Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Assessing Non-Performance Based Standards Of The National Core Arts Standards In Georgia Public Middle And High Schools, Richard Brian Horne

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Developing a well-rounded musician must be the goal of every music teacher. In today’s modern educational system, assessment is a tool used to help shape the curriculum of all subjects. Music assessment must be no different. The National Core Arts Standards (NCAS) utilize anchor standards for assessment in four categories: creating, performing, responding, and connecting. Standards that fall within performing are quickly evaluated in formal and informal assessments, but other standards, such as creation, responding, and connecting, often need exploration. One needs to craft assessments to determine student understanding of performance and non-performance standards and explore development in those areas. …

“What So Many Millions Before Us Have Borne”: Loss, Grief, And The Revolutionary Turn Of The Founding Father, Michael S. Desmond

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Loss, instability and grief provided a crucial interpretative framework for understanding George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin, particularly in the years surrounding their emergence as revolutionaries in the early 1770s. Rather than treating their political commitments to the Whigs as the product of ideology alone, this study argues that deeply personal experiences with setbacks and loss shaped the crucial timing of their decisions to become revolutionaries.

For Washington, Jefferson and Franklin, grief was not a single event followed by an emotional response; it was a formative process that began with the setbacks and losses of their childhoods. In adolescence, …

Supporting Parents Of Pre-Adolescents: Equipping Parents Through Focused Instruction On Biblical Parenting Practices, Lillian Michelle Mitchell

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This action research project addresses the problem that parents and grandparents of pre-adolescent children at Mount Moriah Missionary Baptist Church do not receive sufficient intentional spiritual support, biblical guidance, and instruction to teach them how to raise their children using parenting skills grounded in a biblical worldview. The purpose of this research was to equip parents and grandparents of pre-adolescent children with biblically based parenting skills using an eight-week group study. The project examined the results of the Bible study group, which focused on Genesis 1:26, Deuteronomy 6:5-9, Proverbs 22:6, Luke 2:46, Ephesians 6:1-4, and Titus 2:1-8. The study implemented …

The Cold War And The Weaponization Of Digital Technology: How The United States Government Partnered With The Private Sector To Create A Technology-Driven Strategy For National Defense, Stephen J. Hoover

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Beginning with the National Security Act of 1947, the study traces the transition from conventional warfare to a sophisticated "Second Offset Strategy" defined by technological superiority. It argues that the Cold War necessitated the maturation of the alliance between the federal government and the private sector, transforming private enterprises into essential strategic partners for Cold War national defense. The research analyzes milestones in this digital shift, including the development of voice communications, air defense, space and nuclear technologies, command and control networks, and the transition from mainframes to microprocessors. Central to this analysis is the role of technology in key …

A Critical Examination Of Visions, Dreams, And The Authority Of The Holy Spirit In Biblical Prophecy, Michael Turner-Muhammad

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The Holy Spirit's function as the mediating agent of perceptible prophetic encounter remains underdeveloped in the works surveyed for this study. Scholars in pneumatology, prophetic studies, and divine embodiment have each addressed at least one of these dimensions. Pneumatology explains the Spirit’s role in inspiration but not how revelation becomes perceptible; comparative studies provide context, but not its pneumatological structure; and embodiment scholarship affirms anthropomorphic encounters but does not identify the Spirit as their mediating agent. The result, in the works examined here, is the absence of a unified theological account of how the Spirit mediates perceptible divine communication across …

The Perceived Vocal Health Of Male Elementary Music Educators In Maryland, Adam Samuel Beres

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

There is a notable lack of research and expertise on the vocal well-being of music educators. Vocal health issues, even among accomplished vocalists with extensive vocal training, have highlighted a notable lack of literature on the subject. Nowhere is this issue more apparent than among male elementary music educators. Significantly, vocal-range similarities between female elementary music educators and their students place male educators at a performance disadvantage, which may encourage male music educators to adopt unhealthy vocal practices, such as prolonged use of falsetto. This study aims to investigate the impact of vocal health pedagogy on male elementary general music …

