Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Parts That Cannot Be Found, Amber Baggette

LSU Master's Theses

Parts That Cannot Be Found is a body of work where I use imagery of trees that are sick or injured, to show my struggles as a person who has been in survival mode their whole life. I use the facts I found in the book “The Hidden Life of Trees,” by Peter Wohlleben, where he describes what trees do and how and why they feel. Since I hold trees in high regard, I started researching how they function. Trees are living beings, and ignoring their presence is tragic. Throughout this paper, I contextualize my work by exploring specific printmaking …

Connections, Peter Froehlich

LSU Master's Theses

A definitive shift in American social interaction has been taking place far longer than most realize. It is easy to point the finger at the prevalence of technology and social media, this has been a trend that has been going on since the mid to late twentieth century. Stemming from changes in design, the breakdown of scheduled social outlets, and shifts in technology have led to what some writers and sociologists are calling “The Anti-Social Century.”

Working through a making practice to promote the building of connections through social interaction, three different types of spaces were targeted for the exploration …

Exploring Hindrances To Artistic Expression In The High School Art Classroom, Meagan Matticks

Art 895 Research Papers

This qualitative phenomenological research study focuses on the exploration and understanding of the experiences of students who may feel hindered in their creativity and artistic expression in the high school art classroom due to various constraints. The major objectives of this study include researching ways artistic expression and creativity are hindered, including institutional policies, time limitations, resource availability, and other potential external pressures, such as curricular mandates. Data will be gathered through classroom observations, the collection of ninth through twelfth-grade student artwork created under varying levels of constraint, and written student reflections. This study will provide potential insights that result …

Adaptive Art Teaching Strategies: Empowering Students And Paraprofessionals In The Inclusive Art Classroom, Kameran Dostal

Art 895 Research Papers

In the art room, differentiation for students with exceptional disabilities presents unique challenges. Some art educators teach in self-contained settings (e.g. adaptive art classes), other art educators teach in inclusive art room settings (where students with disabilities are integrated into the art room), and others teach a combination of both. The research on adaptive art programs and adaptive teaching practices has the potential to impact students with disabilities as a piece of advocacy to showcase the impact of the visual arts on their IEP goals and fine motor skills. The intention is that this research re-examines best practices in teaching …

Developing Anti-Racist Teaching Practices To Represent A Diverse Student Population, Naomi Brumm

Art 895 Research Papers

The issue that this case study will address is the need for an anti-racist high school art curriculum. In order to better represent today’s diverse society, educators need to incorporate anti-racist teaching practices both within their curriculum and their classroom environments. I will examine how systemic racism as a society has led to lack of diversity within the field of art education and identify what anti-racist pedagogical practices can be put into place to combat it.

The Art And Science Of Observation: Visual Journaling In A Collaborative Classroom, Jennifer Mercado

Art 895 Research Papers

This case study explores the impact of explicitly teaching observation and visual journaling skills on student retention and comprehension of scientific concepts upon a co-taught science classroom. It aims to measure the impact of collaboration between science and art teachers in ac o-taught science classroom on student outcomes and teaching practices. This research is a case study, which is a qualitative data collection method, of student science observations, analysis, and data in art/science journals. After receiving informed consent, the partnered teachers’ reflections regarding the collaborative process and outcomes will be included. This study is important as it will examine the …

Strategies For Integrating Teaching For Artistic Behavior (Tab) In A High School Ceramics Classroom, Joanna Gurney

Art 895 Research Papers

This research study reveals strategies for the integration of Teaching for Artistic Behavior (TAB) in a high school Ceramics classroom. The primary objective is to identify potential, effective strategies for implementing TAB approaches within a single-media environment. Using a Case Study approach, this study examines and synthesizes existing theories with student outcomes, researcher field notes, teacher observations of a TAB classroom, and teacher reflections to understand how TAB-based pedagogical shifts can be used to effectively promote artistic behavior, while balancing student autonomy with the need for structured skill development in a single-media. Findings from this research will contribute to the …

Authentically Assessing Student Learning In A Data Driven School System, Curtis Marolf

