Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Big Fish, The Musical: Lighting Through A Legacy, Kennedy N. Wilcher

Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film: Theses, Student Research, and Creative Work

This thesis describes the complete production process of the lighting design for the musical Big Fish by John August with music/lyrics by Andrew Lippa, which was produced by Nebraska Repertory Theatre in partnership with the Glenn Korff School of Music and performed in Howell Theatre on April 25th through May 4th, 2024. This production of the musical was conceived and crafted by the collaborative team: Direction by Ann Marie Pollard, musical direction by Suna Gunther, scenic design by Anna Schwartz, costume design by Hunter Rock, technical direction provided by Ashley Faulkner, Projection Design by Anna Henson, and the head electrician …

Disrupting Negative Representations Of Queerness In Genre Cinema, Mark Gambino

Postgraduate

The stigmatisation of queer identities is a constant in cinematic history, especially so in horrorgenre movies. A transgressive and confronting medium, horror cinema presents numerous opportunities to align queer identities with cultural symbols of degeneracy; perpetuating associations that contribute to negative cultural attitudes towards queerness. While public discourse on such topics has advanced to entertain ideas of equity and authenticity in these representations, negative values and attitudes are yet evident in contemporary cultural texts. Therein lay an opportunity to examine how these attitudes and values are perpetuated through history by deconstructing how societal attitudes inform the creation of a text …

Imperialism Unawareness: The Case Of Citizenship Construction Among Mexican Transnational Students, David Martinez-Prieto

Bilingual and Literacy Studies Faculty Publications

This study analyzes the impact that U.S. curricula have on Mexican transnational returnees. Specifically, this article focuses on the ideological development of the army and imperialism promoted in U.S. schools among Mexican populations. Using a framework that combines critical literacies, transnationalism, and Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus and doxa, this study draws on data from 24 interviews to Mexican transnational returnee students (n = 4), Mexican national professors (n = 4), and Mexican national students (n = 4) during their concurrence in a program of English language teaching in central Mexico. Findings suggest that, before returning to …

“I Want To Say The Right Thing”: Developing Translingual Literacy Practices Through Early Care Educator And University Researcher Partnerships, Angie Zapata, Mary Adu-Gyamfi, Adrianna González Ybarra

Bilingual and Literacy Studies Faculty Publications

An early care educator (ECE) and university collaborative model of teacher learning offers a distinct departure from common top-down models of professional development. Implementing a Social Design-Based Experiment, ECE and university partners collaborate to explore translingual picturebooks to address curricular inequities in their school settings. Featuring the experience of one white, middle-class ECE (Tamara) in a Midwest rural suburban school, we identify three critical components of this ECE and university researcher collaborative inquiry model: role of ECE as mentors and supporters, picturebooks as tools, and role of university partners as facilitators. Tamara’s experience highlights the critical components of the model, …

Ancient Shakespeare: Examining Classical Influence Upon Shakespeare's Plays, John Fritch

University Honors College

The enduring position of William Shakespeare as the greatest playwright in the English language stems in part from the classical world. This relationship with ancient Greek and Roman literature has sparked scholarly curiosity and conflict in the centuries after his death. The minimal details that are known about Shakespeare’s personal life and experiences make this topic a challenging one. This essay embarks on an exploration of Shakespeare’s engagement with classical themes, characters, and storytelling techniques, as well as the thematic resonances between ancient Greek plays and his own works. Through an examination of key characteristics and themes prevalent in ancient …

The Art Of Inclusion: The Psychosocial Impact Of Media Representation On Lgbtq+ Youth, Madison Cook

University Honors College

The 21st century saw a significant rise in LGBTQ+ representation, much of which is catered to queer children, adolescents, teenagers, and emerging adults. However, media’s ability to affect the psychological development, mental health, and quality of life for queer youth is still relatively unexplored. Through an analyzation of the current available literature, it was determined that LGBTQ+ representation's influence on queer youth is complex. Findings indicated that representative media allowed queer youth to find support and community by using current media as a tool to connect with others. It was determined that there was a lack of evidence to indicate …

More Than Melody: The Impact Of Music On Language Development, Analise Best

University Honors College

This thesis explores the different ways music can have an impact on language development. It will discuss how music and language are linked in the brain, the impact music has on language before the child is born and into early stages of infancy, how music can help a child develop their language throughout their early years of school, the impact music has on language of children with a hearing impairment, and the benefits of using music as a learning tool in a bilingual family. Furthermore, this thesis will discuss studies done in school settings and therapy settings to prove that …

