Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Lotería: Hybrid Narrative Of A Transracial Adoptee, Dani F. Sarta

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

Lotería is a hybrid poetry collection that follows the life of the speaker as a queer, Hispanic transracial adoptee raised by a conservative Catholic family in Central Florida, focusing on their struggle to fit into the binaries assigned to and expected of them across religion, race, gender, and sexuality. This collection is separated into three sections, each expanding on the one before as the speaker journeys through life, exploring their identity and their connection with the world around them. In the first section, poems such as "(Non)Binary Star" and "Size 6 Woman Size 18 Daughter" sift through the speaker's conflict …

Imaginative Immersion: Developing A Theatre Of The Mind Pedagogy For An Ever-Changing Educational Landscape, Cory Kennedy Barrow

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

The suspension of disbelief is integral to the performing arts. We ask our actors to see couches made of three chairs, designers to create cities in empty spaces, and most of all; we ask audiences to believe the stories and relationships that are figurative and often abstract. This level of critical and creative engagement is assumed to develop in spaces of higher education. However, with an ever-changing world and increasing conversions and integrations of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in spaces of higher education, it has become even more apparent that students need to develop their creative and critical thinking skills earlier …

Software Company Workplace Bias In Technical Communication, Amanda Altamirano

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

This dissertation is an interdisciplinary work that explores the intersection of humanities and technical communication by focusing on the presence and impact of software company workplace bias in technical professional communication. It focuses on workplace bias in technical communication because, when present, bias can impact the experiences that technical communicators and end-users (people who use the software) have with the software. This mixed-methods study consists of a survey, an interview, and a new diagram designed to help technical communicators mitigate biases in technical documentation. To understand better the presence and impact of bias in these workplace contexts, this study surveys …

Theatrical Tools To Support The Community Agreement, Bethany E. Post

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

When working with a new group of people, it is common practice to create a Community Agreement in pursuit of quality outcomes. This tool uses dialogue to methodically outline the desired educational or creative environment, democratically articulating the commitments and expectations to remain in place throughout the duration of the group's existence and setting all participants in accord with the work to come. However, the Community Agreement can fail to support individual participants during moments of inevitable tension. In such moments, participants may experience unplanned emotional or physical reactions in response to triggering material or ideas. To navigate these reactions …

A Succession Of Loves, Of Writing, And Of Memory: Reverberations Of Deleuze And Guattari Across In Search Of Lost Time, Dylan Hoven

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

The theoretical oeuvre of Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari often looks to In Search of Lost Time as a work that exemplifies or inspires their concepts. These chapters draw on their work regarding Marcel Proust as a conceptual basis for understanding The Search. Even so, their work on Proust is neither an exhaustive study of his novel nor a totalizing application of their philosophy. As a result, this study focuses on the successive loves of The Search as an element of the novel whose analysis is facilitated by the work of Deleuze and Guattari while not being a topic …

Campbell & The Cryptid: Mindfulness And Mediality, Elaina Buffkin

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

Campbell & The Cryptid is a short film that intertwines the bittersweet intensity of imagination with the nostalgic medium of hand drawn two-dimensional animation. Campbell is an eleven-year-old girl who loves adventure and spending time with her brother. But when he moves away, she carries on her explorations on her own. This leads her to discover a strange friend in the woods. The experience helps her understand that the unknown is not always as bad as imagined. Influences on the artistic direction include irreverent media such as Calvin & Hobbes, as well as more speculative works such as Over …

Analyzing The Use Of Plain Language In Brief Summaries On Clinicaltrials.Gov, Megan J. Eddington

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

ClinicalTrials.gov is a database designed to help clinical researchers make their research publicly available. The clinical trials registered on the database each include a brief summary, which is meant to be a short description that the public can easily understand. In September 2022, ClinicalTrials.gov published a "Plain Language Checklist for Lay Brief Summaries" on their website, which identifies plain language best practices intended to help investigators craft summaries that can be readily understood by the public. This thesis assesses the impact of the checklist on the language use in the brief summaries in the year following the checklist's publication. The …

Steps Of Theatrical Design: A Resource For Activating Educators To Teach Design In High Schools, Chandler Caroccio

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

As a designer and educator, I am continuously gathering more resources for personal knowledge and to share with my students. Yet there is currently a lack of literature when it comes to design pedagogy for all design areas, specifically for high school aged students. How can we teach theatrical design in a tactful and meaningful way to high school students throughout the United States? Steps of Theatrical Design: A Resource for Activating Educators to Teach Design in High Schools, is for educators to learn about the process of design and spread that knowledge to their students. This thesis will …