Art 895 Research Papers

As educators, we are often tasked with measuring student progress and understanding using standardized testing methods. As a visual arts instructor, I find these testing methods to be antiquated and inadequate for measuring students’ knowledge in the classroom, as they solely focus on an individual’s ability to recognize, recall or repeat factual data. If the goal of a quarterly assessment is to answer the question, “How do we know that the students know what we want them to know?” then standardized assessments are not the answer for the visual arts. The art classroom is a creative and expressive space, where …

Contending With Anxiety In The Elementary Art Classroom, Natalie Petrushonis

Art 895 Research Papers

The focus of this qualitative study is to explore how students are affected by anxiety in the art classroom. The major objective of this research is to explore methods and strategies to support students who suffer from anxiety to prevent it from negatively affecting their art education. The participants of this study will be elementary students within an art classroom who feel anxiety while engaging in artmaking. This case study research will provide insight into approaches that have been utilized to assist students with anxiety in art while observing the effectiveness of these methods with students in an elementary art …

The Art Of Dreaming: A Surrealist Approach To Dream Analysis, Shelby Wright

Honors Thesis

Over the past two years, I created a series of paintings to explore the meaning of my nightmares. This study analyzes the themes and symbols in these dreams through the psychological frameworks of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung. Freud’s causal approach focuses on repressed desires, while Jung’s method relies on mythological symbols and archetypes in the collective unconscious. Drawing on the ideas of André Breton and the Surrealist movement, I examine how art can bridge dreams and waking life. By painting my dreams, I aim to better understand my unconscious and invite viewers to question their perception of reality. This …

Juntos, Tori N. Saenz

Honors Theses

Juntos is a sculptural exploration of interconnectedness and dependence between people. Throughout my life and travels around the world as a solo backpacker, I have seen firsthand how the human desire for connection transcends language barriers, personality differences, and various belief systems. This natural tendency to form relationships and depend on each other is integral to our society and our lives. In juntos, which means “together” in Spanish, I explore these human connections through figurative sculptures using abstraction, repetition, diversity, and balance.

The simple, abstract figures that make up juntos capture the internal composition of a person rather than …

Trans-Pacific Connections: Chinese Porcelain And Aztec Motifs In Colonial Mexico, Natalia Ramirez

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

This research explores artworks within the Global Baroque as visual and ideological evidence through which colonial power, trade, and cross-cultural influence shaped the material culture of the early modern world. Centering on blue and white ceramics as a key medium of transcultural and trans-local exchange, the study analyzes how global motifs, particularly those drawn from Aztec and Chinese traditions, were reinterpreted, aestheticized, and circulated in Aztec and Novohispanic artistic practices.

Through a close observational comparison of Aztec and Chinese decorative systems, the study recognizes contrasting systems of cultural documentation embedded within similar visual forms. Aztec motifs, rooted in ritual, calendrical, …

Trans-Pacific Connections: Unveiling Cultural Exchange Through Baroque Folding Screens Of Japan And Mexico, Natalia Christine Ramirez

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

This study focuses into the often-overlooked world of 16th-17th-century globally-mobile folding screens, revealing them as vastly important cultural objects. While conventional scholarship tends to compartmentalize artistic traditions, focusing on isolated cultures, this research emphasizes the vibrant exchanges that connected Japan and Mexico during the ‘Baroque’ period. By contrasting the Conquest of Mexico screen with the Japanese Namban Folding Screen, the nuances and vastness of cultural interaction through creative objects becomes illuminated and revered as important pieces of global history.

Through applying global art historical theories, especially the concept of the ‘global Baroque,’ I explore how Mexican biombo screens adapted from …

God Who Crafts: An Appalachian Theology Of Making And Community, Gwendolen Jackson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Appalachia has been the subject of much speculation and often disparagement since it first became distinct as a part of the United States in approximately the 1860s, but it is more than just its reputation. This dissertation discusses the history and modern myth of Appalachia, and then it considers Appalachia on its own terms through what the people who live there have said about it and about their own lives.

