Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Enduring The Torturing Shears: Gardens And Novel Conventions In The Brontës' Novels, Grace Mattingly

Honors Theses

This thesis is a literary analysis of the use of gardens and garden imagery in Anne Brontë’s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, and Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights to subvert Victorian novel conventions. This work is part of the larger conversation of how female authors in the literary canon express dissatisfaction with or resistance to Victorian social mores. This thesis is divided into three chapters, each focusing on one novel, and it primarily evaluates how gardens are employed by the Brontës to challenge plot and genre conventions. The work examines concerns surrounding the Victorian marriage institution, female …

Healthy And Successful Aging Outside The Closet: How Outness And Social Support Relate To Health And Aging Concerns, Jessica Segal

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The ability to disclose an LGBTQ+ identity is a significant part of many queer lives. A person’s outness can often be tied into their social support whether through their network or available resources. This study investigated how outness, social network, and access to resources relate to older LGBTQ+ individuals’ concerns regarding their care and their aging. A secondary data analysis was conducted using survey data from the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP). The results showed that an increase in one’s social network indicated a decrease in aging-related care concerns; an increase in access to resources indicated a decrease in …

The Influence Of Visualization Type And Gender On Multimedia Learning Performance: An Experimental Study, Ziji Wang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The widespread availability of multimedia learning resources, driven by technological progress, presents both opportunities and challenges in education. While these resources, often designed with animations to aid learning, their effectiveness in learning across STEM and non-STEM fields remains controversial. Besides, researchers have increasingly turned their attention to understanding how individual learner characteristics such as gender and spatial ability influence effectiveness of multimedia learning.

This dissertation examined the impact of visualization type and gender on learning algorithms (STEM) and Chinese characters (non-STEM) after accounting for the effect of spatial ability, focusing on learning outcomes and cognitive load. The fact that males …

"Driving Circles Around The Holler:" Liminality And The Grotesque In Donald Ray Pollock's Knockemstiff, Celia A. Ranniger

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Donald Ray Pollock’s 2008 short story cycle, Knockemstiff, is a regionalist work of grotesque Grit Lit featuring characters from a small, rural holler community in southern Ohio. This work examines the form, narratives, and characters through close reading, illuminating the layers of different liminalities present in the cycle. These liminalities include narrative liminality of the form of the short story cycle, the social and economic liminal spaces inhabited by the characters, and the ways that the text comments on the liminal nature of storytelling itself. This thesis will argue that the geography of the cycle’s setting coupled with the subject …

American Officer Administration Development And Its Effects On Conduct, 1900-1970, David R. Burford

Theses and Dissertations

The 1970 U.S. Army War College Study on Military Professionalism concluded that officers were so obsessed with demonstrating loyalty, deference to authority, and promotion that they seemed to sacrifice their personal integrity. The findings shocked high-ranked Army officials. The detailed legislative history of Army officer administration from roughly 1900 to 1970 presented in this dissertation shows why and how these conditions came to exist. In nine chapters, the material revealed in magazines, periodicals, student research papers, statements at congressional debates, hearings and investigations, and various official and unofficial publications narrate the development of the post-World War II American officer governance …

Voice Of My People: An Expression Of Welcome And Liturgical Justice For Afrodiasporic People In North American Catholicism, Marvand Roger Holland Ii

Doctor of Pastoral Music Projects and Theses

Music has always been central to the lives of Black people. The Black religious experience is even more profound when expressed through music. It is therefore no happenstance that music is of great import as pertains to the spiritual lives of Black people, including Black Catholics. Faith is expressed through culture. It is through culture that the faith is realized and known. In this, is the essence of inculturation.

