Digital Commons Network^™

Unveiling The Wilis: Exploring Giselle's Slavic Folkloric Origins And The Ramifications Of Essentialized Femininity, Antonia R. Dougherty

Dance (MFA) Theses

Jules Perrot and Jean Coralli’s choreography of Giselle’s wilis continues to influence the essentialized femininity in Ballet Blanc. The folkloric víla origins of the wilis create a direct contradiction to the archetypal ballet woman. The celebrated story of Ballet Blanc’s Giselle conflates the Slavic origins and wili characteristics, while simultaneously abandoning key characteristics of the Slavic víla. Antonia Dougherty’s thesis endeavors to unify these distinct components of the víla and their symbology so that a gender critical analysis of the essentialized femininity of Ballet Blanc’s Giselle may be explored. Perrot and Coralli used the Slavic folkloric víla origins …

Mapping Entanglements: Un-Nesting The Myths Of My White Identity, Kayla C. Brown

Dance (MFA) Theses

This braided research-performance thesis uses personal narrative, critical theory, and live performance to investigate how whiteness is sustained and embodied. Grounded in the work of bell hooks, Ibram X. Kendi, Tema Okun, Diana Taylor, Catrice M. Jackson, Miguel Gutierrez, and Narcissister, I interrogate whiteness not as a static identity, but as a system of power that shapes perception, behavior, and social value. As a cisgender white woman, I move through the world with unearned ease—my presence normalized, my advantages often unquestioned.

Identity is performance—layered, like the Russian nesting dolls I once played with at my grandmother’s house. Peeling back these …

Echoes Before Language: A Written Thesis On Movement, Origin, And Becoming, Shadidja Parker

Dance (MFA) Theses

This thesis presents a body-based, lineage-informed approach to movement development into dance, honoring both scientific and spiritual knowledge systems. It engages in a blend of qualitative, embodied, and autoethnographic methods—including dance studies, developmental science, phenomenology, and cultural analysis—to examine how movement emerges, evolves, and carries meaning. Grounded in my lived experience as a dancer, mother, and Black woman, this research frames the body as both a site and source of knowledge. I use my own body as an instrument of movement, memory, and identity, positioning my embodiment as a form of inquiry. The thesis is organized in two parts: a …

Raíces De Esperanza: The Omnipresence Of Female Ancestors As Guides Through Nepantla, Fabiola Sanchez Huidobro

Dance (MFA) Theses

This thesis investigates the intertwined threads of generational rage and grief experienced by a first-generation individual navigating the emotional and spiritual landscape shaped by their ancestry and migration. Furthermore, this work examines how emotional and spiritual inheritances intersect with the author’s cultural subconscious, facilitating a deeper understanding of the complexities of being caught between two worlds: Mexico, the origin of their roots, and the United States, the land of their birth. Through personal stories and cultural reflections, this piece aims to investigate the profound ways in which matrilineal inheritances help guide the author through the transitional space of Nepantla. Nepantla …

Tracing The Collective Endeavors: The Cultural Discourses Of Women Printmakers Throughout History, Ann Henrietta Bittl

CGU Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of the dissertation is to examine the women who paved the way for future generations of women printmakers by tracing the influences and practices of women printmakers throughout history within collective workshops. In the West, the concept of a collective endeavor began during the Middle Ages with monasteries and convents, where artisans created religious works of art as a way to teach illiterate audiences and also to adorn churches and cathedrals. However, during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the concept of the collective workshop grew out of artist’s studios and ateliers. Artists were trained in the apprentice system, …

“Being Natural Is Simply A Pose”: The Concept Of Foucault’S Panopticon In The Picture Of Dorian Gray And Orlando, Mya Corcoran

The Oswald Review: An International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Criticism in the Discipline of English

No abstract provided.

Comparing The Representations Of Order And Behavior In James Joyce’S “The Dead” And Samuel Beckett’S Endgame, Araav Thakker

The Oswald Review: An International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Criticism in the Discipline of English

No abstract provided.

The Oswald Review Of Undergraduate Research And Criticism In The Discipline Of English: Volume 27, 2025

The Oswald Review: An International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Criticism in the Discipline of English

No abstract provided.

