Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Systems Epistemology, Boris Ayala

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation develops a new kind of theory of knowledge, which I call Systems Epistemology (SE). Currently available theories tend to follow the TB+ format according to which knowledge is a true belief plus certain additional properties. Insofar as these theories offer a conceptual gap between the additional properties and truth, however, they are vulnerable to intuitive counterexamples. Building on work by Richard Foley and Stephen Hetherington, SE focuses not on a target belief and the properties it must have to count as knowledge, but rather on the beliefs that surround it and hold it in place. This shift in …

Revolutionary Governance, Culture, And The Party-State In Postcolonial Guinea: Political Thought And Practice Under Ahmed Sékou Touré, M. Sekani Corbie

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis reexamines the political thought of Ahmed Sékou Touré by taking seriously the theoretical ambition of the Guinean revolution. Rather than treating Touré as either a failed democrat or a mere ideologue, the study reads his writings and political interventions as a sustained attempt to resolve a core postcolonial problem: how to construct collective power and mass participation in societies fractured by colonial rule, economic dependency, and weak institutional capacity.

Through close readings of Touré’s major texts and the ideological materials of the Parti Démocratique de Guinée, the thesis reconstructs his theory of the Party-State as a distinctive …

Chamber Music For Strings In Rational Intonation: Performance Practice And Analysis, Marina Kifferstein

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In the early 21^st century, the field of contemporary music has experienced an explosion of interest in rational intonation. This ratio-derived tuning system, often referred to as “just intonation,” has become established as a widespread movement that is still on the rise. It is of increasing importance for composers, performers, historians, and theorists who specialize in contemporary music to be knowledgeable about the growing body of repertoire in this area and its performance practice.

This dissertation examines current and recent trends in rational intonation through the lens of chamber music for strings. It includes perspectives on performance practice gleaned …

Autoconvocadxs: Interpretaciones Biopolíticas Y Psicopolíticas Del Poder Popular, El Archivo Y La Memoria En La Cultura Popular De Puerto Rico, Jose A. Acosta-Seda

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Autoconvocadxs analizan el nacimiento, el desarrollo y la consolidación de la asamblea popular como un mecanismo para fiscalizar la labor del Estado. Este, insuficiente y al servicio de las instituciones imperiales, se ha desentendido de las necesidades del pueblo en momentos de crisis. Al servicio de la agenda imperial estadounidense, el gobierno puertorriqueño echó mano de diversas estrategias de coerción y vigilancia que perjudicaron el desarrollo social, económico y político de Puerto Rico. Sin embargo, dichas estrategias e instrumentos de vigilancia han evolucionado a través del tiempo: desde una perspectiva biopolítica en los años 1970, hasta el triunfo de la …

The Radical Political Possibilities Of Asexuality And Aromanticism, Kirty Singh

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study explores the radical political potential of Asexuality and Aromanticism within queer theory, emphasizing their roles in destabilizing normative constructs of sexuality and romantic relationships. Employing mixed methods, including literature review, digital ethnography of online communities, and analysis of graphic narratives, the research examines how these identities challenge systemic systems such as compulsory sexuality, amatonormativity, and racialized discourses. Findings reveal that Asexual and Aromantic communities utilize flexible definitions and taxonomies to assert their identities, disrupt hegemonic gender and sexual norms, and foster coalitional politics that advocate for systemic change. The study underscores the importance of recognizing Asexuality and Aromanticism …

The Constant Cause Of Friction: Maud Mosher And Gendered Authority In The Indian Service And At Ellis Island, Ella Morton

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis focuses on the federal career of Maud Mosher, who, from 1893 to 1907, worked as an Indian Service boarding-school teacher, then a matron at Ellis Island. By analyzing Mosher’s extensive, complaint-driven correspondence and personnel files, as well as an unpublished memoir, I claim that her grievances represent a rare form of agency available to women in maternalist roles at Progressive Era federal agencies. Though Mosher’s superiors branded her complaints trivial, the substance of them reveals gendered hypocrisy and institutional contradictions inside two federal institutions dealing with racialized populations.

