Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Desert Body, Lauren Mckinnon

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This thesis is a collection of poems examining certain paradoxes of my body. As a survivor of sexual violence, my body relives trauma which makes it feel uninhabitable. I compare my experiences with the Southern Utah desert. The physical beauty, destruction and inhabitability of the desert teaches me to accept my body as both beautiful and full of grief. The poems move chronologically through my life, beginning with an abusive relationship at the age of sixteen, a move to Moab at nineteen, and becoming a mother at twenty-five. Ultimately, with the desert as my guide, I learn to accept my …

Technical Communication Inclusionary Interventions Into Academic Spaces, Sam Clem

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

While many efforts have been made to make higher education in the US more equitable, there are still academic spaces in which some knowledges and some knowledge makers are marginalized. In this dissertation, I identify three such spaces: technical editing, graduate instructor training, and online academic research in trans communities. When editors make revisions based solely in American Standard English, as most editing practices and teaching are currently based, they risk marginalizing non-heritage speakers of English and speakers of various dialects of English, like African American Vernacular English. I suggest that by shifting our focus of editing from grammar policing …

Lgbtqia+ People And Religious Trauma, Cira Abiseid

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Many lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (or questioning), intersex, and asexual people (LGBTQIA+) experience religious trauma caused by the harmful messaging often aimed at sexual and gender minorities. Identity dissonance can be created when LGBTQIA+ people find their religious and sexual or gender minority identities at odds with each other. A review of existing literature revealed themes of identity erasure, internalized homophobia, and resilience, but there was limited research involving this population. This qualitative study centers the voices of those who have experienced religious trauma based on their identities and works to understand their healing journeys. Fifteen LGBTQIA+ individuals participated …

A Score Of Voices: Creating And Scoring An Original Film With A Cappella Choir, Zachary James Moore

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Film scores typically feature large instrumental ensembles, sometimes with choir added at pivotal moments. Rarely, however, is the choir entrusted with a greater percentage of the score, and far too scores explore the sonic potential that vocal music has to offer. In fact, in a recent study of 800 films, none contained a score that was completely c. Thus, the body of unaccompanied choral film scores is practically non-existent. This curious gap in repertoire inspired me to create the documentary Downstream (2023) and score it entirely with an unaccompanied choir. The full score to this new work is contained within …

Early Instruments In 21st Century Composition And An Original Composition For Saxophones And Viols, Jacob Bitinas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Composers continually seek new timbres and sonorities to bend to their will. The early music revival of the twentieth century has resurrected dozens of instruments that have gone unutilized in contemporary composition for centuries. The historically-informed-performance movement has now evolved to a point where early instruments and period performance techniques can add extraordinary new characters to twenty-first century compositions. This thesis explores how composers effectively utilize early instruments like the viola da gamba, harpsichord, lute, and recorder in their compositions.

The document also contains interview transcripts from eight composers and performers, including Nico Muhly, Liam Byrne, Martha Bishop, David Loeb, …

The Rise Of Wavetable Synthesis In Commercial Music And Its Creative Applications, Garrett Norman Scroggs

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Wavetable synthesis is a powerful tool for music creation that helps composers and producers develop their own unique sounds. Though wavetable synthesis has been utilized in music since the early 1980s, advancements in computer technologies in the 2000s and the subsequent releases of software synthesizers in the late 2000s and early 2010s has led to the increased presence of wavetable synthesis in commercial music. This thesis chronicles a historical overview of the use of wavetable synthesis in commercial music and demonstrates the accessibility and power that wavetable synthesis delivers in music creation. The demonstration portion of this thesis features two …

A Hero's Status In Two Lenguas, Ana Karen Miramontes Loya

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis consists of my statement of artistry, and documentation of artistic materials and thesis related performances.

Embracing The Ugliness A Director's Journey Into Yasmina Réza’S "God Of Carnage", Huan Thien Bui

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this paper, I detail my involvement directing Yasmina Réza's God of Carnage as my thesis show. This paper comprehensively covers every stage of the production process, beginning with pre-production tasks such as selecting a title, holding auditions, conducting research, and analyzing the script. It also encompasses the production procedures, including design meetings, rehearsals, tech week, and performances, before concluding with post-production activities such as self-reflection and analyzing audience feedback. Furthermore, I discuss the various insights I've gained about theatre practice over my four-year program in terms of acting, directing, and producing. This paper also serves as an intropective journey, …

Cartographic Analysis Of Earth-Sun Relationships In Ancient Amazonia, Jackson Bennett Critser

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The alignments of ancient man-made earthworks across the Amazon Basin, known as geoglyphs, have recently been discovered to predate early societal dates. Although much research indicated that the Amazon was uninhabitable until the last 1000 years (Meggers 1971), new evidence suggests this is not the case. The application of advanced cartographic and GIS technologies were implemented to link solar ‘marker’ days (e.g. solstices, equinoxes) with the alignment of geoglyphs, megaliths, stone architecture, and broader city forms to discover and analyze previously unknown Earth-Sun relationships across the Amazon Basin to conceivably sophisticated urban and architectural plans. The study of these geoglyphs …

Outside-In: Exploring Tennis' Most Compelling Stories, Michael Lavalva

Senior Honors Projects

There's a rich ideological history tied to the sport of Tennis, and it's full of profound stories.

