Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Building A Brand's Online Presence: Due Signori, Harper Ellis, Carmella Reed, Laura Romero

Student Research Design & Innovation Symposium

Building their brand through one personal Facebook account and pure word of mouth, Due Signori had the goal of creating a professional online presence. Mike Morocco and Dan Bouchard share a passion for singing and performing, standing out from local competition by straying from traditional, formal performance tendencies and leaning into their charismatic and interactive ways. However, without access to popular online communities, growing a customer and fan base would have been increasingly difficult. The singing group had the choice between two different class-wide creative teams in charge of creating a social media and marketing plan for the brand to …

Wearable Aac Lanyard For Communication Support, Sadie Davignon, Hailey Soares, Kristen Martinez

Student Research Design & Innovation Symposium

Individuals with Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD), Selective Mutism (SM), and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) face consistent and situational challenges with verbal communication. Communication can also be difficult for individuals acquiring a new language, such as English language learners (ELL), many of whom experience SM during language acquisition. Current assistive and augmentative communication (AAC) technologies are often expensive, complex, and bulky. Many rely on sound output or visually obtrusive displays, making them unsuitable for users with sound aversion or for environments like classrooms. To address this need, this project incorporates AAC technology into a common wearable device, a standard lanyard with …

Recipes For Shared Community: Rhode Island In Action, Jahnele Williams

Student Research Design & Innovation Symposium

This project submission will be a creative retelling of the exhibit mentorship, museum collections, departmental collaborators, and external partners that came together to inspire an exhibit that advances the shared educational goals and historic celebration of RI250. The resulting exhibit was inspired by the RI250 Commission and Rhode Island’s place in America250, the nation's celebration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 2026. Sometimes inspiration comes from outside your own institution, and you find a way to insert your own resources into a broader initiative. Being part of something bigger has its …

Feeding Futures: Jwu Vs. Student Food Insecurity, Ava Zajczenko

Student Research Design & Innovation Symposium

For my project, I am exploring the question: How does Johnson & Wales University combat food insecurity for its students on campus? I will be writing an action-based thesis paper that includes interviews with people on campus, such as dining staff, professors, and chefs. Along with this, I will use research from one of my classes and my experience volunteering with a nonprofit focused on food insecurity. Together, these sections will help me better understand what JWU is currently doing to address food insecurity as a whole, and what more can be done to close the gap on this issue …

Ai Detection In Academic Writing: Evaluating Performance, Ashley Kulp, Ruth Mckinnon, Steve Jacob, Samantha Bruno, Marygrace Kasprzak, Shayanne Silva, Hannah Pereira, Miriam Liz Villa

Student Research Design & Innovation Symposium

AI-generated text is becoming increasingly common in educational and research settings, leading to a greater reliance on AI detection tools. While prior research has assessed the performance of AI detection tools, few studies have examined their performance at determining humanized and/or hybridized text This study intends to evaluate the accuracy of five publicly accessible AI detectors in distinguishing between human-written, AI-generated, humanized, and hybrid academic text. Discussion sections from 200 Alzheimer's disease research articles were collected. Of these articles, four versions were created: human only, AI only, humanoid, and hybrid (30% rewrite), resulting in 800 total samples. In the primary …

Changes In Gambling Behaviors Among Young Adults, Madalyn Lyons, Shayanne Silva, Jadyn Torres

Student Research Design & Innovation Symposium

Background: Following the repeal of PASPA in 2018, sports betting and mobile gambling have expanded rapidly across the United States. Young adults are particularly vulnerable to gambling-related harms, yet state-level post-legalization surveillance data remain limited.

Methods: Cross-sectional data from the 2022 (n=1,022) and 2024 (n=1,008) Rhode Island Young Adult Surveys were analyzed. Gambling behaviors and problem gambling (Brief Biosocial Gambling Screen) were compared across years. Multivariable logistic and Poisson regression models adjusted for age, race/ethnicity, sexual/gender status, and subjective social status.