Chanticleer | January 2025, Jacksonville State University

Chanticleer

No abstract provided.

The Unauthorized 2025 Beginner’S Guide To Classical Music And The Dso Soundcard, Stephen Calkins, Tierney Hoffman

Law Faculty Research Publications

No abstract provided.

Stage Exit, Grady Munroe

LMU Theatre Arts Annual New Works Festival

An acting class struggles to free themselves from the room they are trapped in. Stage Exit is about the absurdity and horrors of being a student of theatre.

The Shifting Power Dynamic: How The Director’S Role Redefined Collaboration With Playwrights, Riley K. Mcconnell

SPARK Symposium Presentations

The Shifting Power Dynamic: How the Director’s Role Redefined Collaboration with Playwrights

Riley McConnell

For much of theatre history, playwrights held primary authority over productions, shaping not only the script but also the staging and interpretation of their work. As theatrical production became more complex during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, however, the role of the director emerged as a central creative force. This essay explores how the development of the modern director transformed the collaborative relationship between playwrights and directors.  By examining the historical rise of directing, influential collaborations such as that between Anton Chekhov and Konstantin Stanislavski, and …

Invisible No More: Looking And Listening Locally To Build Conflict-Related Sexual Violence Resilience, Anjali Thakore

CMC Senior Theses

The ubiquity of sexual violence, with its devastating physical and psychological consequences, has rendered conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) one of the most effective and enduring “invisible crimes” of war. Despite receiving growing attention across academic, political, and activist circles, wartime sexual violence remains pervasive in contemporary conflict zones. Against the backdrop of these frequent and recurring violations, this thesis explores the dissonance between high-level rhetorical commitments to preventing and punishing CRSV and on-the-ground realities. What soon emerges is a troubling pattern in which gendered violence—and women’s lived experiences more generally—while increasingly visible in theory, remains marginalised in practice. By investigating …

The Right Way To Go Wrong: A Reflection, Peter A. Graham

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis documents my personal experience acting in Pomona College’s Fall 2024 production of The Play That Goes Wrong. I begin with an artist statement – a poem explaining the reasons why I act. The paper then moves into a general overview of the project, including my past training and future goals. The next section, which is the bulk of the material, contains chronological evidence of the production from start to finish and focuses on my attempt to find precise physicality. I finish with thoughts about the result as well as general reflections on how the process has shaped …

Combatting The Financial Dismantling Of Public Higher Education, Priya Baskaran

Fordham Urban Law Journal

No abstract provided.

How To Let A Democracy Die: “First,…Let’S Kill All The Lawyers” And Other Lessons From The Bard, Jena Martin

Faculty Articles

This article serves to provide a much-needed perspective on how international legal mechanisms (or the lack thereof) impact democratic in institutions.

เพี้ยวโลกกับอุ๊ยมอมแมม : การพัฒนาการแสดงละครเล่าเรื่องเพื่อนําเสนอประเด็นปัญหาสิ่งแวดล้อมสําหรับผู้ชมปฐมวัย, พรธิดา ผลดี

