Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Was Jesus Christ Born A Jew Or Not? Luther And Protestant Anti-Judaism In Nazi Germany, Darian Sullivan

All Theses

Martin Luther’s role as the founder of German Protestantism placed him in a position where he was the hero for two opposing factions that formed within the German Evangelical Church in the wake of the Nazi party’s rise to power in 1933. The two factions were the pro-Nazi German Christians and the anti-Nazi Confessing Church. The two sides appealed to different aspects of Luther’s theology to defend their beliefs. Martin Luther’s theology, particularly his anti-Judaic beliefs was a crucial issue for the divided Protestant Church. Luther’s writings are crucial for determining how influential he was for both groups.

Using Visual Effects As A Means Of Establishing Or Reinforcing Scale In 3d Visual Works, Eric Dinicolantonio

All Theses

In 3D animation, visual effects help to establish and reinforce the scale of different characters and objects that are otherwise unclear. In the Fall of 2022, I taught a class about visual effects to several students. At the time, I had difficulty explaining the importance of properly scaling your 3D effects in order to add realism. With physically based effects, we must respect the laws of physics to create a visually realistic and understandable visual effect. Going through several of my previous projects, I found that I had made mistakes with scaling several of my effects. With this paper, I …

Adapting Cultural Storytelling Styles To Modern Media, Julie Huang

All Theses

In the face of modern media, it is inevitable that certain cultural art forms will fade in popularity. Some may even fade out of existence altogether. However, there are continuous efforts to reframe these cultural gems in contemporary forms to preserve them for the younger generations. Digital media, such as animation and video games, provide the perfect vehicle to bridge the gap between traditional and contemporary. This paper investigates how storytelling practices have been carried through time and the creative ways they have evolved in the face of an ever-changing mediascape.

To support this research, I present a narrative in …

Pedagogy, Sexual Violence, And Contemporary Extremist Films: Baise-Moi (2000), Irréversible (2002), And Promising Young Woman (2020), Olivia Harris

All Theses

Baise-moi (dir. Virginie Despentes and Coralie Trinh Thi, 2000), Irréversible (dir. Gaspar Noé, 2002), and Promising Young Woman (dir. Emerald Fennell, 2020) embody characteristics of the extreme. Working from James Quandt’s formative writing in 2004, I define extremism as the purposeful inclusion of transgressive themes and situations. However, each of the selected films portrays the extreme under different production styles, aesthetics, and modes of storytelling. My connections to early exploitation film (a precursor to extremist cinema) demonstrate the genre’s important history of teaching and educating. Similar to the original intent of classical exploitation films, which taught spectators about taboo topics …

Cú Chulainn's "Vigil On The Hound Fords": The Centrality Of Borders In The Táin Bó Cuailnge, David Atkinson

All Theses

This thesis examines the role of the Irish hero Cú Chulainn as a guardian of both supernatural and human borders in the popular medieval Irish saga, the Táin Bó Cuailnge. As a descendent of both the human inhabitants of Ireland and the supernatural síd, Cú Chulainn is uniquely situated to negotiate the border between the two worlds these peoples inhabit. The ambiguous distinction between these two worlds is reflected by the river borders that divide Ireland into its shifting land holdings and kingdoms. The ambiguity at the heart of this saga has given it enormous potential for adaptation through …

Kitchen Witch: Animated Independent Property Pitch Bible Research And Development, Kelsey Eaves

All Theses

My thesis project centers around the production process for creating an animated program. My paper is a record of the development of my pitch bible and my efforts to raise outside interest in the property. I intend to use my work here to enter the animation industry as a jumping off point in my career. My research materials include various “Art Of” production books, Creating Cartoons with Character by Rocko’s Modern Life creator Joe Murray, and firsthand interviews from present and former television industry personnel. In this text I explore television animation pre production to highlight the creation of an …

Japan’S Minorities: Nations Within A Nation, Christopher Shumard

All Theses

This thesis concerns the modern history of Japan’s ethnic minorities. These are the Zainichi Koreans, the Okinawans or Ryukyuan People, and the Ainu. Analyzing the feelings expressed in their literature, the constitution of and shifting nature of each group’s identity is tracked. The central argument of this thesis is that there is something innate to the human adherence towards group identity. It is the goal of this work to prove this claim through Japan’s three ethnic minorities which demonstrated this shared tendency and desire for a solid group identity around which individuals clustered under dire circumstances. These circumstances originated with …

