Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Unblocked Re-Imagining Incarceration By Restructuring The Cell Block, Carlee Castle

Interior Design Capstones

Prison cell blocks, often overlooked as monolithic structures of confinement, conceal a rich tapestry of complex social environments. This study delves into the interplay between the architectural and interior design of cell blocks and the individuals who reside within them, highlighting the profound impact of built elements on the promotion of privacy, independence, and collaboration among cellmates.

Incarceration, by its nature, places inmates in close proximity, fostering interactions that range from cooperation to conflict. However, the prison environment is not equivalent in different countries, and the layout of cell blocks varies widely. By examining these variations, it becomes evident that …

Stones Have Personalities Too, Grayce Sprecksell

Interior Design Capstones

The natural environment is a system we as humans can learn from. We after all, benefit from the system of nature, it is the idea that there are three groups who inhabit the built environment, that is flora, fauna, and human. By working together, we create a circular approach to sustainable development. What it means to be self-sufficient is to work alongside nature and what it has to offer. Creating a built environment that benefits all four tiers of sustainability can create a circular approach to sustainable systems that will benefit all three groups who inhabit the built environment.

Biomimicry …

Emotionally Responsive Design: Shaping Spaces + Engaging Senses, Colleen Harmon

Interior Design Capstones

This research project delves into the intricate and symbiotic relationship between the human body and the built environment, with a particular emphasis on the transformative influence exerted by a nuanced integration of various textures. The primary focus revolves around the profound impact that these textures have on shaping sensory experiences and spatial perceptions within interior spaces.

The study employs a comprehensive exploration of tactile, visual, and auditory sensations, seeking to unravel the intricate ways in which intentional textural choices contribute to the overall design of architectural spaces. Beyond a superficial understanding, the research takes a deep dive into the collective …

Embarking On A Maritime Retirement - Re-Imagining The Retirement Experience, Carolynn Hoezee

Interior Design Capstones

In a constantly changing landscape of retirement options, retirement livingon cruise ships has emerged as a compelling alternative addressing several prevalent challenges in contemporary retirement communities. This research evaluates opportunities and concerns of retirement housing on a cruise ship or maritime setting.

The complex and ever-changing needs of older adults often go unmet in traditional retirement communities. There are a lot of adults who are retiring and the cost of retirement continues to increase.Retirement can cause health issues in older adults and a lot of people lose their identity when they retire.Current mainstream retirement communities face many issues, such as …

Designing Dignified Spaces: A Holistic Approach To Addressing Homelessness Among Children And Families, Megan Clark

Interior Design Capstones

In the face of the persistent and complex issue of homelessness in America, this project aims to reimagine the landscape for children and families facing housing insecurity. Seeking to tackle the problem at its roots by establishing resource hubs.

By innovatively establishing central resource hubs, the primary objective is to create dignified spaces connecting individuals with vital resources. This hub goes beyond being a mere refuge; it is envisioned as a dynamic center where individuals access essential services, receive mentorship, and rebuild a sense of belonging.

Given the ongoing urgency of homelessness, this project’s efforts strive to make a meaningful …

A Message Of Encouragement - Exegesis Of Romans 8:17-28, Verne Weir

Harding School of Theology Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

Participation Theology In Gorman And Moltman, William D. Brannen

Harding School of Theology Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

The New Testament Use Of Sacred, Cultic Imagery As A Foundation For Understanding Christian Worship: An Exegetical Analysis Of Extended Metaphor In 1 Peter 2:4-10, Eric Brandell

Harding School of Theology Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

The Medium And Message Of Salvation: Canonical Theism And Marshall Mcluhan, Sam Klein

Harding School of Theology Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

Exploring Narrative Strengths In Animated Storytelling, Amelia Kretzer

Honors Theses

This thesis explores tactics for effective narrative development for animation through the analyses of key works of strong animated films synthesized with literature discussing narrative frameworks. This research resulted in a shortlist of animated storytelling best practices—six principles to reflect on in the creation of effective stories for animation. Additionally, an original 2D animated short film was created utilizing the principles on the shortlist in its development as an outpouring of this research.

