Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Best Practices: Spatial Valence Theory To Encourage Exploration, Boheng Wang

Level Design Theses and Dissertations

This research explores the combination of valence levels for various elements within a game environment and how these levels, when combined with the visibility of the elements, contribute to the concept of spatial valence. The study applies this theory to a level artifact, examining how spatial valence can guide player navigation within the level. This thesis provides future level designers with a more holistic view of guiding the player within the level by refining the valence theory.

Predicting Subversion Impact In A Narratively Driven Quest, Jon Jon D. Matarangas

Level Design Theses and Dissertations

This thesis aimed to develop a methodology which can be used to quantify a narrative subversion’s memorability. The researcher formulated seven unique subversion categories: Action, Environment, Narrative, Betrayal, Genre, Stereotype and Pattern. The researcher created a single player video game level in Fallout 4. The researcher developed a quest incorporating seven subversions (two Action, two Environment, two Narrative, and one Betrayal). To evaluate each subversion, the researcher created a “subversion memorability” formula using four key variables (Impact, Severity, Time, and Number of Prior Subversions). The researcher then plotted the subversion memorability values on a line graph to examine whether …

Best Practices For Spatial Composition For A Pacing Curve In Combat Design, Alan Lemerande

Level Design Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the best practices for adjusting the level of pacing experienced by players within video games using terminology defined by Mark Davies: threat, tension, tempo, and movement impetus. Using the Dying Light editor, the researcher created a single-player video game level in which pacing was developed following a curve. The goal of creating this level was to demonstrate the success and proper implementation of the best practices identified through research.

Using Implied Spaces To Influence Combat Engagement, Sisi Li

Level Design Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates how implied spaces in level design influence combat engagement. The researcher hypothesized that players prefer areas with more implied space types over areas with less or no implied space types. More implied space types create more opportunities for varied tactical choices and dynamic combat. To test this hypothesis, the researcher created a custom arena level in Half-Life 2. The level is divided into four distinct zones, each designed with a different combination of implied space types. The researcher conducted playtest sessions to analyze playtesters’ perception of implied spaces and those spaces’ impact on combat encounters.

Using Object Density To Modulate Tension Responses, Yidi Edith Wang

Level Design Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates the connection between object density and player tension in video games. Expanding on Canny Yuan’s work, “Using Spatial Composition to Influence Player Tension”, the researcher introduced a quantitative approach to measuring room density and posits that increased navigable space can lower player tension. To test this hypothesis, the researcher developed a custom single-player level, “Veylmoor”, in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. The level is composed of rooms with systematically varied spatial layouts and navigable areas, allowing for controlled analysis of spatial density. The researcher quantified room density using four methodologies implemented through custom C# scripts. The …

Sounds Of The World: Guiding And Motivating Players Through Sound Valences, Kirk Baltzell

Level Design Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to integrate sound design techniques and practices into the larger level and game design process to provide greater support and motivations for players. The researcher created a custom single-player level in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim that tasks the player with navigating an enchanted castle, relying on sound valences to guide their path. The researcher gathered data on the implemented sound valences by observing testers’ playtests, the navigational choices the testers made throughout the level, and the connotations of the sound valences themselves.

Clark Student Voices Literary Magazine, Issue 5: Play (Spring 2025), Clark Student Voices Literary Magazine Contributors

Clark Student Voices Literary Magazine (2023-present)

Issue 5 of the Clark Student Voices Literary Magazine, published in the Spring 2025 semester. The theme of the issue is 'Play'. A semesterly publication curated by Clark University students, CSVLM creates space for students to share their creative writing including poetry, prose, and artwork. Organizing and distributing Clark Student Literary Voices builds community by uniting the many creative students on the Clark campus.

Clark Student Voices Literary Magazine, Issue 5: Play (Spring 2025), Clark Student Voices Literary Magazine Contributors

Clark Student Voices Literary Magazine (2023-present)

Issue 5 of the Clark Student Voices Literary Magazine, published in the Spring 2025 semester. The theme of the issue is 'Play'. A semesterly publication curated by Clark University students, CSVLM creates space for students to share their creative writing including poetry, prose, and artwork. Organizing and distributing Clark Student Literary Voices builds community by uniting the many creative students on the Clark campus.