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

วิจัยชิ้นนี้เป็นงานวิจัยเชิงสร้างสรรค์ในแบบวิจัยปฏิบัติการ (Practice Research) ทางศิลปะการละคร มีวัตถุประสงค์ คือ (1) เพื่อศึกษาหลักและเทคนิคในการแสดงละครเล่าเรื่อง ของพอล ซิลส์ และเกมละคร ของไวโอลา สโปลิน และ (2) เพื่อสร้างสรรค์การแสดงละครเล่าเรื่องเพื่อนำเสนอประเด็นปัญหาสิ่งแวดล้อมสำหรับผู้ชมปฐมวัยเรื่อง เพี้ยวโลกกับอุ๊ยมอมแมม ผู้วิจัยออกแบบการแสดงและเป็นนักแสดง ศึกษาแนวคิดละครเล่าเรื่อง นิทานภาพเกี่ยวกับภาวะโลกร้อน เพื่อออกแบบการแสดงละครสำหรับเด็กปฐมวัยอายุ 4-6 ปี เน้นการมีส่วนร่วมของผู้ชม ฝึกฝนการแสดงด้นสดและเกมละคร เพื่อพัฒนาทักษะการด้นสด การมีสมาธิ และการทำงานร่วมกันเป็นกลุ่ม ผู้วิจัยจัดการแสดง 2 รอบในห้องเรียน และจัดการสนทนากลุ่มกับผู้เชี่ยวชาญและครูเพื่อประเมินผล ผู้วิจัยค้นพบรูปแบบการแสดงที่มีลักษณะเฉพาะ คือ “เล่า-นำ-เล่น-เป็นตัวละคร สะท้อนประเด็นสิ่งแวดล้อม” รวมถึงพบว่าระหว่างการแสดงต้องพัฒนาทักษะการฟัง การสังเกต และด้นสด เนื่องจากละครเล่าเรื่องแบบมีส่วนร่วม ดึงดูดความสนใจของผู้ชมปฐมวัยผ่านอุปกรณ์การแสดง เพื่อให้ผู้ชมเรียนรู้ผ่านการลงมือทำ ทั้งยังได้องค์ความรู้ว่า การสื่อสารประเด็นสิ่งแวดล้อมแก่เด็กปฐมวัยให้สัมฤทธิผล โครงเรื่องต้องเข้าใจง่าย เชื่อมโยงกับประสบการณ์ตรง และนักแสดงต้องมีสมาธิ ไหวพริบ และความเป็นมิตร เพื่อสร้างบรรยากาศการเรียนรู้ที่สนุกสนานและเป็นธรรมชาติ

The Economic Impact Of The Grand Rapids Area Nonprofit Arts And Culture Sector, Grand Valley State University, Christian Glupker, Paul Isely

Other Faculty Publications

The Grand Rapids area nonprofit arts and culture sector (GRACS) is estimated to have generated or supported economic benefits for the city of Grand Rapids and Kent County in the following ways:

• The total economic impact of this industry is estimated at $298.7 million in economic output, supporting 2,529 jobs. Approximately $195 million in economic output is new to the area.
• The total annual fiscal impact (tax revenue) of all primary visitor spending and GRACS organizational spending is estimated at $821,000 for municipalities and $585,000 for Kent County.
• GRACS events attracted 2.67 million visitors, with 48% visiting from outside the …

Youth Vocal Pedagogy: An Overview Of Teaching Voice To Children Lecture And Recital, Juliette Love Harrison

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

Youth vocal pedagogy is an under-researched subject that creates much controversy, and the goal of this honors senior creative project Youth Vocal Pedagogy: An Overview of Teaching Voice to Children Lecture & Recital was to address this area within the field of vocal instruction that is in desperate need of study. The research presented in this project is significant because it offers the reader a compilation of information from the limited resources available on youth vocal pedagogy. Courses, several books, and a research article were carefully studied to form the culmination of the lecture portion of this project. The recital …

In The Wake Of Change, Kelly Nichole Clair

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

My senior project, In the Wake of Change, is a creative work which I choreographed and presented at the American College Dance Association, the EMU Undergraduate Research Symposium, and the EMU Dance Program student concert, “Crossroads.” The goal for this work was to present my explorations with choreographic methods such as repetition, movement based off the letters of words, and matching musical phrases with movement phrases, on as many stages as possible. I will dive into detail regarding my process, choices, and the piece’s narrative. I will describe the choreography process of the piece and the symbolism behind certain sections, …

Learned Helplessness: An Online Replication And Validation, Arshpreet (Sunny) Kandola

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

The current study entails the partial replication of a classic learned helplessness two-phase triadic design experiment within an online learning context and aimed to validate a new attributional style self-report measure designed to identify individual differences in tendencies to develop learned helplessness consistent with the original reformulation of the hypothesis. Further, recent innovations in neuroscientific technology have allowed for a deeper examination of the mechanisms at play, finding support for a major re-interpretation of the theory of learned helplessness - suggesting that helplessness is more so the default passive response, while the active ingredient that is detected or expected (i.e., …

Negotiated Cultural Identity And Belonging Of Self-Identified Indo-Guyanese Immigrant Women, Neta (Goomatee) Deonarain-Gear

