Arts and Humanities Commons^™

The Person As Foundation Of Responsibility: The Insufficiency Of Rights-Based Human Development Approaches, Jaclyn Berg

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Building on the plethora of research that demonstrates the way rights language has been more useful for those with wealth and power to further expand capitalist markets, this text extends that criticism to human development programs and institutions. While they claim to be directed towards addressing global issues of poverty and hunger as well as climate crises, they continue to treat the symptoms without accurately diagnosing the disease. Approaches to development that rely on rights without questioning the way rights have been influenced by neoliberal capitalists or without questioning the capitalist global economic system will never be able to achieve …

A Philosophy Of Communication Response To Bullying In Corporate America, Chris A. Phillips Dr.

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This philosophy of communication response to bullying in corporate America follows the structure of posing research questions, synthesizing relevant literature, and offering advice to practitioners. It invites the reader to have hope in continuing the conversation through a constructive hermeneutic approach to the problem. By building on literature in oppression, silencing, bullying, incivility, and communication ethics, this dissertation reveals how (rhetoric) and why (philosophy) the problem occurs in corporate America today. This dissertation offers a new angle to an old problem, or, a rhetoric and philosophy of bullying. It responds to the following questions:

RQ 1: As a destructive communication …

Experiences With Microaggression Of African American Female Faculty Who Work In Predominantly White Institutions, Teffany Jonte Malone

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The problem addressed through this study is the gap in the literature on the experiences of African American female faculty in higher education institutions with racial microaggressions while working in predominantly White institutions (PWIs). Grounded in Delgado and Stefancic’s critical race theory, the purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore African American female faculty’s experiences with racial microaggressions and recommended support their institutions can put in place at PWIs in California. For this basic qualitative design, data were collected through semistructured interviews with 15 African American female faculty members employed at PWIs in California. Through qualitative content analysis, …

Postmodern Fantasy & Its Twin Traditions, Skyler J. Alexander

Honors Thesis

Fantasy literature is diverse and difficult to categorize; nevertheless, throughout the twentieth century two main subgenres emerged: sword-and-sorcery and high fantasy. This thesis examines the differences and similarities between these two traditions, how contemporary examples of the genre fit into or diverge away from the traditions that influenced them, and proves in the negative what and how much of contemporary fantasy fiction is original to itself, with no prominent antecedent. The analysis was performed by comparatively reading two contemporary fantasy novels, The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan and A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin, with …

The Method And The Machinery: Gloria Steinem, India, And The Cold War Making Of American Second Wave Feminsim, 1956-1972, Rashida Shafiq

History Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation argues that Gloria Steinem became one of the most visible feminists of her generation because two political inheritances — postcolonial India and the Cold War liberal United States — converged in a single career. In 1957 and 1958, on a Chester Bowles Asian Fellowship, Steinem spent eighteen months in India, where she moved from elite intellectual circles in Delhi to Gandhian and Sarvodaya peace work in the villages of Ramnad. Walking with Bhoodan fieldworkers through caste-riot-stricken communities, she absorbed a repertoire of organizing practices — listening across difference, lateral and leaderless structure, decision by consensus, and the conversion …

Tubuh Yang Mengingat (The Body Remembers): Ecology, Ritual, And Embodied Memory In Contemporary Cirebon Mask Performance, Prameswari Mrajabwana

Theses and Dissertations

Tubuh yang Mengingat (The Body Remembers) is a single-channel, site-specific performance film set across coastal and extractive landscapes in Cirebon, West Java, Indonesia. Reinterpreting the five transformations of Cirebonese mask dance—Panji, Pamindo, Rumyang, Tumenggung, and Kelana—the project examines how colonial extraction, ecological deterioration, and systems of social regulation continue to shape embodied experience materially and somatically. Drawing from Karen Barad’s concept of intra-action and Stacy Alaimo’s notion of trans-corporeality, the work approaches body, land, technology, and history as relationally entangled rather than separate entities. Through live biodata sonification generated from environmental sensors and bodily movement, the film establishes …

Delirious Pink, Reuben Gordon

Theses and Dissertations

How to enliven a tradition as accomplished as painting? With the spirit of New York City and the techniques of Abstract Expressionism and Color Field painting as my backbone, I look to my friends, lovers, and fellow artists to form a thesis defined by love, color, feeling, and individuality.