Autoethnography As Self-Portrait: An Autoethnographic Analysis Of Trauma-Sensemaking Through Art, Kally Werning

All Theses

This project thesis is centered around coping with early onset childhood trauma through an autoethnography of narrative and art creation. The goal of this project is to understand more deeply how the art making process synthesizes or disrupts trauma sense-making through the introspective lens of the artist as scholar. The project consists of an interactive art exhibit and this written scholarly analysis of the creation and display of this exhibit. This includes an introduction to my life as a trauma survivor and Greek-American woman, informed by communication scholarship and other relevant fields regarding narrative theory, Greek history, religious and trauma …

Owning The Body: Bodily Autonomy And Consent In The Works Of Octavia Butler, Korryn Plantenberg

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

During the 1980’s the Second Wave feminist movement provided more interest in interdisciplinary movements towards equity in the case of gender. One movement that slowly grew was Womanism, which included the intersection between race and gender. Specifically, the experiences of black women in the United States. Inspired by this movement authors such as Octavia Butler was a black science fiction author who wrote literature focused on black women. Alongside her preoccupation, with race in science fiction, Butler explores the nature of consent and bodily autonomy in utopian and dystopian futures. Within her novels, she uses Womanism to engage with futuristic …

An Emergentist Critique Of The Contract Theory Of The State Of Nature, With A Consideration On Two Types Of Polity And Their Origins., Ryan A. Apperson

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

The theories of the state of nature provided by the political philosophers Thomas Hobbes and John Locke have made a significant impact in the general conceptions of the origin of states. Though there are many critical differences in the conceptions of the state of nature between each in their seminal works, they both possess of a view of states that is rational and constructivist.

In this paper, I use the game theory concepts of the coordination game, collective action problem, and focal point to illustrate a lacuna in this rational and constructivist conception of the origin of states, as their …

Echoes Of Eternity: The (Meta)Physics Of Time And Space In Eugene Vodolazkin's Laurus, Samuel Jayasi

World Languages, Literatures and Cultures Honors Theses

This study will consider ways in which Eugene Vodolazkin demonstrates his aesthetic and cultural understanding of what he calls “Christian reenchantment” in his novel Laurus. While “national medievalism” and “Christian reenchantment” share concerns about postmodernism, Vodolazkin’s novel investigates not so much issues of Russian national identity, but the consciousness of the age itself. Leaving aside any possibility of representing some kind of new utopia to counter the problems of postmodernism as too historically traumatic, Vodolazkin recreates the “medieval mindset” as a way to introduce “Christian reenchantment” of the (fictional) world. In the novel, the return to the medieval way …

The Moral Hygiene Movement In The United States, 1840s—1920s, Marissa Seib

History Theses

During the 19th and 20th centuries, the mental health care system in the United States underwent a series of reforms in an effort to better care for some of the country’s frailest citizens. This period, called the moral hygiene era of mental health care, emerged from a further understanding of psychiatry and psychology which led to structural changes in the mental health care system.

This thesis examines the beginnings of the Kirkbride system, which sought to reform the whole of American mental health care through landscaping and architecture as well as the specific treatment plan for each individual. Using case …

Lars Gustaf Sellstedt: Art In Buffalo And The Buffalo Fine Art Academy, Shannon N. Gilmartin

History Theses

This Master’s Thesis Project researches the life of a forgotten Buffalo artist, Lars Gustaf Sellstedt. He was born in Sundsvall, Sweden and started his life as a sailor when he became a cabin boy as an early teenager. For most of his young life until his mid-twenties, Sellstedt was a sailor traveling to all corners of the world. He started his journey as an artist while in between sailing jobs. Over many decades he portraits locally and abroad mainly in the Caribbean Islands. Sellstedt was one of the few artists in 19th century Buffalo, sharing the profession with William J. …

Props, Bianca Walker

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

In their artwork Bianca Walker takes a refreshing and historically engaging approach to the act of painting. After researching through photographic references of black people from the early 1900s the artist reimagines these photographs as painted portraits using a drip painting method purposely eliminating paint brushes from their practice. Incorporating more utilitarian materials such as drop cloth and palms, the artist’s relationship to the traditional act of paintings versus their current practice mirrors the current point of view placed upon and change of view that they would like to be seen in conversations around black working-class people from this period.

