Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Napalm Response, Gil Villagran

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Letter to Bob

Dismantling The Gate, Crossing The Threshold: The Promise Of Producerly Paratexts In Building An Innovative, Responsive, And Representative Book Industry, Dory Athey

Book Publishing Final Research Papers

Aisha Saeed was the first to use the hashtag that would fuel what was (and continues to be) arguably the first digital campaign to speak loudly and directly to publishers and booksellers about the mis-and underrepresentation of nonwhite, differently abled, and queer populations in young adult and children’s literature. Though Saeed’s original tweet received only eleven retweets and seven likes, two years later, the #WeNeedDiverseBooks hashtag is now just a piece of the larger organization that generated more than 333,000 dollars in 2014 (its first year as an organization) and continues to promote large-scale programming in schools, organize festivals, award …

We’Ll Want It When We Say We Want It: How The Market Speaks To The Publishing Industry Via Crowdfunding, And Why Publishers Should Listen, Alan Scott Holley

Book Publishing Final Research Papers

With its utilization of an environment as fluid and innovative as the internet, it’s no wonder that the digital revolution is an ongoing phenomenon that is reinvigorated time and time again with no signs of slowing down. As advanced digital technologies and practices are rolled out by developers and embraced by consumers, commercial companies are thrust headlong into a necessitated showing of adaptability, progressiveness, and up-to-the-minute technological fluency. For the publishing industry, these expectations have been met with a slow yet relatively steady adherence—an understandable reaction considering how so many digital innovations appeared at the time to have the express …

Elevating The Translator: Next Steps In Promoting International Literature, Olenka Burgess

Book Publishing Final Research Papers

Enthusiastic readers both inside and outside the publishing industry have lamented the paucity of international literature translated into English. Despite the widely held belief that translated literature doesn’t sell, small presses and literary organizations have emerged over the past decade to take the lead in advocating for more translated literature and more recognition for those who, despite the near impossibility of making a living from their craft alone, continue to spill unfathomable hours into the pursuit of literary translation. In response to this advocacy, media coverage of translated literature has grown considerably, and it is increasingly common to see translations …

Publishing Puzzles: Some Implications Of Literary Diffculty For The Editor, Brendan Brown

Book Publishing Final Research Papers

The specter of literary difficulty is at bottom the very same as, or a primary aspect of, that which has dogged and driven textual scholars and literary theorists, linguists and philosophers of language, educators, legislators, theologians, and aesthetes—in short, “professional readers” of all stripes—from time immemorial. As such, it carries with it a bevy of unknowns, questions thus far neither satisfactorily answered nor, in many cases, even fully and properly articulated. This likely has a great deal to do with the fact that the term difficulty is and has historically been applied in a variety of senses to a radically …

Assimilationist Language In Cherokee Women's Petitions: A Political Call To Reclaim Traditional Cherokee Culture, Jillian Moore Bennion

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Twenty-one years before the forced-removal of Cherokee people from their native lands east of the Mississippi, Cherokee people fought peacefully to maintain ownership of Cherokee-owned lands and attempted to preserve, at least in part, traditional Cherokee culture. Through the drafting of petitions, specifically written between 1817-19, Cherokee women pushed back against pressure to assimilate to Anglo-American culture and to cede Cherokee land to the United States Government. The five petitions that are present in this analysis were drafted in response to an ongoing Cherokee- United States land crisis.

This article looks at petitions written by female Cherokee and male Cherokee …

Away For The Homeland: Why Students Fought To Keep Intermountain Indian School Open, Carol Tonnies

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

In 1971, Lehman L. Brightman, president of United Native Americans (UNA), visited Intermountain Indian School in Brigham City at the request of parents and students. After inspecting the school, he compiled a series of complaints and recommended the immediate closure of the school. His complaints included the use of Chlorpromazine (Thorazine) to treat drunkenness, the conditions of the food and dorms, and the lack of Indian control of the school. He supported filing a law suit against the school on behalf of the students. He recommended, “They must, at all cost be moved out of the heart of ‘Mormon country’ …

Quilting In Children's Literature: An Analysis Of Stereotypes, Megan Egbert

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

For many people, exposure to folk art happens at a young age; however, we may not realize what it is, see its value, or be aware of the terminology used by scholars. The lack of understanding the importance of folk art is especially true for children’s books. This project focuses on the analysis of children’s books about quilts or quilting, primarily because quilts are often found in books and relatable to a wide audience. While the choice in genre and topic may limit the scope of folk art analysis, there are still hundreds of books solely based on quilts or …

Masculinities And Christian Metal: A Critical Analysis Of August Burns Red Lyrics, Brian W. Bowler

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

The purpose of this thesis is to examine and analyze the lyrics of a Christian metal band through the lens of men and masculinities. Heavy metal music is known for its controversial and transgressive elements in its music, lyrics, and image. Through their transgressive performances, metal musicians challenge power structures informed by hegemonic masculinity. Christian metal musicians perform what Moberg calls a "double-controversy" or a double-challenge to hegemonic masculinity, as they transgress the traditions and hegemonic masculinity of the metal scene.

