Arts and Humanities Commons^™

To Protect The Sky From Falling, Charles Lambert

Theses and Dissertations

Using ceramic, found objects, metal and wood, my practice is a meditation and questioning of care, efficiency, repair, structure and place. Architectural elements of support rendered in clay are the initial point of entry to give a soft, lived-in quality to a built environment that is often devoid of the mark of the hand and body. Imprints of the hand are left, and the objects are often deformed in ways to subvert the perceived functionality. The focus on ceramics centers around a play with the binary of soft and hard and the external changes that create its transformation. The work …

A Limit That Recedes, Chloe Wilcox

Theses and Dissertations

In "A Limit that Recedes", I discuss my art practice in terms of accumulation and techniques of reproduction, such as casting, printing, and repetitive actions. I contextualize my work among artists such as H.C. Westermann, Isa Genzken, and Paul Thek. The work featured in this thesis explores ideas of aspiration, longing, and failure, and explores themes of the fraught relationship of the human and nature.

Fugitive Colors, Natalie Rose Eddings

Theses and Dissertations

My objects are meditations on intertwining themes of labor, rest, and interiority and their shadow sides—power, subjugation and the gaze. I couple materials that have millenia-long histories such as metals, glass, paper and clay with found objects and plat materials to illustrate narratives and exhume memories. Drawn from nature and technologies of land, plant stewardship and the domestic realm, I imagine my sculptures as life supporting vessels or magical enclosures.

Through sculpture, photography and printmaking, I build structures that are space of quiet to be filled with thought, healing and development. Like incubators and seed pods, my work is protective …

Examining The Connections Between Gender, Identity, And Land In Leslie Marmon Silko’S Ceremony And Rudolfo Anaya’S Bless Me, Ultima, Denise Perez

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the representation of gender, identity, and land in the novels Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko and Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya. To understand the role of gender in the novels, women are analyzed as sources of salvation and refuge for men. The male protagonists seek a “cure” or an understanding of themselves, and they are only able to achieve this through the nurturing of the women in their lives. This thesis also examines how the male protagonists develop their masculinity through the formation of a bond with the Earth, their homeland, and nature. In Ceremony and …

Understanding The Lived Experiences And Sense Of Belonging Of Bipoc Lgbtqia+ College Students At Urban Institutions Of Higher Education, Kayla M. Bassknight

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative research study explores the lived experiences and sense of belonging of college students who identify as Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual (LGBTQIA+) at urban higher education institutions. Using Meyer’s minority stress model, Crenshaw’s intersectionality theory, and Strayhorn’s belonging framework, the study investigates how students’ intersecting identities shape their college experiences. Through an instrumental case study design, the research focuses on the unique challenges and opportunities faced by BIPOC LGBTQIA+ students, particularly the role of co-curricular engagement and institutional agents in fostering belonging. Eleven individual interviews and two focus …

Lauryn C. Salazar: A Life History Of Mariachi Leadership, Berta Alicia Guerra

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to analyze Lauryn C. Salazar’s mariachi/educational leadership style by focusing on her contributions to the community of Texas Tech University and Tarleton State University. Leadership styles, as defined by Northouse, 2021, refer to the distinct approaches leaders use to guide, motivate, and influence their teams. After examining Salazar’s background to place her motivations and actions in the proper context, this study analyzed what Salazar did, how she perceived her actions, and how others perceived her actions. The life history written by the researcher was primarily based on data collected through eight interviews; however, …

A Modern Prometheus: Frankenstein's Relevance In Our Modern Society, Amanda C. Partida

Theses and Dissertations

For over two hundred years Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein has been in the public consciousness. It took only five years for the first adaptation, Presumption; or the Fate of Frankenstein, to be staged in 1825. Since then, there has been at least one adaptation every decade, with Universal Studios’ 1931 Frankenstein as the most famous adaptation, which shows just how much Shelley’s novel of science and hubris has resonated with audiences for many years.

