Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Violence As The Imposition Of Difference: A Case Study Of The 2020 Riots In Minneapolis, Jude Sims-Barber

Honors Theses

Violence has received a great deal of study in many disciplines—as an act of force, or as a theoretical concept. Slovenian political philosopher and cultural theorist Slavoj Žižek provides in his work Violence: Six Sideways Reflections a unique typology of violence, building and expanding upon decades of existing research in many areas. In so doing, Žižek establishes uniquely insightful links between different forms of violence that open the opportunity to examine outbursts of violence, be they riots, rebellion, or war, in a new way. Cognizant of the inability for us to simultaneously analyze both the person-to-person violence seen in acts …

Algorithmic Playgrounds: Investigating The Play Element In Social Media, Ashlyn Daniels

Honors Theses

The integration of digital technology into everyday life has radically changed how people participate in society and culture. Every facet of modern life is shaped by how humans interact with software and this human-computer interaction has directly shaped cultural behaviors and products. Digital tools such as artificial intelligence and social media applications have transformed the common means of cultural production. To better understand how this intertwining of culture and computation impacts modern life, this thesis argues for a better understanding of the relationship between play and computation. Human-technology interactions conceal a more foundational movement of play, and by understanding the …

Religious Extremism And Female Autonomy: How Dystopian Literature Reflects Contemporary Issues, Jessica Briscoe

Honors Theses

This thesis analyzes two texts: The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood and When She Woke by Hillary Jordan. These two texts examine dystopian worlds in which the lines are blurred, or completely eradicated, between church and state. Christian fundamentalism and/or evangelicalism becomes intertwined with Christian extremism which results in a detrimental society for many minority groups. The purpose of this thesis is to specifically explore the ways women are mistreated in these societies.

Moreover, this thesis explains how America’s puritanical Christian roots have led to modern-day ideals of America as a “New Jerusalem”. America, like the dystopian societies, has intertwined …

Player Exposition: Education And Immersion In Jrpgs, Callan Danenhower

Honors Theses

This thesis examines how the opening segments of Japanese role-playing games use different techniques to educate and immerse the player. Informed by game studies scholarship, I consider how games create exposition differently from other narrative mediums, coining the term “player exposition” as a useful heuristic for game analysis. The thesis will be divided into two sections—education and immersion—to identify the two significant aspects of player exposition. I argue that exposition in Japanese role-playing games draws on concepts from other mediums, specifically film and literature, while using educational and immersive concepts to introduce the player to the game’s fictional world. In …

Pottery: From The Source, Alexis Ducksworth

Honors Theses

This project is aimed towards the production of a suitable bowl set and glaze for tableware usage using locally extracted and processed clay. My interest in this topic stems from the goal of improving my pottery-making skills and knowledge through immersion in clay sourcing, processing, and producing quality tableware. This project gave me hands-on insight and admiration for pottery sourcing and production. Five local clay bodies were sourced, and two were processed to create bowl forms and glazes. Results were documented on which clay body was ideal for durable and easy maintenance tableware. A red clay body was sourced from …

My Daily Grounds: A Journal Of Creative Alchemy, Kathleen A. Donovan

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

My Daily Grounds: A Journal of Creative Alchemy is a project intended to renew artistic confidence and prepare a mindset for a writing retreat in Ireland in June 2024 by revisiting childhood memories and exploring the impact of early domestic abuse through a visual journaling process. This endeavor aims to stir up the creative voice and find authenticity in creation by gathering and clarifying personal data visually, following the Creative (CPS) approach to unlock new insights and ideas for writing. The resulting essays will illuminate the unseen effects of trauma and are intended for publication, reflecting a co-creative process between …

Diegetic Sonification For Low Vision Gamers, Jhané Dawes

Master's Theses

There are not many games designed for all players that provide accommodations for low vision users. This means that low vision users may not get to engage with the gaming community in the same way as their sighted peers. In this thesis, I explore how diegetic sonification can be used as a tool to support these low vision gamers in the typical gaming environment. I asked low vision players to engage with a prototype game level with two diegetic sonification techniques applied, without the use of their corrective lenses. I found that participants had more enjoyment and experienced less difficulty …

Reproductive (In)Justice In Contemporary Dystopian Fiction: A Critical White Feminist Analysis Of The Handmaid’S Tale (2017–) And Future Home Of The Living God (2017), Kaelyn Ireland

Master's Theses

This thesis employs a critical white feminist lens to analyze themes of human migration in two contemporary feminist dystopian texts: the TV adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s 1985 novel The Handmaid’s Tale and Louise Erdrich’s 2017 novel Future Home of the Living God. This work draws from fields and frameworks such as reproductive justice, migration studies, and Indigenous studies to create a nuanced critique of both texts and interrogate the ways whiteness impacts the feminist dystopian heroine’s story and, potentially, audience reception. I assert that HMT and FH can best be understood as a mirror for the current state of …

