Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Insight From Popular Fiction; Understanding Rather Than Knowledge, Todd Jones

Far West Popular Culture Association Annual Conference

Abstract: People are often recommending popular fiction to each other to provide “insight” into, say, what life is like in a contemporary Jamaican village. But given that such stories are fictional, what does that insight really consist in? In this paper I will argue that such works of fiction can provide understanding, rather than knowledge. I’ll also talk about some things we need to be cautious about with this type of understanding.

A Note From The Co-Editors, Fayth Schutter

Ideas: Exhibit Catalog for the Honors College Visiting Scholars Series

An introduction to the first issue of the third volume of Ideas Magazine, concerning the work and research of Dr. Shoshana Magnet.

A Note From The Co-Editors, Jada C. Johnson

Ideas: Exhibit Catalog for the Honors College Visiting Scholars Series

An introduction to the third issue of the third volume of Ideas Magazine, concerning the work and experience of Stone Soup Shakespeare.

A Brief History Of The Making Of An Astronaut, Sharon J. Kulali

Ideas: Exhibit Catalog for the Honors College Visiting Scholars Series

With more advancement in technology, recreational travel to space is increasingly becoming common. This raises the question of whether all individuals who travel to space are considered astronauts. In this paper, the astronaut requirements that the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has had throughout the years are broken down. Furthermore, renowned former astronaut, Colonel Richard O. Covey, is used as an example to demonstrate these requirements.

Repeating The History Of Theater Closures During A Pandemic, Yoonhee Song

Ideas: Exhibit Catalog for the Honors College Visiting Scholars Series

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly altered people's lives as industries were forced to shut down or change their system of delivery. Entertainment facilities, such as the theater, also experienced significant changes, limiting the options to enjoy relaxing activities and relieve stress. Interestingly, the Spanish Flu, a similar pandemic that occurred in the early twentieth century, caused similar outcomes to the society, including the theaters. This artifact compares the impacts that the Spanish Flu and COVID-19 had on theater industries.

The Virtual Performer-Audience Relationship, Annika K. Larson

Ideas: Exhibit Catalog for the Honors College Visiting Scholars Series

The intimacy of the performer-audience relationship is timeless. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the theatre community has succeeded in creating many solutions to allow performances to fit into a virtual world. Julia Stemper and her theatre company, Stone Soup Shakespeare, provided a new lens into how virtual theatre has impacted the performer's ability to connect with their audience. I will explore how these relationships have changed in the midst of a global pandemic and the value that performers find in live performance.

Covid-19 Pandemic Increases Accessibility To Theatre Performances, Katelyn M. Biggs

Ideas: Exhibit Catalog for the Honors College Visiting Scholars Series

The pandemic has caused many industries to alter their functionality to stay afloat, specifically the theater. Changes made because of the pandemic have opened the doors for a new audience. This included the theater becoming more accessible financially and for people with disabilities. This article highlights how when transitioning back to a post-pandemic world, these new patrons should be kept in mind.

Fratelli Tutti: Pope Francis And The Catholic Response To Human Rights, Tiffany Hunsinger

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

On October 4, 2020, Pope Francis issued a letter to the world entitled Fratelli Tutti, On Fraternity and Social Friendship.

The document served as a culmination of the Church’s response to the global pandemic, as well as the more considerable perils of throwaway culture. This presentation will explore the specific response of the Catholic Church as it attempts to counter destructive boundaries and structure of its institution.

Pope Francis continues a tradition in pastoral response to the “signs of the times.” However, can the Church respond effectively in this current world?

Or do the needed changes surpass the capability …

Witnessing Anew: Human Rights Advocacy For Migrants At The U.S. Southern Border In Covid-19 Times, Ellen Maccarone

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

In this paper I provide a case study of transnational migrant advocacy done by the Kino Border Initiative during the COVID-19 pandemic. Shortly before the pandemic I spent a week with KBI for an immersion experience part of which focused on the ideas of human rights advocacy and witnessing. “Witness” in this context has both a spiritual/moral dimension and an experiential one that can form a foundation for advocacy. Using accounts of migrants to inform and humanize changed when interpersonal witnessing became impossible during the pandemic. This increased the levels of human rights abuses experienced by migrants and limited the …

Captivity As Crisis Response: Migration, The Pandemic, And Forms Of Confinement, Eleanor Paynter