Disability Representation In Contemporary Playwriting, Caroline Hull

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

Is it possible for a playwright to authentically capture the disabled experience without it becoming privy to stereotypes or utilized as a catalyst for the plot? The thesis aims to challenge the prevalent notion that making the disability intrinsic to a theatrical plot is essential for authentic representation, and instead asserts that authentic portrayal of the disabled experience can exist independently of making the disability a central plot device. To support this claim, In Chapter One, I engage with relevant work in the field of playwriting and narrative media studies, such as the workshop "Inaccessible: Writing Plays with Characters who …

Creating Connection: Utilizing Dramaturgical Collaboration To Engage Young People In Theatre Making In A Post-Pandemic World, Gabrielle Lawlor

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the theatrical landscape, prompting theatre artists to reinvent how they connect with audiences and each other in physical spaces. While research has delved into post-pandemic theatre making, much of this area remains unexplored, particularly concerning young people, how the loss of community has impacted them, and what society can do to help. This thesis investigates how professional directors and dramaturgs can effectively engage young people in theatre making post-pandemic by drawing on three specific productions — Camelot and Camelittle, WROL (Without Rule of Law), and Alice and the Wonderland Parties. Utilizing theories drawn …

Inclusifying The Rehearsal Room: Creating Accessible And Accommodating Theatrical Spaces For Young People, Christian Anderson

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

In youth theatre spaces, it is up to the facilitators to discover and create new ways to include more students, especially those who previously didn't have a seat at the table. Making rehearsal spaces inclusive and accessible to all starts by establishing inclusion as an innate practice integrated into every step of the process. This thesis focuses on creating inclusive and accessible rehearsal spaces outside of the traditional classroom for young people ages 8-22, specifically in community theatre and collegiate spaces. The director's role is explored in two projects: Home of the Brave, a Theatre for Young Audiences production …

Lucas' Gift: Exploring The Importance Of Self-Care, Kevaun L. Gayle

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

Lucas' Gift is a traditionally animated short film focusing on themes of selflessness and self-care. In an alternate world where magic exists, lives a young boy from a small community experiencing a drought. After being gifted a magical plant growing necklace from the Good Witch, Lucas works diligently to feed his community. After working himself to exhaustion, he learns the importance of self-care. The artistic direction is influenced by works such as Steven Universe and Craig of the Creek.

Echo, Ana Beltran

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

Echo is a 3D animated short film rendered within Unreal Engine from Epic Games. The story is centered around a small child named Echo who has moved to Earth with her mom. The story follows her adventures through her first days at school and what can happen when a parent suddenly disappears from a child's life against their will.

Many of the story beats take direct inspiration from personal experiences of either myself, my family members, or stories of immigrant children who come to the United States (US) with their parents in search of a better future. There has been …

Theatre As Resistance: Application Of Queer And Feminist Theories To Theatrical Practice And Pedagogy, Chanel H. Gomaa

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

Throughout my time at UCF, I have committed my studies to better understanding my positionality as someone who both benefits and suffers from systems of oppression. I have dedicated my pedagogy and artistry to questioning how I can apply theatre as a tool to resist these systems through my work, as well as wondering how I may communicate my thoughts and concerns to the colleagues I collaborate with as I am to hold myself accountable for my involvement in works that I recognize as being in need of revision in order to resist systems of oppression. I conceptualize that to …

Breaking Molds: Transformative Processes In Art Making, Materials, And Life, James M. Wysolmierski

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

Drawing upon traumatic moments of my past as a catalyst, I pursue understanding and acceptance of physical and emotional pain. In this thesis body of work, I employ the intersection of industrial and body imagery in sculptural forms and installation as a corporeal and allegorical account of my lived experience using visual narratives of trepidation and metamorphosis. In my creative practice, I incorporate various materials that create a reference of specific moments from my past. The artworks draw from principles rooted in Buddhism, affect theory, phenomenology, and materiality; incorporating them as tools to comprehend my position in the world and …

Spaced Out: Exploring Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Through Animation, Alyssa R. Klapka

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

Spaced Out is about a 16-year-old high school student named Penny, who arrives home from school after a long day. She has astronomy homework that is due, and she is determined to sit down and get it done as fast as possible so that she can have some evening time to herself. This all goes awry when Opal, a dragon who is a manifestation of her ADHD, shows up to distract her. Penny must find a way to finish her assignment, not by ignoring Opal and pretending she isn't there, but by embracing the fact that she is a part …