Anscar Chupungco states that if not inculturated, the liturgy of the local Church will remain at the periphery of people’s cultural experience. For this reason, it is imperative that Afrodiasporic music …

Chinese Transnational Intellectual Elites In Nanyang And China: A Comparative Study Of Lim Boon Keng, Wu Lien-Teh, Wong Nai Siong And Khoo Seok Wan, Lin Lan

Student Works (2020-2029)

During the late Qing and the Republican period, the longstanding extensive corridors of Chinese labour migration to the Nanyang were supplemented by a significant flow of elite travel and cultural and professional exchange between China and Nanyang. A group of transnational intellectual elites came into being whose lives and life-work spanned geographical and cultural space between a colonised and Westernised Southeast Asia and a China on her transition to modernity. Among them were Lim Boon Keng, Wu Lien-Teh, Wong Nai Siong and Khoo Seok Wan, the four case studies in this dissertation. An investigation of these elites either from Nanyang …

戴君恩以「臆」解《詩》研究, Aifan Zhan

Lingnan Theses (MPhil & PhD)

晚明文人戴君恩（1570-1636）的《讀風臆評》以「臆」解讀《詩經》，是明代中後期《詩經》的解讀經學向文學轉向思潮的具體體現。本文在學界研究的基礎上，以戴氏《讀風臆評》為核心，結合其《剩言》《繪孟》等著作，探討其解《詩》體系的生成背景、方法論特徵及詩學意義。第一章梳理晚明思想文化背景，指出戴氏受心學運動、文學復古及制藝風潮的影響，並補充其師承關係；第二章聚焦以「臆」解《詩》的理論建構，分析戴氏將莊子「天籟」說與「以意逆志」的理解論相融合，強調直覺體悟與主體想像，打破傳統美刺框架，顛覆傳統經學解《詩》框架；第三章通過分析戴氏對《詩經》的評點實踐，闡釋戴氏如何將前人理論融入詩歌審美分析中，提出「情與景會」的創作論，並重構情景關係，進一步揭示戴氏對清代情景觀的啟發；第四章通過分析戴氏總結的「格法」，解構詩歌內容，融合莊子超驗哲學與心學理論，建立以「虛」解詩的向度，推動《詩經》解讀從附會現實走向文學審美的轉向。

The Confucian Path To Utopia : Liao Ping’S Theory Of Great Harmony, 1897–1918, Jiahui Dong

Lingnan Theses (MPhil & PhD)

Seeing utopia as “the expression of the desire for a better way of being” and a term that encompasses both the meanings of “good place” and “no place,” this thesis examines the theoretical interaction between Western utopianism and the concept of great harmony, or Datong, which emerged from the study of ancient Chinese classics. It focuses on the late Qing to early Republican period through the case of Liao Ping (1852–1932), a new-text Confucian scholar from Sichuan province, China. As an eminent scholar, Liao was deeply exposed to and influenced by Western concepts and literature during the time of …

Minority Female Political Representation In Westchester County Politics: A View From Minority Female Elected Office Holders, Dwanita Michelle Crosby

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

African American women have historically been underrepresented in political leadership, a disparity largely attributed to the persistent absence of structured support systems—particularly mentorship—that promote advancement across federal, state, and local levels. Existing literature highlights gender and racial disparities in political trajectories but often overlooked the specific role of mentorship in shaping leadership outcomes for African American women at the municipal level. This gap was particularly critical given the increasing civic engagement and influence of African American women in local governance. The purpose of this general qualitative study was to examine how mentorship shaped the political journeys of African American women …

Gender Role Conflict In Women, Candyletta Lewis

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examines gender role conflict (GRC) in women within the context of feminine norms, with a focus on developing a scale designed to measure GRC derived from feminine ideology that may contribute to gender related stress. The primary research questions address the factor structure, reliability, and validity of the Gender Role Conflict Scale for Women (GRCS-W). Additional research questions examine the relationship between feminine gender role conflict and psychological well-being, and whether any racial differences exist in self-reported GRC. Participants include 132 women aged 18–70 from diverse educational backgrounds. Findings revealed a three-component solution for the GRCS-W. The internal …

