Arts and Humanities Commons^™

"Clarity" And "The Romantic Marvin Milkweed"., Adam Christopher Lippert

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Algernon Bay is the owner of a small art gallery on Chicago’s north side. And “Clarity” begins the day after Alge has acquired a very unique and special painting. It is the day of his inaugural ritual, which he hopes can recalibrate his life. Approximately a year ago, his wife Esmeralda gave birth to a stillborn infant, and their marriage has slowly deteriorated since. Now it is on the cusp of completely collapsing. Alge and Esmeralda are finally desperate, and they take unthinkable measures to attain the feeling of love once more. “The Romantic Marvin Milkweed” is a story that …

A Nativist Upsurge : Kentucky's Know Nothing Party Of The 1850s., Eric B. Brumfield

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis analyzes the rise and fall of the Know Nothing Party in Kentucky. Beginning with the presidential election of 1844, this thesis traces the decline of the Whig Party and the growth of nativism in the mid-nineteenth century. In addition to the political shift, the thesis explores the growing immigration numbers of the 1840s and 1850s and the anti-Catholicism that propelled nativist attitudes. While the issue of slavery sank the national Whig Party, this thesis argues that the failure to address concerns over immigration and naturalization largely led to the party’s downfall in Kentucky. Destroying the second party system, …

The Process Of Empathetic Bonding With Berniece Charles., Candice Renee Handy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The rehearsal process of theatre art entails several steps leading up to performance. Traditionally, the ensemble will discuss together what is needed to produce the theatrical piece, the director will work with each scene individually, and eventually the ensemble will be able to perform the entire piece, with only polishing left to do before performance. This process varies depending on the type of genre that will be performed. The rehearsal process to produce plays that are written with realistic settings and plot lines often, but not always, involve these steps. In order for this process to be productive, as an …

Race, Rebellion, And Arab Muslim Slavery : The Zanj Rebellion In Iraq, 869 - 883 C.E., Nicholas C. Mcleod

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the ninth century, enslaved Africans from the east coast of Africa, called the Zanj, revolted for nearly fifteen years in southern Iraq against their Arab slave masters and challenged the social order of the Abbasid Empire. This thesis is a socio-historical investigation on the role that race played in starting the Zanj Rebellion of 869 C.E. It examines the Arab Islamic slave trade and the racial stratification experienced by blacks in the early centuries of Islamic history in conjunction with the Zanj Rebellion. The thesis applies a structural framework for analyzing race, to demonstrate the racialization process, prevalent racial …

Iet., Andrew Maxbauer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In iet, the phonetic aspects of speech, as well as additional vocal noises, are employed in preference to more conventional semantic and syntactic values, derived from recognized language. The lack of pre-existing text removes the necessity to flesh out the skeleton of a pre-existing structure, and in turn creates the possibility of having a musical discourse in which each vocalization serves to modify the sound world of the piece in a specifically conceived manner. Thusly, the singers utilize only fragments of speech, uttering single syllables, as well as other more marginal vocal sounds such as audible breathing, and the smacking …

Baby Book For Soprano And Orchestra., Lauren Spavelko

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Baby Book is a 12-minute work for soprano and orchestra. It sets three poems from Chloe Yelena Miller's collection of the same name. It will later be expanded into a six-movement work. The cycle explores miscarriage, pregnancy, and motherhood.

I. Great Aunt Dora

II. Objects

III. Children's Pool Game

Great Aunt Dora is a real person; she is the poet's own great aunt, a dearly beloved family matriarch. This poem is a conversation between the mother and the growing child inside her. Great Aunt Dora passed away before she could meet the child. Thus, the conversation is bittersweet, but full …

Reel Racism, Real Consequences : A Multiple Case Analysis Of Savior Films As Racial Projects., Eric A. Jordan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis analyzes how four blockbuster movies released in the years 2000-2014 represent racial projects. Racial projects encompass anything that helps people understand race. Films are racial projects because of their racist portrayal of characters. Films can be used to train audiences to view race in various ways that may contribute to problematic colorblindness. Specifically, the “White Savior” and “Magical Negro” tropes are ways through which films tell the viewers what to expect from White characters and characters of color. Viewers walk away from these films having constructed a racialized schema about White and Black characters, which further supports the …

Why We Love Music : A Case Study Of High School Principals., D. Benjamin Williams

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the viewpoints and value of music in the public schools from the perspective of high school principals. Principals from five high schools in an urban school district in a southern metropolitan area were interviewed. All schools that were a part of this study varied geographically and socioeconomically. Each school had a curricular program for band, choir, and orchestra and a highly-qualified teacher directing the programs. Interview questions ranged from their own participation in band, choir, or orchestra when they were in any level of school, what roles they see music as …

Master Buddha & The Jolly Golly Fun Time Gang., Todd Edward Evans

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is the first two chapters of a novel. The novel parodies the capitalist and consumerist United States of the 21st Century in the tradition of Thomas Pynchon, Kurt Vonnegut, and Donald Barthelme.

