Arts and Humanities Commons^™

The Clarinet From Antiquity To Today, Nathaniel Estes

Student Scholar Showcase

The clarinet, coming from simple cane instruments with a slit cut into the cane to create a reed, to the modern clarinet with scientific advancements in the instrument and reed making process, not only shows how the clarinet has evolved, but how technology itself has evolved over hundreds of years. With the intent of improving music pedagogy and performance, the purpose of this research is to investigate how the clarinet evolved to become the modern clarinet. The particular problems of this study were to (1) trace historical development of the clarinet, (2) identify mechanical and stylistic characteristics between the Basset …

Death Arena Game, Ryan Deasy, Nick Snan, Albert Anderson, David Cole, Shahzada Aqib Gill

Student Scholar Showcase

Death Arena is a 3D first-person action shooter with a horror twist. The player has 30 seconds to collect guns and health before a monster spawns. The map will be large with indoor and outdoor play. In each round a more powerful boss spawns with minions. Our goal is to appeal to horror and action fans alike.

Debating Immigration: Political Tropes In The Echo Chamber Of Social Media, Chaniece Williams

Spring Showcase for Research and Creative Inquiry

Analyzing the statements made by our Political Leaders President Obama and President Trump. President Obama embracing inclusivity towards immigrants, while President Trump embraces exclusivity towards immigrants.

Evaluating Ai Music Generation With Performance Rnn In Magenta Tensorflow, Spalding Vance

IPHS 200: Programming Humanity

No abstract provided.

Does U.S. Conflict Intervention Provoke Terrorism In The Middle East And North Africa?, Savannah Noel Overly

IPHS 200: Programming Humanity

No abstract provided.

Synthetic Biology: Analyzing Trends In Intellectual Property Rights Vs. Open Access To Research, 1989-2019, Ebie Quinn

IPHS 200: Programming Humanity

No abstract provided.

Fake Tweets: Using Twitter Api And Natural Language Processing (Nlp) To Analyze Twitter Users, Ceylan Can

IPHS 200: Programming Humanity

No abstract provided.

Homomorphic Encryption, Emily Rachfal

IPHS 200: Programming Humanity

No abstract provided.

Centaur Screenwriting With 345m Gpt-2: The Problems And Possibilities Of Ai-Generated Creative Content For The Screen, Olivia Kane

IPHS 200: Programming Humanity

In a world of technological advances, the line between human and artificially generated content is becoming increasingly blurred. AI generated visual art proves more pleasing to the eye, and music composed by computers is nearly indistinguishable from that of a human musician. The written word, however, seems to be one of the last great frontiers that artificial intelligence has yet to perfect. Our innate human ability to recognize anomalies in language prevents current platforms like GTP-2 from being effective in generating creative content on its own. Human interference and editing, however, may be able to create a new brand of …

Can Artificial Intelligence Be Creative?, Alexander Beatty

IPHS 200: Programming Humanity

In a recently published essay, Sean Dorrance Kelly, a Philosophy professor at Harvard University, proposes his arguments for why he does not believe artificial intelligence has the capacity for true creativity. As one may expect from an individual of his profession, Kelly makes a compelling case for his claim; however, at its core, the piece is routed in the individual's natural biases and limited knowledge of the tech. As his piece is of the highest caliber of literature on the subject, it beautifully summarizes the most compelling arguments against artificial creativity. In this project, I will break down the key …

Flawed Goddesses: An Exploration Of Expressive Arts Therapy Theory Through Personal Narrative, Karen Estrella, Lora Williams

Lesley University Community of Scholars Day

Flawed Goddesses is a graphic arts and performance-based exploration of Jungian theory applied to Expressive Arts Therapy for healing the psyches of breast cancer patients. Jungian approaches within expressive arts therapy use active imagination, myth, archetypes and creative exploration. Dr. Karen Estrella, Expressive Arts Therapy core faculty, brings her interest and research into the ways in which personal narrative shapes theory building - in particular she will make reference to Gloria Anzaludua's and bell hooks' work. Lora Williams, first year Expressive Arts Therapy master’s student, brings her writing and artistic explorations from her own breast cancer recovery journey. Together, they …