Queer Postsecular Conocimiento: Anzaldúan Readings Of Time, Spirituality, And Transformation In Nugent, Vuong, And Herrera, Joshua A. Swem

Theses and Dissertations

An overreliance on secularism within the field of queer theory and a denial of spiritual epistemologies prevent deep, alternative, and transformative strategies of analyzing literature. It can regurgitate oppressive ideology in academia. In this work, I synthesize Gloria Anzaldúa’s theoretical concepts of mestiza consciousness, nepantla, la facultad, and el cenote with José Esteban Muñoz’s queer temporality and futurity as a framework to engage with literary texts in queer, postsecular ways, freeing up fresh insights and polysemic perspectives. I argue that in  "Smoke, Lilies, and Jade" by Richard Bruce Nugent, Signs Preceding the End of the World by Yuri …

Ai And The Music Industry: Its Current Status And A Speculative Projection Of Its Evolutionary Trajectory, Rhett D. Morris, Clayton Rosati, Stefan Fritsch

Honors Projects

Music serves as one of society's biggest cultural outlets, allowing millions to share in what used to be a uniquely human form of expression. The commodification of music has built a huge industry full of companies and platforms that have used technology and property laws to shape music's relationship with the public. This study aims to look into the future to see how AI and its implementation could affect the structure of the music industry. To look into the future, this piece establishes two of the most pressing kinds of AI technology for the music industry and looks to contextualize …

Bringing Women Into Focus: Adapting Traditional Lesson Standards To Incorporate Women In U.S. History, Emma M. Wilson

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

This thesis Plan-B project is creating women centered lesson plans for middle and high school social studies curriculum. As a result of male dominance in education the standards, practices, and curriculum have largely focused on a male-dominant narrative. This project works to remedy this imbalance by taking standards directly from the State and adapting lesson plans to highlight historical women actors as the focus, while still aligning with core outcomes. The current male-centered approach to the broader social studies curriculum does not account for the wide array of viewpoints experienced for those living in the United States. Re-envisioning lessons to …

Tales, Traditions, And Tides: The Little Logan River And Its Role In Cache Valley's History, Culture, And Conservation, Emily A. Kovacic

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

The Little Logan River (LLR) plays a vital role in the cultural, historical, and ecological landscape of Cache Valley, Utah. Amid growing concerns raised by the Logan River Watershed Project (LRWP), which threatens to alter the river’s environment, this project seeks to understand the significance of the LLR as a cultural and recreational asset through collected oral histories. Building on folkloric perspectives of place-based storytelling, this thesis introduces the idea of vivus locum, or “that place which is alive,” through the example of the LLR to the study of folkloristics. The concept of vivus locum emphasizes the importance of …

The Legend Of The Bear Lake Monster, Melissa Anderson Asay

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

The Bear Lake Monster is a legend that has persisted for centuries. This monster is rooted in Shoshone oral traditions and hold the potential to be based off of fossils found in the Shoshone territory. This living legend was later amplified by Mormon settlers. One settler in particular, Joseph C. Rich, played a significant role in shaping its narrative. Though he eventually admitted to fabricating sightings to encourage settlement, belief in the creature remains alive today. The serpent’s presence in local lore has undeniably influenced the Bear Lake region, shaping both its identity and tourism industry. This legend serves as …

Historical Inquiry-Based Lessons In World History Classrooms: Creating Opportunities For Historical Thinking, Melinda Thatcher Lofland

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

This Plan B project creates inquiry-based lessons that help students investigate the global tapestry of World History with its vast threads of transregional connections and diverse cultures that color our contemporary world and help prepare them to participate as global citizens. This project uses primary and secondary sources to create evidence-based lesson plans that will help history teachers provide opportunities for students to practice historical inquiry skills in Utah’s world history classrooms. These plans employ current scholarship and best teaching practices while following national and state standards for World History. In addition, these lessons were developed using inquiry-based historical thinking …