This semester-long project features a four episode podcast about the history of tennis. It delves into why the sport is so important in generating intense emotion and real world change; and discusses the culture and ideology behind those who play, cover, and follow it. The stories that are explored in this podcast are told through the lens of the media they were told with — giving the simple storytelling sports podcast a more unique spin.

The podcast takes a simple shape. The first …

Antioxidant Activity And Phytochemical Profile Of Traditional Chinese Medicinal Plant Extracts, Ashley Tai

Senior Honors Projects

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), specifically the extracts of Chinese medicinal plants, has been studied for thousands of years to prevent, diagnose, and treat diseases. Our research group has initiated a program to systemically investigate the phytochemical composition and biological activities of a library of TCM medicinal plants. Herein, extracts of four commonly used TCM plants including broccoli (Brassica oleracea) seeds, horny goat weed (Epimedium brevicomu), houpu magnolia (Magnolia officinalis) bark, and golden root (Rhodiola rosea) were selected for this study. The antioxidant effects of these extracts were evaluated in a biochemical assay …

An Examination Of The Association Of Religiosity, Purity Culture, And Religious Trauma With Symptoms Of Depression And Anxiety, Kaelyn R. Griffin

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

While no consistent definition yet exists for religious trauma, religious abuse is typically defined as a misuse of authority by a spiritual leader to coerce, control, or exploit those under their leadership, which may in turn lead to the experience of religious trauma. Numerous studies suggest that experiencing abuse within a religious environment is a both global phenomenon and common experience. The impact of religious abuse has recently gained greater media attention, specifically related to the social and psychological impact of leaving high-cost religious groups (i.e., those with rigid rules or groups from which departure leads to isolation and rejection …

Polish Nationalism And The Flute Sonatina: The Influence Of Folklore On Inter-War Composers Tadeusz Kassern, Wojciech Kilar And Aleksander Tansman, Marta Plominska

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The music composed during World War II has been the subject of many concert programs in the classical music world. The music offers a poignant look into the human condition during a worldwide crisis and serves to capture the sentiments of the various cultures of the region during this time. One compelling musical perspective is from Polish nationals during WWII, who maintained a particularly fervent grasp on their national culture even while many were displaced and suppressed by the Nazi regime. This document will look at the flute compositions of three Polish nationals who wrote during this era, focusing on …

Kiss To The Fist, Greta Flanagan

Gandy Dancer Archives

No abstract provided.

The Astonishing, Tess Woitaszek

Gandy Dancer Archives

No abstract provided.

Nesting, Kiely Caulfield

Gandy Dancer Archives

No abstract provided.

The God-Fearing Bird Feeder, Mollie Mcmullan

Gandy Dancer Archives

No abstract provided.

Crisp, Juliana Warta

Gandy Dancer Archives

No abstract provided.

Poisoned Against The Moon, Mollie Mcmullan

Gandy Dancer Archives

No abstract provided.

S.S. Scarlett, Mollie Mcmullan

Gandy Dancer Archives

No abstract provided.

Learned Helplessness, Kendall Cruise

Gandy Dancer Archives

No abstract provided.

Currencies Of Loyalty, Frances Sharples

Gandy Dancer Archives

No abstract provided.

Dry, Tralee Cotter

Gandy Dancer Archives

No abstract provided.

Lover's Quarrel, Claire Bressette

Gandy Dancer Archives

No abstract provided.

On Moving // Letter To Lesbos, Sammie Terpening

Gandy Dancer Archives

No abstract provided.

Confession // Her Name Was Summer, Ashley Halm

Gandy Dancer Archives

No abstract provided.

Fluid, Leeanne Dutkiewicz

Gandy Dancer Archives

No abstract provided.

Fragments, Leeanne Dutkiewicz

Gandy Dancer Archives

No abstract provided.

Return To Sleep, Charlie Lange

Gandy Dancer Archives

No abstract provided.

Decomposition, Charlie Lange

Gandy Dancer Archives

No abstract provided.