Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Diverse Expressions Of The Black Identity In Jackson, Mississippi: Stories, Elisabeth Campbell

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Diverse Expressions of the Black Identity in Jackson, Mississippi: Stories is a collection of short stories that seeks to focus on the outsiders, the pariahs, and the social outcasts of Black society in Mississippi throughout the 20^th and 21^st centuries. By way of emigrations and immigrations, a race of people of multiple cultures that do not necessarily identify with the ethno-racial term "African-American" has emerged in the city of Jackson. Through the exploration of historically significant events, including America's involvement in WWI, the legislation surrounding Black History Month and the dawn of the AIDS epidemic, this collection represents …

Avicenna's Doctrine Of Emanation And The Sphere Of The Heavens, Brian C. Manere

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Avicenna argues that the celestial spheres each have a soul, termed the motive soul, which is emanated by the first celestial intellect––a body of knowledge which knows itself. Despite outlining the powers of the motive soul, Avicenna does not formally investigate the psychology of the spheres nor their volition. Rather, he presents their volition as a mystery and leaves it to posterity to solve. In an attempt to resolve this mystery, I will argue that it is a direct result of Avicenna having purposefully written a repeated gap into his account of emanation such that there is no clear account …

Defining Creativity And Its Role In Marx's Philosophy, Carlos Avila

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The intent of this thesis is to explore the concept of creativity as it appears in the major works of Karl Marx and to attempt to discern its role in the emancipatory political project that Marx proposes. Contemporary understandings of creativity still rely upon notions of the artist-genius, locating the "true" expression of creative freedom in the work of art. A more recent development is the commodification of creativity as a quality of a good worker, who is now expected to find innovative ways of doing their job more efficiently. Both of these ideas about creativity allow for our creative …

Korean Poetry: A Discussion And Translation, Kassidy N. Menk

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Korea's history has had a deeply influential and significant impact on its modern language, and concomitantly, on the country's modern poetry and prose. Despite the artistic and literary value, there is a substantial lack of English translations available for Korean works. The continued rapid development of Korean and its considerably different grammar and syntax often pose difficulties for English translators. Korean poetry, specifically, follows a form unfamiliar to English readers which makes interpretation for translation challenging. This thesis hopes to provide context for the lack of scholarly translations of Korean poetry by discussing the historical and linguistic context of the …

Pepper Pot And Callaloo: Caribbean Cuisine As Embodiment Of "Otherness" And Resistance, Sheina Senat

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The thesis intends to analyze the Caribbean as more than "elsewhere" in modernism through food research. The Eurocentric viewpoint is that the islands are the "other" and that the Caribbean's contributions are not central to the past and present. Representations of food in Caribbean literature reveal dualism, such as Western/African in the tropic's identity, and this dualism can lead to identity issues. Chapter 1 analyzes Caribbean cuisine's mosaic origins from Indian, European, Native, and African influences. Food imagery in Caribbean literature does not separate the Caribbean from its complicated past. However, it notes that the islands should embrace their differences …

Literature As A Form Of Resistance Against British Colonial Rule In India, Ebada Wasiuddin

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This thesis concentrates on literature during India's battle for independence from the British Empire. These publications look at the outcomes of Europe's intent to colonize and its impact on the marginalized, colonial subjects down to the personal level. Delving into the tragic reality of colonialism and investigating its impact as portrayed in the novels selected, this thesis argues that the selected texts operate as resistance literature subverting the colonial discourse in retrieving South Asian culture and history. This project explores specific forms of resistance within the tropes of memory, history, and gender to pose a larger question of decolonial futures …

Wild Wild Country: Netflix, Orientalism, And The Guru, E. K. D. Wood

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Recent years have produced an influx of popular documentaries of Indian gurus who founded transnational spiritual communities and became embroiled in various forms of controversy. One example of this is Wild Wild Country, a 2018 Netflix documentary that depicts the rise and fall of a spiritual community, started by an Indian guru named Osho (1931-1990) in a failed attempt to build a utopian commune in Oregon. American representations of Asian religious figures have historically been a complex, and often prejudiced, affair. This thesis will attempt to assert the best fit theoretical framework with which to interpret Wild Wild Country …

Treatment Of The Differently Abled: Representations Of Disability From Victorian Periodicals To Contemporary Graphic Narratives, Rachelle Echevarria