In both the Indian Service and the Immigration Service, Mosher …

Conspicuous Technique: Black Avant-Garde Poetry And The Politics Of Aesthetics, Ryan Gato

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study is comprised of two essays on the politics of aesthetics in postwar American black experimental poetry. Within the domain of contemporary poetry scholarship, this study serves three distinct yet interrelated purposes: 1.) to intervene within ongoing debates about the relation—or purported lack thereof—between black artistic practices and those of the historic and American avant-gardes by emphasizing the politics of aesthetics; 2.) to offer a critique of the usage of the discourses of postmodernism and of black aesthetics in the field by elucidating the historicity of their conceptual frameworks; and 3.) to provide an alternative to contemporary scholarship’s narrow …

Sometimes I Picture You Dreaming: How American Female Directors Use Women-In-Prison Films As A Pathway For Public Education And Activism In The Era Of Mass Incarceration, Nicolette Natale

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis examines the role of female directors in creating media that showcases how prisons perpetuate sexism or gender-based violence. As mass incarceration began to take off in the 1970s, this paper begins with an analysis of Jack Hill’s The Big Doll House (1971), which often served as the model for women-in-prison (WIP) exploitation films. While Hill perpetuated the white and male gaze in The Big Doll House, Stephanie Rothman subverts oppressive gazes in her WIP film, Terminal Island (1973), and demonstrates a concern with the historical gendered realities of prison – moving beyond representations of prison on the …

A Work On/Of Language: Lyric And The Care Of The Self, Evan M. Knight

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Drawing on Michel Foucault’s work on the Ancient Greek practice of the care of the self, this dissertation argues that lyric poetry is a technology of the self: an ethical practice that creates potential for self-transformation through the demands it places on language and modes of attention. Lyric thus maintains a form of truth discourse overshadowed by the Cartesian conception of truth as propositional and method-driven. Unlike contemporary self-care, the care of the self, as the original Greek epimeleia heautou entails, is care inflected by concern and anxiety: the practicing subject places her thoughts, assumptions, ways of being, and—in the …

Filling The Gaps: Maiti Nepal And Anti-Trafficking Governance In Nepal, Sushmita Lamsal

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Human trafficking in Nepal is closely linked to labor migration, gender inequality, and weak state capacity. In this context, non-governmental organizations play a key role in anti-trafficking efforts. This capstone project examines Maiti Nepal’s approach to prevention, rescue, and rehabilitation, with focus on its work at border points and internal facilities provided to human trafficking victims. The study analyzes how Maiti Nepal functions as a quasi-state actor by addressing gaps in Nepal’s anti-trafficking framework, highlights challenges associated with limited inconsistent funding, uneven resource distribution, and support for survivors. The study argues that Maiti Nepal’s significance lies not only in its …

Foreign Songs, Occitan Voices, And The Guitar In Early Modern France (C. 1570-1650), Ana Beatriz Mujica Lafuente

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The cultural traditions of European nations are too often treated as independent and essential entities, obscuring the transnational and interregional exchanges that have shaped modern cultures. In musicology, recent studies have emphasized the plurality and mobility of people, cultures, and music in Europe. Yet, French songs are still largely explained within the framework of the national, generally privileging written over oral traditions, printed over manuscript music, national over regional languages, and monolingual over plurilingual practices. Through the study of songs in Italian, Spanish, Occitan, and Turkish, this dissertation challenges such preconceptions.

This study shows that secular songs in foreign and …

Fbi National Stolen Art File: Lost Artifacts And Missing Data, Allison N. Arnold

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This data exploration project studies the FBI’s National Stolen Art File (NSAF). The NSAF is a repository for information on stolen artistic and cultural objects. By design, the objects in the NSAF should have distinguishing features and some monetary value, with a present minimum of $5,000 USD. As a public awareness tool, the objects in the NSAF should have a reasonable chance of being identified and potentially restituted in the future.

