Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Disability: A Dirty Word? How Language Historically Perpetuates Exclusion And Systemic Oppression, Kelly E. Imm

Graduate Masters Theses

In 1990, the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) marked a pivotal moment in the American disability rights movement, which began in the 1960s and sought to secure civil rights for people with disabilities. Despite this monumental achievement, this thesis considers how the language used throughout American history and culture to describe people with disabilities, even within the confines of progressive legislation like the ADA, remains deeply rooted in ableist and oppressive historical attitudes. At the heart of this issue, this thesis demonstrates how the medicalization of disability, which has dominated American culture for centuries, continues to frame …

The Finest Orientalism: "The Orient" And Empire In 19th Century Romantic Poetry, Nathan D. Banfield

Graduate Masters Theses

This project seeks to interrogate the way that nineteenth-century Romantic authors incorporated tropes and depictions of the Near East in their poetry, and the relationship that their use of these tropes has to furthering the British Empire’s imperial aims. Drawing from the theory of “Orientalism” articulated by Edward Said, and his theoretical underpinnings in Michel Foucault’s theory of discourse analysis, I consider four major Romantic poets whose works articulate different versions of “The Orient” as a discursive entity. Said postulates that the “The Orient,” rather than being an inaccurate depiction of an existing geopolitical region, is a fabrication which is …

Enduring Words: Resistance Through Sculptural Libraries, Alex C. Jacobs

LSU Master's Theses

Enduring Words: Resistance Through Sculptural Libraries is a thesis exhibition that challenges book censorship by transforming reading into a public and defiant act. Through direct sculptural interventions, the exhibition confronts cultural erasure, questions who controls the literature we consume, and highlights the role of art in safeguarding contested knowledge. This thesis focuses on a current body of exhibited sculptural works that embody the tension between access and erasure. These installations engage with the viewer by using a lighthouse built of books and a speech-bubble-shaped library embedded with censored texts. They do not quietly mourn the suppression of knowledge; they confront …

Musnad ʿAbd Allāh Ibn Al-Zubayr Al-Ḥumaydī As An Early Source Of Madanī Isnād: A Source Critical Study, Heba Mohamed Gaafar

Theses and Dissertations

The transmission of ḥadīth has been a subject of intense debate, particularly regarding the authenticity of early compilations. Musnad al-Ḥumaydī is a ḥadīth collection that has not received significant scholarly attention despite its potential to shed light on early ḥadīth transmission. This study critically examines Musnad al-Ḥumaydī by analyzing its structure, sources, and methodology, focusing on its relationship with Sufyān b. ʿUyayna, the primary transmitter of its ḥadīth. By applying isnād analysis and source criticism, this research challenges the assumption that early ḥadīth compilations were unreliable or retrospectively constructed. Al-Ḥumaydī did not simply collect narrations. The study demonstrates that Musnad …

"I'M Strictly T4t": Trans For Trans Connections In The Contemporary, Madi Lou Alexander

Dissertations and Theses

Trans for trans relationships, referred to as "t4t", are a relationship type specific to trans individuals. Linguistically originating from Craigslist personal ad spaces, t4t indicates a trans person seeking out and engaging with another trans person. The scope of relationships under the t4t label are often largely associated with sexuality and dating scenes due to their conception in online cruising spaces. Through qualitative analysis, I assess the range of what t4t relationships are through 30 in-depth interviews with participants identifying as trans. This work moves away from focusing on the deficits of holding a marginalized identity, instead aiming to center …

A House With No Walls Where Persimmons Grow In The Garden: Photography As A Collaborative Feminist Practice And Using Archives To Reframe The Present, Jada Wheeler

University Honors Theses

A House With No Walls is an investigation of the idea of chosen family, as it exists apart from the influence of any institution. It alludes to the home as a place that exists within space shared with the people we choose as family and within our own free bodies. This project investigates the collaborative potential of photography, and uses it as a tool in creating a feminist representation of family. All the photographs were made with close friends, in an unplanned and spontaneous manner, to document intimate moments of our everyday lives.

Where Persimmons Grow In The Garden is …

"The Way It Comes—Through Nature:" Christian Realism, Rural Landscapes, And Divine Confrontations In Flannery O'Connor's Farm Fiction, Ashton Bailey Thomas

Master's Theses

Flannery O’Connor, though often labeled a Southern Gothic writer, preferred to place herself in the genre of “Christian Realism.” For her, the grotesque nature of her stories’ endings reflects not grace itself but the culmination of repeated rejections of grace. In her essays and letters, O’Connor argues that grace should be depicted “the way it comes—through nature,” equating the spiritual with the natural world. In her stories’ farm landscapes, O’Connor presents an ever-present grace through nature that, though often ignored or rejected, serves as a catalyst for spiritual confrontations. When this grace is continually denied, violence becomes the only force …

Prayer And Gunpowder, Muhammad Saqif Maqsud

Dissertations and Theses

Prayer and Gunpowder is the opening movement of a larger novel that reimagines piracy in the Mughal Empire through a lyrical, historically inflected narrative. Set in a fictional coastal city haunted by imperial fragility and foreign encroachment, the story follows a young boy, Adam, whose life is ruptured by colonial violence. What begins in the rhythms of everyday life--scarves in the market, whispered prayers, the jovial defiance of youth--erupts into loss, enlistment, and conscription into a crumbling navy that can no longer protect its shores.