Elizabeth Female Academy: A Historical Case Study Revealing Antebellum Mississippi's Role In Shaping The Southern Belle, Summer Cutrer Tierno

Dissertations

Historians and educational scholars have extensively examined the subject of women's education, resulting in a rich body of literature that traces its evolution over the centuries. Moreover, this body of work encompasses significant movements advocating for women's rights to education and the establishment of colleges specifically for women. Scholars have also analyzed the challenges women encounter in accessing educational opportunities, including societal norms, economic barriers, and institutional discrimination. Notable works highlight the contributions of key figures, such as Mary Wollstonecraft, who advocated for women's education in both historical and contemporary contexts. Overall, this comprehensive scholarship not only documents the advancement …

Uncle Sam Plays Matchmaker: Intimate Encounters, War Brides, And Marital Policy In The Vietnam War Era, Daniel P. Ward

Dissertations

During the Vietnam War era, thousands of American GIs married Southeast Asian women who immigrated to the United States together. While considerable scholarly attention has focused on the political and social dimensions of the Vietnam era sex work industry, the regulation of marriage and immigration policies for Vietnamese American couples provide new perspectives to explore. Although intimate encounters with local women also pervaded other twentieth century conflicts, the Vietnam War saw the American military implement a new system to screen and regulate war bride marriages. In doing so, Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV) constructed the first interservice set of marriage …

Teaching Students Who Have Been Identified With Autism In The Private Piano Teaching Studio: An Application Of General Music Resources And Interviews With Specialists In The Field, Joy Parker

Dissertations

This dissertation is a practical resource for private piano teachers seeking to gain a better understanding of teaching students with autism. Resources used in general music instruction of students with autism were consulted, and relevant information was adapted for the private piano setting. Additionally, resources that are tailored to private piano teaching of students with an identified disability were consulted.

Interviews with three individuals who have experience working with individuals with autism were conducted, and methods and strategies that they found to be most successful were ascertained. One of the interviewees was Dr. Derek Polischuk, Professor of Piano and Director …

“What Are You Saying On That Headset, Anyway?”- A Practical Look At Stage Management Through Silent Sky, Jade A. Randle

Theatre Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis is a dive into the process of the stage manager during the University of Arkansas' spring 2025 production of Silent Sky.

An Application Of Vocal Pedagogy For Thai Singers, Phitchaya Klimov

Dissertations

Vocal pedagogy incorporates diverse techniques and methodologies that aim to maintain longevity of the voice and to improve vocal performance, range, and tone. While vocal pedagogy has been extensively studied in Western music traditions, its application in the context of Thai singers remains unfamiliar. This dissertation will investigate the application of vocal pedagogy for Thai singers, with a focus on understanding the unique challenges faced by them. It will outline pedagogical approaches to address these challenges and will therefore lead to more authentic performances. “Complete mastery of the voice as an instrument is an idea toward which every singer must …

Beyond World War I: Post-War Trauma In Agatha Christie’S The Mysterious Affair At Styles, Alayna Puckett

All Theses

This thesis reexamines Agatha Christie’s The Mysterious Affair at Styles as a literary response and representation to World War I, arguing that it deserves recognition as a novel of wartime trauma rather than being confined solely to the realm of popular detective fiction. Influenced by Christie’s firsthand experiences as a wartime nurse, the novel subtly weaves themes of personal wartime experience and trauma into its plot, characters, and setting. Christie’s protagonist, Mr. Hastings, represents the returning soldier attempting to reintegrate into society, while Hercule Poirot—a Belgian refugee—embodies the war’s broader displacement and disruption. Set during World War I in a …

Sex Differences In The Risk Of Developing Alzheimer Disease, Cognitive Trajectories, And Relationships Between Cognition And Pathological Burden, Carling G. Robinson