A Brief Historical Survey Of The Use Of Traditional Hymnody In Select Baptist Churches In Texas, Christina N. King

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This research set out to understand the past, present, and future value of hymnody in select Baptist churches in Texas. The research addresses the critical concerns in Baptist worship: the shift from traditional to contemporary music and the potential loss of theologically sound songs that have historically grounded the faith of believers. The primary purpose of this study is to discover the depth and breadth of hymn usage in worship and understand how hymnody is perceived to shape believers theological understanding and spiritual formation. This study was undertaken as a multi-site case study of five select churches, with five people …

Increasing Success Of Elementary Music Students With Special Needs Through Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies, Catherine N. Peacock

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Despite the federal laws for students with disabilities and their mandated inclusion, many elementary music teachers are under-prepared or lack resources to include students with severe disabilities in general music classes. Adapting procedures, expectations, and content delivery to include peer tutors who assist students with disabilities may be key to success for students with exceptionalities. This case study sought to explore the possibilities of reimagining the traditional elementary music classroom as an inclusive, collaborative space for cooperative learning and music-making by fostering peer relationships and peer tutoring. Utilizing a qualitative case study observational approach, this research explored how to best …

The Edge Of Freedom: Forging The Virginia Militia On The Edge Of The Western Frontier, Ryan Thomas Cadigan

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The aptly named, New World, posed new challenges for the British colonists who migrated across the Atlantic Ocean. New challenges required colonists to ditch traditional European methods and embrace the ruggedness that was Colonial North America. From the perfecting of the rifle to adapting to guerilla warfare tactics, Virginia stood at the front lines of this evolution. The western frontier showed signs of promise for the British Colonists and Virginia quickly found itself in the center of the drama that promise brought with it. The Ohio River Valley took as much as it gave, forging some of the best militia …

The Effects Of Narrative Identity Awareness On The Relationship Between Adult Attachment, Shame, And God Attachment, Jacqueline H. Watson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This quantitative study examines the interconnectedness of adult attachment, shame, God attachment, and narrative identity awareness. Insecure adult attachment has been shown to result in increased shame experiences and has been linked to insecure God attachment. Awareness of narrative identity has been used to improve left-right brain integration and correct problematic narratives that often lead to shame. This research employs Likert scale-style questionnaire data, parallel mediation, and linear regression-based models to assess the connections between study variables. More specifically, it examines whether narrative identity awareness moderates the relationship between adult attachment, shame, and God attachment. Participants included self-identifying Christian adults …

The Father Is Seeking True Worshipers, Lissa M. Smith

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

It is God’s desire to dwell with His people, be their God, and for them to be His children (Exod 29:45 –46; Lev 26:12; Ezek 37:27; Rev 21:3). This dissertation examines the pericope of John 4:19–26 using a biblical-theological method by exploring God’s manifest presence through each person of the Trinity within a tabernacle/temple themed framework. It then presents evidence to show how the conversation between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well is the turning point in which man’s worship transforms from a predominately physical aspect to a predominately spiritual aspect.

“Yet a time is coming and now …

Curricular Design For Private Christian Music Instruction, Jonathan Michelsen

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Private Christian music instruction is designed to develop musicians who grow in both musical skill and spiritual maturity. While this dual purpose is commonly assumed, there is limited research on how private music curricula intentionally integrate biblical theology with structured music pedagogy. Many private music programs focus on technical development, yet few studies explore how faith-based instruction shapes curriculum design, instructional goals, and teaching practices. This qualitative study investigated how instructors and program leaders described their instructional approaches to musical development, theological integration, and spiritual formation within selected private music education providers. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with instructors and program …

Enforcing Freedom: President Grant, The Ku Klux Klan, And Reconstruction In York County, South Carolina, Nicholas P. Branyon