History In The Social Studies Classroom: Developing Historical Literacy And Skills Through Inquiry Lessons, Nancy J. Thatcher

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

This Plan B project has created a series of inquiry-based lesson plans and activities for World History classrooms that emphasize historical literacy and disciplinary thinking. Rather than producing a traditional research thesis, this project emphasizes applied historical scholarship by translating historical and professional methodology into three classroom ready instructional lesson plans that are aligned with the Utah Core Standards for Social Studies. The project reflects the History MA’s emphasis on disciplinary rigor while addressing the practical needs of public history and education with pedagogical best practices. This project responds to ongoing challenges in World History education, including constrained instructional time, …

Bridging Borders: Community College Dual Credit Policy And Latinx Student Success In The Southwest Borderland, Daniel Guerra

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Early College High School (ECHS) programs have expanded access to college coursework and accelerated degree pathways; however, less is known about how Latinx students experience the transition from these programs into four-year institutions. This qualitative study explored the lived experiences of eight Latinx students who completed ECHS and matriculated to a four-year university between 2022 and 2024 in a Southwest borderland. The location is geographically isolated along the U.S.-Mexico border with a predominantly Hispanic population. Framed through Community Cultural Wealth and Rational Choice Theory, the study examined how students relied on cultural assets and evaluated educational opportunities while navigating secondary …

From Margins To Center: Los Deslenguados In The Borderlands, Brissa S. Porras Villalobos

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Borderland literature is a subgenre that often includes narratives of migration, tribulations, identity development, and resilience. It foregrounds the collaboration of vulnerability, isolation, connection, and power, showing that hybridity is a source of cultural energy. Acknowledging the borderland and its culture is crucial because it challenges stereotypes, validates marginalized voices, and celebrates heritage in all its complexity. By centering these experiences, borderland literature affirms the potential of living between cultures, prioritizing the recognition of the in-between, valuing and celebrating the space where identities are continually reshaped, histories are reclaimed, and resilience is nurtured rather than neglected. Using Gloria Anzaldúa's theory …

Tailoring The Stereotype Of Asian Femininity: Nancy Kwan, The Qipao, And 1960s Hollywood, Jing Yang

Film and Media Studies (MA) Theses

This article asks the following questions: First, whether or not Kwan, and her qipaos, created new stereotypes of Asian women, or whether they, in fact, customarily represented within restricted versions of Asian femininity already available within mainstream, dominant Western culture of early 1960s Hollywood films. That is, this article seeks to investigate why Kwan, and her qipaos, in fact, became so culturally productive at that moment of historical time. Second, this article further seeks to explore the ways in which the qipao continued to enable Nancy Kwan to represent to mainstream Western, Hollywood-based audiences, uniquely, greatly, or importantly different versions …

Confronting Founding Injustices: Reconstructive Constitutional Adjudication And Constitutional Legitimacy In Postcolonial States, Mutasim Abuzeid

International Studies (MA) Theses

Why do some postcolonial constitutions achieve higher constitutional legitimacy than others? Across the Global South, constitutions have proliferated while legitimacy remains uneven and contested. Existing scholarship explains variation in constitutional legitimacy in postcolonial states through three dominant paradigms. Institutionalist theories equate legitimacy with procedural design and endurance, presuming that stable institutions generate compliance and, over time, diffuse support. Transformative constitutionalism locates legitimacy in social justice, emphasizing judicial doctrines such as proportionality and reasonableness to advance equality and material inclusion. Transitional justice approaches, by contrast, locate moral repair largely outside constitutional law—through truth commissions, reparations, and memory projects—often leaving the constitutional …

