Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Is Jesus Of Nazareth The Predicted Messiah? A Historical-Evidential Approach To Specific Old Testament Messianic Prophecies And Their New Testament Fulfillments, Douglas Scott

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The primary purpose of this dissertation is to establish if critically acceptable historical-evidential reasons exist for believing that Jesus Christ is the direct fulfillment of the specific OT messianic texts included in the study. The study presupposes many of the conclusions of historical-critical scholarship and employs historical-evidential criteria to evaluate the evidence and attempt to establish the historical warrant for affirming such belief. Secondarily, this study seeks to find minimal facts related to these specific OT prophetic texts. To qualify as a minimal fact, two conditions must be met: (1) there must be more than adequate scholarly evidences usually consisting …

Paleoimagery: The Artistic Restoration Of Dinosaurs And Prehistoric Life, Colin Mcnulty

Honors Projects

My purpose in creating this paper is to research a holistic view of paleontological illustration (also called paleoimagery or paleoart). A thorough history of paleoimagery is outlined from its roots in biblical illustration in the 17^th and 18^th centuries approaching the modern day. A two-fold examination of the utility of art to communicate science and its use within the science of paleontology is also given. This includes discussions of the specific components of art pieces that help them to successfully communicate scientific ideas and examples of how paleoimagery contributes to paleontology. The author then outlines the conception and …

From A Traveling Daughter: A Photographic Memoir, Lilian Murnen

Honors Projects

“World sits outside the door, A voice in your heart is calling, The ends of the world await, Traveling daughter, Feel the sunshine on your face, Starlight guides your feet, Earth and Sky will carry you, Journey after journey, One mountain to the next, Voice in your heart is calling.” (Abigail Washburn, “Song of the Traveling Daughter” translated from Mandarin Chinese)

My family keeps me safe, but it is this safety that protects me from the discomfort that is necessary for growth. Like Abigail Washburn’s “voices,” my discontent and my curiosity call me to venture far beyond what I can …

Auc Buile, Benjamin Davis

Theses and Dissertations

The contents of this work include a script of the play Auc Buile, a description of the writing process, an analysis of the piece both as written text and as a performance, and a projection of what might be the next stages in its development. The play itself is a representation of the struggle to create. It allowed me the opportunity to put into practice much of what I learned during my time in the Masters of Fine Arts program.

Topics In Group Testing With Multiple Infections, Peijie Hou

Theses and Dissertations

Group testing, dating back to the early 1940s, was first proposed to screen for syphilis among US inductees during World War II (Dorfman, 1943). Since then, the benefits of reducing testing costs by employing group testing have been demonstrated in many areas, such as drug discovery, genetics, and infectious disease testing. Traditionally, statistical research in group testing has largely been motivated by applications involving a single infection. With the recent development of multiplex assays that can diagnose multiple infections simultaneously, generalizing the existing group testing literature to incorporate multiple infections is a natural and necessary next step. This dissertation consists …

From Choc En Retour To Nomadisme En Fleche, Paul T. Mcelhinny

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis seeks to analyze and expound upon Aimé Césaire’s theory of history, choc en retour from Discours sur le colonialisme and situate William Faulkner’s Absalom! Absalom! and André Schwarz-Bart’s La Mulatresse Solitude (and to a lesser extent Le Dernier des Justes and Go Down, Moses) within this theoretical framework; which presents the Holocaust as the culmination (“retrun shock”) of four centuries of colonial violence – from the seventeenth to twentieth centuries – perpetrated by Western powers such as France and the United States. While Césaire’s application to Schwarz- Bart’s texts is more standard – with his two novels explicitly …

Speaking Of Qualia: Examining A Craft Beer Microcommunity's Membership Identity Through Speech, Anna Hamer

Theses and Dissertations

This ethnography examines a locally owned craft beer store in South Carolina, where craft beer connoisseurs and enthusiasts come together to elevate their beer drinking experience. Many members of this microcommunity use ‘beer talk’, a technical register of speech (Agha 2007; Manning 2008; Silverstein 2006, 2016), to point to, or index, a part of their beer connoisseur identity. The ‘beer talk’ register used to describe craft beer is enacted at various scales of speech (Carr and Lempert 2016), ranging from Cicerone Certification and mobile applications, to online forums, beer festivals, beer magazines, brewery visits, and face-to-face interaction. The CofP model …

Planters, Merchants, And Revolution: Lobbying Power And The Economic Origins Of Independence In South Carolina, Christian David Lear