Results: Overall gambling participation remained stable (40.6% in 2022 vs. 38.6% in 2024). However, among gamblers (n=803), participation increased …

From Transducer To Force Field: A Validated Simulation-Inference Pipeline For Lipus Mechanobiology, Davis Bone

Student Research Design & Innovation Symposium

Quantifying the mechanical forces that drive cell motility under acoustic stimulation requires linking physically defined pressure fields to measurable cell behavior. We present a computational framework coupling k-Wave acoustic simulation to Underdamped Langevin Inference (ULI) to recover radiation force fields from synthetic cell trajectories. Two geometries – a 12-well plate and a microscope slide – were simulated at 1 MHz using 1, 2, 4, and 8 transducer elements with uniform, Gaussian-apodized, 5°/10°/15° beam-steered, and randomized-amplitude configurations (132 total simulations). For each acoustic field, 48 synthetic cells were propagated via the underdamped Langevin equation for 50 seconds and submitted to ULI …

Hallucinogen Use And Witnessing Community Violence, Euphoria Brown, Alejandra Marin, Brianna Weimert

Student Research Design & Innovation Symposium

Current research shows that those who witness community violence (CV) at a young age have a higher likelihood of developing a substance use disorder (SUD) in their future compared to those who do not witness CV (Basedow et al., 2021). CV can include, but is not limited to, gang violence, terrorist attacks, shootings, robberies, and assaults that happen outside of the home. SUDs consist of a severe dependency on illicit substances, such as hallucinogens, opioids, alcohol, or other drugs. This study’s purpose is to examine the correlation between witnessing CV and use of hallucinogenic drugs and the development of hallucinogen-related …

Association Between Living Situation And Social Support, Paulina Zambrana, Julianna Hoyt

Student Research Design & Innovation Symposium

Previous research has shown that living situation can influence perceived social support across different developmental stages. Social support can be defined as assistance provided by other sources like teachers, counselors, family, etc., to help an individual manage diverse circumstances. Particularly in youth, it has been demonstrated that strong perceived social support can be associated with positive outcomes like strong academic and behavioral functioning; however, unstable living environments can often affect the amount of perceived support and, therefore, generate poorer outcomes in young individuals. The purpose of this study is to analyze the association between living situation and social support among …

Association Between Adverse Childhood Experiences, Taytum Camacho, Denise Meyer, Dylan Roznoy, Marleesa May

Student Research Design & Innovation Symposium

This project examined the association between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and smartphone addiction among young adults. The objective was to explore whether exposure to early life adversity was related to patterns of problematic smartphone use. Researchers used data from the 2022 Rhode Island Young Adult Survey, a behavioral survey administered to adults aged 18–25 who resided in Rhode Island for at least part of the year. The study focused on identifying potential relationships between reported childhood experiences and current technology use behaviors. We believe that people who have experienced ACE’s before the age of 18 have a higher risk of …

Adverse Childhood And Disability Status, Abigail Vest, Sarah Chery, Mawlne Kyne

Student Research Design & Innovation Symposium

This study focused on adverse childhood experiences (ACE) and disability status of adult individuals. Research shows that ACE has been seen to increase the risks of disabilities later into adulthood (Morgart, 2021), which may include cognitive, physical, and intellectual disabilities. The purpose of this study was to explore the possible association between ACEs and disability status, which could potentially contribute to prevention and intervention strategies. The study included 1,022 participants who were recruited from flyers, social media, and email and participated in a digital quantitative cross-sectional survey, which was conducted in 2022. The survey focused on the experiences of 18- …

Association Between Tbi And Behavioral Addictions, Siera Creekmore, Amanda Adams, Andrea Trejo, Olivia Castagno

Student Research Design & Innovation Symposium

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) encompasses a variety of symptoms that impact cognitive functioning and can result in altered consciousness. Previous research (Herrold et al., 2015; Miller et al., 2013; Davies et al., 2023) has identified a correlation between TBI and addiction-related disorders, including alcohol use disorder, as well as the usage of addiction services. Addiction-related disorders can also include behavioral addictions, which include persistent and recurrent problematic behaviors that result in clinically significant impairments or distress (American Psychological Association, 2013), and additional research findings suggest correlations between TBI and behavioral addictions such as pathological gambling (Bhatti et al., 2018; Regard …