While many metal bands write lyrics about social issues, it is not typical for a Christian metal band to …

Cleaning Up Nasty Nac: Vice, Race, And Social Reform In Nacogdoches, Texas, 1870 To 1915, Kayla L. Fox

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

In 1910, Della Sutphen, an African American widow and single mother, was indicted in Nacogdoches, Texas, for running a “house of ill repute.” Della and her young son shared a home with another single black woman, Rena Hooper. However, Nacogdoches County officials did not seem to be all that worried about prostitution; Della was one of several African Americans repeatedly arrested for selling liquor.1 Della’s prostitution charge went hand in hand with a charge of selling liquor illegally, and this was one of three instances in which she suffered arrest for this crime.

Nacogdoches had a long history of liquor …

Rhetoric In Mormon Female Healing Rituals During The Nineteenth Century, Carrie Ann King Johnson

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Using the minutes of the Female Relief Society of Nauvoo, journals and diaries kept by early Mormon women, and letters written about healing blessings, this thesis looks at how nineteenth-century Mormon women used rhetoric in healing rituals to build community, claim power, and comfort one another thorough illness, death, and birth. Claudia L. Bushman points out that “Mormon women were much like other American women of their day, but their allegiance to the faith led them in some new directions.” Instead of retreating to acceptable standards of femininity, Mormon women claimed and used godly power and authority.

The women who …

Robert Frost’S Ulteriority: Saying One Thing In Terms Of Another – The Inexpressible, Nicolette S. Stackhouse

Honors Theses

Robert Frost’s poetry, which is famously rich in double meaning—saying one thing but meaning something else—is also concerned with pragmatism. Pragmatism implies that there is no one fundamental universal truth. I contend that Robert Frost’s poetry says that duplicity of meaning, or ulteriority, is something to be embraced. Frost wants the uncertainty of meaning to be understood by the reader as vital to life and the mind’s processes. The simple fact that so many readers search for the hidden meanings in his poetry justly proves this point. As a pragmatist, Frost was aware that the process of getting to a …

Sustainable Design: Can Eco-Friendly Be Beautiful?, Melanie T. Santiago

Honors Theses

Graphic design students and professionals experience an enormous amount of pressure in regards to their final printed pieces. In the effort to produce flawless work, they print several versions of a piece—often comparing dozens of copies for slight differences in ink variation, color saturation and paper quality. While this trial-and-error process undoubtedly accomplishes its intended effects, it also produces outrageous amounts of wasted paper, ink and cardboard among other products.

Graphic design has implemented computers to increase efficiency in the design process while ignoring the impact of obsolete hardware on the environment. In its perfectionism, it has sent countless pounds …

Bridging The Gap: Making Modern Dance Accessible To The General Public Through Elements Of Art And Entertainment, Samantha S. Russell

Honors Theses

My senior choreographic project, DoRaMiFaSoDoSiDo, was inspired by and dedicated to the relationships I share with my six siblings. It was set to the song "Attaboy" off of the collaborative album The Goat Rodeo Sessions by Chris Thile, Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, and Edgar Meyer. Influenced by the bright and fun atmosphere of barn dances, this seven-person concert dance was performed in the Repertory Dance Company Fall Dance Concert at the Mannoni Performing Arts Center in Hattiesburg, MS in the fall of 2015. This paper investigates different choreographic methods that I discovered through the process of creating my senior project …

An Experience Like No Other: A Case Study On Summer Camp Culture, Sarah E. Rhett

Honors Theses

In “An Experience Like No Other: A Case Study on Summer Camp Culture,” I consider the stories of individuals as they remember experiences and encounters they had while at summer camp. As a camper, counselor, and staff member, I have experienced many sides of camp. Recognizing my own tendency to describe the camp experience with claims about how “camp relationships are the best” and how “camp is great,” I decided that I, and others, would benefit from a study that considers and critiques these commonly recited stories about camp as a master narrative. Indeed, as the number of summer camps …

Constructing Reality: The Role Of Mass Media In The Hunger Games Series, Jordan E. Nettles