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study investigates Reconstruction policies under Ulysses S. Grant in York County, South Carolina, an area affected by severe Ku Klux Klan violence in the early 1870s. It explores whether federal enforcement efforts effectively suppressed organized violence and brought stability to the region. This dissertation contends that Grant’s use of federal authority—especially through prosecutions and military action—substantially reduced Klan activity and led to a noticeable drop in violence by 1873, despite inconsistent implementation and limited long-term political stability. York County is a vital case study because of its high levels of racial violence and organized opposition to Reconstruction. The findings …

Servant Leadership In Sound: The Administrative Burden Of Music Educators In Under-Resourced Schools, Ronfled Eriko D Espinoza

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Higher educational institutions design curricula to prepare future music educators for the diverse pedagogical challenges they face. Despite formal training, new music educators often feel unprepared for administrative responsibilities . In many Title I schools and other small school band programs, band directors are often expected to personify the dual role of music educator and administrator. Burnout, inefficiency, and reduced effectiveness are potential challenges when simultaneously managing both roles. This study will support current and future educators in their dual roles as educators and administrators by providing valuable insights into time management, leadership development, and policy advocacy strategies. Through the …

The Procedures And Perceived Impact Of Pastoral Succession In A Family-Led Church: A Case Study, Yvonne H. Hines

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Leadership transitions in any viable organization are inescapable and complex. Pastoral leadership is a challenging task whether one is charged with an astronomical or miniscule calculation of individuals. Pastoral succession, one of the most significant leadership undertakings in the Christian church, encompasses the transfer of authority, an indispensable component to the effectual progression of the church. Churches in the United States are presently confronted with a contemporary dynamic in pastoral leadership, family-led churches. Pulpits traditionally filled by denominational officials or congregational elections are currently impacted by the automatic succession of family members as senior pastors in the family-led church setting. …

Social-Emotional Learning In A Middle School Band Program: A Qualitative Case Study, Edward J. Anthony Jr.

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Social-emotional learning (SEL) supports students’ development of interpersonal skills, emotional regulation, and responsible decision-making during adolescence. Although music education provides collaborative learning environments, limited research has examined how participation in middle school band programs contributes to students’ social-emotional development. The purpose of this qualitative case study is to explore how participation in a middle school band program contributes to the development of social-emotional learning (SEL) competencies among students. Through interviews, observations, and document analysis, this study seeks to understand how students and educators experience and perceive the social and emotional dimensions of ensemble participation within the middle school band setting. …

The Canonical Use Of The Psalter In The Formal Quotations Of Jesus, Didactically Applied To His Self-Identification As Messiah, Andrew W. Richardson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This dissertation investigates the canonical use of the Psalter in the formal quotations of Jesus, focusing on how he uses these citations didactically in his self-disclosed explication of a holistic, Old Testament Messiah. Rather than treating Jesus’s use of the Psalms as isolated prooftexts or rhetorical devices, this study contends that Jesus interpreted and applied the Psalter as a unified canonical whole whose theological trajectory assimilates disparate Old Testament messianic expectations. These layered expectations are encapsulated in Jesus’s own self-disclosure as that Messiah. This study adopts a canonical methodology that emphasizes the final form, theological unity, and intertextual development of …

How Religion, Morality, And Worldview Impact Public Policy, Adam Opp

Journal of Statesmanship & Public Policy: Briefs and Commentaries

It is important to examine the intersection between religion, morality, and worldview when analyzing the creation of public policy. Faith and spiritual beliefs play a key role in how an individual behaves as a policymaker and how they view the role of government. Religion considers the critical role of authority, which the government must analyze if the people have given it the authority to take a course of action. Morality asserts that the purpose of government is to maintain a system of justice that protects individual rights. Worldview highlights the framework individuals take in approaching the role of government and …

A Pauline Portrait Of The Gift Of Prophecy According To 1 Corinthians 14, Jacob W. Garrell