Using object data taken from the NSAF on August 25, 2024, my data exploration work includes a narrative of the data preparation process and a series of data visualizations. …

No Tech For Apartheid Memory: Oral Histories Of Google Worker Organizing, Zelda Montes

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The NOTA Google NYC Digital Memory Archive is a digital memory project centering the worker narrative in tech labor struggles in the wake of the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people. Rooted in my dual experiences as a Google Software Engineer and a No Tech for Apartheid organizer, this capstone project, initially created in 2024, seeks to combat the silencing around the nature of labor organizing through expanding upon the existing archive to incorporate oral history testimonies of NOTA organizers (notechforapartheidmemory.com/interviews). After conducting 4 oral history interviews with former Google workers currently based in NYC, the videos were …

Postscript: A Digital Inquiry Into Inherited Memory, Alexander Lee

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This Capstone project explores the intimate mechanics of family memory through digital interfaces and media, centering on a set of more than fifty letters my late grandmother wrote in 1947 during a four-month journey across Europe. Through a series of digital interventions — including mapping, text analysis, and interactive storytelling — Postscript captures the process of my own memory formation as I connect to my grandmother's legacy. The project specifically engages with digital technologies' unique affordances (like interactivity and nonlinearity) to interrogate how digital methods of analysis and expression can develop, as well as distort, modes of relationality and identity. …

Typeface: Machine-Viewing Gentrification On Storefront Imagery In Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, Alexander Mcquilkin

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Gentrification—broadly, the replacement of a less powerful group by a more powerful one in an urban context—is oft-discussed in the popular press, but its definition is much-debated in the urban planning literature. Furthermore, academic treatments of displacement understandably focus on measurable yet fairly abstract indicators like changes in rent or income, whereas neighborhood change is often registered by residents on the ground using visual, but difficult-to-quantify markers like retail turnover. This project uses image recognition technology on a set of storefront photos to index the visual streetscape of a neighborhood, as well as to track changes to that portrait over …

Regional Geography And Tuning Systems Of Traditional Georgian Folk Music, Alex Kutubidze

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The project focuses on the traditional folk music of Georgia, mapping the geographical distribution of singing traditions across the country’s historical regions. Because vocal traditions and stylistic features of Georgian folk music vary significantly across historical regions, the project highlights these differences for the audience, which might be interested in learning Georgian folk music, seeking a basic understanding of its structure, or planning to visit the country for cultural or educational purposes related to folk music.  In addition, this work examines the tonal organization of Georgian traditional music, drawing on recent ethnomusicological research. It engages with ongoing scholarly discussions regarding …

Culture And Its Discontents: Versions Of Matthew Arnold From The 1860s To The 1980s, Jarrett Moran

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Between the 1860s and the 1980s, the concept of culture articulated by Matthew Arnold provided a widespread and persistent language for making claims about who was ready for inclusion in British politics and identity and who was not yet ready or even incapable of being included. Scholarship on Arnoldian culture has often focused on presenting just one version of Arnold, whether as a cultural elitist, a progenitor of literary studies, or proponent of “doing away with classes.” This dissertation instead shows that Arnold’s concept of culture was so pervasive and persistent because he could be appropriated and redefined by people …

Cecil Taylor, 1950–1976: Theory & Practice In His Own Words, Michelle A. Yom

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Cecil Taylor (1929–2018) was a poet, composer, pianist, and dancer who is widely regarded as one of the founding figures of Free Jazz. Despite this historical significance, Taylor has not been a subject of substantial archival research. Some scholars have written his name into music scholarship through explicitly or implicitly reiterating the notion of “freedom” that circulated among contemporary jazz critics of the late 1950s and the 1960s. Others have focused on analyzing Taylor’s solo piano music, often reducing Taylor’s musical theories and practices into the formal structures of the music itself. To date, the scholarship has simplified Taylor’s work …