Theses and Dissertations

The origins of the American Revolution in South Carolina derived from politicoeconomic factors. Most prominent among those factors was the lobbying power that elite South Carolinians sought within a new confederation. The ruling class of the province looked to the British Caribbean and perceived an immense lobbying power that resulted from the strong economies of sugar islands such as Jamaica. South Carolina simply could not match this power because of the disparate economies. Islands of the British Caribbean enjoyed tremendous clout in shaping imperial policy because of the revenue raised by sugar exports. On the mainland, however, South Carolina enjoyed …

Shaping Metallic Nanoparticles Toward Integrated Plasmonics And Catalysis, Qingfeng Zhang

Theses and Dissertations

Noble metal nanoparticles have been of tremendous interest because of their intriguing size- and shape-dependent plasmonic and catalytic properties. The combination of tunable plasmon resonances with superior catalytic activities on the same nanoparticle, however, has long been challenging because plasmonics and catalysis require nanoparticles in two drastically different size regimes. Tunable plasmon resonances is a unique feature of sub-wavelength metallic nanoparticles, whereas heterogeneous catalysis requires the use of sub-5 nm nanoparticles as the catalysts. In this dissertation, I firstly found a unique way to bridge this size gap between nanoplasmonics and nanocatalysis. I demonstrated that desired plasmonic and catalytic properties …

Interspace Suit, Moriah Okun

Bachelor of Fine Arts Senior Papers

My thesis work investigates the transformative possibility of mediating the space between ourselves and others, the tension between solitude and loneliness, and the disconnects between mind and body, personal and shared experience, and artist and viewer. The basis of my process is stitching and coiling — a practical and symbolic act of joining together material that serves as structure and surface. I am inspired by work that explores this middle space, like that of Archigram, Lucy Orta, Lygia Clark, and Ernesto Neto. These artists first showed me what it was possible to create when the viewer’s body becomes the site …

Afterlives, Joel Sherman

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Flesh In Line With The Mind : Gender In Caitlin Kiernan’S The Drowning Girl., Sarah Buckley

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

This paper analyzes how Caitlyn R. Kiernan in her novel The Drowning Girl characterizes gender identity, particularly in regards to women, both transgender and cisgender. The book's characterization of gender roles for cisgender men, cisgender women, and transgender women, while seeming on the surface to subvert sexist stereotypes, reproduces the pitfalls of feminist literary criticism popularized in the 1970s and 1980s. Notably, such themes include viewing women's madness as a method of transcending masculine rationality, a dichotomized essentialism of masculinity and femininity, and universalizing women's experience without regards to race, class, and nationality. Transgender autobiographical and literary archetypes employed in …

"What To Inspect When You're Expecting" : Critically Examining Constructions Of Women In What To Expect When You're Expecting., Kirsi Lancaster

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

This paper critically analyzes and draws out harmful implications of the language used around pregnancy and women's bodies in the 2016 edition of What to Expect When You're Expecting, using a close reading of the text and multiple interdisciplinary sources. Themes include gender norms and essentialism, heteronormativity, surveillance of women's bodies, and the reduction of women to mere fetal environments.

"Y'All And All These Assessments Is A Little Bit Too Much" : The Effects Of High-Stakes Testing On Critical Literacy Pedagogy., Diana Lalata

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

As the United States of America becomes increasingly diverse, there is a need for teachers to embrace multiculturalism within the classroom. Shifting away from the traditional “banking model” of teaching, educational researchers call for a more critical approach—one in which teachers and students challenge dominant beliefs and practices of education. Foregrounded in those aims of cultural competence and critical consciousness, “critical literacy pedagogy” addresses the politicization of literacy education and employs conscious curriculum and teaching strategies to empower marginalized voices. Although a number of case studies on critical literacy pedagogy show considerable promise in disrupting dominant discourse and developing cultural …

"The Only True American Republic" : Vermont Independence And The Development Of Constitutional Government In The Early United States., Jacob Michael Abrahamson

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

Vermont’s declaration of independence in 1777 created a unique and unprecedented situation in the brief history of the United States. Individuals in the newly independent New York and New Hampshire each claimed portions of present-day Vermont as part of their own state, and while Vermonters wished to become the fourteenth state in the brand-new country, the Continental Congress was in no hurry to take action. This paper analyzes how the Vermont issue affected the broader debate over the nature and limits of American federalism and the channels and limits of congressional power.

