Arts and Humanities Commons^™

“Words Of Plainness” Jacob’S Apology, His Addendum, And The Competing Forms Of Nephite Worship, Dan Belnap, Rob Hernandez

Faculty Publications

Jacob’s powerful essay in Jacob chapters 4–6 ends with this statement: “I bid you farewell, until I shall meet you before the pleasing bar of God, which bar striketh the wicked with awful dread and fear. Amen” (Jacob  6:13). The essay represents Jacob’s teachings as a Nephite priest concerning the centrality of Christ in the religious and doctrinal framework of his Nephite congregation. It fits within the greater structure of the book of Jacob, which appears to be governed by Nephi1’s instructions concerning what should be included on the small plates. Recorded by Jacob in Jacob 1, the instruction suggests …

God Poezii 2024, Victor Fet

Biological Sciences Faculty Research

Fet, V. (ed.). God poezii 2024 [Year of Poetry 2024]. Kyiv: Drukarskii dvir Oleha Fedorova. 2024. 620 p.

The third volume of the *Year of Poetry* annual has once again brought together over 100 authors from various countries. “We all speak and write in Russian—a language disgraced by the invaders... Only the word that remains untainted will outlive both the current disgrace and this utter hell.” (Anatoly Liberman). We are proud that this anthology is being published in Kyiv for the third time. No matter what we write about, the hearts and verses of those who cannot remain silent—from every …

Sovereignty, International Law, And The Princely States Of Colonial South Asia By Priyasha Saksena (Oxford University Press 2023), Aryan Tulsyan, Prabhash Ranjan

National Law School Journal

Sovereignty, International Law, and the Princely States of Colonial South Asia by Priyasha Saksena is a significant academic intervention into understanding South Asia. The author maps how the various actors—the princely states, the British Crown, the East India Company (the company), and the anti-colonial nationalists—used international law, especially the vernacular of sovereignty, to advance their arguments and achieve their goals during the colonial struggle.

Rethinking The Inclusionary Potential Of Religious Institutions: The Case Of Gurdwaras In Singapore, Siew Ying Shee, Orlando Woods

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

Whilst Singapore’s Sikh community is relatively small, it is also heterogeneous. Its diversity reflects differences in ancestral and socio-economic backgrounds. As spaces of worship that regularly bring together the Sikh community in space and time, Sikh temples—gurdwaras––are often conceived as important places through which a shared sense of religiously-defined community is reproduced. Yet, as much as religion can provide a bridge that integrates people of different ethnic, racial, national, and linguistic groups into a single faith community, so too can it act as a buttress through which differences and divisions are enforced within the community. We argue that whilst gurdwaras …

Disasters And History: The Vulnerability And Resilience Of Past Societies By Bas Van Bavel, Et Al, Fiona Williamson

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

Disaster history is an emerging field that offers tantalizing possibilities for disaster studies broadly conceived. Like many subdisciplines of history, such as environmental history, the focus on disaster as a subject of historical inquiry grew out of contemporary real-world concerns, specifically the rise of interest from sociologists, geographers, and developmental studies experts in understanding the relationship of natural hazards with socioeconomic development and rebuilding out of disaster in the Cold War. Enter the age of the Anthropocene—many of these concerns have coalesced around the possibility of new and more frequent climate change–induced hazards. Under such conditions, the authors of this …

Multiethnic Elites And The Management Of Tropical Heat In Colonial Malaya, Circa 1870s-1930s, Claire Lowrie, Nicole Tarulevicz, Fiona Williamson, Charmaine H. Lam

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

This article considers the responses of multiethnic urban elites to living with tropical heat in colonial Malaya by analysing attitudes towards the meteorological study of temperature, commercial cold storage and hill stations. A transcolonial and transimperial approach is used to illustrate that interest in managing and monitoring temperature was slower to develop in Malaya compared with other tropical colonies. The article also considers how access to methods of ameliorating heat was shaped by colonial hierarchies based on ideas of race and class.