Final Master's Portfolio On Writing Transfer, Clarence Snell

Master of Arts in English Plan II Graduate Projects

This final portfolio shows how gauging student interest can help to transfer their knowledge from subject to subject, whether it be by using Resident Evil to help with ethics or creative writing to help with grammar. The first essay goes into detail on the ethics of Resident Evil: The Official Strategy Guide, written for the original 1996 game. It elaborates on the guide and the game itself, using framing systems like that of Kant to gain a deeper understanding of the source material. Then, the second essay explains how creative writing can help students learn grammar, showing how both …

History, Myth, Courage, And Selflessness: Kate Shelley And The Bridge Of Darkness, Stephen M. Jennings

All Theses

This thesis documents the research, creative development, and production of the animated short film Kate Shelley and the Bridge of Darkness. The project is inspired by the historical account of Kate Shelley, a fifteen-year-old girl who in 1881 crossed a railroad bridge during a violent storm near Moingona, Iowa, to warn a nearby train station of a catastrophic bridge collapse. Over time, Shelley’s actions became both a documented historical event and a subject of mythologized retellings in American cultural memory. The film explores this tension between history and legend through an interpretation that balances historical research with cinematic storytelling. The …

Immersive Attraction Design Using Real Time Virtual Production Techniques: A South Carolinian Ghost-Lore Dark Ride, Gabrielle M. Delo

All Theses

The role of themed entertainment can serve as a tool for cultural enrichment by integrating regional folklore into attraction design, using South Carolina’s “Gray Man” legend as the narrative foundation for a proposed dark ride. This project highlights how attractions can introduce wider audiences to lesser-known folktales while fostering appreciation for regional identity. It also examines the use of real-time virtual production, specifically using Unreal Engine 5.5, as a unified platform for previsualizing narrative-driven environments, enabling efficient iteration and integration of both physical and digital storytelling elements. This project positions game engine technology as a means of preserving and communicating …

On The Paces Of Artaud: An Attempt To Examine An Afro-Futurism Template Through The Lens Of Theatre Of Cruelty, Nihal Hassan Abdulla

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This thesis analyzes the scenic rationale of Baby Love, highlighting its poetic stage language and metaphoric choices. Referencing Artaud, it investigates how scenery challenges conventional theatre and demonstrates the feasibility of Afro-futurist aesthetics within the Theatre of Cruelty. The approach prioritizes sensory communication, following Artaud’s emphasis on stage techniques.

Referring to the influence of Artaud’s intense artistic milieu, which contributed to the crystallization of the concept of Cruelty, and identifying methodologies used in developing my design metaphor.

Tracing the emergence of the Afrocentric movement in America reveals that the literary roots of Afro-futurism were established in cyberculture a bit earlier …

Egyptian Suite: Compositional Reflections, Jeremy Fisher Jacobus

Master's Theses

Egyptian Suite is an original composition for concert wind ensemble that takes example and inspiration from what others believe was Ancient Egyptian music, with some of today’s examples of Egyptian music. This work is divided into four movements: The Nile, The Pharaoh’s Festival, The Pyramids, The Grand Coronation, with each movement representing personal interpretation of each idea with the instrumentation, and the changes in texture, color and rhythm. With each movement of the Egyptian suite, I evaluated instruments being used as additional colors and textures, used more non-conventional key signatures modulations and time signature changes, and utilized a diverse and …

Masculinity, Psychological Flexibility, And Machismo: An Initial Examination Of Relationships To Interpersonal Violence, Geraldine Granados Todd

Dissertations

Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is a grave problem in many areas of the world. Latin American countries have some of the highest rates of IPV in the world. One factor potentially impacting these rates has been hypothesized to be traditional machismo. Machismo is a complex construct that has proven difficult to define. A substantial challenge lies in distinguishing the characteristics that are unique to machismo from broader masculine gender role norms. Additionally, machismo seems to have a more “positive” side to it, encompassing loyalty to family, honor, and responsibility. This has been coined caballerismo. Studies looking at the impact of …

“Dynt Of Dede:” Reading The Medieval Combat Scene Through The Helmet-Cleave Motif, Andrew Sherwood Thomas

Dissertations

This research explores the continuity of chivalric combat descriptions throughout medieval literature. By tracing the history, development, and distribution of the helmet-cleave motif, this study is able to examine combat scenes spanning a wide reach of time, genera, and language. The purpose of this work is to suggest a reading methodology for the chivalric combat scene that appropriately situates it in its cross-textual context and so reveals the nuance of its expression and the value in its study.

