Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Nostalgia, Economic Revitalization, And Community Relationships In Hattiesburg's Recent Historic Preservation Efforts, Jordan Jones

Honors Theses

This paper examines the reasons behind the modern interest in historic preservation in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and argues that its supporters are driven primarily by nostalgia towards what they envision as “Old Hattiesburg” and its aesthetics, interest in economic opportunities, and the strengthened sense of community made possible through historic preservation. From the foundation of Hattiesburg to today, there have been shifts in interest in Downtown and its historic districts, and they fluctuate based on changing political, economic, and social trends. In order to contextualize Hattiesburg’s historic preservation, this thesis draws upon secondary scholarship on historic preservation, economic revitalization, and historical …

Mocking Birds: Investigation And Performance Of Selected Works Featuring Birdsong By Messiaen And Westerlinck, Sarah Hinchey

Honors Theses

This thesis is a creative project that includes a study of the lives and compositional techniques of Olivier Messiaen and Wilfried Westerlinck. Investigation of the composers’ techniques explains aural similarities between the two pieces. The research informed a live performance of Messiaen’s Le merle noir and a recording project of Westerlinck’s Meeting a Mockingbird in Texas.

The Changing Kitchen: Analyzing Sears Mail Order Home Kitchens And Gender Inequality In The United States Between 1908 And 1940, Ella G. Penney

Interior Design Undergraduate Honors Theses

The Sears Roebuck & Co mail order home was no exception to the idea that architecture and design are products of culture and society. Penny Sparke, a scholar of domestic interiors, writes that design is informed by “economics, politics, technology, culture, society, our psychological make-up, ethics, and the world’s ecological systems” (Sparke 8). In 1908, Sears responded to an increase in demand for single-family housing by releasing a home that could be delivered right to your door. This study investigates the ways in which gender inequality, particularly, the confinement of women to domestic space and housekeeping labor, manifests itself in …

Cue The Meet Cute, Sarah B. Cocks

Graduate Thesis Collection

Margery has always loved three things: romantic comedies, predictability, and the legacy of her family's video rental store. But when her beloved, yet struggling, small-town movie rental shop is threatened by her parents' impending divorce, her carefully curated life starts to unravel. Determined not to let her dream job fade into nostalgia, she launches a summer-long community dating event to save it. There’s just one problem: she’s never been on a date before.

To her dismay, her coworker-slash-cinema-nemesis, Henry, considers himself a dating expert—and he’s all too eager to lend a hand.

Layered with pivotal early-2000s cinematic references, sharp banter, …

How Do Women Deal With Beauty Standards?, Mandy Lashay Wilson

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the profound impact of beauty standards on women’s lives, focusing on how unrealistic ideals influence their emotional and physical well-being. Through a series of figurative oil paintings, this work examines women’s actions to conform to and reject these standards. It also explores the consequences of striving to meet or falling short of these ideals, such as emotional turmoil, physical pain, potential social exclusion, as well as the comparison, and competitive beauty culture. This research analyzes the motivations behind striving for beauty standards, such as pursuing attention, success, and validation. Drawing from contemporary literature and visual analysis of …

Lauryn C. Salazar: A Life History Of Mariachi Leadership, Berta Alicia Guerra

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to analyze Lauryn C. Salazar’s mariachi/educational leadership style by focusing on her contributions to the community of Texas Tech University and Tarleton State University. Leadership styles, as defined by Northouse, 2021, refer to the distinct approaches leaders use to guide, motivate, and influence their teams. After examining Salazar’s background to place her motivations and actions in the proper context, this study analyzed what Salazar did, how she perceived her actions, and how others perceived her actions. The life history written by the researcher was primarily based on data collected through eight interviews; however, …

Cultural Of Authenticity And Commodification: Analyzing The Aesthetic Waves And Collective Culture In The 2010s And 2020s, Stefanny Leung Yu

Student Theses

The “authentic self” is curated, aestheticized, and most notably, commodified. Digital algorithms, likes, views, and engagement are more than just digital metrics, they are the management of performance. For millions of other users — including the author herself — social media is the locus of personal expression. Most notably, sites like Tumblr, where users in the 2010s posted hazy images or overly filtered graphics along with melancholic song lyrics that match the vibe of the moment, expression was earnest and idealized. Today, social media in the 2020s, new creators like Hannah Neelaman, better known as Ballerina Farm, dress in pastoral …

Managing Graphical Fidelity With Stylized Shaders For Independent Game Development, Benjamin A. Edens

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper outlines work performed by the author within the Unity3D game engine to gain preliminary experience with technical art implementation and suggests design choices that could be useful to other students or independent game developers to manage complexity within their games while maintaining visual appeal. The final product of the discussed project is a small game consisting of an outdoor urban city environment as well as an interior aquarium environment. This paper begins with the author’s motivations and goals for the project before describing the implementation of specific aspects of technical art, including 3D modeling, rigging, animation, level design, …

Michigan Fiction, Bryce Durfey

Honors Theses

The screenplay Michigan Fiction follows a failing children's book author who is desperate for another taste of success. His father has told him his entire life that success by any means is all that matters. After a chance meeting with a more successful crime-novelist colleague, and learning of his next book idea, he decides to follow him to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to steal his idea for a book. He stays in a motel where the original killer once stayed and killed. Things go awry when he accidentally murders someone. After the town thinks it's the old killer returning, …

The Spartan Mirage; A Study Into Spartan Women, Maya Rose Sharon

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

A myth has been perpetuated about the Greek city-state of Sparta which has shrouded it in a mirage. This mirage can make it difficult to determine what Sparta was truly like, which includes the reality of its women. Scholars tend to present Spartan women within extremes that either showcase them as no different from other women or as the ones holding all the power. Spartan women were key in passing on important values to their children such as to die bravely in battle or not come home at all. By looking into Spartan women, we can find strong evidence that …

Reading Tipu's Tiger: Hybridity And The Sound Of A Silenced Roar, Sarah M. Jackson

Theses

Tipu’s Tiger, a powerful artifact at the nexus of colonialism, cultural preservation, and museum practices, serves as a unique case study of shifting historical interpretations. Originally crafted in Mysore, India as a symbol of resistance against British colonial forces, the object was later repurposed as a trophy of empire. This dual role embodies the tensions central to postcolonial theory, where the meanings of cultural artifacts shift depending on the context in which they are placed. Through the lens of Homi Bhabha’s theory of hybridity, Tipu’s Tiger is understood as a hybrid object, reflecting the complex liminal space between its …

The Transformative Impact Of User-Created Mods Within Fallout: New Vegas, Tanner Webb

Theses

Video game modding is one of the fastest growing trends in the gaming industry and it is changing how players interact with games. Review of current literature and research shows that these modders are an integral part of the gaming market. Using the principles of participatory culture and digital aesthetics, this research investigates how modding practices serve as both a form of creative expression and an inspiration for technological innovation within the video game industry. Video game modifications serve as catalysts for creative expression, foster the development of innovative user communities, prolong the life of game titles, cultivate a pool …

Embodied Intimacy And Social Justice: Patricia Cronin's Memorial To A Marriage, Alex Anne Mattioli

Theses

This paper examines Patricia Cronin’s Memorial to a Marriage (2002) as a pivotal work within her artistic catalogue, one that engages deeply with themes of intimacy, identity, and social justice. Created at a time when same-sex marriage was illegal in the United States, Memorial to a Marriage represents Cronin and her partner, feminist artist, Deborah Kass, in a Classical funerary sculpture, reclaiming the tradition of public monuments to center an LGBTQIA+ experience from memory. Through a critical analysis of Memorial to a Marriage within Cronin’s broader artistic practice, this study explores how the sculpture challenges the conventions of public art …

Cultural Constraints Of Mental Illness Among Black Males, Sabrina R. Hinton-Campbell

Theses

This research explores historical trauma, systemic racism, inequity of mental health care, and lack of access to culturally and responsive mental healthcare for the Black community, particularly Black males, therefore creating a legitimate distrust of the medical profession among Black males, which inspired this project: Cultural Constraints of Mental Illness Among Black Males. For this project, the researcher visually and explicitly depicts the literal mental health struggles using oil pastels with intentional directional strokes applied by using the sides of her fingers to blend the colors and for control and a blow dryer to bring the oils to the surface …

Anotaciones De Un Viaje Sin Carreteras, Julio Alejandro Barrera Moreno

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

“Viajaremos juntos, tú y yo, en carro, desde Miami hasta Nueva York”, me prometió mi papá, poco antes de desaparecer, presuntamente muerto en los Estados Unidos por traficar con drogas, hace tanto tiempo que ya casi ni lo recuerdo. “Viajaremos juntos, tú y yo, en carro, desde Miami hasta Nueva York”, le prometí a mi hijo, poco antes de abordar el avión que me trajo hasta los Estados Unidos, hace ya tres años, tanto, que cada vez que nos reencontramos, no lo reconozco de lo tanto que crece. Y desde entonces, un imposible nos atraviesa, una promesa que solo a …

A Texas-Sized Problem: Abortion Policy And Public Perception On The Border, Sabrina Bustillos

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The present study is an examination of the impacts Texas' abortion restrictions have had on residents of El Paso, Texas. As of 2022, virtually all instances of abortion are illegal in the state of Texas. Despite the complete overturn of Roe V. Wade, in addition to Texas' passage of the "Texas Heartbeat Act", lawmakers have continued to propose and enact laws that encourage the intimidation, investigation, and punishment of anyone suspected of aiding and abetting an abortion, regardless of whether it occurred outside of state lines. These policies are ever-changing and impact millions of Texans, whether they know it or …

The Depths Of Horror: Exploring The Manifestation Of Fear In The Natural World, Jordan Eugene Easley

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The horror genre is uniquely powerful in that it is one of the only hands of fiction with the ability to reach off the page and follow you. The feeling of fear originally formed in the confines of a scary story can lie dormant in the reader after the story has finished and be resurfaced later by a related trigger. On a late night after work walking through a deserted car garage, home alone in the middle of a storm, or stumbling into an abandoned hospital, the reader is imbued with an ability to detect a threat that was previously …

Teaching Bilingual Features To A Young Augmentative And Alternative Communication User With Autism, Paola Gallegos

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This study examines how a minimally verbal, young Spanish-English bilingual child with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) uses translanguaging toggle features on an Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) device to produce multi-word picture descriptions. The study employed a Rapidly Alternating Treatments Design (RATD) to analyze AAC performance under language-controlled Spanish-only and English-only conditions. A quantitative analysis examined the frequency and patterns of bilingual AAC feature use during aided modeling and instruction, while qualitative methods explored the related challenges and benefits. This study highlights the potential for bilingual AAC systems to enhance communication effectiveness and underscores the importance of incorporating user and …

Latinas In The Figured World Of Economics: Constructing Identity And Agency, Cynthia Gamez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Women's endeavors to enhance their numbers, visibility, and presence in economics are a significant topic of discussion in the field of economics. While it has long been documented that women are outnumbered in economics, there was almost no research on Latinas: only on White women. Using a theoretical framework of identity and agency in cultural worlds, this qualitative study aimed to understand how Latinas who graduated with master's degrees from three universities along the U.S.-Mexico border constructed their identities and positioned themselves as economists. Ten Latinas who graduated between 2002 and 2022 from the Paso del Norte regional universities were …

Imagen De La Guerra E Idea De Nación En El Poemario Unción De La Sombra, Carla Vanessa Gonzales

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

El presente trabajo analiza los vasos comunicantes entre poesía, historia y memoria, partiendo de la representación de la guerra como expresión del fenómeno del conflicto y sus correlatos del trauma colectivo en el contexto de la violencia histórica. Es a través del poemario Unción de la sombra, que dicha investigación explora la manera en que la poesía escrita puede proyectar el dolor, la pérdida y el sentido de la identidad en relación con eventos de conflicto como uno de los fenómenos más controversiales de la expresión humana, con enfoque en la Guerra del Pacífico (1879-1884) y sus secuelas. Esta tesis …

On The Non-Reductive Analogical Language Of Chemistry: Visualizing Chemistry As An Aesthetic Practice, Demetrio Hernandez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In this thesis, I will consider in detail the analogical language of chemistry by identifying metaphysical assumptions and interpretations embedded in the thinking and communication of chemistry. I will explain the epistemological function and meaning of chemical symbolism and how its artistic design presents a unique opportunity to reflect about the philosophical aesthetic connections between chemistry and the humanities. I will thus consider the creative aspects of chemistry and suggest that the merging between art and science yields practical wisdom. My goal is to argue in favor of the idea of complementarity which suggests that scientific models best develop from …

Imperial Ideology And Subversive Practice In Arthurian Legend, Emma Katherine Keppler

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This project approaches Arthur and Arthurian legend as vital elements in British self-identification from the medieval period onward by examining narratives of national origin in legendary history, romance, and other forms of cultural production. In my readings of these texts, I am concerned with how national identity and otherness are constructed and negotiated in a literary space, how myths of utopian origins rely on the endorsement and glorification of cultures of violence that sustain and justify imperial enterprises in the Middle Ages and beyond. It is my argument that in the absence of actual voices of resistance, romance tropes often …

Locura Progeny, Cindy Longoria

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Growing up in a dysfunctional home with few supportive resources was my inspiration for writing this creative non-fiction work. The goal for Locura Progeny is to connect with people who have had a similar upbringing but felt compelled to not talk about it due the stigma it carries. I wrote this work in first person using a chronological timeline similar to an episodic novel. Each chapter is an important event or memory in my life that shaped my views on my future self and the key people in my life. This story is impossible to tell without focusing on …

Myradas, Mercedes Soledad Moresco

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

La presente tesis presenta Myradas, una colección de poemas bilingüe que explora la relación entre imagen, palabra y disposición espacial en la página. El proyecto tuvo su origen en una revista que combinaba textos poéticos, dibujos y collages. A partir de la separación de los poemas de sus imágenes originales, surgió una reflexión sobre cómo sostener la fuerza poética a través del uso del espacio en blanco como elemento significativo. El manuscrito incluye principalmente poemas de tipo ecfrástico, inspirados en obras visuales como fotografías o pinturas, así como textos que dialogan con otras obras literarias. En esta propuesta conviven distintos …

Rhetorical Hermeneutics After The Posthuman Turn, Michael Noricks

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation revisits Steven Mailloux's (1989) concept of rhetorical hermeneutics, according to which persuasion always conditions our interpretive practices. Seeking to bring Mailloux's insights into conversation with rhetorical theory's posthuman turn, my inquiry begins with the following questions: How might posthuman theories of meaning-making allow us to extend or reimagine rhetoric's relation to interpretation? How might recourse to rhetorical hermeneutics help us understand posthuman rhetoric? Can we indeed theorize a posthuman rhetorical hermeneutics? If so, what does it entail? What are its affordances? What are its contexts? How does it affect our understanding of rhetorical situations and the artifacts produced …

El Terror Y El Ritual: Estudio De Los Festivales De Cine De Terror En México, Luis Jesús Quiñones Beltrán

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Esta investigación contribuye al campo de los estudios de festivales de cine, cine de género y representaciones simbólicas del miedo. Analiza el papel de los festivales de cine de terror en México como espacios de construcción simbólica, circulación cultural y resignificación del miedo. A partir de un enfoque cualitativo basado en entrevistas a organizadores de festivales y cineastas colaboradores, se examina cómo estos festivales configuran experiencias colectivas en torno al terror a través de prácticas rituales, afectivas y culturales. Se retoman conceptos como el capitalismo gore, necro-máquina y contra-máquina para contextualizar la investigación. Se utilizan categorías de los estudios de …

Mentoring Matters: Exploring The Impact Of Mentorship On The Professional Growth Of Latina Assistant Principals, Corina Rendon

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Abstract This qualitative study used an interpretative phenomenological approach. The purpose of this study is to explore the mentoring experiences of Latina assistant principals in the El Paso, Texas region who have been in the role for 0-5 years and to express the need for mentorship in their professional development. While more Latinas are stepping into roles in education, they continue to be underrepresented in leadership positions. Mentorship can be a powerful support system. Through semi-structured interviews, participants shared their lived experiences with formal and informal mentorship. Their voices were analyzed using thematic coding, and several key themes emerged, including …

H.O.V. - A Novel, David Christopher Rout

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In this novel. An agribusiness executive from Toronto lives as a homeless man in 1990's Los Angeles. He's wanted for a crime in Canada and is unable to find conventional work. His living involves being a professional passenger for morning and afternoon commuters who wish to use the High Occupancy Vehicle lane. After falling in love with a clerk at a used paperback store, he must confront his choices and deal with the circumstances of his wife's death.

Lizita, Meet Liz A Memoir, Elizabeth Shannon

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

A change of life baby, Liz was born to poor, middle-aged Mexican American parents who didn't want the same things in life that she wanted. Generational trauma, internalized racism, and family dysfunction permeated her psyche and crippled her self-worth sending her into the fantasy worlds she created in her head. She managed to escape her family through marriage at nineteen years old, quickly realizing she had traded family dysfunction for marital dysfunction. But, then, an affair with a man more than twenty years her junior forced her to face the reality of her marriage. Newly divorced and finally free to …

Efecto De Soles, Natalia Soriano Moreno

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

En este texto quiero exponer cómo fue el proceso de creación de Efecto de soles, el cual se desarrolló entre los años 2022 y 2025. El libro presenta la cotidianidad de un barrio que un día se ve afectado por distintos cambios en la naturaleza cuando aparece un fenómeno particular: los soles de algunas casas se vuelven cuadrados y aumentan su nivel de alumbramiento. Esto hace que el entorno natural del barrio comience a cambiar: aparecen gusanos fosforescentes, las flores pierden su olor, la lluvia se vuelve negra, las mariposas se van y a los árboles les salen hojas de …