This work focuses on the continued prominence of craft and its place in the spiritual lives of mountain people as it examines interviews that I conducted with mountain crafters. I …

Fantastical Blooms, Lisa Dienst-Thomas

Student Projects

My work explores the marriage of imagination and meticulous technique to produce vibrant, one‑of‑a‑kind jewelry that bridges traditional metalsmithing with cutting‑edge digital fabrication. My early training included foundational metalsmithing techniques such as sawing, soldering, riveting, hinge making, forming, polishing, etching, roller printing, stamping, lost wax casting, and chain making. Over time, I gravitated toward the techniques I loved most and honed them with intention. The physicality of working with hammers, saws, fire, and metal spoke to something deep within me. I find the rhythmic motion of sawing metal to be meditative and grounding. Eventually, I yearned to incorporate more color …

Restoring Context: Interdisciplinary Approaches To Art Conservation And Registration Challenges In Rural Museums, Jade Karas '25

Senior Scholarly and Creative Symposium

A prevalent issue for museums in rural areas is a lack of reliable registration methods. This occurs for a number of reasons whether it be a lack of resources (human, financial, spacial, etc.) or the erosion of knowledge overtime due to cultural reliance on generational knowledge. Additionally, different registrars often develop new methods for inventory without leaving behind instructions, leading subsequent registrars to devise their own methods. These gaps in the registration process frequently result in “registration problems”, objects that don’t get properly inventoried and thus have little to no context for their origins. This thesis aims to fill in …

Society’S Press: Designing A Digital Commons To Promote Critical Thought And Civil Discourse, Louis Driver

Honors College Theses

This thesis proposes the design of a new digital commons aimed at counteracting the negative incentives that currently dominate online discourse. This paper outlines the research and design of a system that promotes informative, medium-length, user-generated content, emphasizing thoughtful communication over virality. Inspired by academic peer-review practices, the proposed platform will implement a community-driven moderation model to reduce low-quality contributions and foster constructive feedback.

Art In Itself: The Vision Of Three Female Mississippi Artists, Jane E. Thomas

Honors Theses

This thesis is a collection of longform, narrative-style journalistic profiles on artists in Northeast Mississippi. These artists include Carol Roark from Enid and Hannah McCormick and Coulter Fussell from Water Valley. Each profile highlights an individual artist’s work, from her background, inspirations, process and distinctiveness as a creator. These profiles required studio visits and extensive interviews, as well as secondary interviews with clients, gallery owners and art curators. An overarching theme between the three artists is their ability to recognize artistic potential in their immediate surroundings; Roark paints landscapes from her own backyard, McCormick paints scenes from everyday life and …

Automation Of Javanese Shadow Puppets Using Machine Control, Kristian Rice, Yinson Tso, Mukhammadali Yuldoshev

Publications and Research

The virtualization of Javanese shadow puppetry (Wayang Kulit) offers a unique opportunity to preserve and revitalize traditional performance art through immersive digital platforms. This project explores the development of a virtual Wayang Kulit experience using real-time 3D engines like Unity/Unreal Engine while focusing on simulating the mechanics and aesthetics of shadow puppet performance. The puppets are designed using detailed 2D planes and rigged with skeletal systems to reflect the stylized motion of traditional puppetry. An aspect of this project is integrating an AI-driven control system that autonomously animates the puppets, learning from recorded puppeteer performances to replicate gesture, rhythm, and …

We Can Do It, Ukraine!, Anastasiya Kelley

Diamond Line Undergraduate Literary Magazine

No abstract provided.

Blue Moon, Erika Fredricks

Diamond Line Undergraduate Literary Magazine

No abstract provided.

Fruits Of The Spirit, Eve Martini

Diamond Line Undergraduate Literary Magazine

No abstract provided.

Sapphic Belles, Maddox Carus

Diamond Line Undergraduate Literary Magazine

No abstract provided.

The Swamp, Emma Ming

Diamond Line Undergraduate Literary Magazine

No abstract provided.

Still Alive, Nayra Torres

Diamond Line Undergraduate Literary Magazine

No abstract provided.

Made New, Eve Martini

Diamond Line Undergraduate Literary Magazine

No abstract provided.

Where Light Rests, Evan Meyers

Diamond Line Undergraduate Literary Magazine

No abstract provided.

Tea Time, Erika Fredricks

Diamond Line Undergraduate Literary Magazine

No abstract provided.

Roadside Oranges, Jane Tucker

Diamond Line Undergraduate Literary Magazine

No abstract provided.

Donut Shop, Joseph Rousseau

Diamond Line Undergraduate Literary Magazine

No abstract provided.