Youth Development Programs Critical Analysis, Rethinking Real Sustainability Measures. Focus On Middle-Eastern And African Contexts., Rasha As Salem

Theses and Dissertations

Abstract Using a systematic review of 18 research papers, policy documents, and evaluation reports, the study examines youth development programs sustainability through four aspects. First, the review explores how definitions of marginalized youth are applied in Middle East and African contexts. Furthermore, the review focuses on how programmatic suitability is discussed and implemented through the concepts of localization and contextualization. Additionally, the importance of locally grounded evidence as much as rigorous evidence and finally the implementation tactics. The review uses frameworks of ecological systems theory and empowering management approaches to analyze the data. The findings reveal significant variation in how …

I Wear The Past In The Cold, Cecilia Knaub

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

“I wear the past in the cold” is a multi-modal archival project exploring themes of intergenerational memory and postmemory. A hand-knit sweater acts as an archive, encoded with metadata about a collection of newspaper articles written by my late father, as well as affectual elements of memory and grief. The accompanying website provides additional detail into the project and design choices. The piece builds on work from memory studies, craft studies, digital humanities, and critical data studies to create a tangible and personal archival object. By accepting the invitation from the #DHMakes movement (Visconti, Dombrowski, and Berger 2020) to embrace …

Maintenance Mode For Digital Dwellers, Maci Morris

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In an ever-expanding digital landscape that operates on the commodification of user-generated materials, whether through direct or “dark pattern” extraction, it becomes vital for educators to employ digital practices that normalize critical reflection about the creation and storage of digital content. These practices should create better understanding of the underlying infrastructure of content management and storage.

This capstone project, “Maintenance Mode for Digital Dwellers,” is an adaptable pedagogical guide that instructors can use to engage learners in strategies and systems for managing their personal digital materials. Participants are encouraged to engage with their digital maintenance and archival practices through a …

Longevity, Resilience, And Thriving Of Women In Ministry: A Case Study Of Women In Ministry From A United Pentecostal Holiness Church, Eunice Cheryl Feltus Little

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

The problem of ministry attrition caused by burnout is well documented. Research attributes the impact of burnout on the resilience, longevity, and thriving of ministry workers to role-related stress and adversity. High attrition rates throughout religious organizations and a lag in longevity and resilience contribute to a shortage of ministry workers. Some ministry workers leave the vocation because of stress and burnout, yet others persevere. Despite the possible adverse effects, many men and women find a sense of well-being and joy in ministry work. This qualitative distributive case study focused on those who stayed in ministry and the strategies …

Representations Of "Black"-Type Coffins In The New Kingdom, Yunyao Chen

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines depictions of twenty-three owners’ “black”-type coffins depicted in tomb wall paintings from eleven Theban tombs and on eight Theban papyri dating from the Eighteenth Dynasty to the early Twenty-first Dynasty. Four research methods are employed: descriptive, analytical, comparative, and contextual. First, a stylistic and iconographic analysis identifies four phases in the evolution of the “black”-type coffins depicted in the funerary art and explores the factors that influenced these representations by comparing them with actual “black”-type coffins and relevant artistic representations. The results indicate that the representations of “black”-type coffins feature a distinct evolution pattern, which is based …

Exploring The Perspectives Of Afl Teachers On Teacher Development Needs, With Reference To The Level Of Professional Experience, Fathiyya Refky Abdelwahhab

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the perceptions of teachers of Arabic as a Foreign Language (AFL) regarding their training needs, with an attempt to examine whether those needs might vary according to the level of teaching experience. It also examines the views and reflections of AFL teachers about their training experiences; highlighting perceived strengths, weaknesses, and preferred training formats. The teaching competence examined in this study are based on the Cambridge Framework (n.d.) and the British Council CPD (1) Framework (2016). The key areas surveyed are Learning and the Learner, Teaching and Assessment, Arabic Language in the Classroom, Arabic Language Knowledge and …