“I Know What Nothing Means”: Nostalgia, Hope, And The Postmodern Search For The Sublime, Kathryn L. Donati

Theses and Dissertations

Amid simultaneous crises of self, nation, digital citizenship, global health, climate change, and socio-political polarization, to name but a few of the catastrophes that seem to define life in the global West in the twenty-first century, where do we find hope? Do we find it at all? Is there any hope to be found? These are the questions that serve as the genesis for this undertaking in which I locate the origin of these crises far before the events of the 2016 and 2020 elections, far before even the panic of Y2K. I begin my examination of hope in contemporary …

Shinners, Alexis E. Mabry

Theses and Dissertations

Shinners is a project that aims to examine the position of women in subcultures and capture conversations of women in subcultural sports. Within feminism, sociological constructs, campy horror, and personal experience I am manifesting the physical and mental obstacles faced in the subcultural sport of Bicycle Motocross (BMX) through photography, painting, collage, video, and sculpture. I interpret images posted to social media of injuries obtained while riding BMX as forms of empowerment, bodily gore as extreme evidence of participation, performative violence, valorizing the understanding of both the physical and psychological pain of failure, and the use of failure as a …

Doctors And Saints: Preparing Albert Camus’S The Plague To Address The Dangers Of Christian Nationalism, Christopher J. Williams

Theses and Dissertations

My project is focused on identifying and responding to Christian nationalism in United States politics by utilizing Albert Camus’s novel The Plague. The Plague found heightened popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic and its lasting legacy points to what should be long-term prominence in the public eye. With its popularity and anti-fascist content, The Plague is an appropriate text to utilize for addressing America’s Christian nationalism. My paper functions with a foundation on the work of Kenneth Burke, particularly his focus on literature’s utility as equipment for living.

I use my project to suggest that The Plague is not in an …

Points Of Contact, Giancarlo Venturini

Theses and Dissertations

The work in Points of Contact arises from engaging love as it relates to distance, desire, and longing. This paper will analyze my painting practice and its evolution from the explicit to implicit. Specifically I am going to talk about my utilization of landscape painting to consider another way of expressing sexuality and queerness. I will explain how objects and landscapes are conduits for feelings that can intrinsically hold allegorical representations. This show is about searching through vast spaces to find points of connection in the natural world. I will talk about portals and the varied degrees of accessible windows …

Preexisting Conditionings: Painting, Gaming And Narrative Play, Pia Bakala

Theses and Dissertations

My work incorporates play, fantasy, and self-actualization through painting, sculpture, and video. In this essay, I will explore the ways in which my studio practice intersects with topics across fields of visual arts and in conjunction their theoretical frameworks. I will discuss the culminating body of work, tentatively titled Preexisting Conditionings, that my academic experience at VCU has fostered and trace its development across specific precursive works, as well as the cultural and intellectual touchstones influencing its creative impetus. In Preexisting Conditionings, I work primarily use oil painting, creating mostly representational figurative tableaus that correspond to narratives and characters I’m …

Associations Between Childhood Trauma And Tobacco Dependence Among Latine Adults: Testing The Protective Effects Of Compassion For Self And Others, Camila Tirado

Theses and Dissertations

Tobacco dependence has posed a significant public health challenge in the United States and disproportionately affects Latine adults' risk of developing a variety of adverse health conditions. Childhood trauma is a recognized risk factor for dependence, overall health, and mental health concerns. Still, the influence of compassion for self or compassion for others in this context remains unclear. This cross-sectional study investigated the moderating effects of self-compassion and compassion for others on the relationship between childhood trauma and cigarette dependence among Latine adults. Data was collected through questionnaires assessing childhood trauma, self-compassion, cultural values and factors, compassion for others, and …

Exploring The Experiences Of Refugee Youth In Public Schools: An Ethical Phenomenological Inquiry, Hilary T. Stim

Theses and Dissertations

The study outlined in this dissertation focuses on the intersection between refugee youth between the ages of 13-18 and the United States public school, specifically the manner in which refugee youth experience institutionalized education. It utilizes ethical phenomenology as a means to amplify the voices of refugee students and to centralize the students' experiences, thoughts, and ideas related to education The study was framed by one research question that is addressed to the participants: “What is it like being a student in a public school?” Seven students took part in the study. Collaborative dialogues took place with the participants across …

Expect: A Speculative Documentary Filmed In Vr Utilizing The Role-Playing Method To Explore Disabilities And Ableism In Science Fiction, Leilei Xia

Theses and Dissertations

Expect is a speculative documentary filmed in Virtual Reality (VR) that features Chinese actors with disabilities to explore, challenge and reimagine the conventional ableist Sci-Fi tropes and the transhumanistic tendency to “fix” or eradicate disabilities through technological enhancement. I invited people with disabilities who are interested in Sci-Fi to do a Role-Playing with me in Virtual Reality (VR), in which they imagine themselves to be living in a future civilization, an alien planet, or an alternate universe. The participants came up with their own fictional characters and built their own world views. I interacted with them by asking questions and …

Beyond The Veil: Hijabi Superheroes And The Power Of Representation, Moom Thahinah Ms

Theses and Dissertations

As a Hijabi woman, I am often misrepresented by stereotypical narratives in Western media that obscure my individuality and agency. My thesis addresses the misrepresentation of Hijabi women, challenges audience perceptions, and empowers Hijabi women to confront these narratives.