Senior Honors Theses

This study investigates the 1 Corinthians 14 discourse concerning gifts in corporate worship to identify the major characteristics of the New Testament gift of prophecy. Sources written from various theological frameworks will be weighed and examined for agreement and divergence. The resulting description of prophecy will be limited almost exclusively to observable claims and supported inferences drawn from exegesis of 1 Corinthians 14. The evidence from this text promotes an understanding of prophecy as a gift performed by functional, self-controlled agents with the chief intent of revelatory, though fallible, communication for edification, confirmation, and witness. Meanwhile, questions concerning the spontaneity …

'Here's What Bali Can Do For You': Social Media's Impact On Travel Writing, Carlisle Avalon Jarnigan

Senior Honors Theses

This thesis examines how social media has initiated a shift in the genre of travel writing from educational cultural observation to a form of engagement-driven, monetized travel content creation. Historically, the genre has functioned as a descriptive genre dedicated to educating readers who would never get to see the destinations they read about modern travel writing and content creation use emotional persuasion to market travel experience as a product, redefining the genre. Using methods like geotagging, user-generated content (UGC), and emotionally charged storytelling approaches, travel creators no longer just describe locations but instead promise readers that if they visit, they …

Multicultural Marketing: Rebranding Chick-Fil-A For Chinese Audiences, Christina Pan

Senior Honors Theses

China is one of the fastest-growing markets in the world, and consumption is its main cause of growth. With a population of 1.4 billion people, many companies want to establish themselves in China. However, China and the United States markets are vastly different, and China’s post-COVID economy makes success increasingly difficult. Factors such as domestic competition, weakening US-China relations, and increased suspicion in foreign products calls for a new marketing and branding approach for United States companies. Fast-food giants such as McDonald’s and KFC have managed success in the past, but one company that also has potential is Chick-Fil-A. This …

Connected Pastors: The Importance Of Having Safe Support Systems In Ministry, Karin A. Hines

Senior Honors Theses

Pastors minister to broken people, but sometimes they need help themselves. Many pastors do not seek help or do not have anyone safe to go to, often for fear of losing their influence or job. This thesis argues that sharing one’s life with safe people is essential, especially for those who are in high-stress professions. It explores pastoral support systems, examines comparable stigmas against seeking help in other fields, analyzes the science of sharing and isolation and their effects on the brain and body, and considers the Bible’s instructions on living in community for one’s personal well-being. Pastors require intentional, …

Nietzsche And Socrates: Reflections Of Redefined Virtue In Greek Tragedy, Kyle M. Lowry

Senior Honors Theses

The works of Friedrich Nietzsche were used to study how Greek Tragedy was “born” and “died,” particularly in relation to the rise of Socratic philosophy in Ancient Greece. The intoxicated “Dionysian” and disciplinary, artistic “Apollinian,” are the elements Nietzsche claims encompass and catalyze human experience; the former containing the primal nature of the Being, and the latter containing the ordering through which identity is formed and art is created. Tragedy, the art form perfectly balancing these two elements was “born” within the conditions of a Dionysian Pessimism, by which the inevitable life of suffering was redeemed aesthetically. Socrates introduced rationality …

It’S No Longer Greek To Me: A Gamified Parsing Study Tool, Josiah J. Lane

Senior Honors Theses

Learning Koine Greek presents significant challenges due to the language’s complex morphology, including multiple verbal forms encoding tense, aspect, mood, voice, person, and number. Traditional methods relying on rote memorization often fail to support long-term retention and rapid parsing ability. This project presents a web-based parsing study tool designed to address these challenges by integrating spaced repetition algorithms, active recall, and gamification principles. The system leverages a relational database of lexical forms and parsed words, enabling adaptive scheduling of practice items based on individual learner performance. Gamified elements, including scoring, progress tracking, and immediate feedback, sustain engagement and encourage consistent …

