, William Tate

Pro Rege

No abstract provided.

Permission To Add: Math-Teaching Limericks, Marion D. Cohen

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Throughout my years and decades of being a teacher, I have written limericks about every course I’ve taught, and sometimes courses I haven’t taught but reviewed textbooks in. Here I share several of these limericks.

Logos-Sophia, Pittsburg State University Philosophical Society

LOGOS-SOPHIA: The Journal of the PSU Philosophical Society

Logos-Sophia, Volume 16, Spring 2021. The Journal of the Pittsburg State University Philosophical Society has largely been a student publication with occasional faculty contributions.

Et Cetera, 2019-2021, Marshall University

Et Cetera

Founded in 1953, Et Cetera is an annual literary magazine that publishes the creative writing and artwork of Marshall University students and affiliates. Et Cetera is free to the Marshall University community.

Et Cetera welcomes submissions in literary and film criticism, poetry, short stories, drama, all types of creative non-fiction, photography, and art.

“Rizal Walks Along The Foxgloves”, Eugene Gloria

English Faculty publications

No abstract provided.

Uproot, Jake Gentry

UReCA: The NCHC Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity

Short story titled Uproot by Jake Gentry in UReCA: The NCHC Undergraduate Journal of Research and Creative Activity, 2021, pages 177-180.

First sentence

My Grams glanced up from her newly planted irises, her blue eyes spotting her 7-8-9-something-year-old grandson across the yard.

Shared Tensions: High Modernist Poetry As The Precursor Of Extreme Metal Artists’ Cultural Engagement And Critique, Jacob Mensinger

West Chester University Master’s Theses

The first half of the 20^th century is one characterized by the fatigue of war, as World War I came to a close, the rising tension that would eventually explode into World War II overwhelmed the aesthetics of art and culture. Poets and musicians have responded to this anxiety through their art. Where modernist poets’ work responded to the stresses of living through such trying times, musicians across the genre of heavy metal have responded to a continuing atmosphere of western conflict, from nuclear proliferation and the civilization ending threat of the Cold War, to the Vietnam and Korean …

Agitation, With Commas

Inscape

No abstract provided.

Twentieth-Century Feminine Visionary Poetics : Vulnerable Visions Of Survival And Healing:, Lucyna Prostko

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

H.D. and Denise Levertov, two visionary poets of the twentieth century, represent both female poets’ awakening of political and historical consciousness and their engagement with the poetics of vulnerability and survival. H.D. and Levertov offer lyrical visions that dismantle the binaries of real and unreal, earthly and transcendent, and individual and communal. The subject of this project is visionary imagination and its various reverberations, limitations, and potentialities. What is at stake in feminine visionary twentieth-century poetics is the creation of imaginative worlds, the space of possibility, and the shaping of a lyrical form that encompasses the voices of survival, vulnerability, …

Antología De La Literatura Española Del Romanticismo: Desde Sus Precedentes En La Poesía Trovadoresca Provenzal Hasta El Posromanticismo, Enrique Torner

World Languages & Cultures Department Publications

This is a digital interactive anthology of texts devoted to Spanish Romanticism especially designed for university non-Spanish speakers that are enrolled in Spanish majors or minors and are at least in their third year of study. This anthology may be used as textbook for any course by any instructor who might desire to use it without any written permission from the author. It may be used as a whole for a course on Spanish Romanticism or any parts of it may be used in conjunction with other texts to offer a course on a wider period of Spanish literature. The …

Your One Wild And Precious Life: The Prayer-Poems Of William Blake & Mary Oliver, Amanda Iacampo

Master's Theses

The poetry of illuminated printmaker William Blake is remembered long after his death and the passing of the Romantic Movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His collection, Songs of Innocence and Experience, examines individualism in celebration of the natural world and connections with God, or the divine, by using animals as subjects and metaphors for the human condition. Readers of Blake's work can see the influence of his "prayer-poems" in the works of other writers, such as the late American poet Mary Oliver, whose poetry is also rich in religious undertones. While Blake's "The Lamb" and its …