Unraveling The Threads: Memory And Narrative In Ian Mcewan's Atonement, Emily Rooksby

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

This paper, written for Dr. Haffey’s English 449U course on 21st Century Fiction, explores the intricate narrative structure and metafictional elements in Ian McEwan’s novel Atonement. The novel is a commentary on the power and responsibilities of storytelling, particularly how narratives shape our understanding of memory and truth. Through the lens of its protagonist, Briony Tallis, McEwan demonstrates the complexities of memory and the subjectivity of truth. Briony’s narrative, marked by guilt and a quest for forgiveness, becomes a vehicle for examining how biases and emotions influence perception. The paper delves into the novel’s use of multiple narrative perspectives and …

Best Practices: Using Semiotics In Environmental Storytelling, Conger He

Level Design Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores an aspect of environmental storytelling known as “semiotics.” Semiotics conveys information and relevant interconnections to an individual through visual representations. There are diverse types of semiotic elements, including symbols, icons, and indexes. The researcher examined the use of semiotics in video games and derived seven best practices for conveying story beats and relaying aspects of a video game’s narrative. The researcher implemented these semiotic-related practices into a custom Fallout 4 level, gathered testers to play the level, and asked the testers to give their opinions on the experience. The researcher analysed the tester’s feedback to conclude whether …

Unveiling New Realms: Enhancing Procedural Narrative Generation And Npc Personalization Using Ai, Tanishq Chawla

Level Design Theses and Dissertations

A System Design Framework used to train GPT - based agents can significantly help improve current Procedural Narrative and Character (NPC) Personality Generation Models in games. This approach can lead to a Richer Gameplay Experience that allows players to craft their own Personalized and Unique stories.

”To Be Or Not To Be – It’S Good”: Actor And Student Experiences In A Drama Club For People With Aphasia, Jade K. Hannan

Senior Theses

Individuals with aphasia, a disorder caused by damage to the brain’s language network, confront a variety of social and emotional struggles. While leaving their cognition largely intact, aphasia tremendously impacts a person’s ability to communicate confidently, fracturing their social network and contributing to feelings of loneliness and frustration. To address this persistent need in the chronic aphasia population, the Play on Words drama club at the University of South Carolina provides a forum for people with aphasia (PWA) to engage in dramatic exercises focused on non-verbal communication of emotions, ideas, and stories, culminating the production of an original devised play. …

‘Kazakh Means Freedom’ - Kazakh Language Policy And National Identity Before And During The Ukraine War, Mclean T. Brown

Senior Theses

This thesis examines the link between language policy and national identity in Kazakhstan, tracing the relationship between the two across history and describing how they have been affected by the Ukraine War. The Kazakh government has put considerable effort into developing a national identity for contemporary Kazakhstan, but conflicting standards of production make it difficult for a cohesive, well-defined Kazakh national identity to be put forth. Through qualitative and quantitative analyses, phenomenological critical discourse analysis, and ethnographic research, this thesis strives to alleviate existing gaps in Central Asian studies research while arguing that language policy is a lens through which …

Twisted Threads: A Novel And Exploration Of Fraternity Culture And Race, Christian S. Golden

Senior Theses

Twisted Threads: A Novel and Exploration of Fraternity Culture and Race is a project that seeks to explore questions about race and brotherhood through the lens of the urban fantasy genre. It is the first ten chapters of a full-length fantasy novel and can be considered the first half of the planned novel. The Introduction details some of my influences, both literary and cultural, as well as the thought process behind much of the worldbuilding in my manuscript. It also details some of the research that was conducted to help build accurate allegories and allusions. The novel follows a black …

An Antidote To The Necropolitical Path Of Logic: Ice Pick Lodge's Pathologic Classic Hd, Rose Branton

Senior Theses

Much of the existing scholarly literature on video games analyzed with Achille Mbembe’s Necropolitics (2019) focuses on games that replicate the destructive, dehumanizing logic that Mbembe discusses. These are typically games involving the zombie genre or war and conquest that do not challenge Amanda Phillips’s idea of mechropolitics, a further development of Mbembe’s idea that implicates video games specifically. Nor do they challenge the dehumanization and warrant limitless destruction of zombies in the zombie genre of video games. This thesis focuses on Pathologic Classic HD (2015) as an example of a video game that presents a challenge to the logic …