Honors Undergraduate Theses

In recent years, a number of efforts have been made to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in academic institutions, the workplace, and to examine and analyze representations of marginalized populations in a variety of literary and cultural contexts. These efforts usually acknowledge past mistakes, emphasizing the idea that history shall not and should not repeat itself. While analyzing the representations of disability is important in its own right, it's also important to understand why these perceptions exist. This thesis suggests that when the representations of disabilities from different mediums and from different time periods are examined in relationship, readers may …

Ideological Relationships With The Cult Of Isis From Ptolemaic Alexandria To Imperial Rome, Sabrina N. Gutierrez

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Through the incorporation of primary source material and prior scholarship this study looks at the Serapeums, Isiac temples and coinage of Hellenistic Alexandria and Imperial Rome. This study seeks to provide, through close analysis and comparison, a more precise picture of the Isaic ideology of the Greco-Roman governing powers of Egypt. I focus on the capital cities of Alexandria and Rome to analyze the message of Isis to their respective inhabitants. Coinage and popular iconography (such as Isis Pelagia) are incorporated into the overall understanding of Isiac uses as coinage serves as a form of ancient propaganda. The amalgamation of …

The Beauty Of Hip-Hop Culture: Linguistic Connections Through Music, Poetry, And Literature, Aminah Patel

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This thesis enters the developing conversation in the linguistic domain about the culture and struggles of the Black community. It explores the collectivist perspective of the Black community in the 20^th and 21^st century through the umbrella of Linguistics and its subfields. Collectively, the literary and musical works in this study demonstrates the frustrations of the Black community—including its correlation to antebellum slavery—the lamentations of oppression, which showcases in a collection of poems and their syntactical aspects, and the Black pride emulating from the societies. Despite the clear correlation between Hip-Hop culture and literary works from the early …

Spilling The Tea: A Comparative Analysis Of Development In Ex-British Colonies, Niamh L. Harrop

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The British Empire was the largest empire the world has ever seen, and as such, has significantly impacted many of the countries it formerly held as colonies. Imposing a Western style of governance would change the political operations of a nation and would fundamentally shift power dynamics within the country. Through a review of the existing literature on the subject, this thesis examines the effects that British imperial rule had on four different countries in both their social and economic development in the post-colonial era. Overall, the results indicate that Britain failed to set their colonies up for long-term development …

Before They Could Be Saved: Aids Voices Before Protease Inhibitors, Julian J. Willis

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The intent of this thesis is to explore writing during the start of the AIDS epidemic in the U.S. States. This time period encompasses the early 1980s to mid-1990s before Protease Inhibitors were FDA approved which was the medical breakthrough drug that helped turn an HIV diagnosis from a death sentence to a chronic condition. This thesis will be an examination of three themes: “Gay White Cis Male Experience of HIV/AIDS”,” Marginalized Identity Experience of HIV/AIDS” and an exploration of two plays written during the height of the AIDS epidemic that were later turned into HBO productions: The Normal Heart …

An Exploration On The Spanish Caribbean Dialectical Community: ¿Unidos O Separados?, Bryan J. Jimenez

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Latin America holds a diverse array of people and language. Even regions and countries that speak the same language tend to speak it differently. This leads to interesting variations in language and speech. Most people of Latin American origin are able to note that Mexican Spanish and Puerto Rican Spanish are different in terms of intonation, speech pattern, vocabulary, and more. Most popular theories that section Latin America off by dialects group the entirety of the Spanish-speaking Caribbean into a single dialectical community. Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic each hold unique histories and are home to a fascinating …

Tomiccama Tomiccanacayo: A Feminist/Spatial Analysis Of Flesh To Bone By Ire'ne Lara Silva, Alyssa B. Bent

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This thesis takes a feminist and spatial approach to the analysis of ire'ne lara silva's collection of short stories flesh to bone, a continuation of the Anzaldúan body of thought. The thesis introduces two aspects–spiritual and spatial–to the wounds suffered by the Chicana collective Self which can be found within the characters and plotlines of lara silva's stories, and which had previously been outlined by Anzaldúa herself. This thesis also explains in depth the steps necessary to achieving the never-ending Coyolxauhqui Imperative, which is Anzaldúa's idea that to heal the collective Self, individuals must continue to create and tell the …

Political Bodies In The Ulster Cycle: Space, Conflict, And Comedy In Scéla Muicce Meicc Dathó, Glenn S. Ritchey Iii