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

During Europe’s recent “refugee crisis,” Italy responded to increased migrant arrivals by sea with progressively restrictive border and asylum policies. While crisis-response restrictions are perhaps unsurprising, those implemented since 2014 have produced a set of situations that appear, at least initially, paradoxical: Following Interior Minister Matteo Salvini’s 2018 “Closed Ports” campaign, independently-operated rescue ships continue to be blocked from disembarking the migrants they have rescued. At the same time, asylum officials have rejected claims for protection at higher rates, while border officials deport a minority of those whose claims are rejected. Thus, under the guise of crisis management, some migrants …

Refugee Homes And The Right To Property: Sunk Costs And Networked Mobility, Jordan Hayes

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

For refugees outside their state of origin, access to humanitarian protection can come at the cost of the right to own a home. Following Anneke Smit’s scholarship on the possible contradictions between humanitarian protection and property rights, this paper explores the case of refugee homes built in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) by Syrian asylum seekers. Interviews with Syrian refugees collected in Iraq from 2018-2019 reveal the paradoxical situation faced by refugees who invest time, expertise, memory, hope, and money in a house—yet do not own it. While non-citizens in the KRI rarely have the chance to secure legal …

Get Home Safe: Art As Resistance, Human Rights Education, And Liberation In Incarcerated Spaces, Marissa Gutierrez-Vicario

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

Abstract:

In this presentation, Marissa Gutierrez-Vicario will speak about her work with Art and Resistance Through Education (ARTE), a New York-based non-governmental organization that works to amplify the voices of young people for human rights change through the visual arts. ARTE works in public schools, with community organizations, and in carceral facilities. As part of ARTE’s work, the presentation will discuss the joys and challenges of delivering human rights education and arts-based curriculum inside of jail facilities in a post-pandemic world, while simultaneously advocating for abolition as part of the mass incarceration movement within the United States. Also throughout the …

Comic Books, Satire, And The American Police State: Lessons From The Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, Jamie Michaels

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

In the spirit of the #DefundThePolice and #BlackLivesMatter movements, protestors in Seattle’s Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ) declared sovereignty over 5½ city blocks. Emboldened by the potential for mass mobilization enabled by the COVID-19 pandemic protestors attempted to establish a racially egalitarian society that would exist without the police, the traditional enforcement mechanism of the white supremacist American state.

This paper explores how Alex Graham’s Dog Biscuits (2021) and Simon Hanselmann’s, Crisis Zone (2021) portray the ways CHAZ protestors utilized absurdity in the face of extreme violence to enact indiffernation—a unique affect comprised of indifference and determination. This affect …

Charles Gibson And Indian Territory's Periodical Press, Tereza M. Szeghi

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

I argue that Charles Gibson (Creek writer and journalist) offers an important but woefully understudied voice of resistance to the changes imposed upon the tribes of Indian Territory around the turn of the 20th century (such as forced allotment of tribal lands, dissolution of tribal governments, and Oklahoma statehood). In his regular column, “Rifle Shots,” Gibson offered a dynamic space in which to process and comment upon these changes. More specifically, while Gibson was quite outspoken in his critiques of the ways in which U.S. policies threatened Creeks’ sovereignty, culture, and well-being, his column also frequently contained reworkings of traditional …

A Gendered Analysis Of Habermas And The Underrepresented Narratives Of Domestic Migrant Claims, K C. Abalos-Orendain

The Canadian Society for Study of Practical Ethics / Société Canadienne Pour L'étude De L'éthique Appliquée — SCEEA

This paper explores the limitations and possibilities of Habermas’ critical social theory and discourse ethics by utilizing the analyses of two of his former students, Nancy Fraser and Seyla Benhabib. Fraser shows us the limitations of Habermas’ position because it fails to take into consideration the female perspective and contribution to the labor force. This raises the question of migration within the gender framework. On the other hand, Benhabib argues for the potential of Habermas’ philosophy by reminding us of its universalist stance.