This thesis aims to connect the ever-changing scientific anxieties of society with the most well-known Frankenstein film adaptations. By focusing on four specific films Frankenstein (1931), …

Territorio Nepantla: A Visual Exploration Of The Matamoros – Brownsville Borderlands, Michel Valeria Flores Tavizón

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the work presented in the MFA exhibition titled Territorio Nepantla. A multidisciplinary exhibition featuring a visual exploration of the Matamoros and Rio Grande Valley borderlands through the perspective of a Mexican transfronteriza traversing the Matamoros – Brownsville border. The feminist Chicana theory of nepantla, a word from Nahuatl origin meaning “in-between” is central to the exhibition. Scholar Gloria Anzaldua defines the borderlands as a nepantla space, a liminal space where art and la frontera intersect. Nepantla represents the in-betweenness beyond physicality. A nepantla space can be emotional, spiritual, sexual, linguistical and more. This body of work …

Unveiling Perspectives: Young Adults Banned Books Critical Content Analysis, Tiffany Ladonna Jarebica

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation conducts a critical content analysis of seven banned young adult novels—All Boys Aren’t Blue, All the Things We Do in the Dark, Almost Perfect, Ask the Passengers, The Bluest Eyes, The Hate U Give, and The Kite Runner—within one Texas school district. Using intersectionality theory as a lens, the study explores how intersecting identities such as race, gender, sexuality, and trauma are portrayed in these narratives and examines the role these portrayals play in the censorship process. The analysis investigates the socio-cultural, political, and institutional factors that influenced the removal of these texts, considering how their …

#Helpplz: Mental Health Representation In Theatre For Young Audiences, Kate Elizabeth Dirrigl

Theses and Dissertations

#HELPPLZ is a play for young theater audiences that depicts four teenagers with various mental health challenges. It’s target audience is for children ages ten to fifteen and should be performed by actors of similar ages. #HELPPLZ is an immersive theatre experience, as a audience members watch four actors perform from four different lifestyles and point of views, all while broadcast on screens behind the actors. Every seat is a good seat in the house. This play follows a shift in trends of mental health depiction in contemporary theatre. No longer demonized and much more accessible, plays such as Dear …

Entre Magia Y Olvido: A Narrative Journey Of Latinos/Hispanics In Fantasy Literature, Kendra Edith Lara

Theses and Dissertations

This story was born from imagination and a deep desire for inclusivity. “Corazon de Magia” is told through the perspective of Julietta Hernandez, a young Mexican American woman who is thrust into a magical adventure. Aided by friendship and intuition, Julietta investigates a mysterious pendulum that is the key to finding a missing shopkeeper. This story is a tribute to the Hispanic/Latino community- a celebration of strength, resilience and possibility.

We can be magic too.

Art And Effort, Saul Gabriel Dominguez Ii

Theses and Dissertations

Since childhood I questioned living and my life itself. I wondered the extent of our own free will since people live to cry, to hate, to think they’ve been born simply to die. I use philosophers and some contemporary fiction to portray a lens of living where we must romanticize the present, rather than an uncertain future, and remove the idea that there is a reason for our living. This method of present thinking is a characteristic of a life-well lived. The manuscript will largely be told from my point of view, a young aspiring author with limited experience, through …

Ama, Juan Gabriel Mendoza

Theses and Dissertations

This collection of interconnected testimonios - essays - follows the life of Socorro Benitez Celedon, an immigrant grandmother who spent decades laboring in the agricultural fields across the United States. After crossing the border from Mexico to Texas at the age of 12, Socorro navigates the harsh realities of migrant farm work low low-paying jobs, discrimination, segregation, and cruel realities, while nurturing dreams for her family's future. The stories shift between her early years in her small town in northern Mexico, San Jose De Raices Nuevo Leon, to her migrant life planting, picking, and harvesting fruits and vegetables, to her …