The novel explores themes of grief, rupture, inheritance, and spiritual reckoning, filtered through the consciousness …

Chess As A Visual Language: Women Playing Love In The Medieval Courts Of Spain And France, Zoe Kobs

Undergraduate Theses in Art History

This thesis explores the visual representations of the game of chess in two case studies during the medieval period in the courts of Europe: manuscript illustrations in Spain, and a carved ivory mirror case in France. These case studies reveal how visual objects were used to construct cultural realities. Specifically, they illustrate how depictions of chess combined with the presence of women not only alluded to romantic possibilities, but also dictated the role, conduct, and perception of women in the medieval courts. The imagined woman’s adherence to expected court rules, rules stemming from chess games, and the art of love …

Fired And Fractured: An Analysis Of Broken Ceramics, Evan Mcguire

Honors Projects

How does the construction of a ceramic object affect how it breaks? How does the force applied affect this break? These questions are based on my first-hand observations of the multitude of ceramic fragments found in different states of decay at archaeological sites. To answer these questions, I created samples that imitate ancient ceramics and then broke them in different ways. I then analyzed the fracture surfaces and looked for evidence of weak points in the objects. Pieces that were hit by a blunt force, such as a hammer, had radial fractures that formed along paths that had clusters of …

Citrus Farming, Tourism, And Globalization: Jeju Island’S Transformation Under South Korea’S State-Led Development, Caitlin Hong

Student Work

The Williams Prize in East Asian Studies is awarded to Caitlin Hong for her outstanding senior thesis, “Citrus, Capital, and Control: Jeju Island’s Transformation under State-Led Development.”

Hong’s work exemplifies intellectual ambition, methodological rigor, and original insight. Through an interdisciplinary blend of historical analysis and ethnographic fieldwork, she offers the first comprehensive English-language account of Jeju Island’s citrus farming industry, tracing its development from the postwar period to the present day.

Demonstrating extraordinary initiative, Hong designed and executed an independent research trip to Jeju Island, conducting interviews with citrus farmers, laborers, and experts, while also consulting numerous primary sources in …

Beyond Skins: The Far-Flung Impacts Of Sea Otter Fur Capitalism, Callie Pappas

Dissertations and Theses

Sea otter fur was one of the first commodities to shape the broader Pacific Ocean trade. As the trade expanded, it became entwined in a global network of commerce that stretched from St. Petersburg to Alaska, from Boston to Astoria, from London to Nootka Sound, and from Hawaii to Canton (China, modern-day Guangzhou). This paper aims not just to view the trade qua trade, but to go Beyond Skins to tell four stories of impacts of sea otter fur capitalism, in the areas of geopolitics, Indigenous cultures, trade in China, and local ecology. Originating in the Pacific Northwest, the sea …

Many Meanings: A History Of Memory At The Meeker Home Museum, Kathleen Henry

History Theses, Dissertations, and Student Creative Activity

While public historians strive to provide accurate, contextual, and nuanced interpretations of the past, public and community memory of the past is powerful, and more concerned with identity and validation than it is with historical accuracy and complexity. These intersections of history and memory in America are complex, and have been explored for several decades by historians such as Ari Kelman, Seth Bruggeman, and David Wrobel. As a case study of the intersections of history and memory in a historic house museum, the Meeker Home Museum in Greeley, Colorado, reflects powerful narratives of past community memory, resulting in a static, …

Coming Of Age In A Time Of Darkness: Young Southern White Women During The American Civil War, Kylie Wroot

History Theses, Dissertations, and Student Creative Activity

The American Civil War is one of the most researched eras in history, but that does not mean that research will ever be complete. Historians are always discovering aspects of the war that had been largely ignored. One emerging topic has been the lives of young women and their experiences during the conflict. James MacPherson has analyzed several aspects of the war, including why its history is still relevant today. Amy Murrell Taylor and James Marten have both researched family life and children’s experiences during the war. Other historians like Drew Gilpin Faust, Giselle Roberts, and Victoria Ott have focused …

