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Graduate List - May 2024, University Of Nebraska At Omaha

Commencement Lists

No abstract provided.

The Unspoken Words Of Fashion: Movements Behind Harajuku’S Avant-Garde Fashion Trends, Alastair Leon

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

Over the past 50 years, the Harajuku neighborhood in Tokyo, Japan, has become an epicenter for innovative fashion trends that have reached global audiences. Fashion, as a medium, is an art form that can be as powerful as traditional work. It can convey a multitude of messages, and most notably, it can be a wordless statement against dominant culture and societal norms. Social groups have used fashion as an identifier, and they are commonly linked with a subcultural identity. Self-expression is a powerful tool to fight against the status quo, and fashion enthusiasts in Japan have advocated for a rebellion …

Scholarship As Fun, Thomas Schultz

Dalhousie Law Journal

One theme that traverses much of Pierre Schlag’s work is a sense of profound humanity—the idea that thinking and writing about the law can and should be a deeply, genuinely human activity—an activity for which we can, and should, break up many of the barriers that stand between us, between who we really are, and what we think and write. It is an activity for which we should put aside our pretences and insecurities and the attached formalisms and exaggerations behind which we so often hide, and which in the end constrain our humanity so much, as they take on …

Un Ésprit Sérieux, Pierre Schlag

Dalhousie Law Journal

It was a sunny day when we all met in a classroom at McGill University The gathering went on all day and at the end someone proposed writing up the discussion as essays. Hence, this collection.

I’d like to take a moment of gratitude to express heartfelt thanks to all the participants. And especially to Vincent Forray and Jean d’Aspremont for organizing the event, and to Genevieve Renard Painter and Liam McHugh-Russell for bringing this collection over the finish line. I don’t know whether the intellectual generosity of the participants was because of Canada, or Montreal, or McGill, or the …

Dao Gives Birth To Lots Of Killing: Violence In The Daoist Tradition, Micah Dunwoody

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

Violence in Daoism takes on political and/or cosmological significance. The earliest texts, including Daodejing, argue for defensive war that must be conducted appropriately by rulers. Myths and rituals that developed later in the tradition portray gods and spirits subduing demons. The latter are either killed or enlisted into the armies of the gods. Rituals include the role of humans, particularly Daoist priests/ritual specialists who call upon the gods to fight demons who inflict maladies upon people. This paper also examines the role of martial arts and physical violence. Martial arts are often imbued with religious hues in Daoism, as …

Fling The Emptiness Out Of Your Arms, Kelsey Hennegen

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

This thesis consists of 121 pages of poetry, divided into five Books (Book I: Invocation, Book II: Jane Doe, Book III: Madwoman, Book IV: The Daughter, and Book V: For The New Year). It was developed over the course of my time in the MFA program at Boise State University.

Thanks For Watching, Hannah Lucille Phillips

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

These novel pages follow Dani, a twenty-seven-year-old middle school teacher whose life is uprooted when her high school best friend Gia—now a famous YouTuber—reappears, seeking refuge from her abusive, highly public marriage. As Dani finds herself pulled into Gia's online world, the key witness in a trial by social media, she struggles to make peace with her own buried past, as well as the devastating role Gia played in it. The novel explores a wide range of complicated relationships, both mended and torn apart at the hands of our modern Internet era, and asks: can we really forgive in a …

Lagos Will Be Hard For You, Ayotola Tehingbola

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Lagos Will Be Hard For You is a collection of short stories. The genre is literary fiction and it is about 40,000 words.

An almost-blind mother pawns her daughter off to save her. A grieving son must bury his Muslim father in twenty-four hours in the thick of winter. A doctor battles to save her partner from himself. Desperation makes a young businesswoman seek out a spiritual experience. Domi(natrix) wants to give life to her sexual kinks in her repressive household. The weight of the word “slave” is put to the test during a first date in conservative Idaho. Death …

In The Backyard, Daisy Clar Rosenstock

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

A collection of poems that explore the fluidity of the speaker’s rising and changing memories of their midwestern backyard.

A Compendium Of Three Musical Works Inspired By The African American Experience: Recordings, Commentary, And Pedagogical Observations, Edward W. Hardy

Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on three of my musical compositions inspired by Wade in the Water, Billie Holiday, and Margaret Walker respectively: Evolution (for solo violin, 2016), Strange Fruit (arranged for string quartet, 2020), and Born Free (for voice, violin, and piano, 2022). From the perspective of a classical composer-violinist, I created musical portraits that reflect America's pre-civil rights oppression, the celebration of the Harlem Renaissance, and the landscape of political, social, and economic experiences. This dissertation can also serve as a tool for various individuals: fellow violinists seeking modern techniques that bridge classical music to popular music, composers in search …

Ludamus: An Exploration Of Musical Improv And Spirituality In Christian Theology And Praxis, Will Parker