Informed by design and media discourse, I developed a narrative and a Hijabi superhero character appropriating tropes of Western comic books. The resulting research combines two outcomes: a print-based narrative and a transformative garment. Print media is used to address the lack of Hijabi representation in Western comics while showcasing the character’s ability to combat discrimination. Derived from the comic format, …

Inspiring A Ripple: A Case For Evidence-Based, Biophilic Design For Affordable Housing, Chelcey A. Dunham

Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

RELEVANCE

Currently in the US, 4 million families in need of affordable housing are not housed in affordable units and are spending 30-50% of their monthly income toward rent (Aurand, 2023.) Due to this shortage of affordable housing and the trajectory of its growth, advocacy groups and policy makers are making a push to fund more affordable housing projects. What if the designs of these projects were informed in such a way that individual and community mental health and wellness could be addressed in addition to meeting the demand for affordable, safe shelter? In this way, the return on …

In Shame I Will Find Paradise, Taehee Whang

Theses and Dissertations

As a Korean American non-binary digital artist and designer, my recent explorations have focused on using voice as a medium to articulate nuanced feelings of displacement and the intricate relationships between language, identity, and expression. This journey expands beyond my personal experiences with gender dysphoria, delving into the lives of non-binary and transgender individuals undergoing gender-affirming voice therapy. Through my thesis research, I have developed interactive multimedia installations inspired by dialogues with individuals such as Umico Niwa, who traveled to Korea for voice feminization surgery, and Jeong Yoon Lee from Hyperlink Press, a four-year participant in Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT). …

Sense Make Before Book, Bradley Sinanan

Theses and Dissertations

“Sense Make Before Book” is an Indo-Caribbean turn of phrase which refers to common sense being more important than book smarts. My sister sent me a post the other day on Instagram of an Trinidadian woman using this phrase, saying it was one of Indo-Caribbean origin. I was interested and asked my mom about it. My mom says that when she was younger my grandpa said it often around their house in Princes Town, Trinidad and Tobago. This adage feels charged thinking about the history of indenture and its effects on the Indo-Caribbean diaspora.

The written word of archival history …

Politics Of Being A Lover: In Art, (Space) And Kink, Rabeeha Adnan

Theses and Dissertations

Politics of being a lover: in art, (space) and kink explores my relationship with my practice through observations and stories that draw parallels with romance and kink. Narrated as love affairs turned into complex commitment, it shuffles through logics of structural power, control, and communication in the context of praxis and art institutions.

Exposing The Camera: The Pedagogical Possibilities Of Critical Camera-Based Arts Curriculum, Oscar Keyes

Theses and Dissertations

Cameras are a ubiquitous part of our everyday lives, especially in schools, found in students’ smartphones and state-of-the-art surveillance systems. This research project emerged from an iterative redesign process of a Photography for Art Education course, structured around the camera’s dual nature as a tool for creative expression and social control. While cameras have long been used to address social issues through documentary techniques; this critical eye can be turned onto the apparatus itself. This study drew heavily upon the historical work of Allan Sekula (1986), who observed how easier access to cameras resulted in both democratization (for the People) …

Double Jointed: Gendered Flexibility And The Overextended Self, Grace A. Bromley

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores compulsory domesticity and the impulse to overextend oneself, both pressures often associated with the construct of femininity. Through diving into my personal history, which includes growing up in a three-generational home of women, I explore mimesis as it functions in both the replication of identity and in terms of pictorial representation; specifically I address its relationship to gender, manifestation within the body, and the search for subjectivity through the process of making and thinking. In various forms of material explorations, I play with ideas of malleability, mimicry and “embedded” behaviors that are passed down and embodied in …

May Your Flight Be Smooth, The Wind Calm, The Cloud Safe, And The Sky Blue!, Kai Chuang

Theses and Dissertations

They were born in a port city, on an island. In their eyes, many things seemed like the water. Fluid, compound, and ambiguous. Those things shift shapes with their containers, blending with elements from various sources, carrying multiple meanings, images and interpretations.

The sea is deep and endless, similar to stories, quests and dreams.

The coastline is a constant dialogue among the land, the ocean, the wind, organisms, physics, the past, randomness, and chance…When they think about boundaries, they recall the coastline.