Anticipating Combustion: Suffering's Potential For Finding Meaning, Perseverance, And Transcendence, Alexander Alvarez

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

Arising from the complications of an underprivileged and impoverished background this thesis focuses on exposing the grotesque consequences of conflicting ideologies through personal and societal suffering while in search of universal connections to showcase the need for compassion and understanding. My artistic practice is utilized as an entry point to have difficult discussions, a tool for teaching themes of injustice, inequality, and mistreatment. The traumatizing experience of poverty or corruption has the potential to be transmuted into something beneficial. I utilize discarded, low valued, unwanted, and damaged materials in my artmaking to symbolize transfiguration, an advanced state of former self. …

Crusading For Fun And Profit: An Examination Of Ludohistorical Mode In The Crusader Kings Community, Kirk M. Lundblade

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

How do participants in communities of play centered around digital games engage with history? The historiographic influences of ludic form have been closely scrutinized in recent years, but little attention has been paid to the digital cultures—to the communities of play— which center the discussion and play of these historical games. My study aimed to closely examine one such community centered around the grand strategy game Crusader Kings III, released by Paradox Interactive in 2020. I use discourse analysis together with grounded theory to examine the game Crusader Kings III alongside two primary sites found on reddit and Paradox …

From The Slime And Mud: Rumination As Fuel For Artistic Process, Olivia Van Natta

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

This thesis examines my work to harness ruminative thinking as a driving force for my art practice. With a combination of drawing and painting in watercolor pencil, I activate and engage with rumination through the act of sublimation as defined in clinical psychology. Repetition of process and hand-rendered detail serve as outward channels for my obsessive cyclical thoughts. Based on my experience living with the physical effects of a hyperactive mind, I depict botanical life symbolically in an effort to communicate impressions of the bodily sensations associated with rumination, such as palpable tension, anxiety, or dread. In my research, I …

The Dyslexic Actor: How Dyslexia Affects The Acting Process, Kate Milazzo

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

Dyslexia can benefit an actor, especially if the individual is aware of how the challenges and advantages of dyslexia impact their personal acting process. Dyslexia is widely understood to be a learning disability that affects an individual's reading and writing abilities. Many forms of theater rely on the written word, and an actor's success lies in their ability to interpret the text, leading one to question whether a dyslexic individual can find success as an actor. Yet several famous actors, including Octavia Spencer and Henry Winkler, are known to be dyslexic. As a dyslexic individual, I have also successfully participated …

Prohibition In Sanford: Local Lives Questioning A National Narrative Presented Through Data, Discourse Analysis And Digital Mapping, Lindsey K. Yeazell

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

This thesis uses a microhistorical methodology to examine the social impact and lived experience of Prohibition in Sanford, Florida, and the surrounding area – an historically "dry" community. Historiographical claims from state, regional, and national studies are tested through data sampling of Sanford Municipal Court Records; close readings of more than 200 Sanford Herald articles; and an oral history with a local museum curator based on family tradition.

This is an evidence-driven thesis. A thirty-percent sampling of 23,000 Sanford Municipal Court Records covering the Prohibition era (1920-1933) enables detailed analysis of alcohol-related arrest and enforcement patterns based on race, gender, …

Dress To Impress: New Composition Instructors' Interpretations And Embodiment Of Professionalism As Displayed Through Dress, Jacqueline C. Cano Diaz

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

While previous research in rhetoric and composition investigates how novice composition instructors negotiate the boundaries of professionalism and identity (Dall'Alba; Grouling; Restaino), the role of dress, or "performative strategic attire" (Mckoy), in crafting these teaching personas has not yet been explored. Viewing everyday dress choices through the lens of embodied rhetoric allows for a deeper understanding of the complex decision-making process of choosing what to wear (Woodward). Further, analyzing dress choice through embodied rhetoric showcases how clothing becomes a tool to craft a persona and inhabit an identity or role. Through positioning instructor's self-identity and naming their experiences and influences …

Trauma In The Acting Process: My Role As Camae In The Mountaintop And The Implementation Of Practical Techniques For Empowerment, Anita Bennett

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-

Actors often use their life experiences to evoke emotions and give a compelling performance. Connecting with personal experiences for a role, however, can manifest traumatic experiences. Trauma in the acting process can trigger difficult memories and emotions, which affects the actor's well-being. In graduate school, I discovered that trauma was a detriment to my artistic freedom in the acting process. Without the appropriate tools to address trauma, it affected my well-being and caused me to burnout. Furthermore, trauma was ignored by those involved in the creative process and there was an expectation to mask emotions for the sake of the …