Women As Victims Of ‘Misogyny’: Re-Centering Gender Marginalization, Xinyi Angela Zhao

The Canadian Society for Study of Practical Ethics / Société Canadienne Pour L'étude De L'éthique Appliquée — SCEEA

: Among various views concerning the nature of womanhood, one difference between the materialist and the pluralist accounts is whether a woman should be defined or identified based on her typical female biological features. The former treats “woman” as the social meaning of the biological female, while the latter insists that one can be a woman by virtue of one’s internal identity without also having the normatively associated biological features. In this paper, I argue against the latter view that the inclusion or demarginalization of transwomen requires more than self-identification and that it demands the recognition of the role of …

Seeing Differences Differently: Peter Best And Morally Relevant Differences, Sandra Tomsons

The Canadian Society for Study of Practical Ethics / Société Canadienne Pour L'étude De L'éthique Appliquée — SCEEA

Recently, I benefited from reflecting on Best’s arguments in There is no Difference. Accepting his argument chain to establish that there is no difference between individual Indigenous personsand European persons, we agree that Indigenous persons and Europeans have the same humanity, moral worth and individual moral human rights. Hence, we agree that Indigenous persons in Canada should legally have equal human rights. The moral difference Best sees, and I no longer see, is between Indigenous nations and European nations. For Best, differences between nations can make one nation superior to another. Challenging Best’s superior-inferior-nation hierarchy, I argue that liberal …

Canadian Decolonization: The Path To Indigenous Recognition And Sovereignty, Sebastian Farkas

The Canadian Society for Study of Practical Ethics / Société Canadienne Pour L'étude De L'éthique Appliquée — SCEEA

How can Indigenous peoples acquire recognition and sovereignty within Canada? The heinous treatment of Indigenous Canadians is well documented. Thankfully, Canada has progressed from this horrific past. Whether it was Stephen Harper’s public apology in 2008, the establishment of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, or Justin Trudeau’s 2015 campaign promise of a “nation-to-nation” approach, Canada has tried to repair past wrongs. However, this is not enough. By relying on decolonization theory, this paper explains that Canada must change its process for adjudicating legal affairs if Indigenous peoples are to have their rights respected, guaranteed, and upheld as sovereign peoples.

Aging Justice: Health Justice Extended, Alex Mayhew

The Canadian Society for Study of Practical Ethics / Société Canadienne Pour L'étude De L'éthique Appliquée — SCEEA

The ethical framework of health justice posits that humans have a right to health, a meta-capacity to pursue their goals. However, elderly people are often expected to endure the loss of capacity as natural, while health justice as an ethical framework has been silent on the topic of aging. By extending the idea of health justice to aging, we can see the involuntary deterioration of health and end of life as a social justice issue. Meanwhile, developments in biology suggest that aging may be reversible. Therefore, we ought to support efforts to reverse aging and restore capacities to all people

The Responsive Diversity Worker: Emotional Labour In Academia, Amber Spence

The Canadian Society for Study of Practical Ethics / Société Canadienne Pour L'étude De L'éthique Appliquée — SCEEA

Often in academia, women and minorities are held to a higher standard in how they present themselves (caring, empathetic) and how they manage the emotions of colleagues and students. The emotional labour that is expected of them is well documented. In this paper, I develop a new concept to address the emotional labour of diversity workers: Responsive Diversity Work. I summarize Carla Fehr’s view of the epistemic diversity worker, develop a theory of emotional labour, and explain how the responsive diversity worker, in virtue of the unfair emotional labour expected of her, is at great risk of mental health issues.

The Three-Year Capstone: A Progression Of Learning In Purdue University’S Theatre Engineering Program, Leigh Witek

Symposium on Education in Entertainment and Engineering

Purdue University’s Theatre Engineering Program capstone combines the yearly production work of the College of Liberal Arts with the final senior design format used in the Colleges of Engineering. By starting their production work after gaining admission to the program, students work on progressively more involved projects throughout their time at Purdue. This poster presentation will examine the lessons learned and challenges faced by Leigh Witek, a recent Theatre Engineering graduate, as she completed each role in the program. She will share how each project informed her understanding of the design process and how a three-year immersion in production work …

Timing, Latency, And Live Performance, Robert Klimek, Catherine Skokan

Symposium on Education in Entertainment and Engineering

How important is synchronous timing in a performance? In the world of science, engineering and the arts, we cannot avoid it. In the arts, it is a living and vital concept between composer, performer and audience. During the Pandemic, with an increase in virtual meetings and performances, made us more aware of timing issues and introduced us to a path with many questions about latency and affect between audience and performer. The hand waving, head nodding and eye gestures of Renaissance musicians led eventually to the classic conductor’s baton. These all helped ensembles of dissimilar instruments and/or voices, conquer problems …

Catenate: Creating An Interdisciplinary Art Project, Brian Phillips, Melissa Eddings Mancuso, Emma Sherban

Symposium on Education in Entertainment and Engineering

This paper will present the rationale for, the challenges of, and successes encountered in the formation process of an interdisciplinary Visual & Performing Arts Project, Catenate, at Ohio Northern University’s School of Visual & Performing Arts.