The Marketplace Of Ideas Quenched: Examination Of Christological Conflicts, And Their Outcomes, In The Early Christian Church, Brent Monnett

University Honors College

The first four centuries of church history were largely dominated by a diverse mix of philosophical arguments, theological debates, and seemingly intractable conflicts over the nature of Christ and his person. The paper presented here will endeavor to examine these through multiple lenses of understanding, historical, political, geographical, and theological. Perhaps the most defining conflicts of this period of upheaval were the gnostic controversy of the 2nd century, followed by the Arian controversy of the 4th century A.D (Pagels, 1974, & Haas, 1993). The theological kerfuffle's over Christ and his humanity considered against his deity were every bit as sociopolitical …

True Crime Obsession: Analyzing The Effects Of True Crime Media From The Past To The Present, Brianna Nirtaut

University Honors College

True crime media has affected the way people perceive the true crime genre from the 1500s until the present day. This thesis will first introduce the popularity of true crime media and describe the important role that true crime plays in today’s society. Historical examples of true crime depictions will be outlined in the first section to display how the true crime obsession has been prevalent for centuries and how the examples compare to present day depictions. Once the history of true crime media is understood, the ethical boundaries that should be kept by podcast hosts and documentary directors is …

Architects Of Influence: Pioneers Who Shaped Today's Architecture, Carlynn Olinger

University Honors College

Architecture is a world that many people take advantage of and don’t understand the complexity behind it. There are many people in history who made a path for the way the world functions today, some of these people are architects. There are five men specifically: Antoni Gaudi, Frank Lloyd Wright, Ludwig Meis Van Der Rohe, Le Corbusier, and Louis Kahn, who pioneered the way for technology, education, aesthetics, and functionality of architecture. By researching we can learn who they were, what they did, and how they did it. Each one of these architects had different struggles, goals, backgrounds, and ideas. …

Echoes Of Pazuzu: The Influence Of A Mesopotamian Demon In World Music, Jonathan Jauregui

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

This project delves into the intersection of Mesopotamian mythology and world music through the lens of Pazuzu, a prominent demon from ancient Mesopotamia. Pazuzu's presence and malevolent attributes in Mesopotamian lore have sparked curiosity and fascination, transcending ancient civilizations to influence contemporary cultural expressions, including music. This research explores how Pazuzu's imagery, symbolism, and mythology have influenced various world music genres, ranging from metal to modern electronic compositions. This study will examine how Pazuzu's character is portrayed and interpreted within diverse musical traditions worldwide by analyzing musical compositions, lyrical themes, and cultural contexts. Through a comparative approach, it examines how …

Aud216 Project 2 Example 2, Sae University College

Exemplars

This is a Project 2 example for AUD216 - Sound Design for Games

Eng101 Research Essay Using Oral History As A Primary Source, Jayashree Kamble

Open Educational Resources

This assignment was included as the research essay component in an introductory composition course. The topic was the impact of AI on their desired career or profession. Students were required to find four sources: a primary source with whom they conducted an oral history, and three secondary sources; one from social media, one from a reliable but not peer-reviewed source, and one peer-reviewed scholarly source. They had to submit the oral history transcript and incorporate data from it into the essay. At the end of the semester, they also had an option to do a dramatic reading of the oral …

Dancetag: Using Sensors To Improve Feedback Given To Dance Students, Yanelly Mego

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

The structure of dance classrooms has remained unchanged for several years. Very little, if any, technology has been incorporated to improve the quality of teaching. This has motivated our research project, whose goal is to capture dance movements with wearable sensors, to develop DANCETAG (Data Analytics and Notation with Captured Event Tagging). This is a platform that allows the gathering of data captured by Sony’s Mocopi sensors and annotating them with the dancer's movements. The Mocopi sensors make up a motion capture system. It is comprised of six small, round sensors that can be attached to velcro straps and clips. …

The Applied Music Theory Ensemble: An Approach To Undergraduate Music Theory Education, Karissa Juhas

Senior Honors Theses

Music theory is currently taught in a classroom setting through lectures, worksheets, tests, and limited amounts of praxis, or applied learning through playing one’s instrument. However, musicians in these classes often struggle to comprehend concepts, maintain good grades, and view music theory in a positive light. This thesis proposes the teaching of music theory in an applied setting—specifically, an ensemble setting. In such a setting, praxis through immediate hands-on application of concepts to the student’s instrument would be just as prevalent a part of the curriculum as lectures, worksheets, and the like. Songs specifically crafted to impart both the theoretical …

Native American Choral Music: Strategies For Celebrating And Incorporating Music Of Indigenous People, Mary Ruth Young