The Bishop And The Poet: Theodulf Of Orléans And The Carolingian World, Cole Taylor

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-

This thesis centers on Theodulf of Orléans and the themes of love and food throughout his episcopal statutes and poetry. These two themes are connected to the larger Carolingian landscape, in which Theodulf interacts with society, culture, and religion. In covering these two themes, a more nuanced picture of Carolingian religion and society emerges, at least from the way Theodulf viewed the world around him. In considering these two themes, I further encourage the process of intertextual analysis as formulated by Rosamond McKitterick and M. A. Claussen. Furthermore, I argue that the general reforms of the Carolingian empire penetrated a …

"Do You Want To Build With Snowman?": Positioning Twine Story Formats Through Critical Code Study, Daniel Cox

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-

Using critical code studies, this dissertation examines the Twine story format Snowman. Despite existing books on the authoring tool Twine, a central part of its functionality, what it names "story formats," is rarely covered. This study steps into this gap and, based on my own experiences through working on story formats and documenting examples using Twine, explores the greater social context of the story format Snowman through examining its source code. This dissertation consists of three chapters, each using a different set of research methods. First, the metaphor of a stack is used to better understand how software like Snowman …

The Women's Wood Engraving Revival And Its Global Impact (1912-1960): Gwen Raverat, Clare Leighton, And Joan Hassall, Abigail Moreshead

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-

Using a feminist media historical lens, this dissertation examines three women artist-illustrators who participated in the early twentieth century wood engraving revival in the United Kingdom: Gwen Raverat (1885-1957), Clare Leighton (1898-1989), and Joan Hassall (1906-1988). Little scholarship exists on the wood engraving revival from a feminist media or book history perspective. To fill this gap, I examine the biographies of these women and the books and magazines they illustrated in their historical context, with attention to how their gender impacted their experience. This dissertation finds that women's participation in the wood engraving revival is significant because it afforded opportunities …

Florida's Vanishing Heritage: Climate Risk And Adaptation At Florida Heritage Sites, Levi Watson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-

This thesis examines history and preservation at coastal cultural heritage sites threatened by climate change and explores climate adaptation strategies at two sites on Florida's Atlantic coast. Current climate change models indicate the planet may see as much as 1.1 meters, or four feet, of global average sea level rise by the year 2100, requiring site managers to intervene by using adaptation techniques to improve resilience and guard against the loss of cultural heritage monuments. Understanding the history and importance of these sites to the surrounding communities and their numerous stakeholders is the first step to ensuring these sites remain …

Creating Living Characters Through Stanislavski's System And Michael Chekhov's Psychological Gesture, Robert Stark

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-

This thesis examines the application of psychophysical techniques of Konstantin Stanislavski's System, coupled with use of Michael Chekhov's Psychological Gesture, to prepare for multiple roles of intersectional characters in the production of Paula Vogel's Indecent, directed by Dr. Julia Listengarten at the University of Central Florida, January 25th through February 7th, 2022. Vogel's Indecent revisits the events surrounding the production of Sholem Asch's God of Vengeance on Broadway in 1923, which featured a lesbian relationship. The show's cast and producers were arrested for depicting scenes of obscenity, which reflected the intolerance of immigrant, Jewish, and queer communities in the 1920s …

Boys To Men, Brandon Bradley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-

Primarily through adolescent narrators, Boys to Men is a series of short stories that attempts to identify the lessons, traumas, and joys that offer—and in some cases, withhold—the tools that allow Black boys to become Black men. In "Hard Ball," an eleven-year-old baseball player on the cusp of entering middle school wants nothing more than to be less sensitive. In "That's the Way Love Goes," a fifteen-year-old visiting Florida for the summer faces his first hurricane, alone with only his grandmother and unresolved family turmoil as company. And in "Hallelujah," a young church-goer publicly challenges a powerful, yet unruly spiritual …

Inkling: An Exploration Of Visual Effects As A Character, Joshua Cooper

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-

Inkling is an animated short film about a creature made of ink falling into a cycle of anxiety. This film explores the use of visual effects in character design. Inspiration for this film was drawn from Absurdist essays and stories and used abstract imagery and cinematic devices to manipulate the audience into feeling the character's anxiety. This thesis briefly examines the foundation of methods pioneered by visual effect artists. To produce this short film, critical decisions in software and animation were made to streamline the process to allow more time to focus on creating a method for the visual effect …