The Pseudonumber Phenomenon: An Analysis, Grace Williams

Student Research Design & Innovation Symposium

Studies have shown that people pronounce certain groups of letters the same way, even in situations where they are presented with words that are not real, such as "rop" or "toin." These cases are called "pseudowords." This theory can be also be applied to certain sets of numbers called "pseudonumbers." An experiment was conducted to test one specific type of pseudonumber: telephone numbers. A group of thirty JWU students were separated into a control and treatment group. The control group was given an unbroken string of numbers, while the treatment group was given the same set of numbers hyphenated to …

Chaos Media, Kelly Reid

Student Research Design & Innovation Symposium

Digital media company built on a hybrid model of for profit channels of podcasts, documentaries, and stories that funds a non profit leg around veteran stories.

Contesting Conservatism: Neoconservatives, Evangelicals, And Foreign Policy In The Reagan Era, Emily B. Kissel

All Master's Theses

This thesis explores how foreign policy shaped and destabilized the conservative coalition during the Reagan era. Although historians often portray the conservative movement of the 1980s as unified by anti-communism, this study argues that foreign policy debates exposed significant ideological divisions between neoconservatives, evangelical Christians, and the broader conservative base. These groups shared common goals but disagreed over the moral and strategic direction of American foreign policy. Neoconservatives and evangelical Christians wanted the same muscular assertion of American power abroad, but the factions framed foreign policy differently to appeal to their supporters. These policies and aggressive anti-Soviet rhetoric struck widespread …

Uae Traditional Folklore Through Modern Media And Its Educational Potential: The Case Of Freej, Shahad Imad Mostafa

Theses

This mixed‑methods study examined how the Emirati animated series Freej preserves traditional folklore through vernacular language, dialect, and idiomatic expressions, and evaluated its educational potential. Guided by four questions on folklore representation, dialect/idiom use, the role of the characters, and curricular applicability, the research combined content analysis of selected episodes, interviews coding and a survey of 100 Emirati participants; survey data were summarized with descriptive statistics to triangulate qualitative insights.

Findings indicated that audiences overwhelmingly perceived Freej as linguistically and culturally authentic: 95% rated the dialect as very/somewhat authentic, 94% said it reflects elders’ speech, and 89% felt the series …

Negotiating Independence And Representation: The Role Of Galleries In Shaping Emerging Artists’ Careers In London, Filippo Fazzini Matteucci

MA in Art Business Dissertations

This dissertation analyses the impact of gallery representation on the career progression of emerging artists in the London art ecosystem. The research draws on qualitative data, gathered through the completion of four semi-structured interviews. Participants were selected between two London galleries - Almine Rech and Gallery Rosenfeld - and included two artists and two managers. The study examines four interrelated themes: the negotiation between representation and independence; the role of trust and informality in shaping artist–gallery relationships; the influence of visibility through social media platforms; and the participants’ definitions of success. The research reveals that representation and independence are not …

Entrepreneuring Otherwise: Reimagining Value In Art Business At Ɛdan, The Ano Institute Of Arts And Knowledge, And Nubuke Wa, Chantel Thompson

MA in Art Business Dissertations

This dissertation examines how three Ghanaian women-led art institutions practise what this study terms “entrepreneuring otherwise”: a feminist and decolonial mode of enterprise grounded in care, community, and epistemic sovereignty. Focussing on Ɛdan, ANO Institute of Arts and Knowledge, and Nubuke Wa, the research investigates how they navigate their environments, illustrating the strategies used to respond to both the rich cultural histories of Ghana and the systemic conditions shaped by limited state support, fragmented cultural policy, and predominantly informal economies, which ultimately create fertile ground for reimagining and innovation.