Nokomis, Madeline Avila, Jack Guimont, Jack Mulvaney, Elida Roskamp, Ashley Shorba, Lucy Severson, Emily Sowers, David Estrada, Osvin Baltazar Gonzalez, Ashley Campbell, Grace Emiliusen, Zoey Cavanaugh, Elysia Beynon, Caitlin Larsen, Drake Onyx, Ava Diekmann, Alivia Tima, Emily Hill, Kiera Norman, Sunehra Subah, Jaydon Wilson, Lydia Domaille, Linda Moua, Mandie Schmidt, Sarah Huderle, Elizabeth Schneider, Bonnie Ni, Natalie Leet, Koda Mueller, Jackie Velishek, Helena Dowler, Allen Wedekind, Lauryn Schleusner, Kiera Norman, Dorothy Moore, Zoeh Cavanaugh, David Estrada

Irotas

Nokomis is the 2025 annual online student journal of the arts created and published by Winona State University students. Nokomi (2025) and Irotas (2024) are sibling journals to the Satori Student Literary Magazine. The inaugural issue of Irotas was published in 2024 and Nokomis in 2025.

Design and Technical Editors: Madeline AvilaJack Guimont, Jack Mulvaney

Fiction Editors: Jack Guimont, Jack Mulvaney, Elida Roskamp

Art Editors: Lucy Severson, Emily Sowers

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Liberty Kohn, Professor of English

The Art Of Travel, Colleen Bergmann, Joshua Fackler, Natalie Heiland, Sarah Louise Huebschen, Charlotte Ji, Grace Jurchak, Lizzy Kramer, Mathea Linden, Jake Neff, West Rathbun, Daniela Rodriguez, Alice L. Van Etten, Dalila E. Weismantle, Annie Witham, Yan Sun

Schmucker Art Catalogs

Under the direction of Professor Yan Sun, student curators examine the theme of travel in both Eastern and Western works of art. Exploring topics such as artists’ trips, the imagined landscape, pilgrimages, tourism, and modes of travel, the exhibition features prints, paintings, carvings, photography and material culture.

The Lantern, 2024-2025, Gianna Mccarthy, Naila Twyman, Catherine Stump, Keegan Mcgowan, Owen Fazzini, Leo Quinn, Danny Mcgrath, Antara Dabral, Mason Jolivette, Hailey Clark, Rachel Wascoe, Miara Truog Sebouhian, Livia M. Nocito, Anita Farrell, Ash Hawkes, Olivia Christina Mae Neri, Izabella Entrekin, Andrew Mihniak, Jacob Sheiner, Matilda Dumaine, Gregory Devinis, Amber Leech, Nia Johnson, Christopher Gerrow, Derek Matarazzo, Sidney Belleroche, Ze'ev Shaheen, Madeline O'Connor, Sharon Gearhart, Abigail Prince, Vienna Gurev, Bill O'Keefe, Matthew Wisecarver, Michael Nieves-Hoblin, Shiloh Bloom, Kelsey Lyons, Emily Britland, Paige R. Dickerman, Elliott Hannam, Aidan Nadell

The Lantern Literary Magazines, 1933 to Present

Advice of a Woman • Only • The Hole • America's Grandchildren • Car Exhaust • Stamped On • Helen • Sacrifice Divine • in some future time • Liquid Fire • My Deepest Apologies • Nightlife • On Angels • Trigger Warning • Can I Paint You a Hypothetical? • The Garden • The Ghost Orchard • The Middle • The Stranger • Tide • Unrest • we often speak of abusive remembrance • Bitters • Blind Date • Brother's Keeper • Cooking Tutorial • The Reservation • I Caught a Moose in a Mouse Trap • It Came …

Portraits Of Nyc Graphic Design, Avery Mandigo

Waldo Library Student Exhibits

No abstract provided.

Mythic Arcana - A Tarot And Mythology Guidebook, Kiya Whitaker

English Student Scholarship

Mythic Arcana is part of my senior thesis show and the culmination of my writing and design journey at the college. It is a creative spin on the Major Arcana tarot deck and features mythological characters from around the world. Tarot is used for spiritual guidance, and the Major Arcana cards represent the Soul’s journey from naivety and vast potential (starting with 0, the Fool) to success and fulfillment (ending with 21, the World).

Enjoy this celebration of our world's rich and diverse cultures. Immerse yourself in enchanting art and storytelling. Allow this work to bring you to the past, …

Illuminations, Volume 7, Spring 2025, Visio Roughton, Ed., Abbie Bitomske, Jude Ehmka, Austen Follansbee, Sam Hammer, Soren Hatfield, Jacob Piechowski, Sonny Shouse, Annabelle Taff, Catherine White

Honors Journal

On the Spring 2025 Issue

In this edition of Illuminations, students were asked to submit work that they associated with the feeling of nostalgia. This is an emotion that manifests in different ways for every person, and the submissions showcased in this year’s issue reflect that.