Despite the volume of surviving combat descriptions in medieval literature, they remain underrepresented in the scholarship due to their apparent repetitious and …

Land And Language At St. Joseph’S Indian Industrial School And Beyond, Ciera R. Tucker

All NMU Master's Theses

This thesis analyzes the impacts of the Indian boarding school era on Menominee people through using St. Joseph’s Indian Industrial School in Keshena, Wisconsin, as a focal point of study. Through analyzing the social and political contexts of the school, oral texts from St. Joseph’s survivors, and contemporary popular culture texts, this thesis examines the intergenerational impacts of the boarding school era on Menominee people and Indigenous people in general. I employ Indigenous methodologies from Leanne Betasamosake Simpson (Anishinaabe), Kathleen Absolon (Anishinaabe), and Shawn Wilson (Cree) to ground my approach to research and engagement with survivor testimonies. Further, I draw …

Charting The Martian Future: Long-Term Space Policy Planning Of Nasa’S Human Spaceflight Program, 1957-1988, Angel J. Peralta

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

From the late 1950s to the early 1990s, NASA’s human spaceflight programs repeatedly encountered political and bureaucratic pressures that prioritized short-term interests over long-term planning. These constraints shaped the development of the Apollo, Space Shuttle, Space Station, and other human spaceflight programs, limiting NASA’s ability to pursue a sustained strategic vision. This thesis traces the evolution of long-term human spaceflight policy through documents and memos produced by advisory committees, research councils, and key individuals during this period. Despite shifting administrations and their respective politics, these sources reveal a consistent goal of human spaceflight ultimately leading beyond Earth to the Moon …

The History Of Poro College From 1902-1965, Chajuana V. Trawick Ferguson

Dissertations

This study investigates the development, operation, decline, and historical erasure of Poro College, the first multimillion‑dollar, minority‑owned higher education institution and vertical beauty‑culture enterprise, founded by Annie Turnbo Malone in St. Louis, Missouri. Drawing on Poro College documents, Black newspaper archives, National Trust for Historic Preservation records, and interviews with individuals knowledgeable about the institution, the research addresses four central questions: how Poro College was developed; its impact on students, employees, and the surrounding community; its relevance for current and future minority women educators and entrepreneurs; and the factors that contributed to its closure and eventual demolition. Evidence from the …

Measuring Administrative Hiring Confidence Of Music Teachers In The Context Of Shallow Hiring Pools, Aaron M. Strum

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to identify and measure the confidence of K-12 administrators in hiring music faculty. This study also aimed to analyze administrators’ perspectives and confidence in key stages of the hiring process, including defining job expectations, posting, advertising, interviewing, and selecting highly specialized music teachers in K-12 settings. Confidence of K-12 administrators can be gauged through their understanding of how well an applicant aligns with the specific needs of the school’s program. Three research questions guided this investigation: (1a) How confident are K-12 administrators in their understanding of music teaching pedagogy when interviewing music teacher candidates …

Before Urgent Fury: U.S. Foreign Policy Toward Grenada During The Ford And Carter Administrations, Nicholas Jake Durell

War, Diplomacy, and Society (MA) Theses

When the United States pulled out of Vietnam in 1973, it experienced a military and psychological defeat unlike any in its modern history. Following President Richard Nixon’s resignation from the Watergate scandal, Gerald Ford, the House Minority Leader who had become Vice President, now assumed the presidency of a deeply fractured nation. As the Cold War persisted, Washington struggled to reassert its superpower status globally while desperately avoiding further foreign entanglements. Consequently, the Ford administration adopted a cautiously detached approach to foreign policy, a strategy vividly illustrated by its posture toward the Eastern Caribbean. This calculated ambivalence, continued by the …