Perceptions Of Sub-Saharan African International Students In United States: Mental Health Concerns And Help-Seeking Behavior, Adekemi L. Ekanoye

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

International students face a lot of challenges while studying abroad, with or without the supportive system that their families provide. Sub-Saharan Africa international students consists of 3.7 percent of the population, which indicates a 2.1 percent increase prior to previous year. While in the host country, this population is saddled with the self-responsibilities of maintaining their values, cultural identities, personality, language ability, self-perceptions, and attitudes. African international students adopt a masking behavior in the form of adaptive strategies that could hide the mental health concerns experienced.

The purpose of this constructivist grounded theory study was to explore the untold lived …

Voices In My Head: An Improvisers Approach To Becky Mode’S Fully Committed, Drew Stroud

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The following thesis will focus on improvisational theatre and its importance in my overall process in the creation of Becky Mode’s Fully Committed. I will explain my previous knowledge and theories that I brought to the University of New Orleans and run in tandem with the techniques and discoveries I learned during the process of my Master of Fine Arts, both in the classroom and on the stage. Fully Committed was performed in the Robert E. Nims Studio Theatre September 23^rd, 24^th, 25^th, 28^th, 29^th, 30^th, and October …

Living As Past In The Present, Grace Taylor

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, I will be discussing how I used my nine roles in A Christmas Carol at TheatreSquared to practice getting out of my head onstage and into the hearts of each character. I will also include the script of my original play, GORILLA, the composition and performance of which were some of the greatest challenges of my artistic career thus far. Additionally, I am including my artistic statement, show posters, program, photos, website link, headshot & resume, and proofs of permission for use of media.

Studies In The Ancient Israelite Cult Of Dead Kin, Joshua Jacobs

World Languages, Literatures and Cultures Undergraduate Honors Theses

In 1986, Klaas Spronk published a monograph titled, Beatific Afterlife in Ancient Israel and in the Ancient Near East. Although many have criticized Spronk’s central thesis, his study began a new era in biblical scholarship on death and the afterlife in ancient Israel. More specifically, it sparked renewed interest in the study of the relationship between the living and the dead. Just three years after Spronk’s work, Theodore J. Lewis published his own study, Cults of the Dead in Ancient Israel and Ugarit (1989). Lewis affirmed and developed evidence for one of the foundational aspects of Spronk’s book: in …

Allegedly In Love: A Theatrical Production, Leah Christenson

Theatre Undergraduate Honors Theses

Allegedly in Love: A Theatrical Production details the process of producing and costume designing a fully-realized performance run of an original piece by Madelyn Marks.

From The Footlight To The Spotlight: An Examination Of Theatrical Lighting Design, Jackson Smith

Theatre Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper explores the question of how one could approach designing the lighting for a theatrical production. In doing this it covers foundational information about the science behind the medium, then it goes into a discussion of the types of artistry that lighting employs. It will explain what light contributes to a scene, how it can be manipulated creatively, and some of the methods and styles that have been developed over time. It culminates in an analysis of the author's lighting design for a production of Hedda Gabler.

Inevitable, Emilee Grummel

Student Projects

They say time heals all wounds, but in reality, time only Band-Aid's those wounds to make them more tolerable. Frank Richard Schadeck was the man who taught me how to go through life. From being my preschool teacher to teaching me how to defend and speak up for myself, he made me into the person I am today. He was not only my grandfather, but became my best friend, teacher, and mentor. Since his passing, change has become more prevalent and harder to accept.

When my grandfather was living with us, he built a miniature train set in the basement. …

Liturgical Practices For Full Participation: Creating Opportunities For Engagement In Corporate Worship For People Living With Intellectual Disabilities At The Mooroolbark Salvation Army, Catherine Jane Spiller

Doctor of Ministry Theses and Dissertations

The Mooroolbark Salvation Army is a place of welcome and acceptance for people with disabilities. However, people with intellectual disabilities often have limited opportunities for engagement in corporate worship. The act of worship is a practice everyone should be able to participate in, but barriers often limit engagement for people with disabilities. This project thesis explored and sought to address these barriers and create opportunities for full participation for people with intellectual disabilities. A small diverse group of people from the Mooroolbark Salvation Army came together for ten weeks commencing in February 2022 to consider how to attend to engagement …

Developing A Program Of Well-Being For Coptic Orthodox Clergy In The Diocese Of Melbourne, Australia, Abanoub Attalla

