Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Something To Look At On Bad Days, Shahana Afsar

Waldo Library Student Exhibits

No abstract provided.

Bringing About Modernity: A Comparative Study Of Urban Development In Korea That Connects East Germany And The Two Koreas, Junghyun Kim

Masters Theses

This study builds upon the theories of architectural modernism advocated by the International Congress of Modern Architects (CIAM) and Le Corbusier as well as previous studies regarding East German experts being sent abroad to assist in urban development and modernizing schemes of non-European countries. This study examines the East German assistance in the reconstruction of the North Korean city of Hamhung and how North Korea absorbed the ideas of urban modernization advocated by the Soviet Bloc architects. Then the study will shift in focus to look across the border in South Korea which was influenced by a similar idea which …

Reconnect: The Importance Of Beauty Within Architecture, Rebekah Lueck

Interior Design Capstones

In a world where secular design has become the norm, this project addresses the profound disconnect individuals experience in modern spaces. This research investigates the impact of contemporary design principles on user well-being and the built environment. It explores how secularism and modern design have contributed to this disconnect and alienation, and further how reforming a classical view and approach of architecture and design contribute to its remedy.

The integration of classical architecture not only offers an aesthetic and functional solution but also serves as a powerful response to the negative impacts of the fragmented view that has been embraced …

Beneath The Waves, Meredith Bol

Interior Design Capstones

In an age marked by technological advancements and a growing need for meaningful human-nature connections, aquariums and conservation programs stand as unique platforms for enhancing both education and human wellbeing. This design will dive into the conceptualization of interactive exhibits within aquariums, focusing on their potential to enrich visitor experiences and contribute to human wellbeing. By blending innovative technology, immersive environments, and educational narratives, aquariums can transform into dynamic spaces that not only showcase marine diversity but also actively engage visitors through these elements.

Intellectual: The aquarium space is meticulously designed to cater to varying intellectual levels, achieved through a …

From Healing To Happiness, Lauren Hannah

Interior Design Capstones

Animal shelters play a crucial role in providing care and rehabilitation for stray or abandoned dogs. However, there is a growing understanding that rethinking the conventional role of animal shelters can lead to significant improvements in the lives of dogs through specialized behavioral therapy and rehabilitation programs. By implementing these programs, shelters have the potential to regenerate and transform dogs’ lives, enabling them to overcome behavioral challenges and increasing their chances of finding loving adoptive homes.

The focus of these initiatives is to heal and nurture the dogs’ behaviors, addressing underlying issues that may have contributed to their arrival in …

Eduscape Shaping Tomorrow’S Leaders Through The Lens Of Neuroarchitectural Design, Viktoryia Shauchuk

Interior Design Capstones

Interior spaces hold undeniable significance; hence, the project advocates for a design rooted in well-being. The “EduScape” project seeks to redefine the design of K-8 schools by integrating an applied approach that prioritizes student well-being, safety, and the seamless blending of indoor and outdoor spaces. In an era where there is a heightened awareness of comprehensive wellness the physical environment cannot be ignored as it significantly influences a child’s emotional, mental, and physical development. Because the physical environment plays a pivotal role in shaping a child’s emotional, mental, and physical development, it is necessary to transform the landscape of educational …

Clinical Improvisation In Music Therapy For Children And Adolescents: A Scoping Review, Pui-Shan Yung,

Capstone Projects

Clinical improvisation is frequently used in music therapy sessions, as a nonthreatening means to facilitate free expression and address various non-musical goals. Among the existing research on the effectiveness of clinical improvisation in children and adolescents, there was lacking a specific implementation process. This scoping review identified 5 articles on the Western Michigan University library search engine, investigating the use of clinical improvisation with children and adolescents. The studies were summarized to include participant characteristics, improvisation intervention/ methods, themes, and outcomes. The quality of intervention reporting in each article was assessed using the music-based intervention reporting criteria and listed each …

The Sounds Between Lordran And Yharnam: Exploring Motivic Recontextualization In Non-Linear Narratives, Tré Bryant