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Prior work suggests females may develop Alzheimer disease (AD) dementia at a higher rate than males, and that this effect may interact with apolipoprotein (APOE) ε4 genotype. However, this work has often been limited by imprecise clinical diagnoses and a lack of AD biomarkers. In addition to the frequency of dementia, there are mixed reports on whether sex impacts rates of cognitive decline. Further, females consistently exhibit greater accumulation of AD pathological biomarkers, particularly tau, than males. It has been theorized that females initially demonstrate resilience to AD pathology, maintaining cognitive functioning longer than males, but experiencing a steeper cognitive …

The Uses Of Dramaturgical Research In Cinematic Storytelling, Asset Design, And Adaptation In Animation, Delaney L. Walker

All Theses

“The Black Hair” is a creative project that explores the convergence of cinematic adaptation, dramaturgical research, and animation design in retelling a traditional Japanese short folktale from the Heian Era. Rooted in the practice of theatrical dramaturgy, this thesis advocates for a research-driven creative pipeline by developing a culturally respectful and historically grounded approach to developing cinematic storyboards. By thoroughly examining the chronicles of history and the sociocultural context, the project seeks to foster deeper cultural appreciation while reintroducing a lesser-known narrative to modern audiences through a visual medium. The project draws stylistic and narrative inspiration from iconic Japanese filmmakers …

The Impact Of Black Faculty On First-Year Black Student Retention, Sense Of Belonging, And Racial Identity At Historically And Predominantly White Institutions, D'Andrea L. Williams

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The presence and engagement of Black faculty members in higher education can significantly impact Black students' college experience in their first year, especially at historically and predominantly White institutions. Emphasizing the importance of representation mentorship and relationship building, this study stresses the importance of Black faculty in fostering a sense of belonging, strengthening racial identity development, and contributing to the retention rates of Black college students during their freshmen year. On campus, Black students face the challenges of a campus climate plagued by racism, unfair expectations, mistreatment, microaggressions, and discrimination. Representation matters, and the sharing and affirming of those experiences …

Sad Music Listening: What Is It Good For? An Exploratory Study Of Motivations For Listening To Sad Music, Ariel Gelfand

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study sought to bolster research related to the function of sad music listening. Music listening is a common coping strategy for individuals attempting to cope with and manage different emotional states, including negative or sad moods and emotions. Research surrounding self-reported reasons or motivations for listening to sad music outlines several factors that appear to serve as mood-management strategies. However, there are discrepancies among these motivations across research, which thus far has consisted of qualitative interviews of participants. (Garrido & Schubert, 2011; Saarikallio & Ekkila, 2007; Van den Tol & Edwards, 2013). Additionally, it is unclear whether listening to …

Explanations For Racial Inequality In America; Effects Of Protestant Beliefs, Behaviors And Region, Qurshonda Shannae Lomans

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

The founder of the Center for the Study of Social Policy in Washington DC, Tom Joe (1987) released an article examining economic disparities between Black and White Americans. Across the measures of income, poverty and unemployment rates, Black Americans were found to be at an economic disadvantage. According to current data published by the U.S. Department of Commerce (2018), the economic wealth gap has remained unequal. Prior research examining racial inequality has found Protestantism to be a foundation from which Americans form their ideologies about social issues (Hunt, 2007; Edgell & Tranby, 2007; Taylor & Merino, 2011). Data provided by …

Empowering The User Through Inclusive Technical Writing, Robert Enriquez

English Theses & Dissertations

This thesis examines the issues in technical writing due to a disconnect between writer and reader/user. I am basing this study on my real-life job. I am a manager at a well-known sneaker retailer. In August 2024, there was a Workforce Management (WFM) software that the sneaker retailer launched in the retail stores. The WFM itself was glitched and unfinished. Not much disclaimer, training or preparation was given other than these procedural documents the sneaker retailer gave. If all the store managers had to depend on was technical documentation to prepare for this already glitched WFM, then I argue there …

'Managed Hearts’ In Helper-Education: Gender Non-Binary Helper-Educators’ Experiences Of Emotional Labor, Jordan Pearce