Capturing The Realities Of Space And Culture: An Exploration Of Landscape In The House On Mango Street And Woman Hollering Creek, Leanna C. Mendiola

Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Capturing the Realities of Space and Culture: An Exploration of Landscape in The House on Mango Street and Woman Hollering Creek (May 2025)

Leanna Carmela Mendiola, B.A., Texas A&M International University; Chair of Committee: Dr. Zachary Hernandez

This thesis explores Sandra Cisneros’s The House on Mango Street and Woman Hollering Creek. Cisneros’s books explore the landscape and culture around her characters as readers piece together the experiences of women. The two novels use architectural elements to examine each book’s protagonists’ community and culture. The thesis argues that Cisneros employs space and place to underscore empowerment and the characters’ journeys …

Gothic Monstrosity And The Historical Context Of Colonial Violence In The Borderlands In Isabel Cañas’ Vampires Of El Norte, Paulina Longoria

Theses and Dissertations

The speculative genre has become a venue for Chicanx cultural producers to narrate their own histories, preserve their cultural identities, and reaffirm their rightful place in the United States. This thesis explores the redefinition of gothic monstrosity in Isabel Cañas’ Vampires of El Norte (2023), a contemporary novel within the Latinx speculative fiction genre. The novel blurs the boundaries between the supernatural threat posed by the vampires and the human threat embodied by the Anglo American settlers as both endanger Mexicans living in the Borderlands during the Texas Revolution and the U.S.-Mexico War. Drawing from L. Heidenreich’s theoretical framework, this …

How Do Women Deal With Beauty Standards?, Mandy Lashay Wilson

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the profound impact of beauty standards on women’s lives, focusing on how unrealistic ideals influence their emotional and physical well-being. Through a series of figurative oil paintings, this work examines women’s actions to conform to and reject these standards. It also explores the consequences of striving to meet or falling short of these ideals, such as emotional turmoil, physical pain, potential social exclusion, as well as the comparison, and competitive beauty culture. This research analyzes the motivations behind striving for beauty standards, such as pursuing attention, success, and validation. Drawing from contemporary literature and visual analysis of …

Ai-Enhanced Flipped Classroom Approach For Chinese Vocabulary And Grammar Learning, Haotian Ye

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the effectiveness of ChatGPT-4 in enhancing L2 Chinese learners' vocabulary and grammar acquisition within a flipped classroom setting, focusing on its impact on learning outcomes, student motivation, and associated challenges. Conducted over 10 weeks, the study involved 19 native English speakers enrolled in a third-year Chinese course at a U.S. university. The experimental group (n = 11) used ChatGPT to self-study six target words and five grammar structures before attending Tuesday and Thursday sessions, while the control group (n = 8) followed a textbook-based approach. Participants completed in-class vocabulary and grammar quizzes twice a week, three journal …

Relationship Between Speaking Proficiency And Cultural Identity Of Korean Heritage Language Speakers, Minha Lee

Theses and Dissertations

Heritage language speakers from immigrant families often navigate between two languages and cultures as they form their personal identities. In this process, some develop their identity through their personal choices and external pressures, while others remain in a state of identity confusion. Although many factors contribute to the formation of their identity, the field of language education has continued to focus on the relationship between language proficiency and identity, assuming language ability could be one of the key influences. This study investigated the relationship between Korean speaking proficiency and cultural identity among Korean heritage language speakers born in the United …

Bridging The Language Proficiency Gap: Seeking Strategies For High Language Proficiency, Maria Isabelle Lyon

Theses and Dissertations

This study explores factors contributing to high proficiency in German speakers, focusing on university graduates who achieved Advanced High or Superior ratings on the ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) at the end of their university studies. The nine participants, all of whom had significant exposure to German during and/or before their undergraduate studies at Brigham Young University (BYU), shared insights into their language learning experiences. The study uses interviews and surveys to examine key characteristics, strategies, and experiences that influenced participant proficiency. The findings highlight motivation, consistency, and humility as key factors contributing to learners. Participants emphasize intrinsic motivation, consistent …

