Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Illinois Valley Central High School Wind Ensemble And Symphonic Band: April 21, 2026, Matthew Chapman, Lauren N. Bobarsky, Colby Powers

School of Music Programs

This is the one hundred and eighty-fourth program of the 2025-2026 season.

Center for the Performing Arts

April 21, 2026

Tuesday Evening

8:00 p.m.

The 12-Week Silence: A Scrollytelling Investigation Into Early Pregnancy Loss And The Case For Continuous Progesterone Monitoring, Audrey Gold

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

Opens with the scale of the problem (up to 1M miscarriages annually, all in the most data-poor window of pregnancy), describes the methodology (2 original surveys, 4 clinical interviews, peer-reviewed literature), walks through what the piece does visually (the distribution curve, the blind-spot timeline, the 5-phase progesterone chart, the intervention pathway), and closes with the central argument — that the silence is a gap in technology, not an inevitability.

The Myth Of Homespun, Valeria Delaportilla

Undergraduate Scholarly Works

In this work, delaPortilla analyzes the Homespun Movement, a boycott largely led by women during the American Revolution that encouraged the use of homespun fabrics to avoid purchasing fabrics from Europe. DelaPortilla argues that the homespun movement was not as widespread as existing historiography allows us to believe and explains that the movement was largely limited to people of means who could afford to commit to a fully homespun lifestyle. DelaPortilla further argues that the forceful application of the homespun movement in New England largely contributed to the mass criticism and in some occasions abuse of women.

The Hate Circuit: A Collection Of Essays On Hate And Healing, Vivian Murphy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Hate Circuit: A Collection of Essays on Hate and Healing is a lyric essay collection tracing the neuroscience, psychology, and lived experience of hatred and its slow unraveling. Rooted in the author’s relationship with her alcoholic mother, the essays move between memoir and scientific inquiry, examining how hatred forms in the brain, how it is inherited across generations, and what it costs to sustain it. Drawing on research in neuroscience, attachment theory, and the psychology of forgiveness, the collection argues that hatred is not simply an emotion but a circuit—one that can, with effort, be rewired. The essays ultimately …

The Place We Live Which Does Not Exist, Jonathon Parker Yontz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Place We Live Which Does Not Exist is a collection of stories examining the intersection of trauma and catharsis through a psychologically manufactured underground environment. By inhabiting the perspectives of multiple characters, each story builds toward a collective reality that exists parallel to our present. As the shortsightedness of hedonistic expression is shown, the viability of escapism as panacea is questioned, exploring the ends of a society increasingly dependent on reclusive tendencies.

Feedback Menus: Expanding Student Choice In Response To Writing, Andrew Testa

Journal of Response to Writing

This Teaching Tip introduces the Feedback Menu, a flexible protocol designed to promote student agency and feedback literacy in writing instruction. By allowing students to select the focus and mode of feedback they receive, the Menu helps tailor response to individual learning needs and supports meaningful revision at any stage of the composition process. The protocol is adaptable for use in first-year composition, professional writing, multilingual, and upper-division courses, in both face-to-face and online formats. Concrete implementation steps, sample menu items, and considerations for different teaching contexts are provided.

More Than Treating Errors: Bridging The Gaps And Expanding The Agenda For Scholarship On Teacher Written Feedback For L2 Writers, Lynn Goldstein, Robert Kohls

Journal of Response to Writing

Teacher written feedback is a central area of L2 scholarship and writing teacher education yet considerable research has focused on written corrective feedback (WCF) with considerably less attention paid to discourse-level (DLF) teacher written feedback. Our article identifies the gaps in the current teacher written feedback scholarship, explains why these gaps are problematic, and provides detailed recommendations for an agenda that examines teacher DLF and students’ use of this feedback. Our goal is to encourage scholars to explore new avenues of research that better take into account what writing “is” and “does” as well as take into account the linguistically …

Composing In Relation: Rethinking Multimodal Feedback As Rhetorical Design, Angela Laflen

Journal of Response to Writing

This qualitative study investigates how writing instructors compose feedback in multimodal digital environments, focusing on the rhetorical and relational dimensions of their design choices. Drawing on social semiotics and multimodal composition theory, the study analyzes feedback artifacts, instructor interviews, and student surveys from six first-year writing courses. Findings reveal that instructors engage in complex feedback design work across communication modes, often without formal training or shared frameworks. Instructors tended to default to text-based habits shaped by genre memory but adapted their strategies in response to communicative breakdowns and student needs. The study identifies three core themes: reliance on print-era conventions, …

Examining Automated Writing Evaluation Error Coverage In Relation To Uptake And Retention, Mohaddeseh Mehrzad, Mohammad Rahimi, Stephanie Link