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

The unique experiences of people who identify with a gender beyond the binary paradigm dominant in the Global West are not well understood. The literature provides little insight into the experiences and perspectives of these individuals in a variety of contexts, including in their workplaces. As various social movements collide, they bring amplified attention to the mental health of marginalized communities and to workers, as well as the dynamics of modern work environments, and the specific needs of certain individuals doing certain types of work. The current study explored the experiences of gender non-binary individuals (GNI) working as helper-educators engaged …

The Automation Of Aesthetics: Artificial Intelligence And Commercial Artists In North Brooklyn, Devin Sudweeks

Theses and Dissertations

Corporate elites expect generative AI to replace commercial artists but overlook their social and aesthetic expertise. This ethnographic study explores how Brooklyn-based commercial artists narrate their value amid automation, emphasizing embodied presence in cultural scenes, visual language, style, and authenticity, skills not easily mechanized but vital to aesthetic economies.

In The Name Of The Mother, The Nation, And The Race: White Women, The Jim Crow South, & Moralized White Supremacist Feminism, Shayna M. Lawson

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis introduces the concept of moralized white supremacist feminism to examine the central role white women played in constructing, legitimizing, and sustaining racial hierarchies in the Jim Crow South through a network of cultural and political organizing, particularly through the United Daughters of the Confederacy and Women’s Ku Klux Klan. Far from passive observers, white women were strategic agents of segregation, leveraging ideals of purity, motherhood, and moral virtue to enforce anti-Black violence and oppression through educational, civic, legal, and symbolic institutions, as well as extra-legal practices. Drawing from archival materials, oral histories, and critical race theory, this study …

Reverse-Chinoiserie: Qing Imperial Porcelain And The Reappropriation Of European Rococo, Yifan (Mia) Ye

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis introduces “reverse-chinoiserie” to describe the Qing court’s reappropriation of European Rococo aesthetics in imperial porcelain. Through case studies of 18th-century ceramic diplomacy and design, it reveals how cultural imitation was reengineered into visual sovereignty. It examines how China responded to, absorbed, and redirected European fantasies of empire.

Cartography, Botany, And Violence In The Codex Rodriguez-MondragóN, Maria Davison

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines how Sandy Rodriguez deploys the visual language of the Florentine Codex and other sixteenth-century Mesoamerican sources to examine the persisting effects of colonialism on people and land in Mexico-U.S. borderlands in Codex Rodriguez-Mondragón (2017-present), her ongoing series of maps, botanical illustrations, and landscape paintings.

The Final Girl Without The Slasher: Final Girls, Gender, And Community In Psych, Cassidy Crosby

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

This thesis focuses on the “Final Girl” trope, a hallmark of slasher films of the 1970s and 1980s, as it appears in detective procedural television show Psych to analyze what changes in the trope’s usage says about broader changes in American culture. I engage with two key episodes, “Scary Sherry: Bianca’s Toast” and “Tuesday the 17^th,” which contain the program’s most direct engagements with the Final Girl trope. Ultimately, I conclude that Psych rejects the hyperindividualism embedded in the Final Girl and some of the trope’s more binary gender norms, while also failing to interrogate other aspects of …

Analysis Of Popular Songs In The Us Market, Michael Myers

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

In today’s digitally driven music landscape, understanding what drive’s a song’s popularity requires insight not only into its acoustic and lyrical content, but also into patterns of listener engagement across platforms. This thesis explores the predictive and descriptive dimensions of song popularity by applying supervised and unsupervised machine learning models to a multi-source dataset integrating audio features, sentiment analysis, and temporal consumption behavior. Drawing from a novel, multi-platform dataset that includes Billboard Hot 100 rankings, Spotify acoustic features and popularity scores, streaming, airplay, and sales metrics as reported on Luminate’s Music Connect, and lyrics from AZLyrics, the study investigates the …