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This dissertation examines how young, self-identified Indo-Guyanese women who immigrated to Southwestern Ontario in the 1970s negotiate cultural identity and belonging. Utilizing a bio-ethnographic bricolage narrative methodology, the study explores the impact of postcolonial diaspora and social displacement on these women’s experiences within the "third space" or borderlands. Grounded in relativist ontology and constructivist epistemology, storytelling serves as the primary data collection method through a critical theory lens. Interviews with 12 participants were analyzed thematically and reflexively, revealing how participants construct meaning and navigate cultural identities. The analysis, conducted through feminist, decolonial, and trauma-informed perspectives, offers insights into "psychological homelessness" …

It Takes A Village: Bringing Zora Neale Hurston Home, Deborah Dickey, Casey Wooster

The Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Journal of Florida Literature

No abstract provided.

Puccini’S Manon: A Holistic Approach To Role Preparation And Execution, Sandra Oman Farren

Doctoral

The fulcrum of this thesis is operatic role preparation and execution, an investigation into how the conscientious singer-actor can ‘become’ the character of ‘Manon’ in Giacomo Puccini’s 1893 opera, Manon Lescaut. Adopting a multi-stranded research strategy, encompassing traditional methodologies, a series of lived experience interviews with international operatic practitioners, and a survey of live performances in 2023–2024, the actuality of performing this complex role is considered, with recommendations and conclusions drawn from a multiplicity of sources.

Critical Theory And The Decline Of American Patriotism, Caron L. Norton

Master of Arts in Classical Studies

Abstract

CRITICAL THEORY AND THE DECLINE OF AMERICAN PATRIOTISM

Caron Norton

Southeastern University, 2025

Nationwide there has been a progressive decline in patriotism since the turn of the 21st century. Instead of growing in affection towards their country, more and more American citizens reach adulthood frustrated and angry with the United States and its heritage. Some become consumed with hatred. Rather than honoring America’s forefathers, Americans have torn down and desecrated statues and symbols from the past. Where did this antipatriotic fervor come from? How did Americans become disillusioned? This shift in mood can be directly attributed to the rise …

Performance Assemblages | Wintersession 2025 Syllabus, La Samuelson, Movement Lab

Course Materials & Research

In this course, we will make solo and collaborative performance works. We will approach performance as the project of creating new contexts for interrelation–between beings, material, matter, the known, and the unknown–that allow both the performer and the viewer to learn and/or experience something we otherwise would not have access to. In other words, the work of this class is the work of listening in the direction of something you can’t quite yet hear, and taking the time to figure out: where you might stand, what device you might invent, what you might wear, and how you might work with …

Performance Assemblages | Research, La Samuelson, Movement Lab

Course Materials & Research

No abstract provided.

Mus 2555g : The Enjoyment Of Music, Music

Approved Course Proposals

No abstract provided.

Algorithms In Finance: Balancing First Amendment Protections And Regulation, Yusraa Tadj

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

As algorithms become a function of decision-making in the financial sector, policymakers, the judiciary, and academics grapple with regulatory questions. With the increased reliance on algorithms in finance, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed a rule to mitigate potential conflicts of interest that can arise out of financial firms using algorithms. Algorithm users, including financial firms, are finding novel ways to protect algorithm use, such as by offering them First Amendment protections.

This Note considers to what extent algorithms can be considered protected speech amidst the complexity of algorithms and relationship within the financial sector. The Note argues that …

Examining The Social And Cultural Implications Of Philippine Folk Dance To College Of Arts And Sciences (Cas) Students In One State University In The Philippines, John Michael D. Aquino

Journal of Urban Culture Research

The researcher aims to examine the social and cultural implications of Philippine Folk Dance to students in particular to their perceptions, attitudes, and how it affects the identity of the Filipinos. This study employed a phenomenological research design and purposive sampling in choosing the participant based on the given criteria. Semi-structured interviews was utilized and employed validated interview guide from the field expert and pilot testing. Thematic analysis was used in analyzing the data. The results revealed that the perception of the students profound admiration for the meaning, purpose, and beauty of traditional dances. Also emphasized are the value of …