The Merit Of Adaptation: An Exploration Of Adaptation In Regard To Sophocles’ Theban Plays And The Role Of Antigone Within The Story, Hogan T. Holt

Theses and Dissertations

The creation of an adaptation is extremely challenging and time-consuming, but with the right tools and inspiration, that task of creation can be eased. By looking at three different adaptations of the Theban plays, the goal of creating a new adaptation of this series of plays can be achieved. At the same time, this adaptation can achieve a goal of highlighting an important character from the original set of plays, Antigone, and give her a role that elevates her to the main protagonist across all three plays, thus allowing the Theban plays to become a more feminine piece that works …

Particl Plant Medicine, Tommye Dean

Theses and Dissertations

In an era marked by a growing recognition of mental health as a critical component of overall well-being, unconventional approaches to therapeutic interventions have gained prominence. One such intervention coincides with the importance of setting the intersection of psychedelic therapy and interior design, creating a synergistic environment for emotional healing and self-discovery. This thesis ventures to delve into the uncharted territory where the realms of altered states of consciousness and thoughtful spatial design converge, seeking to discover the profound impact this collaboration may have on the therapeutic and design landscape.

Side Effects, Shannon R. Kurzyniec

Theses and Dissertations

Through the exploration of the personal and social impacts of prescription medications on the human condition, I have discovered that the side effects of prescription medications on myself and others are much greater than I had ever anticipated. The deeper I dig into my subconscious, the further back I find that the impact was created. Most of us are taught at a young age to take medicine when we don’t feel well. Stomach ache, headache, sore throat, fever, even the imaginary boo boo is given a pill to cure. As we age we begin to reach for pills due to …

Notes Toward A Personal Afrofuturism, Jalen T. Adams

Theses and Dissertations

This paper is penned by a young adult who is generally confused about a lot of things regarding life, but has one singular focus that is perhaps larger than life—trying to find the bridge between a future already lived, and a past yet to happen. These are his findings so far.

Zaytouna: Rooted Histories In Uprooted Memories, Naima M. Almajdobah

Theses and Dissertations

Palestinians, whether living under occupation or—like myself—in the diaspora, experience a complex journey of displacement and dispossession stemming from the Nakba of 1948. This reality shapes our collective identity, rooted in our connection to our homeland.

Zaytouna explores an under-researched topic: the relationship between the olive tree and uprooted Palestinians. It reveals a rich tapestry of narratives that encompass the quintessential and everlasting relationship between a land and its people. The resulting interactive archival installation consists of two parts: audio recordings from Palestinians in the diaspora, which capture their memories and voices; and visuals, which represent the storytellers’ places of …

Tchu Tcha Tcha: The Transformative Role Of Funk, Adriane De Souza

Theses and Dissertations

Cultural disconnection and homesickness are part of expatriate life. My research investigates the transformative power of Brazilian funk, which, for me, evokes restorative memories of home and life in Rio de Janeiro.

Originating in North America, funk made an exciting leap and found a new home in Brazil, particularly in Rio de Janeiro. Over time, it has become firmly established and thoroughly Brazilianized, infused with local instruments and influences, leading to the emergence of a new genre of music known as Brazilian funk.

Transplanted again, to Qatar, this work celebrates the migration of funk through a combination of still images, …

Capiz Reborn: Preserving And Enhancing Traditional Philippine Shellcraft, Destarte A. Prieto

Theses and Dissertations

The capiz shell is a thin, translucent exoskeleton of a mollusk found in the Philippine Sea. Traditionally, capiz shells were made into window panes and home decor, used so widely they became an iconic part of Philippine identity. Today, the influx of cheap, mass-produced merchandise threatens the capiz shell industry. To encourage renewed interest and sustainable revival of this long-standing industry, my research demonstrates new possibilities for the capiz shell.

In reconstituting cast-off bits and shell trimmings to form a new capiz biomaterial, my work is informed by the three traditional techniques used by Philippine capiz artisans—sewing, welding and bonding. …

Call For Me When You Get There: I'Ll Be Among The Crows, Jessica O. Tifase

Theses and Dissertations

I've always been intrigued by the ways in which the notion of flight has been used to describe the movement of Black people, both literally and figuratively. In many instances, flight performs as a double entendre, embodying multiple meanings: to escape or to transcend. The fluidity of its definition prompts a reflection I’ve been wrestling with as I move through the world: Are Black people in a perpetual state of flight?

In my thesis exhibition, Call for Me When You Get There, I use the precarious state of flight as a means to explore the complicated choreography necessary for navigating …