Arts and Humanities Commons^™

“We Are The Walking Dead”: Morality In Robert Kirkman’S Comics Series, Amy L. Jacobs

Masters Theses

Despite widespread cultural success, Robert Kirkman’s comics series, The Walking Dead, has received little critical attention in the literary canon. The limited critical attention it has received fails to provide an in-depth examination of the work’s morality. This could be a result of the ever-present influence of Frederic Wertham’s claims in his 1954 work, Seduction of the Innocent. However, when viewed through the frameworks provided by John Gardner’s On Moral Fiction and Wayne C. Booth’s The Company We Keep, Kirkman’s zombie narrative exhibits morality in multi-layered and complex ways with every turn of the page. Through the …

“Arriving At Your Own Door”: Transnational Identity Formation In Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’S Americanah, Julie Oosterink

Masters Theses

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah (2013) guides readers through the internal questions and external pressures that contribute to identity formation of her transnational characters. This paper examines the specific ways in which Adichie’s protagonist, Ifemelu, engages with both self-discovery and self-fashioning in order to shape the narrative of her past and make a plan for her future. Kwame Anthony Appiah’s The Ethics of Identity offers a philosophical framework to consider the many components of identity formation and the ways in which individuals form personal and collective identities. Adichie uniquely addresses personal and collective identities through the transnational experiences of her characters. …

Creation, Destruction, And The Tension Between: A Cautionary Note On Individuation In Tristan Egolf, W. G. Sebald, And Niall Williams, Nicholas Kanaar

Masters Theses

The modern individual faces a psychological disconnect between his conscious mind and unconscious due primarily to the outward attachments that dictate false tenets of ontological worth. This thesis investigates the benchmark of creation and destruction and narrows in on its utility in the individual’s pursuit for individuation. The creation and destruction paradox is used to penetrate liminal space where personal transformation occurs, and it is used within those spaces to strip away old, ego-centric ideals in the service of new ones. C. G. Jung’s “archetypes of transformation” are the main tools of the psyche for assisting the conscious mind to …

Lanthorn, Vol. 54, No. 01, July 15, 2019, Grand Valley State University

Volume 54, July 15, 2019 - April 27, 2020

Lanthorn is Grand Valley State's student newspaper, published from 1968 to the present.

Grand Valley Magazine, Vol. 19, No. 1, Summer 2019, Grand Valley State University

Grand Valley Magazine

Grand Valley Magazine is a quarterly publication about Grand Valley State University produced by University Communications since 2001.

The Development Of The Concept Album, Savannah Klein

Honors Projects

As the world of music has continually evolved and expanded, so has artists’ desire for inventive expression. An important tool that has long satisfied this growing need is the concept album. Although its appearance has been anything but novel in the contemporary music scene, the concept album was not introduced until the 1950s. With influences of Classical and Folk Music, the concept album quickly grew to become a steadfast element of musical culture that has allowed artists to elevate their musical expertise, express their views on societal conditions, and enhance the listening experience of their fans.

Lanthorn, Vol. 53, No. 34, June 10, 2019, Grand Valley State University

Volume 53, July 9, 2018 - June 10, 2019

Lanthorn is Grand Valley State's student newspaper, published from 1968 to the present.

Ohio, Evangelical Religion, And The Merging Of The Antislavery Movement: Joshua R. Giddings, Salmon P. Chase, And Their Remarkable Crusades Against Slavery, Douglas Montagna

Studies in Midwestern History

This article will treat the antislavery careers of Joshua R. Giddings and Salmon P. Chase in three parts. The first part will show that they were exposed to evangelical religion early in their lives and that their religious lives continued to develop throughout their childhoods and young adulthoods. The second part will show what experiences inspired each to become antislavery activists. And the third part will show how religion remained the cornerstones of both of their fights against slavery while working within the American political system. Both themes of this essay—the importance of the Ohio society and environment in fostering …

Lanthorn, Vol. 53, No. 33, May 13, 2019, Grand Valley State University

Volume 53, July 9, 2018 - June 10, 2019

Lanthorn is Grand Valley State's student newspaper, published from 1968 to the present.

Lanthorn, Vol. 53, No. 32, April 22, 2019, Grand Valley State University

Volume 53, July 9, 2018 - June 10, 2019

Lanthorn is Grand Valley State's student newspaper, published from 1968 to the present.