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

*Language usage is fluid and evolving, representing past and present people groups. During my discussions with my Indigenous composer colleagues, I've found that they hold varying preferences regarding how they wish to be addressed and the terminology they prefer. Because of this, I use the terms Native, Native American, First Nations, Indigenous, American Indian, and First Peoples interchangeably.*

This document will discuss the historical exclusion of Native American music in the Western art forms, specifically the choral tradition, and provide solutions to incorporate it in modern choral performances. Considering first the wars, disease, displacement, colonization, and missionization, it is no …

Mapping Stratcom: The Architecture Of Offutt, The U.S. Military, And Strategic Command, Anna Miles

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Architecture and the military have always been intertwined. The built environment both on and off U.S. military installations responds to the events, history, and influences of the military. This project explores one example of this by investigating the history of the United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM), headquartered at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, through the lens of architecture.

When exploring USSTRATCOM, this project aims to understand not only its history, but also its impact: on Offutt, on the world, and most importantly, on architecture. Firstly, the project explores the history of the military in the state of Nebraska and …

Decolonizing The Western Perception Of Afghan Women: A Feminist Critique, Parwana Azimi

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Abstract: Feminist theory and activism have often been reduced to singular movements from Western literature and history. Thus, the exploration of Feminist theory is often limited to Western ideology and values. In doing so, Western Feminism has primarily promoted the rights of Women living in developed countries while leaving women in developing countries or otherwise out of the discussion of women’s rights and status. Most often, women's rights struggles outside of the West are seen as colonial projects which portray Muslim women as helpless and requiring liberation from their cultures. A prominent example of this is the case of Afghan …

Bending Moral Philosophy And Philosophy Of History Toward Each Other, Bennett B. Gilbert

History Faculty Publications and Presentations

In lieu of an abstract, here is an excerpt from the introduction:

In his journal of intimate thoughts (called The Inward Morning) written while journeying through the wildernesses of Montana, the American existentialist philosopher Henry Bugbee (1915–1999)—who had fled there from the Harvard Philosophy Department and who remains little known even in the U.S.—wrote: “Reflection, it seems, must earn the gift of the essential meaning of things past.” I think this is true, that the past is both exemplar of moral reflection and part of the substance of it. I have written a book to argue for the how and …

“I'M Not Searching The Right Words”: User Experience Searching Historic Clothing Collection Websites, Arden Kirkland, Monica Sklar, Clare Sauro, Leon Wiebers, Sara Idacavage, Julia Mun

Theatre Arts Faculty Works

This study investigates the search processes of users accessing public websites representing historic clothing collections, examining where their searches are supported by the metadata in the collection databases and what factors could make their experience more inclusive. With IRB approval from four universities, we performed a recorded experiment with twenty adults: ten students of historic dress and ten fashion professionals. Four tasks included search scenarios and images representing diverse historic garments. Results indicate that both the descriptive metadata and search features on collection websites present challenges for the typical user search process. Users search for historical dress content the way …

Financial Stability And Instability In A Musical Career: A Statistical And Sociological Analysis, Elizabeth Stassen

Honors Scholar Theses

Over several generations, the notion of the “starving artist” has become a cultural stereotype, often overshadowing the complex realities musicians face while sustaining their careers. Not only does this harmful trope contribute to the invalidation of music as a legitimate career, but it also prevents emerging artists from pursuing their passion for fear of failure (Da Costa, 2020). This thesis explores the intersection of statistical and sociological factors that create both challenges and opportunities for those pursuing careers in music. Through analysis of economic and social factors, this research seeks to deconstruct stereotypes and promote a clear understanding of the …

Intuition In Modal Epistemology: Concept-Based Or Imagination-Based?, Jeremy Bachman

Honors Scholar Theses

In both George Bealer’s moderate modal rationalism (MMR) and Peter Kung’s modal evidence from imagination (MEI) intuition plays an indispensable role in modal knowledge. However, these modal epistemologies differ in whether modal knowledge is based on intuitions yielded by concepts or by imaginations. Both MMR and MEI take intuitions to be sui generis propositional attitudes, basic epistemic units, reasons for belief, and sources of evidence. However, MEI holds that sensory and intellectual content can prompt a rational intuitions. On the other hand, MMR is restricted to intuitions yielded by non-sensory content. According to MMR, intellectual intuitions about privileged concepts give …

