Arts and Humanities Commons^™

The Rockbridge Group: Masters Along The Maury, Teresa Gunter, Whitney M. Grim, Emma E. Noe, Grace Ragansky, William R. Tharp, Christine L. Moore

Student Scholar Showcase

For the last eight decades Rockbridge County, Virginia has served as an influential center for modern art. Neighbored by the capricious Maury River and nestled against the backdrop of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Rockbridge Baths significantly impacted the lives of four distinguished modern artists. Connected by ties of friendship or kin, the Rockbridge Group—Pierre Daura, Jean Hélion, Cy Twombly, and Sally Mann—drew inspiration and support from each other and from the people and places of the Rockbridge area.

In 1928, Catalan modernist Pierre Daura (1896-1976) married Louise Blair, a Virginian studying in Paris. His friend, the French painter Jean Hélion …

Revolution And Visual Culture In South Africa During Apartheid, Teresa Gunter

Student Scholar Showcase

In a nation firmly entrenched in the principles of white supremacy and complete separation of the races, self-determination eluded South Africans of color whose visual culture had a positive impact on important political changes during apartheid. This paper examines the works of South African artists like John Mohl, Helen Sibidi, Gavin Jantjes, Ernest Cole, and Thami Mnyele who drew inspiration from their forebears and each other and enlist the strife of individuals, as well as their own struggles, to engage the viewer in intellectual and emotive narratives.

Embedded art was a fundamental element of South African communities before colonization by …

“You Are Sexist!” “No, I’M A Sports Reporter.” An Analysis Of Females’ And Males’ Portrayal In Print Media, Lauryn Beam

Student Scholar Showcase

Media itself has always been an outlet for the public. It has been used for entertainment, information, and a societal tool from the time when it was first advancing. Sport media is a genre all its own. There has always been a gender divide in sport and sport media. For this critical study, print media sources from different outlets were analyzed to compare two female athletes against two male athletes. The athletes being compared were Serena Williams and John McEnroe, as well as Brandi Chastain and Nicolas Anelka. Each article was analyzed for how the journalist portrayed the athlete, in …

The Effect Of The American Presidency On The Behavior Of American Citizens: A Glimpse Into How Donald Trump Has Affected The Behavior Of The American Population, Carter Elliott

Student Scholar Showcase

Using data from a Gallup Poll conducted in 2018, and data from recent major events within the United States, I argue that the President of the United States has a significant impact on the overall behavior of American Citizens. In the two years since Donald Trump has taken office many things have taken place in America that have not been previously seen in the last several decades, or ever. I examine case studies such as The Unite the Right Rally, The 2017 Women’s March on Washington, media viewership and approval, voter turn-out rates, and hate crimes, which support the hypothesis …

Subverting The Patriarchy And Its Ties To Feminism: Du Maurier And Her Adaptations, Samantha Koller

KUCC -- Kutztown University Composition Conference

This paper describes the common (mis)reading of Daphne Du Maurier's Rebecca as upholding Victorian patriarchal values and attempts to demonstrate that the novel is indeed feminist and acts as a critique and subversion of those patriarchal standards; it then examines the film and stage adaptations of Rebecca, demonstrating via comparison to the original medium that feminism has begun to affect other cultural interpretations and depictions of the narrator, Mrs. Danvers, and Rebecca herself.

In Sickness And In Health, Katharine Keiser

KUCC -- Kutztown University Composition Conference

Being the most sensitive person in my family was always a problem. My parents would constantly tell me I was exaggerating largely and making issues worse than they were, and I took this as a criticism every single time it was said. At 12 years old, I began to learn why they always told me not to exaggerate a circumstance. My grandmother was diagnosed with colorectal cancer, but nobody told me she was battling cancer until after her major surgery. When my dad was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma a year later, I truly understood what it meant to appreciate those …