The Components Necessary In A Clinical Day Program For A Successful Transition To Traditional School, Erica Parker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to determine what components of academic and therapeutic clinical day programs ensure success for students with mental health diagnoses as they transition back to conventional educational settings. This study focused on the importance of developing students' capabilities to fulfill their own needs within Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs through coping skills, academic skills, and ensuring those skills transition to their traditional home school setting. The research questions guiding this study were: 1. How is “successful reintegration” defined for students with mental health concerns by the students, families, teachers, and other school staff? 2. What program …

Desire, Motivation, And Reasons: A Defense Of Humean Theory, Benton Anderson

Philosophy Undergraduate Honors Theses

The issue of motivation is vital to contemporary debates in metaethics. In this paper, I defend the Humean theory of motivation and one version of the Humean theory of reasons. First, I defend Michael Smith's direction of fit argument for the necessity of desire and Neil Sinhababu's inference that the Humean theory of motivation is the best explanation against objections. Then, I defend a telic desire theory of reasons by arguing against belief-based theories and noting problems with various desire-based, or Humean, theories of reasons. I conclude with optimism for the compatibility of moral reasons and the telic desire theory.

Clothing, From Textiles To Pixels: Exploring The Possibilities Of Design With Clo3d Software, Tina Shetabi

Department of Textiles, Merchandising and Fashion Design: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This project explores the application of Clo3d software as a transformative educational tool in couture fashion design instruction. Despite couture's rich tradition of meticulous craftsmanship and personalized design, its teaching methodologies have yet to fully leverage digital advancements. This project examines the integration of Clo3d into the apparel design program curriculum, specifically focusing on the undergraduate course Digital Apparel Design at the University of Nebraska Lincoln. Through a combination of theoretical knowledge and practical application, this project aims to determine how digital tools like Clo3d can enhance the learning outcomes of fashion design students by providing a more interactive and …

Fast Fashion, Luxury Fashion, And Their Sustainability Efforts, Danielle L. Illum

Apparel Merchandising and Product Development Undergraduate Honors Theses

The apparel industry can be divided into two categories, fast fashion, and luxury fashion. It’s no secret that the apparel industry has a negative impact on our world in terms of sustainability, greenwashing, pollution, and human rights issues. Although the entire apparel industry plays a role in this, fast fashion seems to be at the forefront of these issues. It is necessary to understand the growth and consumer obsession with fast fashion in order to grasp its negative impact. In the same way, understanding the importance of luxury fashion to the consumer, along with the strides being made by luxury …

Automated Cinematographer For Vr Viewing Experiences, Zihan Wu

Dartmouth College Master’s Theses

As the virtual reality (VR) industry continues to evolve, the question of how to effectively capture VR experiences for an audience remains a challenge. The predominant method of showcasing VR applications through first-person recordings lacks cinematic interest, failing to capture other viewpoints and the essence of the moment. Meanwhile, manually setting up cameras and editing videos requires technical expertise on behalf of the user. In this paper, we propose the use of machine learning (ML) to automatically select the most compelling predefined viewpoint in a VR environment, at any given moment. Our models, trained on actor motion and voice volume, …

What's In A Name? Plant Naming As Cultural Artifact And Story In The Midwestern United States, Sophie Wesseler

Undergraduate Theses

This project sought to collect and contextualize the historical and contemporary names given to plants by inhabitants of the Midwestern United States, understanding plant names as cultural artifacts that can offer insight into the communities in which they were created and evolved. Formatted as a series of entries, this collection gathered these names and contextualized them within other artifacts of cultural significance, such as art or poetry, and alongside historical research on their origins and cultural environments. Examining plant names through the fields of linguistics, semiology, anthropology, cultural studies, taxonomy, and ethnobotany, this work traces the names of various plants …

The Space That Tell Stories, Asia Gonzalez

Theses

This project focuses on visual storytelling in game design. The primary focus of this project is to create an environment that tells a story through visual exposition and very minimal dialogue or written words. Furthermore, the project studies the ways in which a story can be both a visual and interactive experience.