Facing Two Fronts: Asian Americans Grappling With Covid-19 And Xenophobic Tensions, Matthew Soos

Senior Theses

This thesis examines the impact of COVID-19-induced discrimination against Asian Americans (AsAms) and its effects on the mental health of college-aged individuals within this demographic. The study specifically targets East and Southeast Asians due to their heightened connection with the pandemic. Data was gathered via a survey disseminated among undergraduate AsAm students at the University of South Carolina. The survey sought information on the occurrence and forms of discrimination encountered pre-pandemic and during the pandemic, alongside the mental health condition and coping mechanisms of the respondents. Moreover, participants were prompted to assess the efficacy of suggested approaches in addressing discrimination. …

Focus Group And Survey Responses To Postural Feedback During Creative Movement Exploration, Mary C. Matthews

Senior Theses

John H. Riskind’s “appropriateness hypothesis” states that posture, positions, and gestures can be emotionally self-regulating if an individual holds a posture that is appropriate for its context. A litany of studies on power posing suggests expansive postures could increase Feelings of Power. One meta-analytic review demonstrates the “robust” significance for evidence of “power feelings, emotion, or self-esteem” due to postural feedback while cautioning researchers on the empirical invalidity of evidence for behavioral and physiological variables. A qualitative description of individuals’ experiences as they change posture, gesture, and position would direct future research on postural feedback. The current project qualitatively examines …

El Nacimiento Del Rock En Español: ¿Cómo Fue Que Este Género De Música Latina Tuvo Éxito?, Alejandro V. Martinez

World Languages and Cultures

This paper titled El nacimiento del rock en español: ¿Cómo fue que este género de música latina tuvo éxito? will cover information regarding the Spanish rock movement. This essay compares what is written in this paper to that of prior scholars to show that although they do bring valid points, there is a lot more than many of us realize. There are various articles and reports written about the movement, but many do not explain the creation of the movement, let alone its survival in the music industry as a new genre that some had never heard of or had …

Hollywoodlandia: Celebrity Women, Movie Culture, And American Public Womanhood, 1916-1950, Skye Cranney

History Theses and Dissertations

This project proposes to study the ways in which celebrity women’s behavior may have encouraged American women to challenge, but not necessarily subvert, traditional gender roles even as Hollywood publicity continued to emphasize the importance of those same roles in women’s lives. It does that by examining three sites where celebrity women prominently lived, worked, played, and volunteered between 1920 and 1950: the Hollywood Studio Club, a boarding house only for women in the entertainment industry, in Los Angeles; the Sun Valley Ski Resort, the first modern ski resort in the American West, in central Idaho; and the Hollywood Canteen, …

"Non Fuyades": A Comparative Analysis Of The Translation Of Culturemes In Don Quixote, Eve Jacobson

Honors College Theses

A widely debated topic in the field of translation studies is how to accurately preserve the full connotations and denotations of culturemes, which are words or phrases that have no direct equivalent in other languages due to their intrinsic cultural context, when translating them into another language. My project compares Edith Grossman (2003) and Thomas Shelton’s (1612) translations of selected culturemes in the first part of Miguel de Cervantes’s Don Quixote (1605) to analyze how different approaches to translating culturemes affect the tone and style, which also provides additional insights into the themes of class and formality and how the …

So Much (For) Saving Rock And Roll: The Musical Dna Of Fall Out Boy, Blake Buehler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Although the American rock band Fall Out Boy has had a great impact upon the popular music scene since their first album in 2003, little academic literature exists exploring their musical and cultural influences and impact. Through careful transcription and analysis this thesis defines Fall Out Boy’s compositional tendencies and contextualizes their work in the greater Western popular music canon. My composition, AQUA, is a continuation and response to Fall Out Boy’s seminal album, So Much (For) Stardust. Grounded in influences from Fall Out Boy’s music and my personal journey as a musician and queer individual, AQUA represents a deeply …

Christ As Anachronism Or Archetype?: The Presence Of Jesus ‘Before’ And ‘After’ The Incarnation, Samuel E. Marks