This year, the submission guidelines were relaxed and opened to allow students a chance to submit any kind of work they are proud of, beyond the realm of nostalgia.

Through prose, poetry and art, this year’s contributors have done an amazing job at representing the passion, dedication and wide range of skill that the …

Saga Vol.88 / 2024-25, Megan Yarusso, Gaia Splendore

SAGA Art & Literary Magazine

No abstract provided.

Beyond Barracks: Addressing The Psychological Impacts Of Military Housing Through Design, Malia Hunt

Interior Design Capstones

Military personnel sacrifice their lives to safeguard the country yet often return to inadequate living conditions that fail to support their needs after facing the rigors of duty. Beyond Barracks explores the impact of military housing on the mental health and well-being of service members.Prevalent concerns such as insufficient privacy, limited space, and poor facility conditions can exacerbate the physical and emotional challenges already faced by those in service, diverting their energy from service duties to unnecessary complications.

This body of research and design examines the shortcomings and successes of current military housing to provide a comprehensive overview and identify …

The Internal Flame, Bailey Robydek

Interior Design Capstones

This body of research and design explores the vital relationship between interior environments and the well- being of firefighters. Challenging the traditional assumptions about how fire station design impacts their health and recovery. Firefighters endure significant physical exertion, psychological stress, and exposure to traumatic events, yet many fire station interiors remain focused primarily on operational functionality rather than personal wellness.

This research underscores the urgent need for fire station design to transcend traditional assumptions and evolve into a model that actively supports holistic recovery. Firefighters require spaces that address the cumulative impacts of their profession, both physical and mental taxation. …

Building Better Communities, Abby Simandl

Interior Design Capstones

This project explores how innovative design strategies can build better communities by enhancing mental health, physical well-being, and social engagement, ultimately creating a sense of belonging and growth in cities.

Motivated by the challenges of affordability, accessibility, social isolation, and environmental degradation, this project emphasizes the transformative power of design. By integrating community-centered design (CCD) and human-centered design (HCD) principles, the project aims to learn about resilient, inclusive, and sustainable communities. These approaches involve active community participation, ensuring that solutions are culturally relevant, inclusive, and responsive to local needs.

Key strategies include promoting social connectedness, improving public access to health …

To Build A Home, Liset Diaz-Cortes

Interior Design Capstones

Multigenerational housing allows for a more compassionate and whole-hearted alternative to other forms of elder care while addressing the needs of vulnerable groups. The multigenerational housing model emphasizes dignity and comfort, while increasing the quality of life overall. It is crucial to focus on living as individuals gain years of “living in place”. Living in place provides more than just physical care—it cultivates a life enriched with meaning, purpose, and the comforting familiarity of home. This research demonstrates how individuals can thrive within the home environment, enriching quality of life and preserving independence through intergenerational support. The COVID-19 pandemic underscored …

Trump: Small Hands, Big Lies

Women's & Gender Studies Student Scholarship

A zine outlining PC’s response to Trump’s reelection, the necessity of accountability, a call for action, ways to get involved in activism, and an archival offering for those who have been affected by Trump.

Ivy Leaves, Volume 100, Anderson University - South Carolina

Ivy Leaves

The 2025 edition of the Anderson University journal of art and literature, Ivy Leaves.

The names of the known editors for this issue of Ivy Leaves were Jaylee Koon, Jenna Martin, Rachel Riddle, Milena Ulrich, Emma Brightman, Corinne Lowe, Torie Johnson, Anna Leigh Avant, Darcy Hseih, Kaylie Sheriff, Claudia Sarmiento, LIly Gregory, Ethan Wright, Elise Frauenholtz, KJ Lian, Ellie Gramm, Iley Gramm, Kenzi Miller, Ellie Ruperto, Miriam Cabrera-Santana, Ashlee Keller, Mateo De Los Cobos, Jacob Enzor, Claire Nunes, Abby McDonald, Heidi Dillow, Derek Updegraff and Tim Speaker.

Drselects: Paola Bertola, Iac Member, Paola Bertola

DRSelects

No abstract provided.

Drselects: Davide Fassi, Iac Member, Davide Fassi

DRSelects

No abstract provided.

Blueprints, Sara Alfieri

School of Art, Art History, and Design: Theses and Student Creative Work

I am captivated by the relationship between ceramic vessels and architecturally-inspired structures. My goal is to create a variety of abstract compositions that are both visually stimulating and functionally engaging. Through the act of fitting, placing, and interacting with forms and surfaces, I explore the interplay between design, function, and accessibility. These interactions, in turn, invite a deeper exploration of how we navigate and experience space, both visually and physically.