The Sabellic Verbal Systems, Kaleb Demello

Honors Scholar Theses

A brief analysis of the known corpus of verbal forms in Oscan and Umbrian, going over the formation of each form, a speculative full conjugation for each language, and a short comparison to Latin. The Sabellic languages share some innovations from PIE in common with their much more famous cousin, but they also differ in the formation of a few important forms. Both branches have a system of thematic vowels across tenses and aspects, suggesting a purely ornamental function bleached of meaning dating back to Proto-Italic. The future tense is Sabellic is derived from the PIE aorist, rather than PIE …

I Wrote This Instead Of Being Productive, Timothy Hill

Honors Scholar Theses

"I Wrote This Instead of Being Productive" is a poetry chapbook focused on the mythos of productivity in our modern era, from the perspective of a college student. What does productivity mean at the end of an empire? In recent years, culture has become obsessed with new forms of productivity and time management. We optimize our schedules, compete against each other, and attempt to dissociate from the harsher realities of our lives. An omnipresent internet culture motivates us to generate more value from our time, even if it feels hollow. ‘Scientific’ explanations point towards dopamine deficits and cultural narratives emphasize …

Visions Of Our Future: A Manifesto For Environmentalist Cinema In The Climate Era, Daniel Milovic

Honors Scholar Theses

Environmentalism has strengthened as a discipline during the climate era, a period defined by the ongoing effects of climate change, and it is time for a fully environmental activist cinema to emerge. This type of filmmaking must be committed to generating images of our future along a utopian or apocalyptic continuum. This approach allows filmmakers to maintain the gravity of the climate crisis while generating inspiring, alternative futures that are not tied to the current global culture of capitalist exploitation of natural resources and marginalized peoples. Environmentalist filmmakers must then articulate climate change as a cultural issue—one that is produced …

Exploring Essentialization, Stereotyping, And Forms Of Dehumanization In American Sign Language, Madeline Haefele

Honors Scholar Theses

This paper investigates the philosophical implications of evolving and removing certain signs in American Sign Language (ASL), with a focus on those considered problematic due to their potential to perpetuate stereotypes or essentialism. Through an analysis of signs for words such as Jewish, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Black, this study explores how language shapes and reflects social attitudes, particularly within the Deaf community. The research situates these signs within philosophical frameworks, identifying their potential contributions to social essentialism, prejudice, or forms of dehumanization.

While addressing the challenges of limited first-hand accounts from Deaf individuals, the …

Fin De Siècle Russian Topos And Rimsky-Korsakov’S The Golden Cockerel, Jaidan Ursich

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Russian composers, including Glinka and The Mighty Five, helped establish a Russian nationalistic style in art music through the implementation of idiomatic folk music gestures and other commonly employed musical elements. Scholars, including Richard Taruskin, Barry Bilderback, and Pieter Van Den Toorn, have identified many of these elements, particularly the use of the octatonic scale and folk music material (thematic quotations and associative rhythmic patterns), however, they have not provided clear codification of a Russian topic. Likewise, the music of Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov has been largely ignored when compared to that of his contemporaries, though most research indicates he was heralded …

Unveiling Existentialism And Self-Expression: Utilizing The Arts, Raquel Eduardo Nunez

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This analysis is an exploration of identity through the examination of art as a means of self-expression and societal critique. It delves into existentialism to explain the impacts of art on both positive societal experiences and negative interactions unique to the immigrant and Mexican American community. The artist, Raquel Eduardo Nuñez, examines their own art to dissect their position in life as a Mexican-born individual living in a foreign country. This method was chosen to allow a space of self-reflection and awareness to explore the components that shape identity and reveal art as a medium for interpretation of links between …

The Deaf Experience In National Parks With An Emphasis On Rocky Mountain National Park, Madeline Dannewitz

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This research investigated the experiences of Deaf visitors to the Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP). The little research available focuses on how the National Park Service and its workers interact with Deaf people. Conversely, this study investigated the experiences of Deaf people and their perspective regarding interacting with the park and its members. A study regarding Deaf visitors in Yosemite National Park found that many were invisible to its employees. The desire from the Deaf community and lack of research shows the significance of this study. This analysis is crucial to the human experience as quality of life is improved …

The Kids From Yesterday: An Examination Of The Motivations And Social Role Of Camping Culture In Music Fandom, Natasha Ryan

Sociology Student Papers and Posters

With the return of arena concerts after the COVID-19 pandemic and the hyper-availability of social media communities to those who were not previously inclined to be fannish, there has been increased strain on the metrics of what makes a successful concert attendance, and further, how those metrics reinforce identity as both a real fan and a member of the fan group. This research focuses specifically on the act of arduous overnight queueing for general admission shows, referred to in the populace as “Camping Culture," aiming to answer the question of what is the motivation to undergo significant effort to experience …