Factors That Lead Students To Study Music Education : A Descriptive Study., Alexander T. Hamilton Ii

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to survey music education students in their first year of undergraduate studies to learn what influences and/or musical experiences affected their choice in selecting music education as their major. Participants (N = 28) were enrolled in an Introduction to Music Education course at a mid-sized metropolitan university. Subjects were asked to complete a survey and rate perceived degree of influences on the selection of the music education major. Participants were also asked to provide written responses on personal influences that led them to select music education as a major. Survey results indicated that …

Claude Cahun, Marcel Moore, And The Collapse Of "Surrealist Photography"., Elizabeth Ann Driscoll Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis probes the photographic oeuvre of Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore and their interpretation of Freudian fetishism. Cahun and Moore rework Freud’s theory to disrupt and invalidate various symbols conventionally associated with sexual difference, examining social, fictional, and historical dimensions of gendering and the shift that occurs when their parameters disintegrate. The first section examines the lovers’ portraiture and use of clothing—specifically the androgyny of early-twentieth century Paris fashion—in order to demarcate same-sex gaze, desire, and fetish. The second section covers the four years in which Cahun and Moore’s participation in the Paris Surrealist circles can be traced—from 1933 …

Presence And The Actor's Craft., Casey Richard Moulton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to establish that Presence is essential to an actor’s craft. This thesis makes considerable mention of my own work on Naomi Iizuka’s Polaroid Stories, playing the part of SKINHEADboy, as well as making mention of the theoreticians and practitioners of Acting who have dealt with the subject of Presence. The parallels I draw between actor training and the sources from outside of the field of Acting feed not only into an understanding of how consequential Presence is for the actor, but also how Presence can affect the lives human beings. This thesis also contains …

The Colored Librarian : Thomas F. Blue And The Louisville Free Public Library's Colored Department, 1905-1935., Jacob Carlton Burress

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the role of Reverend Thomas F. Blue and the Colored Department at the Louisville Free Public Library played in generating social uplift for African Americans in Louisville, Kentucky in the first third of the twentieth century. Working from the philosophical framework of intellectuals Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois, Blue created the first free Colored Library Department in the nation and used that department as a nexus in Louisville’s African American community. The Introduction outlines the central argument of the paper and sets up the intellectual debates between Washington and Du Bois. The second section dives …

Site Responsibility : Eco-Art And Environmental Ethics In The Anthropocene., Nicholas Flint Collins

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation proposes an interdisciplinary theory for examining the ethical dimensions of contemporary eco-art, based on the conceptual interplay between the art historical discourse of site specificity and philosophy of environmental ethics. It considers how eco-art redefines site specificity as eco-ethically-oriented site reform, and argues that eco-artists’ site-reformative actions are not only environmentally impactful and beneficial, but are also site-responsible because they realize humankinds’ moral obligations to respond to the human-caused ecological crises of the present by improving the degraded conditions of specific sites and amending site-destructive conduct. Site-reformative eco-artworks in turn yield variable propositional content that demonstrates site responsibility …

The Casamance Conflict : Un-Imagining A Community., Sandra Tombe

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Casamance conflict in the southern region of Senegal started in 1982, when protestors rallying after the MFDC pulled down the Senegalese flag from public buildings in Ziguinchor calling for independence of the Casamance region. The movement based its claim for an independent Casamance on the different colonial history that distinguished it from the rest of Senegal. Surprisingly, it was not until later in the development of the movement that ethnic, linguistic, religious, and regional differences between the two regions came to factor into the MFDC’s platform. This thesis then seeks to examine why and when these dimensions come to …

"Puritan Hypocrisy" And "Conservative Catholicity" : How Roman Catholic Clergy In The Border States Interpreted The U.S. Civil War., Carl C. Creason