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Scéla Muicce Meicc Da Thó (SMMD; The Tale of Mac Da Thó's Pig) is a humorous Old Irish myth that takes its cues from its Ulster Cycle cousins, notably, An Táin Bó Cúailnge (The Cattle Raid of Cooley). The connective tissue is its cast, plot structure, and the author's mastery of cultural and storytelling traditions. SMMD is brief and rapid, which aids its near-absurdist representation of masculinity, kingship, and honor in heroic saga culture. This thesis uses postcolonial and medieval literary scholarship to analyze medieval and modern depictions of the Ulster Cycle. Contemporarily, the Irish …

"Auto"-Exploitation: A Marxist Examination Of Self-Driving Cars, Parker Duvall

Honors Undergraduate Theses

In this thesis, I argue that a neo-Marxist critical theory perspective on self-driving cars shifts critical conversations from risks and benefits to concerns about the commodification of free time necessary for our human experience of autonomy. First, I outline that neo-Marxist perspective by charting the different types of power exercised by a capitalist in order to increase their surplus. I then analyze Karl Marx's conception of time in economic exchange to show that, under capitalism, power is exercised over labor through the commodification of workers' free time. I then introduced Michel Foucault's concept of biopower to transition to the commodification …

The Viking Age As A Themed Experience: Representing Hitorical Narrative Through Research Based Design, Edward D. Macpherson

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

I intend to design an interactive educational experience that teaches guests about the culture, society, and beliefs of Scandinavian peoples during the Viking age. The concepts are illustrated through a dynamic narrative designed to be experienced through exploration of a themed environment. Immersion into the narrative is intended to instill a sense of active participation with the culture itself. This interaction is intended to inspire guests to further investigate the culture and history outside the limits of the experience. These qualities, unique to an immersive environmental themed experience, capture the lasting attention of an audience such as other mediums may …

Boys To Men, Brandon Bradley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Primarily through adolescent narrators, Boys to Men is a series of short stories that attempts to identify the lessons, traumas, and joys that offer—and in some cases, withhold—the tools that allow Black boys to become Black men. In "Hard Ball," an eleven-year-old baseball player on the cusp of entering middle school wants nothing more than to be less sensitive. In "That's the Way Love Goes," a fifteen-year-old visiting Florida for the summer faces his first hurricane, alone with only his grandmother and unresolved family turmoil as company. And in "Hallelujah," a young church-goer publicly challenges a powerful, yet unruly spiritual …

Save The Drowning Child: Stories, Kayla Cayasso

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Save the Drowning Child is a collection that explores place, power, and the way collective trauma trickles down through history and families. These stories bridge the author's African American Studies scholarship and love for language. Set against the North Florida landscape, the collection moves readers across time and begs one question again and again: how does one reconcile characters' deplorable choices with the horrific reality of their lives within the Diaspora. On the outskirts of Nassau County, a pig farmer and his wife face addiction and starvation during the Great Depression, but the return of an estranged daughter might signal …

Your Friend, Wildfire, Elizabeth Riddle, Aubrey Frissell, Mackenzie Weiland, Katherine Wendeln, Rory Mclaverty, Lillian Hollibaugh

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

The frequency and severity of wildfire has increased around the world within the past two decades, due to shifts in land management practices, climate change, and other factors. The effects of these fires have led to an inaccurate public perception of wildfire as a whole. This overly-simplified, vilified perception of all fire obscures the role that it has played in shaping landscapes for thousands of years, and how indigenous peoples have applied fire to take care of landscapes.

Positive public perception of using fire as a tool for land management creates a more supportive environment for healthy landscape management. Thus, …

Can Anyone Withhold The Water...?, Brandon Keith Lacey Sr

Doctor of Ministry Projects and Theses

Abstract

Thesis

Contextualization and indigenization have always been necessary and expected components of establishing Christian communities of faith and practice. Failed or obsolete attempts at contextualization and indigenization in evangelism and missions continue to harm the development of the African American Church. This results in the development of spiritually marginalized communities alienated from the very relationship with God that such communities need. Preventing such spiritual marginalization in communities requires a training curriculum that combines a working theology on appropriate contextualization and indigenization with a framework for practical implementation. The outcome would decrease the tendency to replicate non-contextual religious practice and …

Shifting Once Again, Hannah Dusek

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

Change is constant; an action and a reaction. “Shifting Once Again” is an exploration of how changes in an individual affect one's relationship to themself and others. Figuring out who we are - that is change. Such shifts can be terrifying, exciting, and in some cases, underwhelming. I invite you to reflect on these shifts in your own life as you watch this piece, and how they might have even brought you to this very audience tonight. The knowledge that everyone around us is constantly going through changes can be comforting. Finding comfort in those changes, without resistance, is what …

Choosing The Present, Aaron Wayne Zimdars

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

No abstract provided.