Masters Theses

In this thesis I argue that the music of the Dark Souls trilogy, Bloodborne, and Elden Ring play a vital role in the player’s capacity to form an understanding of the narrative, examining how musical coding and visual association work for and play against expectations. First, this thesis will analyze the musical styles of each game, identifying commonalities in the compositions. Second, I will explore a case study from each game that illustrates how the music alleviates ambiguity in the narrative. Lastly, the thesis will discuss how players often form their own slightly different interpretations of the stories and lore …

Existential Crisis (Or The Art Of Buying A Guitar), Maxwell Miller

Masters Theses

Existential Crisis (or the Art of Buying a Guitar) is an audio-visual creative project consisting of three works for guitar, voice, and electronics. I perform them using a real-time audio manipulation program developed in the open-source programming language, SuperCollider, with live video projection created in the open-source programming language, Processing. The title comes from grappling with internal expectations, questions of purpose, and the absurdity of being a thinking, sensing creature, which are recurring themes in my life. When these feelings come into sharp focus, it is sometimes overwhelming, but I believe that processing these feelings through art is an innately …

The Correlates Of Neurobiology And Lived Experiences Of Music-Induced Bonding, Empathy, And Shared Flow, Ashley Marie Sherwood

Masters Theses

An alarming decline in mental health and increase in addiction and substance use disorders over the last few decades have generated increased interest in exploring how improved social health in the community could be a protective factor against mental health crises. Interventions which increase perceived emotional synchrony and shared flow may positively impact the social fabric of society. This paper examines the relationship between self-reported perceptions of emotional synchrony and shared flow and changes in measures of cortisol, dopamine, oxytocin, and vasopressin in blood samples following musical improvisation, with a review of relevant literature also presented. Vasopressin was found to …

All Is Flux For Solo Vibraphone And Fixed Media, Ethan Stearley

Masters Theses

“All is Flux” is a composition for solo amplified vibraphone and fixed media. The title is derived from a quote by the Greek philosopher Heraclitus- “All is flux, nothing remains still.” While a traditional score will be provided to the performer for the purposes of preparation and analysis, a video score that is synchronized to the fixed media audio elements will be used in the final performance. This moving score should be visible only to the performer, not the audience. The composition serves as a practical demonstration of experimentation on structure in tandem with elements drawn from narrative theory. Additionally, …

Spirit Marches West: An Application Of Hegel’S Historical Methodology To The American Frontier, Magnus Imber

Masters Theses

The philosophy of history developed by Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel incorporates the systematicity and speculative rationalizations that characterize his other major philosophical endeavors. Despite this, far less investigative work has been directed toward the contemporary applicability of Hegel’s philosophy of history than has been for his other major projects. Considering scholars’ much-diminished interest in speculative, overarching accounts of world history, this is not particularly surprising. Given, however, that the concept of rational historical progress is central to Hegel’s system, the contemporary applicability of the Hegelian conception of history seems to be a matter of significant importance. Can the methodology that …

Working Logic Parameter Types And Philosophical Assumptions Of Selected Evaluation Approaches—A Descriptive Qualitative Analysis, Thomas J. Lyzenga

Dissertations

The purpose of the study is to enhance the selection and use of selected contemporary evaluation approaches through the development of a descriptive profile that combines the parameters of their working logics and their philosophical assumptions. The profile provides a unique structure to understand, identify, select, and apply evaluation approaches. I catalogued 86 evaluation approaches described in 13 sources that discuss multiple evaluation approaches and applied citation analysis to identify the most used or most quickly growing approaches. For 11 of the commonly used evaluation approaches, I identified the seven features of the feature profiles through a qualitative content analysis …

Current To Best Practice: An Approach To Establishing A Clearinghouse, Alycia Sterenberg Mahon

Dissertations

Clearinghouses provide a central location for evaluating and synthesizing studies to inform practice and policy. Many stakeholders rely on these clearinghouses to make evidence-based decisions for practice and research. This investigation aims to develop and evaluate a sequence of methods that fields/disciplines can use to establish a clearinghouse. Specifically, this research provides a roadmap to form a clearinghouse for music therapy (MT) intervention-based research. This work consists of three individual research studies. Each study addresses a component of how the field of MT, through a clearinghouse, can provide a solution for disseminating evidence-based practices. Study 1 provides a framework to …