Caudillismo, Nationalism, And Populism: An Analytical Approach To The Story Of Getúlio Vargas And The Estado Novo, 1930-1945, Chris Michael Taylor Reeves

History Theses, Dissertations, and Student Creative Activity

Brazil in the 1930’s and 1940’s is a case study of the influences that national and transnational ideologies had on its government and society. The result of these influences being the rise and fall of government systems and dictatorships. Brazilian social and political ideology during this time is well documented from works on nationalism, populism, the concept of the caudillo or caudillismo, and issues of transnationalism. Other works in this field refer to integralism and Tenentismo as well as assessments of authoritarianism. However, more work needs to be done on the connections between these concepts and their effects on government, …

A Journey Towards Human Rights: The Indigenous Repatriation Movement 1967-1995, Sara Lynne Shaffer-Henry

History Theses, Dissertations, and Student Creative Activity

In June 1967, a group of Indigenous Peoples met at Mato Paha (Bear Butte, SD). The meetings were called due to disturbing reports and visions related to Indigenous Ancestral remains burial goods, or other sacred items on display in museums and repositories. They also discussed the continued desecration of sacred sites, and how these actions denied Indigenous Peoples of their human rights. The meeting a Mato Paha became the catalyst for what is now known as the Repatriation Movement. Based on grassroots organizing, the Repatriation Movement direct action, gatherings, legal action, and public relations to develop national repatriation law and …

Poetries Of Abandonment: A Study Of Plath And Glück, Yara Abdelmoneim

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the intersection between literature and trauma, which can be discerned in the key works of two poets, Sylvia Plath and Louise Glück. While offering readings of crucial poems, the thesis also examines the interrelations among trauma, memory and narrative as theorized by two contemporary psychiatrists, Bessel van der Kolk and Judith Herman. Both Plath and Glück wrote about personal and generational trauma after going through different experiences of abandonment. Absence, indirection and repetition provide the basis for literary techniques that allow their traumas to be better understood by authors and readers alike. The degree to which each …

The Application Of Syncopated Rhythms In The Development Of Sight-Reading Skills For Non-Keyboard Music Majors, Ronald David Rodriguez Herrera

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study investigates the impact of integrating syncopated rhythms into the group piano curriculum for undergraduate music students with varied levels of piano proficiency. Participants (N=76) enrolled in Group Piano II and IV were assigned control and experimental groups across multiple class sections. Three research questions guided the study: (1) How does the introduction of syncopated rhythm patterns affect group piano students’ sight-reading performance? (2) How does consistent practice of syncopated rhythms influence students' ability to sustain a steady pulse? (3) Do students consider exposure to syncopated rhythms a valuable component in their future careers as music educators …

All But Mud & Memories, Chase Lt Romero

LSU Master's Theses

All But Mud & Memories addresses the inevitability of erosion and land loss near my homeland of Algiers Point— locally known as The Point— through the perspective of locals and visitors, in addition to my own experience. Located near New Orleans across the Mississippi River, Algiers Point holds a community that shares a tender bond with the levee that protects their home and day-to-day interactions. Often in discussions of wetland events in Louisiana, the focus is on land and environmental losses rather than the surrounding culture. I provide a more community-centered narrative by expressing what’s to be lost if the …

Leaving The (Mother)Land: Nationalist Entrapment Of The Doubly Colonized Irish Woman In Joyce’S Dubliners And Boland’S Poetry, Blake Harrsch

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

This paper explores how James Joyce’s “A Mother” and “Eveline” and Eavan Boland’s “The Lost Land” and “Mother Ireland” illuminate the gendered sacrifices underpinning Irish nationalism through the lens of double colonization. Joyce’s female protagonists are caught between personal desire and cultural obligation: Mrs. Kearney’s assertiveness leads to public dismissal, while Eveline’s paralysis reveals the psychic toll of conflating domestic labor with patriotic duty. Boland’s poems, in turn, demonstrate how both staying and leaving reinforce women’s entrapment within nationalist ideologies. In “The Lost Land,” the mother’s grief is naturalized as part of her expected role in preserving the homeland, while …

A Crisis Of Craft: Creative Writing In The American University, Brenna E. Derbish

Undergraduate Honors Theses

In this essay, I aim to analyze the changing nature of the Creative Writing MFA through the lens of the American culture that shaped it. In the 1930s, creative writing in American universities began to take shape, citing itself as a way to reform the philological study of literature into a more active field, a way for the common person to learn through creativity and self-expression. However, as the number of MFA programs in the nation continued to rise, admittance became increasingly selective, with many universities accepting only between 5 and 10% of their applicants. This increase in exclusivity, coupled …