Yale Divinity School Theses

This project examines the practice of musical improv and group vocal improvisation as an accessible method for Christian worship, formation, and theological reflection, focusing on the Episcopal Church. It explores musical improv’s potential for community-making and transformation through overlapping elements necessary for improv and love: play, attentiveness, acceptance, self-giving, and trust. This paper also gives attention to the loneliness epidemic, one of the most pressing global problems in the wake of COVID-19, and how musical improv in a faith context might serve to help alleviate social, psychological, and existential loneliness by helping people connect with each other, themselves, and God. …

“Taste And See . . .”: The Eucharist As Immersive Theatre, Vincent Lin

Yale Divinity School Theses

A ceremonial Eucharist bears striking resemblance to immersive theatre, both involving the creation of a delineated space, the prioritization of bodily senses, and emphasis on audience participation. These similarities are not accidental; rather, a ceremonial Eucharist is immersive theatre. Two key arguments are discussed: First, drawing on performance studies, we classify historical eucharistic liturgies through the lens of “doubleness,” moving beyond simplistic categorizations in previous literature. This approach reveals the contemporary Anglican liturgy as theatre, where the event of the Eucharist and the eucharistic elements (the bread and cup) “perform.” Second, utilizing immersive theatre research, we explore how immersive characteristics …

Career Skills Congruence: Transferring Military Talent To The Civilian Job Market: A Preregistered Study, Anna M. Amos

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The training and experience gained through U.S. military service instill a strong sense of discipline, loyalty, and duty to one's country while preparing service members for the challenges they face during their military careers. Military culture is a defining aspect of servicemembers' identities, especially for those who have spent significant time in the military. The problem is that service members often enculturate into a life where they adopt an identity incongruent with the ability to engage in a smooth transition to civilian culture. The purpose of this cross-sectional regression study is to test social identity theory and transition theory that …

Ripperature: Crossing Gender And Genre, Gracie M. Bain

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The murders of Polly Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes, and Mary Jane Kelly in London in 1888 by the serial killer commonly known as “Jack the Ripper” were grotesque displays of violence against vulnerable women. As unsolved crimes, they have continuously been sensationalized and fictionalized since they occurred, beginning with dime novels like The Whitechapel Murders; Or, On the Track of a Fiend (1888) and continuing with novels like Stalking Jack the Ripper (2016). The sheer number of adaptations is staggering. This extensive adaptation process results in the mythologization of Jack the Ripper as a culture-text. This study …

Big Fish, The Musical: Lighting Through A Legacy, Kennedy N. Wilcher

Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film: Theses, Student Research, and Creative Work

This thesis describes the complete production process of the lighting design for the musical Big Fish by John August with music/lyrics by Andrew Lippa, which was produced by Nebraska Repertory Theatre in partnership with the Glenn Korff School of Music and performed in Howell Theatre on April 25th through May 4th, 2024. This production of the musical was conceived and crafted by the collaborative team: Direction by Ann Marie Pollard, musical direction by Suna Gunther, scenic design by Anna Schwartz, costume design by Hunter Rock, technical direction provided by Ashley Faulkner, Projection Design by Anna Henson, and the head electrician …

Revealing The Similarities Between Bosch's Garden Of Earthly Delights And Medieval Musical Forms, Lindsay A. Nevin

Theses

This paper analyzes the triptych entitled The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch painted between 1490 and 1510. This specific piece is Bosch’s most famous and therefore garners the largest amount of discourse analyzing the visual components of it. This specific paper is unique in its approach by using methodology similar to music historians to relate the forms of music popular at this time to the visual elements in the work. Some of the most popular music genres at the time were those of madrigal and polyphonic. An additional element popular in the transition between the 15th and 16th …

Ancient Shakespeare: Examining Classical Influence Upon Shakespeare's Plays, John Fritch

University Honors College

The enduring position of William Shakespeare as the greatest playwright in the English language stems in part from the classical world. This relationship with ancient Greek and Roman literature has sparked scholarly curiosity and conflict in the centuries after his death. The minimal details that are known about Shakespeare’s personal life and experiences make this topic a challenging one. This essay embarks on an exploration of Shakespeare’s engagement with classical themes, characters, and storytelling techniques, as well as the thematic resonances between ancient Greek plays and his own works. Through an examination of key characteristics and themes prevalent in ancient …

Service-Learning And Cross-Cultural Impact: Preparing Underrepresented Students For An International Service-Learning Trip, Kalene Dean

University Honors College

No abstract provided.

True Crime Obsession: Analyzing The Effects Of True Crime Media From The Past To The Present, Brianna Nirtaut

University Honors College

True crime media has affected the way people perceive the true crime genre from the 1500s until the present day. This thesis will first introduce the popularity of true crime media and describe the important role that true crime plays in today’s society. Historical examples of true crime depictions will be outlined in the first section to display how the true crime obsession has been prevalent for centuries and how the examples compare to present day depictions. Once the history of true crime media is understood, the ethical boundaries that should be kept by podcast hosts and documentary directors is …

The Blindness Of Whiteness: A Theological Reckoning With The White Church And Slavery In Central Kentucky, Alisa May Johnson

Theology Projects & Theses

In 1850 few families in Kentucky owned slaves and none owned more than 300 enslaved people. Even so, the state was determined to maintain the practice because its economy was largely dependent on slave trading.