Examining The Usability Impact Of Content In Canvas: Html Vs. Pdf, Danni Noyes

Student Research Symposium

The mission statement of Utah State University (USU) includes “serving the public through learning, discovery and engagement.” In order to engage the diverse 27,932 students (Fall 2018 headcount including regional campuses), USU produces accessible content. Although accessible content is available to USU’s students, it is presented as an alternative to the original product rather than as a product itself. Thus, students must seek out this alternative, accessible content in order to engage with it. This pilot study tests theories of universal design as they pertain to accessible content by researching if these theories are true in the context of inaccessible …

3d Procedural Maze & Cave Generation, Jacob Sharp

Student Scholar Showcase

The goal of this project is to generate a maze or cave procedurally so that a player may be able to explore infinitely without a reoccurring pattern. The project also utilizes Virtual Reality (VR); the user will be able to put on a VR Headset and become more immersed in a procedural environment. One of the challenges that needed to be overcome was simple random number generators did not generate natural looking worlds. Introducing VR to the project created the additional challenge of preventing the user from becoming motion sick. These challenges were both addressed through many hours of research …

"The Grittiness Of Being Human": Individualizing Sexual Expectations In Adichie's Novels, Madison Vaughn

Student Research Symposium

Critics of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's novels identify her as a nationalist author, as representing the voices on the periphery, and as advocating for multiple voices and perspectives. Critics have also largely dismissed sexuality as a factor in her representations and have regarded her graphic descriptions of intimacy as mere entertainment or as a means to provoke criticism. I will argue that Adichie does include many instances of sexual intimacy in her novels, not as an escape from the tough subjects that she details, but to express the effects of public problems on individuals. Ultimately, the complexity of sexuality in her …

The Song That Lives On, Katlyn Miller

KUCC -- Kutztown University Composition Conference

This personal essay dives into the relationship between Evanescence's song "My Immortal" and two specific events of loss Miller has experienced in her life. The paper explores how different forms of loss intertwine and how music is the bridge between those varying types of loss.

"I Don't Want To Have A Weird Relationship With You, So I'M Trying": Relational Turning Points And Trajectories Of Ex-Lds Children And Their Active Lds Parents, Jared Worwood

Student Research Symposium

The doctrine and practices of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (also known as the LDS or Mormon Church) require high levels of commitment and involvement. As a result, like many high-cost religions, not only does the LDS church influence the identities of its members, but it is also extensively integrated into the everyday life of LDS families (Scheitle & Adamczyk, 2010; Loser, Klein, Hill, & Dollahite, 2008; Airhart & Bendroth, 1996). Besides being instructed that it is their divine mandate to teach their children the gospel of the church (Nelson, 2001; Viñas, 2010), LDS parents are also …

From Chod To Feeding Your Demons: A Western Approach To Tibetan Tantra, Tanner Mcalister

Student Research Symposium

"From Chod to Feeding Your Demons: A Western Adaptation of Tibetan Tantra Tanner McAlister and Dr. Dominic Sur (Mentor), Religious Studies. This research examines how Chod, a tantric Buddhist ritual traced to eleventh-century Tibet, has been altered in the West by Buddhist teacher, Lama Tsultrim Allione. The analysis aims to uncover whether the soteriological dimension of Chod has been altered from buddhahood to psychological well-being. Chod's transmission to the West and its scope as a non-traditional practice is a recent phenomenon tracing back to just the last decade of the twentieth century. Although publications on Chod as practiced in Tibet …

Alice's Garden: An Interactive Theatre Experience For Infants Ages 0-3, Alyssa Landroche, Elizabeth Bohannon

Student Research Symposium

I believe experiencing art is a human right. Whether it be a stunning painting, a magnificent opera, or a piece of riveting theatre, art can be educational and personally beneficial to the person viewing it. That is why I am exploring a new and upcoming form of theatre called Theatre for the Very Young--or simply TVY. TVY is specifically theatre for children ages 0-5. It is not just a verbal performance but a multi-modal one that is interactive with the young people in the audience. It includes vocal sounds, facial expression, bodily gesture and expressively animated props. Through research, collaborating …

The Dowager Countess As A Poor Old Awnte: Lady Elizabeth Russell In "Retirement", Frankie Urrutia-Smith