Connecting The Clas Reads Text To First-Year Writing Course Themes And Objectives, Sara Clark, Leah Van Vaerenewyck, Robert Wauhkonen, Alison Pasinella

Lesley University Community of Scholars Day

Research suggests that successful Common Read Programs (CRPs) often integrate the Common Read (CR) text into classroom syllabi across multiple disciplines (Maloy, Counihan, Dupre, Madera & Beckford, 2017). This panel aims to explore how the Lesley Community can best integrate the CLAS reads text into first year courses by sharing strategies from four Fall 2018 first-year writing courses. Given that some faculty view mandated adoption and use of a CR text as infringement on academic freedom (Benz, Comer, Juergensmeyer, & Lowry, 2013) and others struggle to make effective use of the texts in their courses, the panelists will share ideas …

Textbook Affordability Is A Social Justice Issue: How Open Textbooks Are Paving The Way To Equality In Higher Education, Sarah Appedu

All Musselman Library Staff Works

Textbook affordability is becoming a bigger and bigger problem for students. Access to textbooks is essential for students to be able to meet their learning needs and have equal opportunity to excel as their peers. Open Textbooks are one response to this issue, but while most library outreach is focused on faculty members, students are an underutilized voice in the open education conversation. This presentation aims to educate students on what open textbooks are, what their limitations are, and how all students can participate in advocating for more affordable course materials.

Using From The Heartland In The First-Year Writing Classroom: Measuring Instructor Reception Of The Customized Textbook, Sarah Cohen

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

The aim of the first-year writing program at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) is to equip students with critical reading and writing tools and strategies to advance effective written communication well into their future. This study examines and measures attitudes of UNO composition instructors – who come from a variety of pedagogical and theoretical backgrounds – toward the efficacy of UNO’s self-published Composition I textbook, From the Heartland: Critical Reading and Writing at UNO. In many ways, From the Heartland embraces what Richard Fulkerson refers to as “a critical cultural pedagogy” which encourages students to consider personal …

A Typological And Iconographic Analysis Of Macedonian Burials In The Classical And Early Hellenistic Period (5th-Mid 3rd Centuries Bce), Ann Haverkost

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Much of what we know of ancient cultures comes from burials, and this is also true in Macedonia. Yet, little is known about Classical Macedonian culture outside of the nobility, and even less is known about what they thought of death. This project analyzes funerary images from Macedonia during the Classical and early Hellenistic periods (5^th- mid 3^rd century BCE) with three questions in mind. First, are there specific motifs that are more prevalent? Second, is there a change in motifs over time? Third, how are these images similar to and different from images in Greece and …

Humankind: A Perspective Collection, Madison Larimore

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

HumanKind, an ongoing project that began with FUSE funding, preserves diverse perspectives and addresses the empathy deficit in the form of creative nonfiction profiles. Profiles are an ideal, underused form for promoting empathy and establishing contact points across differences. Traditionally, profiles are written about celebrities or people of established public interest, but this oral presentation will present a collection of multimodal profiles written from the perspectives of fifteen everyday students at the University of Nebraska at Omaha from diverse backgrounds. Each profile is based on the answers the students provided during an extensive interview of over 100 questions about what …

Collaborative Disagreement: Coming To See The Evidence In A New Light, Erin Wiebe

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Many disagreements regarding complex matters are essentially disagreements about how evidence ought to be assessed. After all, the way in which one assigns weight and strength to various pieces of evidence determines what one believes. These “evidential valuations” are the product of one’s previous experiences and background beliefs. One’s evidential valuations are determined by the ways of understanding the world one acquires from past evidence and the authority figures one recognizes. Accordingly, the greater the difference in two individuals’ background experiences, the greater the difference in their evidential valuations. Thus, disagreements over complex matters such as philosophy, religion, and politics …