Adhd Diagnosis And Treatment Within Ethnic Minority Groups, Dianthe Hoang

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that is commonly diagnosed in childhood, and the National Survey of Children’s Health reported that ADHD had a prevalence of around 6.1 million children aged 2-17 years old (NSCH, 2016). This review discusses the cultural and socioeconomic barriers that contribute to the underdiagnosis and treatment in members of ethnic minority communities. Black, Hispanic, Native American, and Asian adults received less mental health care compared to White Americans. Previous findings indicated that cultural factors, such as misinterpretation of symptoms from families and teachers and cultural perceptions of mental health, contributed to disparities …

A Seat At The Schoolhouse Table: Reimagining Education Through Afrofuturist And Womanist Theory, Natasha M. Capers

Student Theses

“A Seat at the Schoolhouse Table: Reimagining Education Through Afrofuturist and Womanist Theory” critically examines how curriculum, even when well-intentioned, can perpetuate harm by excluding the lived experiences of marginalized communities—especially Black, Indigenous, and LGBTQIA+ students. Using a real middle school immigration assignment given to the author's son as a case study, this capstone deconstructs the structural biases embedded in curriculum design and proposes a radical reimagining through the liberatory lenses of Afrofuturism and Womanism. Blending scholarly inquiry, personal narrative, and community-based interviews, this project offers a restructured assignment that centers joy, identity, and speculative storytelling as tools for educational …

Wild Women, Wild West: Queer Women’S Sexuality And Gender Presentations On The Western Frontier, Michaela White

Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

Political Polarization And Voter Turnout: A New Political Paradigm?, Kyle Thaller

Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

Political polarization has characterized most recent U.S. elections through further widening the gap between the two parties to the point that many people fear a second U.S. Civil war is approaching. This begs the larger question of how polarization impacts the electorate? Does it turn voters off or push them to vote? Does it have a negative impact on American elections, or is it merely a next step in the grand experiment we define as American democracy? This paper uses Logistic regression (via SPSS Statistics) with data from American National Election Studies (ANES) to address these questions by analyzing the …

In The Shadow Of Sovereignty: A Dark Examination Of Hobbes, Sovereign Power, And Genocide, Sidney Dombrovskis

Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

This thesis explores the genocides in Rwanda and Cambodia through the framework of Thomas Hobbes’s political philosophy, focusing on his concepts of the state of nature and absolute sovereignty as articulated in Leviathan. The hypothesis asserts that Hobbes’s state of nature is not merely a hypothetical construct but a tangible reality that can be observed in the actions and failures of authoritarian regimes, such as those of the Hutu government in Rwanda and the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. These governments, both authoritarian and endowed with seemingly absolute power, paradoxically failed to embody the Leviathan that Hobbes envisioned as the ultimate …

“Transgender Operations On Illegal Aliens”: Exploring Depictions Of Queerness In The Orville And Star Trek: The Next Generation, Caleb Adams

Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

How Art Therapy And Emdr Help Asylum Seekers And Refugees Move Towards Healing Trauma: A Literature Review, Anna Mogilevsky

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

In the past ten years, there has been a significant rise in the number of asylum seekers and refugee populations worldwide (UNHCR, 2022). Displaced individuals are extremely vulnerable to mental illness because of the compounded trauma experienced in their countries of origin with the stress of immigration, asylum seeking, culture shock, and language barriers. PTSD is affecting 500 million individuals globally, and refugees are especially susceptible to having these symptoms (Farrell, 2020). Art therapy and EMDR are identified as the most promising modalities for treating such trauma.

This literature review examines the various ways EMDR and art therapy have been …

Seeing Through The Incense Smoke: Understanding The Meanings Of Ancestral Rites In Vietnam For The Sake Of A Pastoral Approach In Christian Mission, J.P. Cima

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Cima, J.P. “Seeing Through the Incense Smoke: Understanding the Meanings of Ancestral Rites in Vietnam for the Sake of a Pastoral Approach in Christian Mission.” Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2025. 285 pp.

The veneration of ancestors at family altars has long been a defining feature of everyday Vietnamese life that poses a critical missiological problem for Christian mission in Vietnam. May Christians participate in ancestral veneration rituals? Current and historical responses to this question, among Protestants and Catholics alike, have not been uniform. Moreover, many responses have been based on assumed or oversimplified understandings of the rites’ meaning which recent …

Fellowship Of Christian Athletes (Fca) Social Expansion: An Analysis Of The Fca Brand Architecture, Victoria Williamson

Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

The Fellowship of Christian Athletes has seen much growth over the past seven decades, after being created in a small town in Oklahoma in 1954 with only 15 members to now having 2,000+ staff and reaching 100+ countries (FCA Timeline, 2024). How did such a small organization with such a specific niche, become the well-known non-profit global ministry it is today? This thesis will discover how the Fellowship of Christian Athletes grew its brand worldwide pre and post-digital media through its marketing and communications methods.