The structures in my work serve as both tangible and conceptual support systems for my ceramic vessels. While the vessels can exist independently, their connection with the structures is revealing. …

Artificial Interiors, Alex Renbarger

School of Art, Art History, and Design: Theses and Student Creative Work

Artificial Interiors is a series of intimately scaled paintings that depict dramatically lit domestic interiors. My limited yet saturated color palette creates a dark atmosphere that feels both strange and familiar, contributing to the unsettling ambiance of the domestic scenes. Their origins in Artificial Intelligence (AI) prompts further reinforce this effect. Each painting begins as a composite collage created with AI-generated images, iterative prompts, and Photoshop, in a process that creates fantasy spaces, detached from real ones, even as their elements - sofas, chairs, corners, stairs - suggest common expectations and experiences for domestic life in the U.S.

These digitally …

Re-Constellations, Catherine Harper

Arts and Design

I was born a full-bull Taurus, in what I now know as a Snake Year. My father pointed out sharp stars in the cold night above rural Northern Ireland – Orion, Cassiopeia, the Seven Sisters, and the Plough. He named the ejaculate arc of the Milky Way and the other-worldly emerald ripple of far-off Aurora. Growing up in a farming community, the seasons were marked by stellar movements, the lunar calendar, the mythologies and rituals of equinox and solstice, and their impact on fallow and fertile land. The moon’s tidal rhythms illuminated and enshadowed my background, the celestial rain of …

Painting Stories And Filming Change, Coralynn V. Davis

Faculty Contributions to Books

Mithila Art has helped illuminate various aspects of the relationship between gendered Maithil social roles and Maithil women’s narratives in connection with a feminist participatory action research project conducted primarily in 2016-2017 in and around the northern Bihari town of Madhubani. While participatory action research philosophically and methodologically attends to process as much as product, Mithila Art played a role in the process and product of making a documentary film and in our capacity to understand and communicate with varied audiences about shifting Maithil gender norms. The research and filmic project provided insight into the complex relationship among the stories …

Cover Art - Suspicous Baby, Georgia Leakey

The Messenger

Design by Helen Mei

Improving The User Experience Of Joining Bowling Green State University’S Intramural Sports Program, Emily Piekenbrock

Honors Projects

This project, completed as part of the Honors and VCT Synthesis coursework at Bowling Green State University, focuses on improving the user experience of joining and participating in the university’s intramural sports program. Despite the program's popularity and impact on student life, usability issues within its IMLeagues platform and inconsistent or missing rulebooks have created barriers to entry and engagement. To address these challenges, the project involved the design and development of a standardized, user-friendly set of rulebooks for all intramural sports, a how-to guide for purchasing IM passes, and a quick-reference card for flag football referees. Grounded in research …

Satori 2025, Jack Guimont, Elida Roskamp, Lucy Severson, Ashley Shorba, Emily Sowers, Jack Mulvaney, Madeline Avila, Osvin Baltazar Gonzalez, Celia Stern, Kiera Norman, Ashleigh Campbell, Allen Wedekind, Dorothy Moore, Caitlin Larsen, Jackie Velishek, Jaydon Wilson, Elysia Beynon, Grace Emiliusen, Sunehra Subah, Elena Kulschar, Zoey Cavanaugh, Alivia Tima, Jed Nelson, Draconian Onyz, Ava Diekmann, Elly Herrick, Helena Dowler, Kristin Victor, Elizabeth Schneider, Isabel Teitelbaum, Greta Kirsch, Sarah Huderle, Caleb Kottke, Maria Windley-Daoust, Tim Galvin, Kaylee Nickisch

Satori Literary Magazine

The Satori is a student literary publication that expresses the artistic spirit of the students of Winona State University. Student poetry, prose, and graphic art are published in the Satori every spring since 1970.

The Satori 2025 editors and creators are:

Design and Technical Editors: Elida Roskamp, Lucy Severson, Ashley Shorba, Emily Sowers

Fiction Editors: Jack Guimont, Jack Mulvaney, Elida Roskamp

Poetry Editors: Madeline Avila, Ashley Shorba

Art Editors: Lucy Severson, Emily Sowers

Vibe Coordinator: Jack Guimont

The Satori 2025 faculty advisor is Dr. Liberty Kohn, Professor of English

Includes the annual WSU English Department prize winners:

2025 Winona Prize …