Formulaic Sequences: Teacher And Student Perceptions And Teaching Strategies, Ali Sayed Muhammad Abd Allah

Theses and Dissertations

Formulaic Sequences (FS), common word combinations stored and used as single units, are crucial for achieving oral fluency yet remain underrepresented in pedagogical materials. This study explores this gap by examining teacher and student perceptions of FS and the teaching techniques within an online Egyptian EFL context. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach, data were gathered via teacher interviews (n=4), student questionnaires (n=100), a student focus group (n=4), and classroom observations. Results indicated that teachers unanimously perceived FS as essential building blocks for fluency, accuracy, and learner confidence, and they utilized a spectrum of techniques ranging from explicit instruction to incidental exposure …

Fighting The Black Snake: The Dapl And The Case For Indigenous Environmental Stewardship, Kenny Moll

Student Theses 2015-Present

This thesis analyzes the current scope of environmental injustice on Native lands in the U.S. Specifically it examines The Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) and its impacts on the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North Dakota. Western colonialism and capitalism have dominated North American ecosystems since their forcible introduction hundreds of years ago, causing the commodification of natural resources and leading to injustices such as that of the “Black Snake.” However, the story of The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s resistance will be analyzed through the framework of Indigenous philosophy and environmental justice. Chapter 1 analyzes the implementation of the DAPL and …

The Rise Of The Black Female Producer: The Representation Of Black Joy, Mar'vellis T. Martin

McNair Scholars Collection

Issa Rae and Quinta Brunson are redefining what it means to tell Black stories on screen. Through shows like Insecure and Abbott Elementary, they elevate Black joy, community, and offer narratives that reflect the culture. With a rise in diverse female voices in media, Black female producers have emerged as cultural powerhouses telling stories beyond trauma and stereotype. This project examines how their shows contribute to a broader movement of authentic Black storytelling. Through comedic elements and community-based narratives, both shows capture the richness of everyday Black life.

The Joy Above All Joys: Roland D. Sawyer’S Socialism For The Working Class, Maggie R. Buglino

Roland D. Sawyer Scholarship Papers

Following the Industrial Revolution, Americans were required to adapt to the nation's new capitalistic society. Witnessing the subsequent struggle of working-class families, 20th century Christian socialist Roland D. Sawyer was resolved to advocate for a reformed economic structure. This paper is dependent entirely on primary sources in the Roland D. Sawyer Collection, available in the University of New Hampshire's Milne Special Collections. Studying Sawyer's autobiography and various socialist writings illustrates his idea of a good life for the American working-class and how they were to achieve it through the adoption of a socialist doctrine. Throughout his activism, he encouraged Americans …

Unpacking A Health Paradox Among Preterm Infants: Insights From A Providers' Perception, Brittany Nicole Stewart

ETDs from 2020-2029

The goal of this dissertation is to examine the varying perspectives, or frames, of providers regarding decision-making in the NICU, which includes how they view neonates and their families, their roles as providers, and the way their frames possibly impact the care they give to the infants. In this dissertation, I conduct in-depth interviews with 34 NICU providers and professionals that provide their services in the NICU, including doctors, nurse practitioners, nurses, various therapists (i.e. respiratory, physical, occupational), and two other providers from two other professions. Within the NICU, a common stereotype exists that is a belief that White boy …

The Perception Of Fentanyl’S Harm, Rachel Antenucci

ETDs from 2020-2029

While drug overdose deaths have generally decreased in the past year, close to 60,000 overdoses involving opioids occurred in 2024. The opioid crisis has lasted over two decades and is now in the fourth wave. The fourth wave has been characterized by overdoses resulting from fentanyl adulteration in the drug supply and polysubstance overdoses involving fentanyl. The purpose of the current study is to compare the perceived harm of fentanyl to other drugs of abuse and identify differences in the perceived harm of fentanyl between groups of people who use substances. An online survey was conducted across 15 states in …