Examining Shifts In Reader Identity Through Explicit Fluency Instruction, Mercedes Allen

Theses and Dissertations

Fluency-a reader's ability to read accurately, with correct expression, speed, and prosody-is a main component of the science of reading (Rasinski, 2016). Although the science of reading has been a significant topic surrounding the issue of improving literacy in schools, there is little focus on the teaching of fluency at the secondary level (Shanahan, 2021; Steinle, 2022; Wexler, 2008) and how fluency influences reader identity. This article seeks to explore this question through the lens of the dialogical self (Hermans, 2001). In this case study, three 11th grade students participated in a series of lessons targeting components of fluency-accuracy, speed, …

Epic Fantasy As A Postsecular Genre: The Stormlight Archive's Approach To Religion And Belief, Liz Busby

Theses and Dissertations

Epic fantasy as a genre has often been neglected due to its perceived conservative roots that clash with critical reading practices. This paper proposes that a postsecular lens may be more suitable to the critical study of epic fantasy and examines perhaps the most popular contemporary epic fantasy, Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive, through a postsecular lens, First, the paper examines how the Stormlight Archive combines the premodern, fantastical worldview with modern and post-modern concerns to reinvigorate its exploration of the religious "big questions" through a renewed focus on the spiritual nature of the individual. Next, it examines how Sanderson presents …

Harnessing Strengths Through Peer Coaching: Supporting The Well-Being Of Novice Esl Teachers, Joclyn M. Farrales

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates the effects of strengths-based peer coaching on novice ESL teacher well-being. Language teachers often face challenges in job security, teacher and financial status, institutional demands, and burnout. Novice ESL teachers especially face concerns about balancing teaching and student roles, building knowledge of the realities of teaching, and scaffolding a support system. The Virtues in Action Inventory of Strengths (VIA-IS) was used to identify participants' strengths, and teachers were assigned a peer to collaborate with who shared similar strengths. These teachers met with their assigned peer coach eight times throughout the semester to discuss ways of implementing strengths …

Focus On Form: Perceptions Of Portuguese Immersion Teacher When Implementing The Capa Model, Priscila Isabel Rebicki Prestes

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates Portuguese Dual Language Immersion (DLI) teachers' perceptions when implementing the CAPA Model, a structured Focus on Form Instruction (FFI) approach aimed at improving grammatical accuracy in content-based learning. While immersion students develop strong communication skills, research highlights persistent grammatical inaccuracies due to the emphasis on meaning-based instruction. The CAPA Model seeks to bridge this gap by integrating explicit grammar instruction, fostering metalinguistic awareness, and enhancing linguistic accuracy without detracting from content learning. Findings reveal that teachers recognize the model’s benefits but face challenges such as limited planning time, a lack of pre-adapted materials, and difficulties implementing all …

The Most Beautiful Under Heaven: Selecting Views Of Modern China Through Travel Photography In Liangyou Huabao (The Young Companion), 1926-1937, Anne Marie Watson

Theses and Dissertations

Liangyou huabao (The Young Companion) was a prominent Chinese pictorial magazine, with 174 issues published monthly between 1926 and 1945. Liangyou entertained its Chinese audience with a variety of photographs documenting modern life. This thesis examines photographs of domestic travel photography in the magazine, arguing that editorial captions encouraged readers to associate images of China with allusions to traditional art and aesthetics. This occurred within a historical context where modernity was often associated with the pressures of Westernization, and where Chinese culture and civilization was sometimes characterized as outdated or irrelevant. By using travel photography to demonstrate how traditional culture …

"She Could Worship Now Even In The Desert": The Monastic Life As An Escape To Higher Consciousness In The Works Of Henry James, Tabetha A. Madsen