Journal of Response to Writing

Despite the current widespread use of Automated Writing Evaluation (AWE) feedback, many issues regarding its efficacy still remain unresolved. Recent studies mainly focus on correctly detected errors with a lack of attention on the comprehensiveness of error detection, or error coverage. Error coverage is interesting because little is known about the capacity of AWE systems to fully detect common second language (L2) errors. It is also important to investigate the potential effect of such capacity on student uptake and retention, which are important constructs in fostering L2 writing development. To this end, the present study compared teacher feedback and AWE …

Navigating Feedback In Collaborative Writing: The Impact Of Student Backgrounds And Expectations On Transitions To New Academic And Social Spaces, Lindsey Gruber, María Fernández–Agüero

Journal of Response to Writing

This article examines how international students navigate feedback from a supervisor while working on a group writing project in a diverse English medium of instruction (EMI) bachelor’s program at a public university in Denmark, where no formalized writing or language support resources are offered in the students’ first year of instruction. Data were collected in qualitative, semi-structured interviews with 11 students who were identified through a survey of a first-year bachelor of arts cohort. Results from the survey showed that despite using a supervision model of education, few students perceived changes in feedback compared to their secondary school experiences, and …

Editors' Introduction, Betsy Gilliland, Lucie Moussu

Journal of Response to Writing

No abstract provided.

Full Issue Vol. 1 2026

The Penguin Review

No abstract provided.

Why Do We Romanticize “Old World” Europe?, Dalton D. Conden

The Penguin Review

“Old World” Europe feels timeless—but that feeling is constructed. What we’re drawn to isn’t just age, it’s preservation.

The Global Rise Of "Aesthetic Culture", Dalton D. Conden

The Penguin Review

Aesthetic culture feels harmless—until you realize how much it edits out. What gets labeled as “Scandinavian,” “Japanese,” or “French” style is usually the most digestible version of something much more complicated. It’s culture without friction.

Should We Let Robots Take Our Jobs?: A.I And Our Future, Alycia Carrasco

The Penguin Review

I don’t take many liberties in the text below, but one thing I will assume is that whoever may be reading this piece does not own and will not inherit any large company, particularly any large tech company.

For the average person, generative AI and its rapid development can be confusing. Information is kept elusive by even the most transparent of AI companies.1 It can feel hopeless to even care about AI considering its trajectory is largely decided by the top executives at the most powerful tech companies (and the U.S. military).2 However, the metaphorical ship has already sailed, and …

Dreaming In Spires: My Oxford Term, Sulgi I. Kim

The Penguin Review

After ten hours on a plane and a one-hour drive from Heathrow Airport, nothing felt more exciting than seeing the Oxford sign for the first time. I remember my hands were shaking as I stepped into an entirely new experience. Leaving warm California for a place widely known for continuous rain and cold was something I never imagined I would be ready for. Yet Oxford gave the warmest welcome. Despite arriving in October, my first day in the city was sunny and surprisingly warm. As we approached Oxford, I could not help but stare out the window. I began to …

Dead Poets/Society: How A Great American Classic Reflects The Fatal Shortcomings Of American Schools, Sophia Shapiro

The Penguin Review

Rarely do the worlds of film and academia coalesce in ways that change public discourse of both entirely. Almost always, endeavors to join these two very dissident disciplines fall flat in one realm or the other. But, every so often, a special feature becomes cinematic royalty for the world of academia, and none stands out as a larger paragon than Dead Poets Society.

Are Super Pacs Dangerous To American Democracy?, Mason Lee Compton

The Penguin Review

In the 2024 election cycle, just ten individuals contributed over $1 billion to Super PACs: more money than millions of ordinary Americans donated collectively.1 Reports described this select group as “an unelected shadow cabinet,” capable of reshaping entire campaigns from behind the scenes through rapid ad buys, targeted messaging, and electoral pressure. None of this would have been possible before 2010, when the Supreme Court’s Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision– combined with the D.C. Circuit’s ruling in SpeechNow.org v. FEC– dramatically dismantled long-standing campaign finance restrictions.2 3 These decisions opened the door for unlimited independent expenditures, giving rise …

On Being A "Flâneur" (& Why It Still Matters), Dalton D. Conden

The Penguin Review

The French word "flâneur" gets translated as a wanderer, but that never really captures it. It’s not just walking—it’s observing. Lingering. Letting a city reveal itself to you without needing to control it.