Existential Counseling For An Extraordinary Community, John Cox

Senior Honors Projects

Existential philosophy views the anticipation of death as an opportunity to live more authentically; in doing so Existentialism challenges us to take responsibility for our fundamental freedom and the creation of meaning in life. In addition, psychotherapeutic methods that consciously utilize core existential concepts appear to have beneficial effects on those experiencing grief or bereavement. In particular the psychotherapeutic method Logotherapy, which is grounded in existential analysis, appears to be especially conducive to grief therapy in practice. Logotherapy helps client find their ‘will to meaning,’ which has astounding implications for the bereaved individual’s meaning making process.

Such implications, however, have …

Social Support And Well-Being In Lgbt Adults, Jessica D. Brown

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship among positive mental health, well-being, and perceived social support in individuals who identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT). The participants included 251 individuals from a rural area in the Midwest who completed an online survey; 47 of these individuals identified as LGBT. Well-Being was measured using the Warwick- Edinburg Mental Well-Being Scale (WEMWBS; Stewart-Brown et al., 2002), and perceived social support was evaluated using the Multidimensional Scale for Perceived Social Support (MSPSS; Zimet, Dahlem, Zimet & Farley, 1988). Scores were compared between LGBT and Non-LGBT participants. At an …

Using Music With Intuitive Interface As A Catalyst To Improve Social Engagement Among Elders At An Assisted Living Facility, Vishwam Rajagopal

Theses - ALL

My thesis explores the use of music as a catalyst to improve social engagement among elders at an assisted living facility. In order to increase engagement I am exploring intuitive interface.

The design is an interactive interface which facilitates participation from remote location thereby increasing engagement. The design involves the other residents, part of the art group in Menorah Park to participate in creating the interface, thereby widening the social networks of the elders and creating more meaningful engagement.

The Treatment Of Sexual Violence And Reclaimed Agency In Shakespeare’S Titus Andronicus And The Rape Of Lucrece, Lily Sarkisian

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

This project explores Shakespeare’s treatment of rape and sexual violence in Titus Andronicus and The Rape of Lucrece through close reading, analysis, and discussion of relevant source material. Critiques of Shakespeare that center around his perceived anti-feminist convictions tend to focus on his morbidly comical depictions of rape and violence against female victims. However, despite their position as victims, Lavinia in Titus Andronicus and Lucrece in The Rape of Lucrece reclaim revenge on their attackers. Shakespeare deliberately lends his literary eloquence to Lavinia and Lucrece, enabling them to partly avenge the crimes done unto them. By representing these characters as …

"All I Ask Of You": A Feature Film, Margaret Siciliano

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

All I Ask of You is a dramatic feature film script that showcases the dynamics between people who struggle with types of dementia and their friends and family. Although most stories that cover dementia focus on the victim, this story chooses to focus on the people closest to those victims. The story takes on tough decisions that those closest to the disease have to make due to the debilitating affect it has on victim. The medical community doesn’t know very much about dementia. We know there is a particular dementia gene that is hereditary, but we don’t know how to …

Modesty And Manliness: Gendered Truth-Telling In Herodotus, Jennifer Shulman

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

In the Histories, Herodotus fashions himself as the first historian as he chronicles the saga of the Persian Wars. Although he tries to base his narrative solely on fact, Herodotus must dip into the realm of oral tradition, folklore and myth in order fill the gaps of recorded history. In doing this, Herodotus takes on the roles of both author and historian. As a result, the work as a whole can be read as a historical document and a piece of literature. In order to gain the most from the narrative, it is imperative that one read the piece as …

Fashion, Communication, And Consumerism, Jodi Robbins

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

The fashion industry is a 1.2 trillion dollar global market, with more than 250 billion dollars spent each year in the United States alone. With over 4 million individuals employed in the United States it takes a village to distribute, sell, and communicate apparel across the world. A large portion of the fashion industry functions with the help of sales associates. Businesses would not be able to function without design, manufacturing, distribution, marketing, advertising, communication, buying, planning, and consulting. In a global market where communication, social media, and image are quickly changing, the retail environment is promoting functionality of fashion …

Contested Spaces: Spatial Discourses And The Struggle For Power In The Early Modern English Empire, Emily O'Hara