Theses and Dissertations

Stephen Koch has argued that Henry James is a writer that is deeply concerned with consciousness (93). Many critics acknowledge James's attention to the metaphysical. What fewer critics have observed is that the study of the metaphysical was not simply an intellectual process for James. Instead, James's study of consciousness often reads like the private experiences of the mystic. Much of the mysticism in James's work comes from his frequent use of monastic images and values. James's use of the monastic image--characterized by the qualities of obedience, silence, celibacy, and escape--explores the limitations and possibilities of consciousness in a more …

Eleanor Fortescue-Brickdale And The Best, The Worst, And The Betwixt: The Intertwined Women Of Arthurian Literature And Victorian Society, Hannah Johansson

Theses and Dissertations

The late Victorian and early Edwardian artist Eleanor Fortescue-Brickdale’s illustrations and paintings have been largely marginalized in the larger world of Arthurian art and criticism. This thesis argues that her work, focused on the illustration Enid, Guinevere, and Vivien, is impactful in its exploration between Arthurian characters and Victorian women. Critiquing with a feminist ideology, Brickdale attempts to break down Victorian stereotypes on women by visually breaking down the socially congruent labels placed onto the women of Camelot. In doing so, she both critiques Victorian society and artistically argues for a much needed social reconstruction.

The Semantics Of Quedar And Quedarse When Used With Adjectives Or Participles To Express A State, Charlotte Joy Peterson

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis focuses on quedar and quedarse in Spanish when used with adjectives or participles to express a state. There are four main verbs of becoming in Spanish, namely hacerse, volverse, ponerse, and quedar(se), but quedar(se) is the only verb of becoming that can be used both intransitively and pronominally to express a state. This thesis seeks to understand the relationship between adjectives and participles when used in conjunction with quedar intransitively or pronominally, and how the semantics may change based on which form is preferred. There are two largely supported claims in the literature as to when one form …

Navigating Light And Darkness: The Intersection Of Space, Faith And The Psyche In Ana Plácido’S Luz Coada Por Ferros, Alondra V. Ramirez Herrera

Theses and Dissertations

Ana Plácido (1831-1895) was a Portuguese writer whose literary contributions remain largely overshadowed by her infamous trial for adultery and her relationship with Camilo Castelo Branco. Despite societal constraints on female authorship in the nineteenth century, Plácido used literature as a means of self-expression, autonomy, and intellectual freedom. This thesis employs spatial theory to analyze her collection of texts Luz Coada por Ferros (1863), written during her imprisonment, to explore the interplay between physical confinement and artistic freedom. By examining the symbolic and psychological dimensions of space in her work, this study highlights how Plácido navigated themes of female agency, …

Aliases And Archetypes: A Spy's Dilemma In Tomás Nevinson, Silke Mckay Schnebly

Theses and Dissertations

Tomás Nevinson is the last novel by Javier Marías. The themes of betrayal, deceit, and doubt that are apparent in his other works continue here as well. The meandering and philosophical narration guides the reader through Tomás' quest for self-discovery. This article uses literary onomastics (the study of names, their meanings and origins) to peel back the layers of the various characters in order to reveal the archetypes they represent. Through analyzing the names in Tomás Nevinson, the reader may come to recognize the archetypes associated with the novel's characters while also recognizing how Tomás interacts with archetypal others in …

Mythology Of Autism: Pop Culture, Rhetoric, And Vaccines, Makenzi Strate

Theses and Dissertations

Myths are stories told to provide an explanation for the unknown, reflect cultural beliefs of populations that hold them, and lack scientific evidence to support these stories. Some myths, such as the myth that vaccines cause autism, are harmful toward the groups that they target. Popularized in 1998 with the publication of the Wakefield study, the myth that vaccines cause autism continues to spread and thrive today. To understand the widespread nature and detriments of belief in harmful myths such as this, I implement mythology rhetoric to examine how celebrity Jenny McCarthy utilizes elements of myth to persuade others to …