The Fall Of Saigon And Its Legacy In The United States, Logan J. Kemp

The Penguin Review

The topic of South Vietnam has always been one close to home. My mother and grandma were evacuated from Saigon before the country fell to North Vietnam in 1975. They hopped on a US military helicopter, taking multiple stops on ships and islands before eventually landing in Orange County, California. Because of the evacuation, my family members were forced to start a new life; however, it was better than being sent to a re-education camp. My Grandma had done some business with an American, and she could have lost her life if she had been sent to the camps. Tens …

What Bombs Cannot Occupy: Memory, Heritage, And War In Ukraine, Dalton D. Conden

The Penguin Review

Air-raid sirens have become part of the daily soundscape in Ukrainian cities. They interrupt meals, classes, conversations, and sleep. When they blare, people gather what they can and move quickly sometimes to shelters, sometimes to basements, sometimes nowhere at all. Families lock their doors without knowing whether they will ever turn the key again. Children carry backpacks filled with whatever seemed important in the moment: a photograph, a stuffed animal, a book pulled hastily from a shelf. Around them, buildings that once anchored everyday life—churches, museums, historic neighborhoods— have been damaged or destroyed.

Q&A: On Being A College Student In Ukraine, 2025, Katherine A. Watt, Heidi K. Smith

The Penguin Review

Nataliia is a nineteen year old university student in Kiev, Ukraine. Her country has been at war since 2014 when Russia first invaded Crimea, a region in the Southwest of Ukraine. Four years into Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Nataliia agreed to sit with the Penguin Review for a Zoom interview to discuss the current state of affairs, the experience of being a student during a time of war, and her hope for the country's future.

Annual Archaeology Update: The Valley Of Kings, Sophia Shapiro

The Penguin Review

There can be no contest for the Review’s annual archaeological highlight for 2025. Exactly one hundred years after Egyptologists discovered the tomb of King Tutankhamun (King Tut) in the Valley of Kings, archaeologists discovered a series of steps buried by rockfall.

New Ways To Address The Plastic Problem, Andrew J. Hanna

The Penguin Review

Since 1950, the world has produced some 9.2 billion metric tonnes of plastic.1 Other sources place the total closer to ten billion metric tonnes Furthermore, nearly 500 million tonnes of new plastic are manufactured each year– a figure that's projected to increase to 1.2 billion tonnes by 2060.2 The environmental effects of all this plastic production and pollution are disturbing. Because most plastics are synthetic–meaning they contain "no molecules found in nature"– they can't decompose. Instead, they just break down into smaller and smaller pieces, becoming microplastics (less than five millimeters (5 million nanometers) across) and then nanoplastics (less than …

History Of Tarot, Sophia Shapiro

The Penguin Review

Believe it or not, this modern mystical favorite has a very different origin story! Tarot was originally a trump card game, Tarocchini, developed in 15th-century Italy.

The War On War: Desensitization's Effects On Society's Moral Fabric, Chelsea E. Johnson, Andrew J. Cudden

The Penguin Review

In an era of constant connectivity, violence is no longer distant or intermittent. Wars, political repression, mass shootings, and humanitarian crises now unfold in real time, shared instantly through twenty-four-hour news cycles and social media. Never before has global suffering been so visible. Yet this unprecedented access has failed to produce sustained moral urgency or collective responsibility. Instead, violence becomes increasingly utilised as fleeting content–viewed, shared, and then displaced by the next trending event. This paradox raises a pressing ethical question: how can a world more informed of suffering become so morally disengaged from it?

Fighting For The Story: How Identity Shapes The Israel–Hamas War, Ana Lilia Zavala

The Penguin Review

The war between the state of Israel and the militant group Hamas is often portrayed in strictly strategic or material terms, from rockets and tunnels to ground offensives and massive casualties. Yet what truly lies at the core of the conflict in the Gaza Strip is not merely a struggle over territory or security, but a struggle of identities, narratives, and legacies of harm. From my constructivist standpoint, I believe that actors act not just because of “national interests,” but because of how they understand their own identity, how they interpret the other, and how normative structures shape their choices. …

Present Day North Korea, Milo Fisher-Golton

The Penguin Review

The government of North Korea poses an extreme threat to the world while suppressing its citizens’ freedom, so why doesn't this topic get the attention it warrants in the United States? North Korea has been the cause of two major inhumane issues for some time now: as a nuclear threat to all other countries, and as a human rights suppressor to its own population under its communist dictator, Kim Jong Un. North Korea is at odds with its geographical neighbors, the United States, and other global powers. Their access to nuclear weapons– along with their alliances with Russia and China– …

Has Politics Always Been Like This?, Tyler Bernius

The Penguin Review

There are some things that I, even as someone relatively new to politics, know are not normal–the blatant disregard of the Constitution, the seemingly rapid collapse of checks and balances, and the twisting and extending of presidential powers, to name a few. What is not clear to me, however, is whether people's reactions, attitudes, and interactions towards politics have always been this way. Growing up, I imagined politicians were respectable people who worked in the best interests of our country and who, even when disagreements did arise, settled problems with structured deliberation. I assumed voters looked at politics with logic …

Faculty Mentor's Note | Editor's Note, Aaron Richardson, Sophia Shapiro

The Penguin Review

No abstract provided.