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis analyzes how Roman Catholic clergy in the Border States—Missouri, Kentucky, and Maryland—interpreted the United States Civil War. Overall, it argues that prelates and priests from the region viewed the war through a religious lens informed by their Catholic worldview. Influenced by their experiences with anti-Catholicism and nativism as well as the arguments of the Catholic apologist movement, the clergy interpreted the war as a product of the ill-effects of Protestantism in the country. In response, the clergy argued that if more Americans had practiced Catholicism then the war could and would have been avoided. Furthermore, this thesis illustrates …

9/11 Memorials : Contested Memory, Competing Narratives, And Healing., Jennifer A. Fraley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation I examine the role that monuments and memorials play in our lives including artistically, historically, and culturally. I begin by examining what monuments and memorials are and how these public works should be their own classification of public art. I argue there are many things these works can be (place of mourning, celebration, historical marker, etc.) and should not be (a single source for a historical accounting); yet, memorials do have the necessary condition of creating a referential relationship between the viewer and the memorialized objects. Without this relationship, the work fails as a memorial. Memorials are …

Stories Of Single Mothers : Narrating The Sociomaterial Mechanisms Of Community Literacy., Kathryn Elizabeth Perry

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In light of the increasing significance of community activist scholarship in Rhetoric and Composition and given the overwhelming nature of institutional educational inequity, this dissertation takes a close look at specific literacy practices and the corresponding networks that shape these literacy practices at a community literacy organization. Based on interviews with participants and staff at a local nonprofit called Family Scholar House (FSH), this project paints a complex picture of each stakeholder’s perspective on successful literacy. First, I employ Actor-Network Theory (ANT) to analyze three specific literacy moments at FSH: an application for government assistance, a financial aid appeal letter, …

This Sleep Of Reason., Brit Thompson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This creative thesis encompasses two features: 1) a critical component that contextualizes and supports the second component, 2) a short Southern Gothic novella. Critical analyses of Flannery O’Connor’s fiction and discourse about the genre illustrate where inspiration was drawn, and how the project’s creative component contributes to this genre. The project explores anxieties of displacement, isolation, and a stuck-in-the-past-temporality, as shown through the vessel of characters’ houses. The novella is decentralized in form and point-of-view—fragmentary excerpts of technological communications are utilized to illustrate how the protagonist’s problems are literally always on hand. The project argues that because the south remains …

An Environmental History Of The Rio Grande In The Panama Canal Zone, 1521- 1950., Francisco Javier Bonilla

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is an examination of the history of environmental change in the defunct Rio Grande river valley in the former Panama Canal Zone. By mining secondary sources and engineering records, this study provides a narrative of the historic river’s role in the formation of the so-called interoceanic corridor through the isthmus of Panama from 1521 to 1950. More importantly, however, as a case study of river histories in Latin American environmental history, this understudied, Pacific-draining river illustrates how nature and non-human nature made Panama’s strategic transit region into a loci for material flows over time. The Rio Grande played …

To My Betas, Endless Chocolate Frogs! : Exploring The Intersections Of Emotion, The Body, And Literacy In Online Fanfiction., Brittany Kelley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project examines the complex intersections of identity, including gender, sexuality, and social class, in the literacy practices of online fanfiction. Previous scholarship has focused solely on the gender and/or pedagogical implications of fanfiction communities, and my project engages and extends these conversations by analyzing how fanfiction practices provide a distinctive space to explore how we understand identity, digital technologies, and fannish participation. I conducted textual analysis of stories, authors' notes, "how-to" guides, and questionnaires and interviews. A close inspection of fanfiction practices provide insight into how digital technologies and literacy practices interact within exchange economies. My dissertation is divided …

Identifying Facebook-, Twitter-, And Instagram-Specific Rhetoric And Interaction: A Case Study, Sharon Kathleen Jones

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

A great deal of research has examined social media best practices; however, there has been a gap in looking at nonprofits to examine the efficacy of Facebook-, Twitter-, and Instagram-specific rhetoric to engage stakeholders. This study examined a small, local nonprofit's posts on each of the above platforms, and used surveys and interviews to find which types of rhetoric create the best dialogue between the nonprofit and stakeholders. This study found that for Facebook, the best rhetoric to use are pictures and videos; for Twitter, the best rhetoric to use are retweets; and Instagram, the best types of rhetoric are …

Education Policy And Practices Of English As A Foreign Language (Efl) In Iraq, Ihab Razzaq Altufaili