Faith Under The Führer: Protestant Pastors In Nazi Germany, Katie Cassady

Senior Honors Theses

This research examines Protestant churches in Nazi Germany and their varied reactions to Hitler’s Third Reich, tracing the Nazi rise to power, the Kirchenkampf (Church Struggle), the Confessing Church’s resistance, and figures like Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Martin Niemoller, and Karl Barth. Hitler campaigned on a platform purporting to support religious freedom, but the state-sponsored persecution of Christian churches later revealed such promises as a facade. The Kirchenkampf exemplifies the reactions of Protestant German churches to Hitler’s rule: The German Christian Movement (GCM) endorsed Hitler’s radical racial theories, while the Confessing Church confronted the unbiblical rhetoric used by the GCM.

Addressing The Problem Of Erotica In Fiction From A Christian Standpoint, Elizabeth Burgess

Senior Honors Theses

The body of erotic content embedded in mainstream literature grows by the day, and based on an investigation of its similarities to pornography—which has many documented negative effects—this content warrants caution before interaction. Christian writers and editors are faced with a multifaceted problem when it comes to erotica: they must weigh the risk of harming consumers by participating in its production, and they must discern whether it aligns with the moral demands of the Christian faith when it comes to sexuality. The analysis of biblical frameworks for sexuality, the present literature documenting the negative effects of pornography, and the purpose …

Aughrim, Out Of Reach: Literacy, Modernity, And The Irish Fate In “The Dead”, Julia Lehman

Senior Honors Theses

In the early twentieth century, Irish cultural identity faced a crisis. After hundreds of years of oppression under English colonization and the devastating famine of the previous century, Irish cultural identity had been diminished. However, there was a political push to reclaim this identity. James Joyce, famed Irish author, lived through this era and personally struggled with his Irish identity. His short story “The Dead” explores the conflict existing in Irish cultural expression during this era. In this thesis, I address the contrast between literacy and orality which produces themes of cultural alienation and disillusionment in “The Dead.” Gabriel Conroy …

Awe As Signpost: An Argument For The Consistency Of Lewis’S “Joy” And Psychological Awe, Audrey Hendricks

Senior Honors Theses

C.S. Lewis’s Surprised by Joy details Lewis’s autobiographical apologetic for the existence of God through his experiences of “Joy,” a technical term invented by Lewis. Upon close study, his experiences of Joy contain many similarities to psychological awe. This investigation compares Lewis’s Joy with psychological awe using the Awe Experience Scale (AWE-S) to determine consistency. Lewis’s Joy was found to be consistent with all six criteria of the AWE-S in addition to other recognized psychological characteristics of awe. In addition to qualitative consistency, this review also argues for the teleological consistency of the two concepts, contending for a Christian teleological …

Toward An Anthropology Of The Expressive Individual: Reformational Insights Into Emotions, The Heart, And Christian Formation, Isaac Kantola

Senior Honors Theses

Contemporary Western culture is increasingly defined by what theologians and sociologists call “expressive individualism,” driven by an “ethic of authenticity” in which one’s emotions and desires are seen as the primary arbiter of identity and meaning. Responding to this cultural movement, the Church has appropriated the language of desire, happiness, and the affective in its preaching, ministry, and apologetic endeavors. Figures such as John Piper, James K.A. Smith, and Timothy Keller have each, in their own way, sought to contextualize the faith so it may be better understood by a culture obsessed with their longings and therapeutic self-concern. While these …

The Implications Of Music Therapy On The Human Mind, Mckayla Martin

Senior Honors Theses

Music therapy harnesses the power of music in clinical settings. It is primarily used to support mental health. Music affects areas such as anxiety, memory, and brain plasticity. Therapeutic music practices can reduce stress and anxiety, enhance specific types of long-term memory, and encourage neuroplasticity. It is an effective, non-invasive treatment for those experiencing mental distress. Ongoing research on the effectiveness of music therapy in clinical settings has the potential to significantly improve the treatment of mental illness, disorders, and disabilities.