Developing Soft Skills With Interdisciplinary Teams In The First Year: Lessons Learned, Christian Rogers

Symposium on Education in Entertainment and Engineering

The academic structure of most universities dictates that a student work with those of their own program and in conjunction with a program that is tangential to theirs. Interdisciplinary educational experiences that provide students with the opportunity to develop soft skills (such as communication, empathy and problem solving) are considered rare but are much more common in the working environment. As an example, working environments such as Universal Creative are comprised of multiple disciplines (i.e. civil engineer, mechanical engineering, illustration, user experience design, etc.) A function of working in an interdisciplinary team can also be to work on unknown or …

Decolonize Msu, Rev. John Norwood, Turtle Clan Chief Vincent Mann, Dr. Lisa Brooks

Decolonize MSU

During Native American Heritage Month, a campus-wide conversation was held about Montclair State University's Native Land Acknowledgement, which publicly acknowledges that MSU occupies the traditional territory of the Lenni-Lenape People. It also commits our University to be the urgent, difficult work of decolonization.

Focus on Education: This panel discussion includes a reflection on how K-12 schools and teachers can do more to support Indigenous students and communities, decolonize the curriculum, and teach about Native American history and culture in meaningful, relevant, and effective ways.

Invited Guests: Dr. Rev. John Norwood (Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape, NJ) Turtle Clan Chief Vincent Mann (Ramapough, NJ) …

Deaf Inclusion And Accessibility In The Dance Field, Samantha M. Doyle, Caroline S. Clark

Symposium of Student Scholars

Over the past ten years, the dance field in the United States has shifted towards practicing diversity and inclusion. However, there are still underrepresented groups in dance, such as the Deaf community. There is a current lack of pedagogical content to help dance teachers and choreographers be inclusive to Deaf dancers. This research addresses the gap by discussing issues and access for Deaf and hard-of-hearing (HOH) dancers in the dance classroom and on stage. To do so, I present a literature review and analysis of current scholarship with a goal of bringing awareness to the current lack of accessibility to …

Whose Protagonist Is It Anyway?, Ori Mckinney

Symposium of Student Scholars

The Favourite (2018), written by Deborah Davis & Tony McNamara and directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, transcends the traditional tropes associated with genre period pictures in its unique telling of the tale of two cousins vying to be in Queen Anne's favour during her monarchy. In this presentation I study the unique story structure of this film, which centers on three equally weighted characters. In contrast to the traditional single protagonist story structure, this film shifts the point of view making each lead character either the protagonist or antagonist depending on whose perspective you watch it from. The story is written …

Authenticity And Humanity: Women In Ming Dynasty Theatre, Sarah Rogers

Symposium of Student Scholars

Since the dawn of theatrical performances, women had very limited opportunities for participation and presence in productions, often being portrayed onstage by male actors in untruthful, borderline degrading drag, which fortunately was not the case for the Ming Dynasty. My research investigates the societal roles and customs that women in the Ming Dynasty were initially assigned to and the shift they experienced in these roles; this shift empowered women to have more agency in every aspect of their everyday lives, especially in participating in performances. Methodologically, I consider the feminist/gender lens of Karl Marx’s Critical Theory and the opera The …

The Hero's Journey Beyond The Physical, Jasmine Jones

Symposium of Student Scholars

How would one go about integrating a theme of acceptance of self and others into an adventure, comedy, fantasy, and family friendly film? In the film Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, the invisible hand of the screenwriters does just that. The importance of this story is in the story structure. The four main characters are used to exemplify how there is an important relationship between plot and structure. Through this, character transformation takes place both physically and emotionally. The characters are presented as four normal people who were sucked into a game and sent on a quest to solve mysteries …

Screenplay Analysis Mean Girls, Zora Evans

Symposium of Student Scholars

Screenplay Analysis: An Evaluation of Strategy of Mean Girls

Author: Zora Evans

This presentation explores the hardships and drama-filled journey of adjusting to high school. Protagonist Cady Heron has just moved all the way from Africa to the United States in the 2004 comedy film Mean Girls. Heron’s main objective in the film is to adjust to public school, find a group of friends, and fit in. Tina Fey writes this script in a very precise and unique way. This study addresses how Tina Fey’s script creates side characters that are more memorable and active than the protagonist while keeping …