Doctor of Ministry Theses and Dissertations

This project aims to develop a holistic recommendation of policies, procedures, and practices that can contribute toward achieving better well-being for clergy that will equip and support them for healthy and sustainable ministerial practices. Without a plan for suitable intervention, the current situation could be quite harmful to both clergy and their congregations. Therefore, it is critical to develop processes and protocols that will facilitate the support and practices of the clergy of the Coptic Orthodox Church in Australia so they can lead a balanced and spiritually fulfilling life. Within the context of this project, I will use the word …

On The Brink Of Transformation : Becoming Ones True Self, Jordan Lee Williams

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

It brings me great joy to share with you the story of my journey through Academia. This thesis will cover some of the milestones I’ve reached throughout my studies here at the University of Arkansas, which led me to be able to attain an MFA in Theatre with an Acting Emphasis. You’ll be granted an all access pass into some of the works I’ve been able to produce while studying here at the U of A Including my one person show, statement of artistry, a link to my website, and information on my career as a professional stand-up comedian

Teacher Instructional Strategies Impacting Rural, High-Poverty Student Academic Outcomes, Erin Kinney Burt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There is an abundant amount of interest among educators surrounding what actions can be taken by the government, local representatives, school boards, administrators, and teachers to assist rural, high-poverty students flourish academically. An uninspiring truth related to this subject is many times, a student receives the education the state and local communities are able to provide based on the quality of teachers they are able to retain and the resources available. Instructional strategies teachers implement could influence the quality of education students receive and could leave a community in a constant cycle of dependency and hardship. The purpose of this …

Comparison Of Traditional To Hybrid Modality Of Instruction, Paul Michael Spadaro

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The COVID-19 pandemic caused unprecedented disruption in education across the United States. Prior to the pandemic, students in third grade struggled with low reading proficiency, a difficulty that predicts persistent academic struggles, school dropout, and even delinquency. Districts in South Carolina and around the United States adapted to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic in various ways, and among these strategies were a traditional learning modality, where students attended school only in-person and when possible, and a hybrid learning modality, where students alternatively attended in-person and remotely. It is important to understand the potential impacts of these scheduling decisions on …

Why Every Person Should Strive To Become A Philosopher-King, Samuel Cobbs

Philosophy Undergraduate Honors Theses

In Book 3 of The Republic, Plato describes his perfect city, the kallipolis, ruled by select people with training in the liberal arts. The education of these few, whom Plato calls philosopher kings, is then explored in detail. The proper education of these philosopher king lasts until fifty years of age, and consists of basic education in the sciences at an early age, physical and musical training, years spent in dialectical discussion, and ultimately becoming a philosopher and finding what Plato calls ‘The Good.’ Plato believes that this complete liberal arts education should only be taken up by …

Comic-Based Characters As Moral Exemplars: An Ethical Examination, Jordan Vitiello

Philosophy Undergraduate Honors Theses

Comics and superheroes have long been a part of American culture. The narratives within these comics often focus on the battle between good and evil, which makes the works inherently philosophical. The aim of this paper was to discuss comic book narrative as philosophical thought experiments and characters within them as moral exemplars. For this paper, I used characters—superheroes, villains, and those in between—from Marvel and DC Comics. I begin by briefly discussing and defining fiction and fictional characters. Next, I apply the three branches of normative ethics to Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. The following sections address characters as …

The Lost Cause And The Commonwealth: The United Daughters Of The Confederacy And Forging Civil War Memory In Kentucky., Emma Donaghy

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

For over a century, the Kentucky division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy has worked to instill the Lost Cause myth of the Confederacy in the state’s public schools, libraries, and places where a white child could learn about the past. Few scholars have studied the activities of the Kentucky division of the UDC, although some of the organization’s most influential work took place in the state, and the organization’s national founder, Caroline Meriwether Goodlett, was born in Todd County, Kentucky. This honors thesis offers an in-depth examination of the work of the Kentucky division, drawing from the rich …

The Philosophy Of Activism And Its Paradox., Omar Arar

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

Activist organizations have been at the forefront of countless progressive efforts, seeking to ameliorate social injustices, expand the rights of marginalized people, and strengthen democratic institutions. However, the efforts of activists always seem to lead to incremental victories or a minimal change to the status quo. In this paper, I argue that the primary cause of this largely stagnant social justice landscape is the professionalization of activism. Activism in its professional form, as people who make a living out of their activist efforts, brings with it numerous issues, the most problematic among them is the manifestation a paradox. Namely, professional …