La Batalla Del Cine Chileno: Chilean Cinema’S History Of Resisting Hollywood, Alexander V. Berdy

Cinesthesia

The United States has been a global superpower for over a century now and that first place title also extends to Hollywood. Since WWI the Hollywood system has controlled the global film market by exporting their films all over the world. These American films took profits from many national cinemas but they have also influenced filmmakers worldwide to do some spectacular things; especially in countries like Chile. The story of Chile’s film industry shares a lot of similarities with European filmmaking. There seems to be a common theme of countries failing to beat American import films, then resisting the commercial …

Cinematic Auteurism, And The New Wave Sensibilities Of Sofia Coppola's "Lost In Translation", Benjamin Brewster

Cinesthesia

This paper seeks to illustrate the auteurism and the cinematic influences present in Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation, specifically through the lenses of the gender and historical modes of cultural film analysis. It argues that Sofia Coppola’s personal brand of auteurism permeates the film in a variety of distinct and important ways, and that much of the film’s success can be traced back to both her auteurism at work, and to the subtle but distinct nods made therein to the historical cinematic movement known as the French New Wave. It seeks to attack these ideas on two distinct but …

A Short History Of Film And Censorship In Mainland China, Rebecca E. Harvey

Cinesthesia

This paper discusses the history of film in Mainland China and the censorship that followed and its effects on Mainland Chinese media and filmmakers today.

Grand Valley Forum, Volume 043, Number 16, April 22, 2019, Grand Valley State University

2018-2019, Volume 43

Grand Valley Forum is Grand Valley State's faculty and staff newsletter, published from 1976 to the present.

Lanthorn, Vol. 53, No. 31, April 15, 2019, Grand Valley State University

Volume 53, July 9, 2018 - June 10, 2019

Lanthorn is Grand Valley State's student newspaper, published from 1968 to the present.

Grand Valley Forum, Volume 043, Number 15, April 8, 2019, Grand Valley State University

2018-2019, Volume 43

Grand Valley Forum is Grand Valley State's faculty and staff newsletter, published from 1976 to the present.

Lanthorn, Vol. 53, No. 30, April 8, 2019, Grand Valley State University

Volume 53, July 9, 2018 - June 10, 2019

Lanthorn is Grand Valley State's student newspaper, published from 1968 to the present.

Grand Valley Magazine, Vol. 18, No. 4, Spring 2019, Grand Valley State University

Grand Valley Magazine

Grand Valley Magazine is a quarterly publication about Grand Valley State University produced by University Communications since 2001.

Writing On Demand In College, Career, And Community Writing: Preparing Students To Participate In The Pop-Up Parlor, Kelly J. Sassi, Hannah Stevens

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

The Writing on Demand Unit is an important part of the College, Career, and Community Writers Program. In this article, we review the literature on C3WP; contextualize the writing on demand unit in relation to the other instructional resources in C3WP; explore five big ideas about writing on demand; and describe an approach to teaching this unit that includes some preliminary results of teaching this unit in a rural, Native American high school. The five big ideas that inform its use are the following: 1) emotions matter, 2) everyone does it, so provide reasons for writing on demand, 3) time …

Images Of Nursing From West Michigan: A Photo Essay, Aldina Mahmutovic

Honors Projects

The image of nursing is diverse and complex, with public perceptions influenced by traditional imagery and negative stereotypes. Few recent studies consider how nurses view their professional image. My study aimed to uncover how West Michigan nurses perceive the image of nursing. Approval was given by the local Sigma chapter (Kappa Epsilon at Large), to recruit participants from members, and by Grand Valley's IRB. Via an online REDCap survey, participants submitted an original photo and written narrative. Submissions were searched for underlying patterns using thematic analysis. Themes identified were: (1) nurses establish relationships with unique and vulnerable clients, using their …

Investigation Of Chlorine Gas, Phosgene Gas, And Mustard Gas: Development, Use, Effects, And Treatments With A Focus On World War I, Kyle Zaremba

Honors Projects

The German attack in Ypres on April 22, 1915 ushered in a new era of warfare. For the first time in military history, large amounts of weaponized gas were being deployed. The first attack utilized chlorine gas while subsequent attacks used phosgene gas, mustard gas, or a combination of them. Scientific and medical communities scrambled to combat the new threat, leading to great advancements in the understanding of the pathophysiology and treatment relating to chemical gas attacks. New ways to bypass chlorine gas, phosgene gas, and mustard gas effects were proposed and tested and already existing medical interventions proved useful. …