Masters of Theological Studies

Pentecostals as ‘paramodernists’, and mystics which have lost their theological bearings, have often imagined God as a being, somewhere in the universe or beyond it, distant from our lives, imploring God to come near and cause change. Through a brief study of Christian metaphysics, this work reveals God not as a divine being but as the very essence of existence itself, the ground of Being. In this paradigm, God's relationship with Creation is neither rivalrous nor causative, but is instead Creative. Freed from the constraints of time, linearity, and causality, God is truly free to make us free. At the …

The Making Of Saints: Discipleship Formation In The Early Church As A Way Forward For The Modern Age, Ian Wray

Masters of Theological Studies

As the modern Western Church continues to move forward through its history, an effective theology of discipleship will be vital to maintain the Church’s witness to the surrounding world and culture. Looking to the Patristic Period as a way forward can give current practitioners practical solutions and insights to replicate the effectiveness of Christianity’s first beginnings. The Early Church’s Catechumenate involved robust discipleship formation where the pagans who went through the process would leave behind their Roman habitus and embody a Christian lifestyle. By returning to the early church writers, practices, and disciplines that early Christians would have lived out …

Thomas Merton: The Connection Between Contemplation And Activism, Leslea Linebarger

Religious & Theological Studies Student Work

Thomas Merton believed that there was a necessary connection between our inner lives and our outer presence in the world. As a cloistered monk, he became known as a major voice for contemplation, perhaps his greatest gift to spirituality. But in the 1960’s as national and international tensions were becoming increasingly volatile, Thomas Merton began some of his most challenging writing, boldly speaking out against war and violence. This paper will examine his path from cloistered monk to political activist as visible in his own spiritual journey and throughout his writings. It will also ask what lessons his life and …

Shipwrecked Spaceship With Undersea Overgrowth And Dynamic Weather System, Konstantine Soldatos

Art Theses and Dissertations

This artifact depicts an underwater overgrowth scene featuring coral, barnacles, sea urchins, and various sea-life enveloping the iconic Slave-1 ship from Star Wars. The ship exhibits visible damage to its hull and substructures, resulting from missile impacts and prolonged decay subsequent to a crash landing in the ocean. Consequently, remnants of destroyed substructures are interspersed with coral growth, transforming the ship into an artificial reef. The artifact comprises four distinct scenes: an initial pristine underwater environment teeming with flourishing kelp, vibrant sea life, and animated corals; a subsequent chaotic scene depicting a vortex that evacuates the water from the environment; …

Analyzing The Intersectionality Of Race And Socioeconomics In Foster Care And Child Welfare, Isabella Gallardo

Political Science Theses and Capstones

Racial disparities continue to persist in the child welfare system, resulting in disproportionate representation and differential treatment for children from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds. Understanding the root causes, systemic factors, biases, and consequences of these disparities is vital for discovering solutions to ensure fair and equitable treatment for all children. I synthesize existing research conducted on racial disparities in child welfare, delving into systemic factors, biases, and their consequences. The dataset I most utilized is from the National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect (NDACAN). Correlation analysis was used to show the relationship between racial disproportionality and systematic …

Phantasma, Grace Wright

ALL - Honors Theses

This project, titled Phantasma, can be described as a queer retelling of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, in which Brutus is the central focus. It will interrogate the question of what draws readers back to that fateful day at the Roman Senate time and time again. It will also question what drew Shakespeare and his audience to it, as well as deconstruct the nuances of his recreation. The narrative will be greatly influenced by the structure of Shakespeare’s play, but will take on new forms as scenes are added in places where Brutus would ordinarily be “offstage”. Using queer theory as well …

‘Making Of A Woman Minister’ Rev. Annis Ford Eastman And Elmira, New York, Mary Lemak

ALL - Honors Theses

This paper explores the life and career of one of the United States’ first female ministers, Rev. Annis Ford Eastman (1852-1910). Remembered today as being the author of Mark Twain’s eulogy and as the mother of American writer Max Eastman and co-author of the Equal Rights Amendment Crystal Eastman, the Reverend Eastman had a career that was exceptional in its own right. Reverend Eastman was ordained when it was practically unheard of for a woman to preach. Not only was she ordained but she was invited to speak at national conferences and was frequently published in religious and civic journals. …