Honors Theses

The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins is an incredibly popular Young Adult series that has had a large impact on both children and adults. The media environment within The Hunger Games trilogy can provide insight into our own world. This thesis seeks to discuss how governing structures in the trilogy, the Capitol and District 13, manipulate the media to secure their own power. Using contemporary research on media theories, media methods, and media effects, this thesis focuses primarily on the Capitol and District 13’s efforts to create and use the media image of Katniss Everdeen, the central character of …

The Effect Music Has In Speech Therapy, Emily K. Nester

Honors Theses

The purpose of this exploratory study was to determine the use of music in speech therapy. A survey was sent via email to Mississippi Speech-Language-Hearing Association (MSHA) certified speech-language pathologists to acquire knowledge on the use of music in their therapy sessions. The author used the source, SurveyMonkey, to collect and analyze the data. The data was used to determine the prevalence of music in speech therapy. In addition, when music was used, the data portrayed how music was incorporated into therapy and the particular gender, genre, and/or disorder preferred.

The Good, The Bad And The Useless: The Perception Of Books In Ray Bradbury’S Fahrenheit 451, Markus Zusak’S The Book Thief, And Gary Shteyngart’S Super Sad True Love Story, Morgan Grace Milburn

Honors Theses

Literature acts as a thought experiment that allows authors to test out theoretical concepts. In dystopian literature, authors test their theories on what leads to a dystopian society, and therefore how to avoid it. In this thesis, I examine three dystopian novels, Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief, and Gary Shteyngart’s Super Sad True Love Story as well as the theories the authors engage with on how to avoid dystopian futures. All three of the novels suggest that wisdom is the way to avoid a dystopian future, but the ways they define wisdom are different. By examining …

Pearls And Politics: White Clubwomen’S Activism In The Postwar South, Kelly E. Liles

Honors Theses

Elite white women’s organizations, such as the League of Women Voters, the Daughters of the American Revolution, and the American Association of University Women, provide a unique perspective on history. These political women’s clubs, which range from liberal to conservative, are discussed in the context of how they responded to the postwar era of McCarthyism and the Civil Rights Movement. These women wanted to become respected political actors; however, they understood this was only achieved in a manner that was considered acceptable for women. This study begins by analyzing who these women were, including their political inclinations and motivations and …

Facilitating Environmental Literacy In A Socio-Digital Landscape, Anna E. Hotard

Honors Theses

My work engages digital communications, traditional writing, and campus/community engagement in order to curate emergent knowledge of environmental citizenship and sustainable development. In the city of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, there has been a growing interest in environmental literacy both on the University of Southern Mississippi campus and within the city community. Environmental literacy takes many forms from informational sessions, fundraisers and events, to outright activism. This work informs my evolving identity as an editor as I choreograph traditional transcripts into a digital sphere in order to provide a collective space for related interests.

Graphic Design And The Cinema: An Application Of Graphic Design To The Art Of Filmmaking, Kacey B. Holifield

Honors Theses

When the public considers different art forms such as painting, drawing and sculpture, it is easy to understand the common elements that unite them. Each is a non-moving art form that begins at the drawing board. Using line, color and shape to evoke a particular response from audiences is what ties these fine arts together. Graphic design, however, tends to separate itself from the fine arts. Because of its later development in the art world, as well as, its operation within modern technological developments, graphic design is driven by the idea of communicating to large audiences. In this way, although …

Reporting Rumors In The Reconstruction South: The Aftermath Of The New Orleans Riot Of 1866, Joanna L. Gunnufsen

Honors Theses

At the end of the American Civil War, political divisiveness, economic turmoil, and violence plagued the South. Riots occurred across the Reconstruction South, from New Orleans to Memphis. Though scholars have examined the causes of Reconstruction violence, this study examines the role of newspapers in promulgating fear, paranoia, and violence in Southern communities in the wake of the New Orleans Riot of 1866. This thesis analyzes nine Louisiana newspapers to investigate whether newspapers published local and national rumors of violence or potential uprisings in the first three months after the riot. Though the rise of telegraphic news aided the rapid …

Alone Under The Night Sky, Bret Lundstrom

Arrow Rock

No abstract provided.

Bar Talk, Brandon Evans

Arrow Rock

No abstract provided.

Blatant Plagiarism, Kristine Wagner

Arrow Rock

No abstract provided.

Business Meeting, Brandon Evans

Arrow Rock

No abstract provided.

Confessions Of Daisy And Margo, Marissa Bylo

Arrow Rock

No abstract provided.

Countdown, Marissa Bylo

Arrow Rock

No abstract provided.

D’Amour Pour Paris, Jeffrey Yates

Arrow Rock

No abstract provided.

For The Kids, Brandon Evans

Arrow Rock

No abstract provided.