Student Research Symposium

This presentation, based on archival research conducted under the auspices of an URCO grant through the Office of Research and Graduate Studies, will analyze the ways in which aging may have contributed to the decline of a powerful aristocratic woman's social influence in early modern England. Using Lady Elizabeth Cooke Hoby Russell as a case study, this project questions how Elizabeth's family and marital status enabled her to overcome the limitations of her gender by giving her an unparalleled education and invaluable social connections. It explores her family connections in the context of Elizabethan government and the empowering status of …

How Competing With Male Athletes Affects The Way Female Athletes Perceive Their Worth As An Athlete, Cierra Brown

Student Scholar Showcase

This research aims to discover what female athletes thought about playing with male athletes and how that may affect their perceptions on themselves. To figure out the different perspectives on the subject, articles were utilized in the study and female athletes on a liberal arts college campus in Central Virginia as well. Some of these articles include, Mixed-team Sports: Why Gender Doesn’t Matter and Why Co-Ed Sports Leagues Are Never Really Co-Ed . For the research it was important to formulate a survey for a women’s basketball team, women’s soccer team, and women’s lacrosse team at a liberal arts college …

Music In Japanese Prisoner Of War Camps, Zerai Thornton

Student Scholar Showcase

During World War II, both the Axis and Allied powers held enemy soldiers and civilians in prisoner of war (POW) camps with little recreational activities. Although some Japanese POW camps did not allow their prisoners to engage in recreational activities, inmates transformed songs into acceptable performance practices. With the intent of improving music pedagogy, the purpose of this research was to investigate music in Japanese POW camps. The particular problems of this study were to (1) examine traditional practices in Japanese POW camps; (2) determine how music developed a Japanese POW camp; and (3) create a POW camp song, entitled …

The Clarinet From Antiquity To Today, Nathaniel Estes

Student Scholar Showcase

The clarinet, coming from simple cane instruments with a slit cut into the cane to create a reed, to the modern clarinet with scientific advancements in the instrument and reed making process, not only shows how the clarinet has evolved, but how technology itself has evolved over hundreds of years. With the intent of improving music pedagogy and performance, the purpose of this research is to investigate how the clarinet evolved to become the modern clarinet. The particular problems of this study were to (1) trace historical development of the clarinet, (2) identify mechanical and stylistic characteristics between the Basset …

Death Arena Game, Ryan Deasy, Nick Snan, Albert Anderson, David Cole, Shahzada Aqib Gill

Student Scholar Showcase

Death Arena is a 3D first-person action shooter with a horror twist. The player has 30 seconds to collect guns and health before a monster spawns. The map will be large with indoor and outdoor play. In each round a more powerful boss spawns with minions. Our goal is to appeal to horror and action fans alike.

If You Hate Group Projects Say, "I", Rebekah Smith

KUCC -- Kutztown University Composition Conference

This is a blog post that strives to understand the hatred of group assignments in hopes to create a more collaborative classroom.

Deconstructing Women's Work, Ezra Creedon

KUCC -- Kutztown University Composition Conference

In this paper, I examine prejudiced gender dynamics in the workplace and the underlying social norms and sexist stigmas that perpetuate them.

Performing The Lived Experience Of Lgbtqia+ Individuals In Cache County, Jake Hogan

Student Research Symposium

The goal of this project is to create a devised theatre performance by and about LGBTQIA+ people in Cache County. The project is essential because it creates a sense of inclusion for participants, promotes a better understanding of LGBTQIA+ people for audience members, and promotes the notion these individuals' stories deserve to be shared, understood, and valued. This project will be accomplished through an artistic theatrical process known as Devised Theatre. Devising is a subgroup of the larger genre of Applied Theatre, which attempts to promote and bring about social change through theatre. By doing this project, members of the …

Since Durack (1997): The Continued Work Of Documenting Women's Contributions To Technical And Professional Communication, Bonnie Schenk-Darrington