White Kentuckians regardless of faith had inherited thousands of years of proslavery thought. This thought can be traced from the Greek philosopher Aristotle, with his teaching about natural rulers and natural slaves, up through the seventeenth century when supremacy came to mean “white people.” Bible verses were studied in detail to prove that Scripture supported American Black chattel slavery. All sides of the Christian faith …

An Analysis Of Resources For Developing Music Curriculum In Charter Schools With Proposals For Research Instruments Specific To The State Of Arizona, Emily Stanton

Master's Theses

A robust music curriculum is the foundation for a successful music program. With school choice becoming more prevalent, parents who prioritize musical education for their children need information about the quality of the music curriculum in all school models, including charter schools. Currently, little data is available about music programs in charter schools. This document seeks to address that lack of information with a focus on charter schools in Arizona. There were no participants involved in this research. All proposed questions have not been used for research purposes at this time and are used as examples of options for future …

Gender Performance In “Cult” Conversion Narratives: The Twelve Tribes, Navah Chestnut

Honors Theses

While many scholars have attempted to understand the unique contours of the definition of “cult,” there are still rampant disagreements across different disciplines and scholarly persuasions about the way that a “cult” functions differently than other organizations. In this essay, I aim to clarify how the function of a “cult” is contingent upon a set of rhetorical strategies used by the group to systematically remove agency from group members. One of those rhetorical strategies is compelling individuals to perform according to strict heteronormative gender enactments. To understand how this strategy works, I will turn to four spiritually metanoic narratives published …

The Benefits Of Increasing Access To Theatre Education In K-12 Schools, Jaden Partain

Honors Theses

Theatre has been a part of education in the United States since the nineteenth century, when Horace Mann launched the public-school movement, and educators introduced the children of immigrants to American language and culture. The use of theatre in education has gradually evolved along with K-12 curriculums in the United States. However, during this time, theatre has not been used as well or much as it could be, even though participation in theatre can improve students’ educational achievements while simultaneously teaching important life skills. In my research, I look at how theatre can be a vital part of education in …

Blithe Spirit: An Inside Look At The Scenic Design Process, Abigail Gracey

Honors Theses

By engaging in the theatrical scenic design research process and documenting it thoroughly, this thesis seeks to explain how theatre designers go about creating a production from start to finish.

Tour 2 Guidebook - Keweenaw County: From Frontier Ports To Northwoods Resorts, Sarah F. Scarlett, Alison K. Hoagland

Vernacular Architecture Forum 2024 Annual Conference

Tour 2 guidebook from the 2024 Vernacular Architecture Forum Conference, North of the Northwoods: From Mines to Motels on Michigan's Lake Superior.

Tour 3 Guidebook - From Farm To Kitchen: Rural, Indigenous, And Urban Places, Sarah F. Scarlett, Alison K. Hoagland, Hilary-Joy Virtanen

Vernacular Architecture Forum 2024 Annual Conference

Tour 3 guidebook from the 2024 Vernacular Architecture Forum Conference, North of the Northwoods: From Mines to Motels on Michigan's Lake Superior.

Thematic Essays & Tour 1 Guidebook - Mine Towns: Technology, Paternalism & Memory, Sarah F. Scarlett, Alison K. Hoagland

Vernacular Architecture Forum 2024 Annual Conference

Thematic Essays Tour 1 guidebook of the 2024 Vernacular Architecture Forum Annual Conference, North of the Northwoods: From Mines to Motels on Michigan's Lake Superior.

Saltwater And Dirt: Using Magical Spaces For Queer Re-Worlding, Ramana Dienes-Browning

Postgraduate

This research project is a work of autotheory situated under the umbrella of Queer Theory. The work encompasses a theoretical component and a short performance art film and the two should be viewed as part of the whole. The creative practice has been used as a device to speak to the theory and bring it to life. The theory has informed, and homogenised with, the making of the art film. Through the course of this creative research project I found my way to a queer becoming through the comingling of magical phenomena, composting (Haraway, 2016, p.97) and hydrofeminism (Neimanis, 2012). …

Actualizing Unwritten Operatic Conventions: Oral Transmission And The Work-Concept, Jessie Miller

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Controversy around the actualization of unwritten conventions in operatic performance has become an inescapable reality over the course of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The “work-concept”, the term coined by Lydia Goehr, is the strongly held conception in Western music that pieces of music are concrete and immutable, and therefore should not be changed. It is because of this concept that performance controversy exists; a performance that is not viewed to have represented an opera “correctly” is responsible for infringing on the central governing tenet of Western art music performance. I seek to prove that the diametrically opposed ideas of …

How Design Depicted In Film Contributes To The Evolution Of Cultural Narratives, Catherine Vanhoose

Interior Design Undergraduate Honors Theses

Interior Design and its trends have had significant influence on pop culture and the general public through the course of human history. Acting as a universal language, design is a tool often used to help communicate ideas. The different interpretations of these ideas are what help to create cultural narratives. This capstone explores the relationships between film and design as creative arts, how they are affected by the current times and trends throughout the history of women, and as a result how women throughout history are influenced by these relationships. Findings provide insight on how interior design is used to …