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

This project examines how early modern English spatial discourses can be used to understand power relations at the beginning of American colonization. Through analyzing John Smith’s A True Relation, Smith’s Generall Historie of Virginia, Ralph Hamor’s A True Discourse of the Present Estate of Virginia, and William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, I argue that, despite English attempts to highlight their abilities to exert absolute control over peripheral spaces, English writers ultimately reveal within their texts that the English are unable to definitively control spaces throughout the empire. These spaces include peripheral regions far from English centers of …

The Communication Of Cheating: A Rhetorical Analysis Of The Communication Major League Baseball Players Use When Accused Of Taking Performance Enhancing Drugs., Andrew Mallon

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

There has always been a strong bond between baseball and controversy. Most recently, this connection has manifested itself in the form of the steroid era in baseball. While that chapter in baseball history has closed, there are lingering effects. Each season, players are receiving suspensions for performance enhancing drug (PED) use by Major League Baseball.

Through different methods of rhetorical analysis, four players will be looked at and critiqued on their statements regarding PED accusations. Reading and analyzing the communication through the lens of these players shapes the strategies that each player chose to implement. In a post-steroid era league, …

The Uses And Abuses Of Hellenism By The Diadochi And Their Successors, Andrew Kennedy

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

This paper examines the means by which the Successors to Alexander the Great, known as the Diadochi, fostered and encouraged the growth of Hellenism within their empires. Using this foundation, it goes on to argue that the Diadochi consciously encouraged this growth to help consolidate their unstable regimes and expand their power. The basis for this analysis is largely in academic texts regarding the Hellenistic world and Ancient sources such as Herodotus, Josephus, and Polybius. The investigation itself looks at four elements of the Hellenistic world that best exemplify the Successors’ relationship with Hellenism: Religion, Politics, War, and Cities. Each …

How Comedy Television Is Written And Developed., Douglas Holloway

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

In this analysis, I plan to describe how I developed and wrote three episodes of a comedy web series. In the beginning of my paper, I will discuss the importance of my cultural background and how it shaped my appreciation of a wide variety of artistic expression. I then will discuss the contrast of art I experienced in my academic compared to my domestic life. I will then focus on the importance of television and film in my life. Specifically, I will discuss how I was influenced by popular television at a young age. I will discuss viewing sinister films …

Uncontrollable Color: Street Art Meets Street Style, Laura Fidati

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

Uncontrollable Color: Street Art Meets Street Style is the title of my senior Capstone thesis project for the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Fashion Design at Syracuse University. For this project, I designed a collection of six complete outfits that explore the theme of London street art. The thesis project will be presented in a public fashion show at Syracuse University at the end of April. In this critical statement, I will explore a brief history of fashion design, fabric dyes, and street style. Chapter two explains the origins of my inspiration for the collection. The last portion of …

Letters To Lindbergh: An Illustrated Children’S Book, Samantha Gottwalt

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

Letters to Lindbergh is an illustrated children’s book offering a new perspective on the relationship between the aviator Charles Lindbergh and his father, while also bringing a visual component to historical documents. Illustrated by Samantha Gottwalt, the book’s art explores collage media techniques and the story is told through letters that Lindbergh exchanged with his father during his adolescence (1909-1924.) It aims to explore a facet of Lindbergh’s life that has little exposure and invited the reader to step into a vividly colored collaged world created with paint and cut paper. Through the new perspective of Lindbergh’s correspondence the story …

An Exploration Into The Causes And Consequences Of Women As A Minority In Technical Fields, Emily Fesnak

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

This paper examines the causes behind why fewer women enter technology fields than men. By utilizing previous published research and studies from 1994-2016, the analyses made in this paper explore the evolution of women’s interest and leadership in technology fields. The research dictates that there are not just sociological and structural causes for female adherence to entering technology fields, but the research also points to psychological causes, as well. In order to improve female representation and leadership in technology fields, it is crucial that these causes are acknowledged and addressed directly. Specifically, employers must recognize the differences between male and …

Osiris: A Short Film, Kathryn Ferentchak

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

Osiris is a narrative short film which emphasizes renewable energy as Earth’s one Hail Mary, placing the power of science and engineering into the hands of a female protagonist. Directed and produced by the up and coming filmmaker, Kathryn Ferentchak, Osiris is unique among student films for its incredible production value. The independent film industry is often hampered by an incomplete or poor understanding of how to successfully plan for and execute the five essential steps of filmmaking. Analyzing Osiris will demonstrate how a successful film can move from Development to Distribution. There is never only one way to make …