Art In The Park, Raelee Olson, Bri Hukill, Sandy Vercellino, Brynne Garver

Environmental and Sustainability Studies Undergraduate Projects

One of the main objectives for our project was finding sustainable paints that could be used in the mural. One of the most influential sources I found was by Rochikashvili & Bongaerts (2016), which discussed three types of sustainable paints used to cover walls, and the benefits of each. This is where I learned about the emission of VOCs, or volatile organic compounds, that are found in many traditional paints and the harmful effects they can have on the environment. The authors of this paper discussed the benefits of finding low-VOC paints, as well as other sustainable paint alternatives like …

Lanthorn, Vol. 53, No. 29, April 1, 2019, Grand Valley State University

Volume 53, July 9, 2018 - June 10, 2019

Lanthorn is Grand Valley State's student newspaper, published from 1968 to the present.

Epistemic Dimensions Of Gaslighting: Peer-Disagreement, Self-Trust, And Epistemic Injustice, Andrew D. Spear

Open Access Publishing Support Funded Articles

Miranda Fricker has characterized epistemic injustice as “a kind of injustice in which someone is wronged specifically in her capacity as a knower” (2007, Epistemic injustice: Power & the ethics of knowing. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 20). Gaslighting, where one agent seeks to gain control over another by undermining the other’s conception of herself as an independent locus of judgment and deliberation, would thus seem to be a paradigm example. Yet, in the most thorough analysis of gaslighting to date (Abramson, K. 2014. “Turning up the lights on gaslighting.” Philosophical Perspectives 28, Ethics: 1–30), the idea that …

Knotworking The College, Career, And Community Writers Program, Rachel Bear, Tom Fox

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

"Knotworking the College, Career, and Community Writers Program" examines its history and success through four "knots." Using Engeström's concept of "knotworking," the article explores the relationship of the program to national standards, mandated curricula, hyperpartisan public discourse, and student achievement.

Coming To Terms With College Writing, Tyler Judd

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

The task of defining college writing is one that will more than likely never find a definitive end. As writing teachers it is important to understand what the future for our students holds, but for those college-bound students it can often be hard to predict. With new resources such as Joseph Harris’ Rewriting: How to do Things With Texts, and National Writing Project’s College, Career, and Community Writers Program teachers can be sure they are guiding that population of students toward a successful academic future. This piece explores some of the specific resources and tools that I have found most …

College, Career, And Community Writer’S Program (C3wp) Data-Driven Reports Of Literacy Growth, Kathy J. Kurtze

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

Through the implementation of mini-units in from the C3WP, a teacher demonstrates that routine argument writing leads to great gains in argument writing literacy.

Learn The Terms: A Visual Glossary, 2018 Edition, Gayle Schaub, Vinicius Lima, Jacob Mol, Christina Elsholz

Open Teaching Tools

Understanding a discipline requires a fundamental understanding of its concepts, theories, and terminology. Critical to academic success, these are often assumed to be widely understood by students.

The students of Graphic Design V, fall 2018, created poster to help students understand one of the ACRL Framework’s concepts, scholarship as conversation. These bold, eye-catching informational posters, produced and disseminated in and outside of the Library, promote learning through innovative designs created by students for students.

Language Attitudes Of Writing Center Consultants: Perception And Expectation, Benjamin John Sparks

Masters Theses

This master’s thesis explores the results of research into the language attitudes of peer consultants working in a writing center at a large regional public university in the American Midwest. A survey was administered to writing center staff in which they were asked to evaluate the sociopolitical relationship between standard and nonstandard English dialects, the perceived relative grammaticality of these dialects, and the traditional concept of appropriateness in academic writing. Also included were questions pertaining to how consultants manage the practical responsibilities of their positions and the expectations of students and professors with the writing center’s stated policy of linguistic …

The Sandman: The Artifice Of Comics And Power Of Dreams, Nathan Teft

Masters Theses

Neil Gaiman’s Vertigo Series The Sandman is an exceptional artistic endeavor. From “Preludes and Nocturnes”(1988) to “The Wake” (1996), Gaiman worked alongside a team of talented artists and graphic designers to produce an indelible work of revisionist mythology. This thesis will attempt to establish the framework by which our modern literary canon has celebrated classical Western myths while relegating graphic or visual forms of literature or outright neglecting comic myths altogether. Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics will frame the discourse for pictographic analysis of Neil Gaiman’s mythological revisionism of Milton’s Paradise Lost in Season of Mists, Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities …