Arts and Humanities Commons^™

An Analytical Study Of The Sound Design And Production Techniques Of Idm Artists, Robert C. Stevens

Composition/Recording Projects

This paper analyzes the sound design and production techniques of IDM artists, and how these techniques can be incorporated into the process of writing commercial music.

"Old Cod": The Power Of Storytelling In Conor Mcpherson's The Weir, Sarah Johnson

English (MA) Theses

This paper examines the representation of Irish storytelling in Conor McPherson’s 1997 play The Weir. Drawing on postcolonial theory as well as the historical context of Ireland during the play’s release, I argue that The Weir is uniquely positioned at the intersection of traditional and modern values. Further, I assert that fairy legend is a tool used by the play’s characters to both understand and escape a fluctuating cultural landscape, and ultimately, a way to articulate their own values. Using textual analysis, I examine the rhetorical choices of the play’s storytellers and compare it with established conventions of Irish …

Decoding Democracy: Ideographic Analyses Of 2024 Republican Presidential Nominees' Rhetoric, Allyson Havenridge

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

The following rhetorical analysis identifies the rhetoric that was used by 2024 Republican presidential candidates Nikki Haley and Donald Trump. Rhetoric can be thought of as the means and ways that we, as social beings, use language to create meaning and exchange symbols to better understand the world around us. This rhetorical analysis aims to identify the ways in which certain words are being used and the reasoning behind why they were used by the rhetor, or the speaker in a rhetorical situation. The ultimate focus of the following rhetorical criticism is to examine how ideographs, or words that encase …

The Affable Raphael: Milton's Surrogate Instructor In Paradise Lost., Beau Kilpatrick

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

John Milton’s Paradise Lost (1667) is a beautifully written epic that continues to be a stalwart text in the English literary canon, with unlimited potential for interpretation. In this dissertation I propose that Paradise Lost can be read as a pedagogical lesson for Milton’s “fit audience,” where the author implements his views on education in the context of heaven, hell, and Paradise. In the poem, Milton presents three pedagogical methodologies: first, the wrong way to knowledge is presented through Satan’s manipulations of the fallen angels and Eve; second, the divine way to knowledge is illustrated via Michael’s prophecy to Adam …

You Don’T Look Sick: Epistemic Injustice, Ethos, And Embodied Expertise In Narratives Of Chronic Illness., Caitlin Burns Allen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation project emerges at a cultural moment when diagnoses of chronic illness are increasing, and heightened attention is being paid to gendered medical bias and chronically ill women’s negative experiences both within and outside of the medical system. Analysis of personal narratives written by women and nonbinary people with chronic illnesses revealed deeply entrenched cultural logics related to health and gender and the significant affective and material consequences for the mobilization of those logics. Chapter One of the dissertation describes the exigence of the project in more detail, provides a robust overview of the dissertation’s methods, and reviews related …

Authentic Fake: Authenticity And Authentication., Suyun Son

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

My thesis exhibition questions the modern sanctification of authenticity. No longer believing in objective truths, the postmodern society seeks epistemic grounding on being true to oneself. The categories of authentic-or-fake replaced the binary of true-or-false. But authenticity is a trojan horse for authentication. As a Korean American artist, I'm encouraged to express my “authentic” Korean identity. This encouragement can also imply my works will receive recognition as authentic and meaningful only when they embody Korean cultural expression. Authenticity becomes a performance for the sake of authentication. Ironically, authenticity turns into an act of conformity/confirmation. Authenticity demands you stay true to …

Faculty And "Teams": Academic Literacies In The Post-Lockdown, Digital University., Morgan Suzanne Blair

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The increased presence of disruptive digital technologies in academia has been a subject of multidisciplinary scholarly conversation and public speculation over the past few decades. Many literacy studies scholars have contributed to this discourse, examining topics like multimodal literacies and perceptions of agency among students. These scholars have noted with skepticism that such technologies may mask operations of power, surveillance, and control which serve the demands of an increasingly “corporate” or “neoliberal” university. Building upon this scholarship, my study contends that the evolving literacy environment of the digital university requires a closer examination of corporate-sponsored narratives and literacy practices implicating …

As The Night Is Lit: The Nocturnal Urban Landscapes Of Childe Hassam., Diana M. Wilder

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The scientific investigations into light that began with the Enlightenment garnered added information useful for artists. To depict the changes in light due to weather, time of day, and season more accurately, artists took the information reaped from studies of the refraction of light gained from Isaac Newton’s color theories. The new technological advances of gaslight and electric arc lighting also changed the way that light was represented on canvas. Artists were now able to paint in their ateliers due to modern lighting that would light up the rooms like the day. Some artists decided to explore the night and …

Winter's Threads., Andrew Wesley Messer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

WINTER’S THREADS is a fiction novel set in a world of fantasy and wonder, largely inspired by the works of such auspicious and acclaimed writers as JRR Tolkien and Andrezj Sapkowski. The fantastical setting allows the reader to view a mystic world that deals with the humanity and beauty found in all things, utilizing pastoral imagery and humanistic language. The goals of this novel are to create an enticing world with magic and lore, as well as a compelling and relevant narrative that tackles themes of injustice, family, and duty. Challenging the racial essentialism that can often be present in …

Origin Stories., Danielle Deeley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is an investigation into the Peruvian pre-Columbian collection at the Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Kentucky. The Speed Art Museum acquired this collection in 1934 and it has largely remained unresearched for nearly a century after acquisition into the museum’s collection. This investigation is not an attempt to make broad characterizations of pre-Columbian ceramics. Nor is its goal to fill in all the gaps of the collection’s history. Instead, this thesis follows the evidence the collection presents: the physical attributes of the ceramics, the donor’s history, U.S. history, and information from the collection file provided by the Speed …

The Utilization Of Grassroots Organizing By Black Women Pioneers To Achieve Reproductive Justice., Madison Ruth Ellsworth

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Since enslavement in the United States Black women have cultivated different ways to fight for their Reproductive Justice. After emancipation Black women have continued to utilize the practices learned from our ancestors to obtain Reproductive Justice. Despite the women’s movement becoming mainstream in the 1960s many Black women continued to grassroots organize to adequately address the issues that were unique to them. The efforts of various Black women organizers tend to go unacknowledged because the mainstream women’s movement attracts the attention of most. In my research I focused on Byllye Avery, Loretta Ross, and Toni Bond to explore and showcase …

Class Of 1884: Black Education In Louisville And The Inaugural Graduating Class Of Central Colored High School., Jordan Tierre Jackson-Collins

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis offers both a historical analysis of the emergence of the black public school system in Louisville, Kentucky and a probe into the academic posture of 19^th century black education in the state. It addresses how the early black school in Kentucky worked to shape students’ self-image and worldview by focusing on Louisville’s Central Colored High School, the first public high school for blacks in Kentucky, and more closely, its 1884 yearbook––a collection of student-essays in which each of the seven inaugural graduates wrote lengthy reports concerning their individual outlook on education, American society, and the Negro’s responsibilities …

Transforming Into A Politically Engaged Actor Through Gem Of The Ocean., Tajleed Steven Hardy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores my transformation into a politically engaged theatre artist through my performance as Citizen Barlow in the University of Louisville's Department of Theatre Arts’ 2024 production of August Wilson's Gem of the Ocean. My thesis defines the characteristics of a politically engaged theatre artist and proposes specific ways actors can prepare to perform in any production of any play. My transformation into a politically engaged theatre artist resulted from a combination of the skills I gathered as an undergraduate student at Norfolk State University and the new analytical and acting techniques I learned as an MFA in …

Inside The Dojo Of Digital Media: What Marginalized Student Perspectives Reveal About Multiliteracy Center Practices., Lauren Fusilier

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Multiliteracy centers serve as vital hubs for supporting students' digital media composing needs, especially those pertaining to digital literacy. This qualitative interview case study evaluates the efficacy of standard practices established by multiliteracy center scholarship, focusing on spatial design, tutor preparedness, and student engagement at the University of Louisville’s Digital Media Suite (DMS). Recognizing the significance of multiliteracy centers as sites of social and material access for marginalized students, this project gathers the experiences of first-generation and post-traditional student participants to inform recommendations for expanding practices to better accommodate diverse student demographics on university campuses. Informed by Black feminist research …

The Impersonation Artist: A Novel With Critical Afterword: Displacement And Dissent In Fiction And Art., Flora K. Schildknecht

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation consists of a creative project, The Impersonation Artist: A Novel, and a critical afterword, “Displacement and Dissent in Fiction and Art.” On a narrative level, The Impersonation Artist engages the question of how, and if, participatory art can reveal and intervene in oppressive conditions. The novel employs a stylistic methodology in which the use of multiple narrators and narrative fragmentation formally gestures toward the complex dilemma of how artists might intervene in contemporary problems in the face of conflicting ideologies and ever increasing precarity. The novel follows three characters: an environmental activist; a young man veering towards …

Life Beyond The Port Of Beirut, Album & Drum Triggering System., Ayman Abi Kheir

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Life Beyond the Port of Beirut is a project of two parts: an album of 8 instrumental tracks and a drum triggering system. The title is in dedication to my country, Lebanon, and specifically to its main historical seaport in the capital, Beirut. This port is the historical starting point of the Lebanese diaspora who have spread their culture across the globe and contributed to the world culture. The drum triggering system is a “do-it-yourself” system that enables drummers to trigger samples and virtual instruments through acoustic drum set and percussion. It was designed in Max for Live and Ableton …

Aspects Of Style In Selected Works By Takashi Yoshimatsu., K. Alex Hatton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The music of Takashi Yoshimatsu is united by a strong continuity of style that acts as a kind of musical signature. This thesis offers an introduction to understanding this musical style by exploring the relationship between Japan and Western classical music, presenting analyses of four contrasting compositions, and offering potential areas for further research. Some of the recurring characteristics of Yoshimatsu’s style include the use of extended harmony, modes, large melodic intervals, and the reuse of musical material. These characteristics are explored at length in the analyses of Pleiades Dances IX, And Birds are Still…, Memo Flora, …

Preserving Archaeology In The Digital Age: Evaluating Strategies For Effective Curation And Database Management., Cenetria Leshun Crockett

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The “curation crisis” is a dark cloud that consistently looms over the archaeological discipline, affecting the ways we plan, execute, and curate research projects. It is especially prominent within curation facilities and institutions that have the duty to preserve archaeological collections. The development of digital curation presents an avenue through which curators and collection managers can combat the crisis. Digital curation grants collection managers the ability to manage and ensure archaeological collection accessibility. Digital collection databases, particularly, have grown to become a significant component of collection management as it permits collections to be easily preserved, managed, saved, and accessible at …

Suspension Of The Scoundrel: Applying Mental Health Strategies To The Acting Process., Nicholas Wills

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, the benefits of having mental health resources, practices and/or coordinators on set or available to help mitigate the mental health challenges that actors may face when portraying complex characters or engaging in emotional experiences while acting, are examined. Actors are required to fully immerse themselves into characters to ensure a full embodiment of the role being played. Without appropriate measures in place to address the actors’ feelings, emotions, and psychological state before, during, and after a production, the actor stands the risk of absorbing the impact of the character with no strategy for how to address the …

Art Justice: The Nazi Aesthetic, Cultural Theft, And Restitution In The 21st Century., Kathryn Elaina Jacob

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the origins of the cultural aesthetics of the National Socialist Party of Germany, generally referred to as the Nazi Party. The Nazis aestheticized their politics to reinforce their antisemitic system of beliefs to further the pursuit of ethnic cleansing. Within this aesthetic, the doctrines of the party principles were illustrated for the acceptable citizens of the territories they dominated to assimilate the ideals that were espoused, originating from classical Greek artworks. By creating a structure of aesthetics, the Nazis were able to demonstrate a distinction between what art they found as acceptable and unacceptable, using this difference …

The Superhero Gothic: The Montrous Hero To The Heroic Monster In The Twentieth Century., John Darowski

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The influence of Gothic literature and its adaptations on the superhero genre has been profound. Both genres have an ideological project of the restoration of normalcy and order after disruption and disorder, thereby reinforcing cultural norms. However, their themes and methodologies are diametrically opposed. The Gothic is an exploration of the negative aesthetics of terror and horror, which reveal human weaknesses. The superhero is a power fantasy that celebrates justice and morality. A synthesis of the two creates a paradox: the monstrous hero—a Hoppen stand hero who takes on the attributes of a monster—who evolves into the heroic monster—a monster …

Do What You Love, An Opera In One Act., Kamil Jozef Pedziwiatr

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Do What You Love is an opera in one act, based on the American culture idea of doing what you love in life, following your passions or living the American dream. The libretto, which was generated by AI, presents the story of four main characters and one episodic character, each representing the worst outcome or highlighting vicious drives of following the motto Do What You Love. The opera is also a cliché version of historic opera, uniting typical baroque opera characters and styles with quasi AI Generated, cliché, stereotypical music. Synopsis: The Artist is preparing for a huge audition that …

Alabaster Glory., Chloe Cheng

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Alabaster Glory includes three installations in the gallery space: 望(wàng), 盛(chéng), and 余(yú). These components represent three stages of human life: the beginning, living on this earth, and the end. The core concept behind the three stages is the relationship between the creator (God) and creations, referring to humans that live in this broken world containing suffering, chaos, crime, conflict, or the personal experience of an inner void.

Alabaster Glory invites viewers to walk through the space first to encounter a magnitude of infant heart forms placed by a window, which intends to evoke curiosity about their quantity and symbolism. …

How Setting Impacts The Progression Of Male Queer Protagonists In Proxy And Aristotle And Dante Discover The Secrets Of The Universe, Cesar Negroni

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Alex London's novel Proxy explores the life of a male queer teenager named Sydney Carton, who resides in a Science Fiction dystopia, and is forced to evade punishment for crimes he did not commit. Benjamin Alire Saénz’ novel Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe explores the life of a male queer protagonist Ari Mendoza, who lives in an idealistic version of the 1980s, and struggles with coming to terms with his sexuality. In this essay, I assert that each male queer protagonist is shaped by their respective settings due to the nature of their constantly changing environments. …

Visit The Imprisoned: A Heuristic Inquiry Into The Experiences Of Catholic Detention Ministry Volunteers, Christopher Tran

Education (PhD) Dissertations

There exists a wide breadth of literature in regards to the harmful and dehumanizing impact of incarceration on human development and dignity. Through my years as a volunteer in detention ministry, I have witnessed firsthand these effects particularly on youths who have been incarcerated. My experiences have led me to wonder then, “Why does the prison system still exist to harm people despite the array of research condemning its practices?” Through this pondering, I critiqued the larger systems at play: the prison-industrial complex, the sociopolitical rhetoric of “tough on crime,” and the overall demonization of this population. As a response …

Catastrophic Progress: A Queer Materialist Analysis Of The 2023 Trans/Bud Light Controversy, Brianna Radke

English (MA) Theses

On April 1, 2023, Dylan Mulvaney, a transgender woman and social media influencer, made a March Madness post on Instagram sponsored by Bud Light. The response from the conservative right was swift and extreme, galvanizing protests against Anheuser-Busch InBev and resulting in a massive loss in sales that is still discussed in news and pop culture circles today. The event offers unique analytic value, particularly through the nexus of queer and materialist theoretical frameworks, providing a glimpse into the growing conflict between big business and queer-allied consumers. From a materialist perspective, the Bud Light/Mulvaney controversy demonstrates how social media – …

Interior Chinatown: Chinatown As A Performative Space, Audrey Fong

English (MA) Theses

This thesis focuses on Charles Yu’s Interior Chinatown: A Novel (2020), exploring the function of Chinatown in Los Angeles within the novel as a space of creation, that of “Asia” for Hollywood and home for Taiwanese immigrants. I argue that Interior Chinatown offers a unique look at the perception or notion of Chinatown, paying attention to the way Hollywood has shaped it and used it to create a sense of China and “Asia” in the cultural imagination. Through satire and the blurring of the reel and the real, Yu is able to criticize the inner workings of Hollywood’s relationship with …

Legitimacy Competition: China And The United States Legitimization Of International Criminal Court Referral Decisions, Allison Flame

International Studies (MA) Theses

How do the United States and China legitimize their position regarding United Nations Security Council (UNSC) referrals to the International Criminal Court (ICC)? Existing literature addresses that states seek to gain and maintain legitimacy. However, there is an overall lack of attention given to how state representatives frame key decisions to legitimize the state's stance and if there are correlations between cases. Filling the gap in literature, this project examines how states legitimize their position on referrals to the ICC as permanent members of the UNSC and identifies a pattern in how they do this. Referring to the legitimacy competition …

“Beating Back The Past”: The Psychological Justifications Of Violence In Toni Morrison’S Fiction, Catherine Buhse

English Honors Theses

This thesis examines the traumatic experiences that consume characters’ lives and, in the absence of psychological healing efforts, manifest into violent actions in Toni Morrison’s three novels The Bluest Eye, Sula, and Beloved. I focus on the gendered experience of the female characters Pecola, Sula, Eva, and Sethe, except for the male character, Cholly in The Bluest Eye. Focusing on Morrison’s humanization of violent characters and her sharing of their full life stories, I establish the characters’ internal justifications for their violence to challenge the accepted depiction of all criminals as evil. The three chapters follow the manifestation of trauma …

Catfish Dinner & Other Malicious Morsels, Bonnie Klein

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Catfish Dinner & Other Malicious Morsels is a collection of short stories utilizing the combined elements of Fantasy, Southern, and Gothic Literature. The collection demonstrates the feasibility of combining the three different literary genres, each with its own strong identity and literary history, in a work that appeals to readers reaching the age of young adulthood. Named for the titular story, the collection features seven short stories of varying lengths depicting the cultural influence of food, community morals, storytelling, and nature in East Texas communities. Each story is told through third-person point of view of a different character. The stories …