Identity And Alterity In A Comedy Series From Santa Cruz, Bolivia, During The Presidency Of Evo Morales, Anita L. Zandstra,

Dissertations

This dissertation explores the construction of social identity and social difference in and through Neo/Los Mismos, a Bolivian comedy series produced during the presidency of Evo Morales (2006-2019), the country’s first president to claim an Indigenous identity. These years were characterized by profound divisions between the Bolivian highlands, home to Morales’s base of support, and the opposition based in the lowlands department of Santa Cruz. This qualitative study takes an interdisciplinary approach to social identity and social difference during the Morales era, drawing on concepts from linguistic anthropology, literary criticism, and humor studies, and tracing connections between Neo/Los Mismos and …

Shedding Light On Shadow Casts, Kiara Durbin

Honors Theses

On Sunday, November 12, 2023, Kalamazoo’s pioneer American Sign Language-interpreted shadow cast performance took place in Shaw Theatre at Western Michigan University. Clue is a mystery-comedy based on the beloved board game, loaded with witty dialogue and physical comedy. It was the perfect vehicle for the Kalamazoo county’s premiere American Sign Language (ASL) shadow cast—a special performance where the interpreters are directly onstage following the movements, dialogue, and intonation of the actors. It was produced through a unique collaborative effort of Western Michigan University’s Department of Theatre, Stage Hands, a Michigan-based ASL performance interpreting company, and Theatre Kalamazoo, a local …

Bfa Show, Emma Hampel

Honors Theses

The senior thesis show within the Frostic School of Art serves to mimic what the working artist will one day hope to achieve regularly: having their work in solo exhibitions throughout museums and galleries across the world. Thus the thesis show is not only an incredible learning experience, but also a crucial indicator of a student’s preparedness for life as a graduated artist. Through the experience of hosting one’s own show and reception, the artist will need to curate and create a collection of themed works for the exhibition, handle the layout, installation, and deinstallation of said exhibition, and promote …

Senior Recital, Concetta Brehmer

Honors Theses

My honors thesis was presented in the form of my senior clarinet recital. It was performed on Sunday, February 4th at 3pm. The music in this program consisted of unaccompanied solo repertoire such as Blush by Jean Ahn, and a Bach Cello Suite on bass clarinet. There will be accompanied works such as the Mozart Clarinet Concerto 1st movement, and Premiere Rhapsodie by Claude Debussy. Lastly, the recital will also contain chamber music, such as my clarinet quartet playing Histoire Du Tango by Astor Piazzola, and a vibraphone/clarinet duo called Oil & Water by Josh Gottry. This recital encompasses works …

Accessibility In Asl Through Dance, Jocelyn Supanich

Honors Theses

My honors thesis project was a dance for camera or a dance film that I created as my senior capstone project for my BA dance degree. I wanted to create a film that increased awareness surrounding the accessibility of American Sign Language (ASL) for dancers and through dance. I wanted to show how dance and ASL can be seen as similar through the lense of them both being languages and ways of communicating using movement of the body. This idea is where the title stems from: “Expression in Motion”. Both ASL and dance are forms of expressing oneself, and they …

When Music Becomes Me: Occupational Therapy’S Role In Caring For Upper Extremity Disorders In Musicians, Kathryn S. Halsted, Kristin Biggins, Kimberly Davis

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Musicians are a distinct population with a high rate of developing musculoskeletal and neurological disorders affecting their ability to participate in music-based occupations. These injuries negatively affect the musician’s health and well-being in physical, financial, psychosocial, and emotional dimensions. Given music’s complex and integrated role in the musicians’ life, treatment must be multi-dimensional, considering aspects of the person, the type of instrument, environment, context, and social obligations. Occupational therapy providers are uniquely qualified to treat musicians because of their focuse on holistic, occupation-based, and client-centered care. This manuscript describes the role of occupational therapy in this client population based on …

John Gower: The Minor Latin Works, Robert J. Meindl, Mark T. Riley

Accessus

A translation, with introductions, of the minor Latin works of John Gower.