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

English is the language of trade, finance, science, education, and politics, and several countries have an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) policy to improve their ability to compete. Accordingly, many countries have placed emphasis on EFL and have established an effective teaching methodology as part of that policy. Currently, the Ministry of Education in Iraq has changed their educational policy to start EFL in the first grade and has adopted new textbooks using the communicative language teaching (CLT) approach. The purpose of this research is to study the Iraqi EFL education policy and practices after 2014 by assessing instructor …

Modern Myth And Ideology In David Foster Wallace's The Pale King, Matthew Ryan Stewart

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to analyze David Foster Wallace's novel The Pale King through the critical lenses of Lubomir Dolezel's Heterocosmica and Louis Althusser's "Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses" to arrive at a theory of the heroic in the novel. The Pale King features multiple characters experiencing various crises in the face of an invisible, adversarial force that can be understood through Dolezel's modern myth formulation, in which an invisible domain oppresses characters. This study analyzes three themes of the novel in which this interaction is most observable: the religious, the supernatural, and the civic themes. Althusser's work …

Establishing Foundations For The Development Of A Music-Centered Music Therapy Assessment For Adults With Thought Disorders, Kaitlin Elizabeth Miller

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Mental illness in the United States affects approximately 9.6 million adults, or 4.1% of the population (NIMH, 2014). Thought disorders are most often associated with Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders, but can be present in other forms of mental illness, as well. Traditionally, the term thought disorder is defined as a disorder of cognitive organization in form and content, as indicated by disordered speech, delusions, disturbed sense of self, and abnormal psychomotor behavior (APA, 2013). The current methods of assessment primarily rely on the patients’ verbal language, however the literature indicates that there are limits to confining understanding to the verbal domain. …

“First-Rate Eddication”: The Educational Roles Of Merlyn And Dumbledore, Carissa Johnson

Masters Theses

The Once and Future King (1957) and the Harry Potter series (1997-2007) are Bildungsroman stories of young, orphaned boys, Wart and Harry, who endure extraordinary circumstances and become wise, mature, and heroic. The transformation that they undergo is the effect of strong education from their teachers, the wizards Merlyn and Dumbledore. This thesis uses progressive educational theory to demonstrate the model these wizards employ. This study also utilizes a study of discourse grammar and Lawrence Kohlberg’s theory of moral development to discuss the nature of Wart’s and Harry’s education. Because of the moral education demonstrated in the stories, reading them …

Flannery O'Connor And The Poetics Of Prayer: The Analysis Of A Prayer Journal, Emily Wilson

Masters Theses

Prior to the recent discovery of her college prayer journal, kept between 1946 and 1947, knowledge of Flannery O’Connor’s religious influence and activity had been restricted to her letters and published works, such as Mystery and Manners and The Habit of Being. Works such as these shed light onto O’Connor’s background and religious views, making her Catholic faith obvious and explicit. This prayer journal exposes a new aspect of her faith – that is the personal relationship between herself and God shown through narrative. Her prayer journal makes it clear that her external expression of faith, showcased in most of …

Póliza: A Bilingual Anthology Of Postmodern Peninsular Spanish Women Poets, Jacqueline Osborn

Honors Projects

Within this project I endeavor to translate a series of poems from seven postmodern female Spanish poets, exploring the challenges and idiosyncrasies of not only the migration between languages, but those specifically between Spanish and English as well as those particular to poetry translation. Of course, there are inherent limits to this process. Regarding the differences between English and Spanish, such difficulties as the presence of naturally reflexive verbs, neutral pronouns, more efficient nominalization of adjectives, and the greater presence of the subjunctive tense in Spanish arise. Respecting the problem of poetry, the structure, rhythm, and even the tone of …

The Glass Ceiling Is Not Broken: Gender Equity Issues Among Faculty In Higher Education, Jillian Wood

Educational Studies Dissertations

Gender discrimination is an ongoing topic, including discrimination that occurs in higher education. Previous studies have shown female faculty experience a variety of workplace discrimination including sexual harassment/bullying, salary disparities, and lack of worklife balance. This dissertation aimed to analyze equity issues for female faculty at a private university. The researcher utilized a narrative inquiry methodology, conducting interviews with five full-time female faculty. The purpose of this dissertation was to understand the participants’ everyday stories and lived experiences. The researcher utilized critical feminist theory and leadership theory to examine the notion of equity at this campus. The findings, shown through …

Chapman Guitar Ensemble, Chapman Guitar Ensetnble

Printed Performance Programs (PDF Format)

No abstract provided.