Meaning Through Materiality: Bisa Butler’S Expressive Portraits, Jacqueline D’Arco Miller

Theses

This thesis examines how Bisa Butler creates meaning through the materiality in her quilted portraits. Bisa Butler is of West African and American descent and incorporates part of her own identity in her quilted portraits using Dutch wax prints and other highly patterned textiles. Not only does Butler connect her identity in her quilted portraits, but she also connects the meaning of these textiles to the figures in her portraits. This thesis explores the materiality of Bisa Butler’s Colored Entrance (2023), along with The Passion of Questlove (2023) and Grandpa Zakani (2004), to argue that in this new development of …

Victim Or Villain: Female Resilience And Agency In The Face Of Trauma In Chimamanda Adichie’S, Purple Hibiscus (2003) And Tsitsi Dangarembga’S, Nervous Conditions (1988), Adaobi Juliet Chukwuma

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As long as disparities persist in the way women are treated as compared to their male counterparts, the issue of gender will continue to call forth literary productions. For this reason, female writers are on a mission to dismantle the stereotypes that keep women confined to societal roles. Grounded in a feminist framework, this study focuses on the gender disparity theme in Chimamanda Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus and Tsitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions. The aim is to examine how these writers represent the trauma of women living in an African patriarchal system. The traumatic experiences of the female characters in both texts …

Christianization In The Roman Empire: Politics, Culture, And Architecture During The Reign Of Emperor Constantine I, Peyton Connor

History

The Christianization of the Roman Empire under Constantine I (306–337 C.E.) marked a turning point in Late Antiquity. It was an era defined by the legalization, expansion, and integration of Christianity into Roman life. After the Edict of Milan in 313 C.E., Constantine’s policies—including but not limited to his participation in church councils, alliances with bishops, and several administrative reforms—advanced Christianity’s political and social standing while preserving elements of traditional religion. Yet Christianization was not purely a imperial endeavor. Ascetic and monastic movements resisted state influence, and everyday believers adapted their faith within familiar cultural frameworks. Additionally, architecture revealed the …

Playing Myself: The Gothic's Challenge To Audience Identity, Elena Durant

All Theses

This thesis presents close readings of the 2015 video game Bloodborne and Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey in order to illuminate how the Gothic genre challenges identity. Both Bloodborne and Northanger Abbey respond to their genres and are preoccupied with the ways that their audiences might interact with them. Bloodborne’s gameplay directly incentivizes players to reflect on the way that they play the game. Northanger Abbey is a parody of the Gothic novel that reflects just as much on the idea of the reader as it does on the conventions of the genre it parodies. Both of these works are …

A Photo-Elicitation Of The New Orleans Mardi Gras Costume Tradition And An Exploration Of The Impact This Tradition Has On The Identity Of Participants, Celeste Falgoust

Apparel Merchandising and Product Development Undergraduate Honors Theses

Mardi Gras organizations, known as krewes, organize yearly tableaus to present their maids, queens, and debutantes in lavish costumes (Dessens, 2018). For two centuries, the city of New Orleans was the stage for a rich Mardi Gras tradition, (Madden, 1874), however, the existing body of literature failed to establish a consensus on the meanings of the tableau. To explore this tradition, interviews were conducted with women who participated in New Orleans Mardi Gras as debutantes, maids, queens, and costume designers (Bates et al., 2017). After transcribing the interviews, the researcher communicated patterns in data through a thematic analysis. …

The Unspoken Words Of Fashion: Movements Behind Harajuku’S Avant-Garde Fashion Trends, Alastair Leon

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

Over the past 50 years, the Harajuku neighborhood in Tokyo, Japan, has become an epicenter for innovative fashion trends that have reached global audiences. Fashion, as a medium, is an art form that can be as powerful as traditional work. It can convey a multitude of messages, and most notably, it can be a wordless statement against dominant culture and societal norms. Social groups have used fashion as an identifier, and they are commonly linked with a subcultural identity. Self-expression is a powerful tool to fight against the status quo, and fashion enthusiasts in Japan have advocated for a rebellion …

Curriculum Response To An Evolving Society: An Analysis Of Family And Consumer Sciences Education At Murray State University From 1928 To 2023, Lauren Ervin

Honors College Theses

This research aims to identify and explore the changes in the family and consumer sciences (FCS) education program at Murray State University from 1928, when the major was first offered, until 2023. The following questions were answered:

• What are the notable changes in Murray State University's FCS education program, involving curriculum, from 1928 to 2023?

• What are the notable themes, topics, and changes to the overarching FCS field from 1928 to 2023?

• How have the events in society and the FCS field influenced the FCS Education program at Murray State University?