Student Research Symposium

In this presentation I will examine how thinking about women’s technical and professional communication (TPC) has changed over the years. Key ideas include acknowledging women’s historical contributions to TPC; analyzing these contributions in terms of technology, gender, and power; and inviting and accepting diverse women’s contributions into the TPC fold. I trace three orienting frameworks. The first is from Durack (1997), who problematized the dualistic thinking of public vs. private, household vs. industry, and masculine vs. feminine labor. She felt that many kinds of women’s work—both public and private—should be recognized as technical communication. In TPC, there has subsequently been …

Study Drugs For Underprivileged Children, Joshua Watkins

Scholars Week

Abstract

The effects of stimulant medication have been beneficial for individuals with Narcolepsy and especially individuals with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Keisha Ray has offered a solution in her academic work that could help also help underprivileged children. The solution she is proposing is to offer stimulant medication to them. In this paper, I assert my thesis, offering stimulant medication to underprivileged children would not be a good, right, and practical solution to helping their social inequalities. The treatment/enhancement distinction in medicine is elaborated between Ray and me. The definition of what is a healthy normal functioning body and a …

American Bolsheviki: The Beginnings Of The First Red Scare, 1917 To 1918, Jonathan Dunning

Scholars Week

A consensus has developed among historians that in the early months of 1919, widespread panic consumed the American public and government as many came to fear a Bolshevik coup of the United States government and the undermining of the American way of life, and this fear persisted until 1920. Known as the First Red Scare, this period became one of the most well-known episodes of American fear of Communism in US history. With this focus on the events of 1919 to 1920, however, historians of the First Red Scare have often ignored the initial American reaction to the October Revolution …

Exalted And Debased: Psychological/Sexual Conflict As Bildungsroman In Half Of A Yellow Sun, Anne Lance

Scholars Week

While many still view the Bildungsroman, novels of formation or coming of age stories, as the purview of stuffy formation novels like Dickens’ Great Expectations or Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, there is significant scholarship that suggests a recent revolution in the genre that centers women, people of color, and males in post-colonial or war-torn spaces.

My paper examines Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s 2006 novel Half of a Yellow Sun as an example of a Bildungsroman through the focalization of one of the main characters, Ugwu, as he endures two psychologically conflicting sexual experiences, one …

12th Annual Research Week--Event Proceedings, Office Of Research And Sponsored Projects Operations

Excellence Summit (Research Week) Archived Proceedings

12th Annual Research Week

"A Celebration of Student Research"

How To Attract African American College Students To Study Spanish: A Model For Virginia State University, Erika M. Neal

Virginias Collegiate Honors Council Conference

Being culturally aware and able to communicate with people from different regions of the world is one of the most critical skills a student of color can obtain during their educational career. Not only will a student’s perspective of the world be altered, but their market value will skyrocket by 5-10% on average according to Forbes. Being bilingual or multilingual is a skill that can be applied to any career field in today’s society. Unfortunately, many African American students have had little to no exposure to foreign languages and cultures specifically Spanish. Even for those who have had some exposure …

Multilingual Nahuatl Children’S Literature: Giving Nahuatl A Voice In The Literary World, Tyler Covington

Scholars Week

No abstract provided.

Hegelian Political Theater, Cade M. Olmstead

Research in the Capitol

What could politics, theater, and the project of German idealism all hold in common?This research seeks to explore the usage of comedy in modern political discourse through the perspectives of theater and German idealist philosophy.

It begins with an analysis of ancient Greek theater by the philosopher G.W.F. Hegel, applies this reading to the 2013 Turkish Gezi Park protests, and ultimately makes a normative claim about comedy’s use in public discourse and proper democratic politics.

Informed Hearing Loss Prevention At Theatre Uni [Poster], Mallory Park

Research in the Capitol

Theatre workers face many dangers which could impact their quality of life and ability to work. One such risk is hearing loss. Given the prevalence of noise-induced hearing loss, some theatre workers may already be living with hearing loss. My purpose with this study is to discover the current conditions and attitudes toward hearing loss at Theatre UNI then provide the information necessary to theatre workers about the signs and significance of hearing loss as well as methods for prevention.