Le Féminisme Chez Céline Sciamma : Le Corps Queer À L’Écran, Richard A. Cardrino , '23

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

No abstract provided.

Electronegative Clusters Modulate The Stability, Folding And Binding Affinity Of Rna-Binding Proteins, Steven Mathew Zaharias

All ETDs from UAB

RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) are crucial to RNA processing and regulation. RBPs have elevated levels of disordered regions that are enriched with repetitive motifs. The longest and most common of these repetitive motifs are electronegative clusters (ENCs) that are made up of consecutive acidic amino acids and/or phosphorylatable residues. In this dissertation, we aim to characterize the function of ENCs in RBPs for the first time. We investigate the effect that ENCs have on both structured and unstructured RNA binding domains (RBDs). Using NMR and fluorescence spectroscopy we illustrate that a native ENC in ribosome biogenesis protein 15 (Nop15) increases the …

Domesticating Recolution: Cairene Collective Housing (1867-1960) & The Reconstruction Of Visual Privacy, Kelsea Izor

All ETDs from UAB

to Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser’s experimentation with modern architecture in 1956, Cairo experimented with the collective housing unit between 1867 and 1955. Privacy, a central value in middle-class Cairene society, permeated the architectural construction of the collective housing unit, primarily adopting screened fenestration to ensure women’s privacy. In this thesis, I argue that in the collective mid twentieth-century housing units of Nasr City, a utopian style city planned by the Nasser administration, a visual shift in the façade suggests a social shift in the public visibility of Cairene women. Further, I argue that the collective housing units in Nasr …

Examining Associations Between Sources Of Stress And Experimental Pain Sensitivity In Pediatric Patients With Functional Abdominal Pain Disorders, Corinne Taylor Evans

All ETDs from UAB

Functional abdominal pain disorders (FAPDs) are one of the most common pain complaints among children and adolescents. Research demonstrates a relationship between multiple sources of stress and pain responses. However, research has not yet explored the role of stress in pain processing and sensitivity in youth with FAPDs. Thus, the present study aimed to examine associations between biopsychosocial sources of stress and experimental pain sensitivity in pediatric patients with FAPDs. Additionally, racial differences in clinical and experimental pain responses were explored. Analytical findings did not support hypotheses as the biological, social, and psychological sources of stress did not predict experimental …

Large-Scale Mining Of Dense Subgraphs: Algorithms And Systems, Jalal Khalil

All ETDs from UAB

Quasi-cliques and k-plexes are dense structures with established significance in graph mining, offering flexibility and resilience to data anomalies. However, mining these structures poses computational challenges due to their NP-hardness. In this study, we address these challenges and propose solutions for efficient mining, in addition to visualization tools for tuning and analysis. For quasi-clique mining, we adapted the distributed solution (G-thinker) [1] to a sharedmemory multi-core environment, making it accessible to average users. Our solution is two orders of magnitude faster than the recent solution by [2], and it scales almost ideally with the number of CPU cores. To facilitate …

Realization Of Hyperbolic Laminations And Properties Of Limit Laminations, Adam Carty

All ETDs from UAB

The dynamics of polynomials is a topic of great interest for those studying complex dynamics. Polynomial dynamics is concerned with how collections of points behave under iteration of a polynomial P. The Julia set of P, which is the boundary of the collection of points which iterate off to ∞, is an interesting collection of points to look at because P is sensitive to small pertubations of points in the Julia set. Thanks to the work of William Thurston, we have a tool known as a lamination (a closed collection of chords in the unit disk D which do not …

Parental Psychological Distress And Perception Of Children's Externalizing Behaviors: Potential Role Of Parental Resources, Abigail Jeanette Anderson

All ETDs from UAB

The relations between parental psychological distress and parental resources in the perception and emergence of early childhood externalizing behaviors were investigated in a longitudinal study with a cross-lagged design. Both mothers and fathers participated in a longitudinal study, which began prenatally when parents were in the third trimester of pregnancy, with follow-up assessments when children were 6 months, 18 months, and 4 years of age. Parents reported on their own psychological distress, coping self-efficacy, and social support satisfaction during all four time points, and reported on their child’s externalizing behaviors during the latter two timepoints. Results suggest that mothers’ psychological …