Preface To A New English Translation Of The Minor Latin Works Of John Gower, Georgiana Donavin, Eve Salisbury

Accessus

The editors' preface to Robert J. Meindl and Mark T. Riley's new English translation of the Minor Latin Works of John Gower.

Decolonizing Disability In Social Work: A Conversation On Colonialism, Autumn Asher Blackdeer

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The present work seeks to prompt a paradigm shift in the conceptualization of disability within social work through three main goals: a) Problematize the dominant disability discourse in social work, b) Illuminate present day manifestations of settler colonialism and their intersection with disability in social work, and c) Introduce decolonization and its compatibility with disability justice to reckon with disability and colonialism in social work. First, the present work will illuminate social work’s dedication to the medical model, evidence-based practice, and hollow notions of empowerment and inclusion. Next, in viewing intersections of ableism with other forms of oppression, this work …

“Just Holding That Space”: Using Culturally Relevant Pedagogy To Create Counterspaces For Black College Students In Aanapisi/Hsi Classrooms, Nicholas B. Lacy, Yea-Wen Chen, Damariyé L. Smith

Journal of Communication Pedagogy

Black college students continue to face the specter of anti-Blackness which creates additional barriers to success and flourishing in higher education. This study investigates how instructors in higher education can provide racial equity to Black students in AANAPISI/HSI classrooms through counterspaces. We use culturally relevant pedagogy to investigate the experiences of 21 Black college students at an AANAPISI/HSI to understand better how higher education instructors can utilize counterspaces, places where Black college students can challenge dominant discourses and create a collegial learning environment. We identified three counterspace themes: (1) Mitigate Eurocentric Pedagogy, (2) Employ Black and Critical Scholarship, and (3) …

Maintaining The Complex Personal And Professional Elements Of Our Lives In Academe, Sydney E. Brammer, Ryan J. Martinez, Narissra M. Punyanunt-Carter

Journal of Communication Pedagogy

This reflective essay offers several practical suggestions for scholars and professionals who are looking for ways to sustain abundant personal and professional lives in a discipline that encourages workaholic tendencies and requires many to engage in hybrid working arrangements. We discuss the tensions experienced by many communication teacher-scholars in academe and how various types of boundaries can aid in the maintenance of rest and work.

59th International Congress On Medieval Studies, Medieval Institute, Western Michigan University

International Congress on Medieval Studies Archive

The printed program of the 59th International Congress on Medieval Studies (May 9–11, 2024), together with the Corrigenda.

Historical Trauma And The Disability Community, Susan Neely-Barnes, Melissa Hirschi, Laura Taylor

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The theory of historical trauma has emerged as an important perspective for understanding historically oppressed communities, especially communities racialized as black or brown. The theory has been given relatively little attention in disability studies and in practice with people with disabilities. People with disabilities have experienced historical marginalization, oppression, and genocide and continue to experience oppression today. This paper explores the elements of historical trauma and how they apply to the disability experience. Future research in disability studies and social work should consider the historical trauma perspective. An understanding of historical trauma would tie social work practice more closely with …

Fighter, Player, Hunter: Queer Women And Female Agents On Secular Gothic Ivories, Emma Le Pouésard

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality

This essay shines a light on the previously ignored queer representations of women on Gothic secular ivories, taking as its case studies three popular iconographical themes: the Castle of Love, the game of chess, and the courtly hunt. Refusing to yield to compulsory heterosexuality when looking at the indeterminately gendered bodies that populate these objects reveals both the ivories’ inherent queerness and their potential to interrogate their own normativity. Like the romance literature that inspired the images on these objects, they represent and enforce idealized gender norms with remarkable reluctance. In particular, the author highlights overlooked depictions of female homosocial …

Malory’S Gwenyvere And Her Ladies, Molly A. Martin

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality

This essay argues that in Malory’s Morte Darthur, Gwenyvere, like the English queens of the late medieval period, has a coterie of ladies in service who are essential to her relationship with Launcelot in particular. Their support provides a site of resistance to the male chivalric world that dominates the Arthurian community, especially when considered through the lens of female friendship, and helps the queen transgress patriarchal expectations.

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal Of Gender And Sexuality 59.1 (2023)

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality

No abstract provided.