The researcher noted the changes in the Murray State …

Obscured To Outspoken: Buchi Emecheta, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, And Akwaeke Emezi As Case Studies In Nigerian Feminism, Ava Chuppe

Honors College Theses

Though about two decades separate their ascents to global renown, Buchi Emecheta and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie represent two figureheads of the women’s literary tradition in Nigeria. While Adichie has embraced the “feminist” label to describe her work, Emecheta has proven more reluctant, divulging issues with the Western variety of the movement—namely, its deconstruction of the family. Nevertheless, Emecheta and Adichie engage with issues such as maternity, familial turmoil, and political unrest in the contexts of colonial and postcolonial Nigeria, respectively. In doing so, both writers demonstrate the unique manifestations of patriarchy brought about by colonial rule. In Emecheta’s novel The …

Coffins And Conditioner, Mackenzie Scott

Graduate Thesis Collection

Coffins and Conditioner is part one of a modern fantasy story follows a latine, nonbinary hairdresser named Mura Saiz whose entire clientele consists of supernatural entities like werewolves, vampires, and fae. When a fight breaks out in their salon and catches the attention of a new surveillance program meant to destroy those very same supernatural entities, Mura realizes that they must give up their own peace of mind and physical safety to protect their clients. During their journey, Mura must learn how to juggle the secrets they keep within the salon with their now-suspicious chosen family while also making time …

Lived Musical Experiences Of Autistic Adults, Anetta Fortner

Graduate Thesis Collection

This research set out to explore the relationship between autistic individuals and music. Current research on autism and music education focuses primarily on the accounts of teachers, parents, and other stakeholders, and does not center autistic voices. The following research questions guided this study: (1) What can we learn from autistic adults, specifically those still involved in music, about their lifelong experiences in music and music education? (2) What insight can we gain from these experiences to create more inclusive environments for autistic individuals? To answer these questions, autistic adults who self-identified as still involved in music completed a short …

Reconstructing The Narrative Of Slavery In The United States: Acknowledging The Complex Exploitation Of Forced, Free, And Semi-Free Labor Beyond Race And Ethnicity And The Several Communities Who Endured Systemic Labor Exploitation And Injustice In The United States, Amma Terrece Sims

Theses (2016-Present)

This thesis explores the deconstruction and modernization of the narrative surrounding slavery in the United States by recognizing the multifaceted exploitation of labor beyond racial limitations. Through an assessment of representations and historical instances of forced, free, and semi-free labor in the United States, this study explores various forms of systemic subjugation and discrimination endured by diverse communities of immigrants. Specific consideration is given to examples such as indentured servitude of the colonial era and the experiences of “new immigrants” of the industrial period in challenging the established racial paradigm correlated with slavery. The experiences of specific European ethnic sub- …

"As Long As You're South Of The Canadian Border—You're South!": The Rise Of Black Power In North Omaha, Nebraska, William Odell Burney

Theses (2016-Present)

The objective of this master’s thesis is to configure a socio-historic narrative in such a way that it clearly illustrates how and why much of North Omaha’s Black American collective transitioned from a mundane migratory movement to that of the Black Panther Party. To wholly comprehend the essence and relevance of Black Power one must understand its lesser-known evolution in locales such as Omaha, Nebraska, in the Midwest. Hopefully, this research will enhance a pre-existing trove that other historians may pull from to consider similarities and juxtapositions of causal dynamics that underpinned Black Power in different regions of the United …

Dao Gives Birth To Lots Of Killing: Violence In The Daoist Tradition, Micah Dunwoody

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

Violence in Daoism takes on political and/or cosmological significance. The earliest texts, including Daodejing, argue for defensive war that must be conducted appropriately by rulers. Myths and rituals that developed later in the tradition portray gods and spirits subduing demons. The latter are either killed or enlisted into the armies of the gods. Rituals include the role of humans, particularly Daoist priests/ritual specialists who call upon the gods to fight demons who inflict maladies upon people. This paper also examines the role of martial arts and physical violence. Martial arts are often imbued with religious hues in Daoism, as …

Storytelling For Social Change: Using Victim Narratives From Social Media To Disrupt Rape Myth Acceptance Among College Students, Grace Carmack

Journalism Undergraduate Honors Theses

This study employed a narrative intervention experiment aimed at challenging college students' acceptance of rape myths (RMA). Rape myths are erroneous beliefs that shift blame for sexual violence (SV) from perpetrators to victims and encompass stereotypical misconceptions about women. Three authentic narratives, shared anonymously on social media by college victims of sexual violence, were selected for their varying levels of graphic detail and situational context. The study's objective was not only to interrogate RMA among college students but also to discover which of the three narratives was most effective in reducing RMA among readers, utilizing the Transportation Theory as a …

Artscape: Canvassing The Ozarks, Noah D. Kim

Journalism Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper focuses on the impact of public art in regards to the overall quality of life within a city. The findings are localized to Northwest Arkansas, a region densely populated with public art installations. This thesis is non-traditional and it focuses more so on the coinciding project. The topic was covered in depth by a 26-minute long documentary that uncovers the impact of one local public artist. Through an examination of historical accounts and qualitative assessments, this paper and accompanying project both showcase public art's innate ability to benefit encompassing communities. The study also focuses on how the presence …