Collaborative Disagreement: Coming To See The Evidence In A New Light, Erin Wiebe

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Many disagreements regarding complex matters are essentially disagreements about how evidence ought to be assessed. After all, the way in which one assigns weight and strength to various pieces of evidence determines what one believes. These “evidential valuations” are the product of one’s previous experiences and background beliefs. One’s evidential valuations are determined by the ways of understanding the world one acquires from past evidence and the authority figures one recognizes. Accordingly, the greater the difference in two individuals’ background experiences, the greater the difference in their evidential valuations. Thus, disagreements over complex matters such as philosophy, religion, and politics …

National Opera Association: Undergraduate Scene Repertoire, Melissa Comstock, Gina Comstock

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

In January 2018, UNO students Melissa Comstock and Gina Comstock performed in a presentation at the 2018 National Opera Association Conference in New Orleans, LA. The presentation entitled “Beyond Fledermaus: Undergraduate Friendly Opera Scenes from the Golden Age of Operetta” was given by UNO Professor Shelby VanNordstrand and Iowa State University Professor Jodi Goble. The presentation included three live performances featuring the professors’ students. Comstock and Comstock will discuss the preparation and rehearsal processes for the performance and the benefits of inter-university collaboration. Video footage from one of the live performances will be shown.

Design For Safety: Decreasing First Responder Health Risks Through Real-Time Bio-Sensor Alerts, Suzy Fendrick

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

The focus of this research project is using the Design Thinking process to create an informative dashboard for first responders. Design Thinking involves empathizing with the user, defining the problems to be solved, ideation, creating prototypes, and testing. This iterate process focuses on the user, resulting in the most effective product possible. The dashboard will display real-time biosensor data from sensors in the first responders’ uniforms. This project is part of a larger project with the goal of vastly improving the safety of first responders during emergency hazardous material incidents.

Talk, Not Talking Points, Okina Tran, San Juana Paramo, Maya Solarana, Ameres Groves, Maria Nevada

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

The (PRSSA) National Bateman Case Study Competition provides public relations students from across the U.S. the opportunity to apply the skills they have learned from internships and the classroom and implement those skills into a public relations campaign.

In 2019, the PRSA Foundation has created the Diverse Voices Initiative and the book “Diverse Voices: Profiles in Leadership,” in an effort to promote and improve diversity and inclusion in the communications sector. The book includes oral histories of 35 diverse communication professionals.

Talk, Not Talking Points is based on the insight many people in organizations believe diversity and inclusion are merely …

Electronic Music And The Uno Technology Assisted Performance Ensemble, Nicholas Spencer

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

The University of Nebraska at Omaha's Technology Assisted Performance Ensemble (or TAPE) is UNO's first Laptop Orchestra. TAPE focuses on electronic music as well as exploring the boundaries of what we understand to be music. Combining traditional music theory and digital synthesis creates a new genre of academic music that is on the cutting edge of research in both fields of music and technology. TAPE was founded by Dr. Seth Shafer and Nicholas Spencer with initial funding by the University of Nebraska at Omaha's FUSE grant.

Futurism In Fashion: What Does That Mean?, Jonathan Orozco

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

In fashion, the term ‘futuristic’ is often used to describe avant-garde clothing designs. It could refer to several things, such as the clothing’s method of production, the materials used, or the garment’s design. Futurism can even refer to the 20^th century Italian art movement, and indeed, this movement addressed the problem of designing fashion for the 20^th century. We would learn much by examining Futurist fashions in order to understand its legacy in relation to contemporary fashion designers viewed as futuristic today. This paper will review this legacy by looking at five specific examples—Italian Futurists and their contribution …

Pilot Study Of Empathy In Adults, Libby Moberg

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Empathy is of critical public health importance due to its association with relationship satisfaction and well-being (Davis & Oathout, 1987; Davis, 1983). There is growing evidence that bilingual individuals may have higher levels of empathy (Javor, 2016). One potential mechanism for this relationship is that bilingual individuals tend to have higher levels of executive functioning (Costa et al, 2008), which is linked to higher empathy because individuals are able to more easily adopt others’ perspectives. Previous studies examining this question have largely relied on self-report questionnaires assessing empathy as a general tendency (i.e., trait). No studies have examined differences in …

Representations Of Immigration In Québécois Film, Roland R. Buchta

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Québec is a region where national identity plays a particularly important role, mainly due to its social context, and the historical influence of anglophones on the province’s affairs. This element is reflected in its cinematic productions, as Santoro, Bachand, Desroches and Loiselle stated, “Québec cinema is indeed but the most recent example of the Québécois’ ability to translate their cultural specificity into an enduring and increasingly appreciated source of cultural and economic vitality” (161). Santoro et al further claimed that “Québec cinema is indeed a rich and increasingly diversified art form and has taken its place on the world stage …

Rhetoric At The University Of Chicago, James Beasley

Showcase of Faculty Scholarly & Creative Activity

From the early 1940's through the 1960's, some of the most important articles in rhetoric and composition were written by University of Chicago faculty, and it was these articles that became the touchstones of rhetorical education in the institutional return to rhetoric in the latter half of the twentieth century. By organizing these articles according to their institutional context, my book, Rhetoric at the University of Chicago, sheds new light on the beginnings of rhetoric and composition and demonstrates the significance of historical context in avoiding the misuse of these articles as foundationalist rhetorical theory.

Learning The Interdisciplinary Aspects Of Stage Management, Brandon Lovejoy

Senior Honors Projects

TEDxURI is an independently organized event of TED Talks, a series of 5-20 minute long speeches about any topic surrounding a central theme. In 2019, the University of Rhode Island presented its second annual TEDx event, focused around the theme “Change It Up.” I was asked to perform the role of stage manager and coordinator for the event.

Stage management at the University level is taught for the theatrical stage. Often, students learn the basics of tracking actor movement, creating and organizing schedules, establishing a record of all paperwork, and throughout the process, displaying strong communication skills on a collaborative …

Enset Leyady, Mayar Rahmy

Capstone and Graduation Projects

Sign language is the communication media among them. It is" a language which uses gestures instead of sound to convey meaning - combining hand shapes, orientation and movement of the hands, arms or body, facial expressions and lip-patterns. Signs are always part of daily communication among people, but for deaf it is the primary means. Communication among deaf community is easy through the sign language; however, the difficulty is when communicating with normal or vocal people.

Cs0 News Literacy Lecture 1, Sissel W. Mccarthy, Oer Office

Open Educational Resources

The digital age has created the need for a new kind of literacy-a literacy that empowers news consumers to determine whether information is credible, reliable and truthful. This is not just a skill; it is a new core competency for the 21st century. So-called “fake news” is hard to spot and spreads easily, leading to disagreements over basic facts. The antidote to the growing challenges posed by this digital revolution is news literacy. This mini news literacy course includes two three-hour sessions that will teach anyone to become a more critical consumer of news.

Seropositivo: Queer Solidarity & Survival In Severo Sarduy’S Fiction, Huber Jaramillo Gil

Publications and Research

With the onset of the HIV epidemic, to prevent transmission, the Cuban government aggressively tested its sexually active population, sending infected people to live in quarantined sanitariums. It is in these establishments, in which an HIV-ridden Sarduy sets his last novel, entitled Pájaros de la playa (1993). Even as the reader witnesses the degradation and disintegration of sickened bodies, which the Nation rejected and discarded, Sarduy provides gender and sexual dissidents with a vision of themselves that does not compromise their queerness when confronting institutions of power. Instead, through subversion, appropriation and solidarity, he enacts a creative exploration of existence …