Situated within feminist epistemologies and decolonial thought, the study applies the …

How Do Female Artists In The Middle East Navigate Art Market Legitimacy, And How Do Experiences Differ Between The Levant And Gulf Regions?, Noura Alzaim

MA in Art Business Dissertations

This dissertation examines the journeys and challenges faced by female artists in the Middle East as they strive for recognition and legitimacy within the region’s evolving art markets. By comparing the lived experiences of artists from the Levant, where creativity often flourishes in grassroots and diaspora circles, to those cultivating their careers amid the state-driven, rapidly expanding cultural landscape of the Gulf, the research brings distinct artistic perspectives into conversation. Combining interviews, theoretical inquiry, and analysis of press releases, essays, and market data, the study highlights how history, political context, and institutional structures shape opportunities and obstacles. Central chapters show …

The Impact Of Francisco Franco’S Dictatorship On The Art Market For Spanish Artists: How Did Francisco Franco’S Dictatorship And State Policy Shape The Domestic And Foreign Art Market For Spanish Artists?, Georges Ruiz-Picasso

MA in Art Business Dissertations

This dissertation aims to look at the impact of Francisco Franco’s dictatorship (1939-1975) on the art market for Spanish artists. By segmenting the research in two parts, one on the internal market and the other on the external market, the dissertation wants to determine how and the extent to which Francisco Franco’s dictatorship and state policies shape the domestic and foreign art market for Spanish artists? The study argues that, within the domestic market, the gradual political shift of the regime has permitted a slow progress towards internationalization. Whilst the domestic market experienced a limited productivity, some international Spanish artists …

The Emergence Of The Dutch Republic As A Grand Tour Destination, Boele Van Oosten

MA in Fine and Decorative Art and Design Dissertations

This dissertation examines the emergence of the Dutch Republic as a Grand Tour destination, tracing its foundations in the seventeenth century and its consolidation in the eighteenth century. Whilst traditional itineraries centred on encounters with classical antiquity and Renaissance art, the Republic attracted travellers through its financial stability, flourishing art market, renowned universities, and reputation for tolerance and modernity. These qualities offered visitors a distinctive intellectual and sociocultural experience that complemented, and at times rivalled, the established centres of the Grand Tour. This study addresses three interrelated themes: the Republic’s rise as a Grand Tour destination in its own right; …

The Matusiflute: Exploring Intercultural Collaboration Through Timbral Dízi Emulation Within An Australian-Chinese Orchestral Performance Setting, Gabriel Mcmahon

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This research investigates how the Matusiflute can potentially promote intercultural Sino Western collaboration within solo, chamber and orchestral settings by consciously applying technical and stylistic codes attributed to the dízi (traverse Chinese bamboo flute). Using an autoethnographic approach, I reflect on my engagement with the dízi, its morphology, timbre and stylistic interpretation, and how my pedagogical flute context impacted this approach. These learnings were then applied to the Matusiflute through two premiere performances of a commissioned intercultural work by Nicholas Ng, The Secret of the Golden Flower (2024) for Matusiflute and Chinese Orchestra. The latter being performed in a solo …

Music As A Distraction During Reading: Music Listening Habits Of University Students, Lindsey Cooke, Craig Speelman, Ross Hollett

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Recent research indicates high proportions of individuals report they have music playing while they read. This behaviour has implications for effective comprehension, as some scholars suggest the presence of music depletes cognitive resources, resulting in a greater chance of becoming distracted. By contrast, some have claimed that listening to music can improve cognitive performance by increasing physiological arousal and improving mood. This study captured self-reported behaviours of university students regarding whether they chose to listen to music while reading for study purposes. Reasons for listening varied, with reports of increased motivation, enhanced focus, or masking external noise. The most listened …

Thinking With Trees: Responding To Sympoietic Plant Relations Through Visual Art, Xiaoyu Yang

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Societal Impact Statement: Amid escalating climate crises, this paper explores how we might rethink our relationship with the natural world, particularly with plants and trees, through the perspectives of visual art. This paper reveals how art invites us to see trees and other plant life not as passive background scenery, but as living beings with their own forms of experience and individuality. Rather than offering technical solutions to the climate crisis, visual art creates something equally important: a shift in how we think and feel about ‘othering’ non-human life. By making visible the inner lives and behaviours of plants, art …

Winter Term Choir Tour To London And Paris, Bryon Black Ii

Music Faculty publications

This program explores the universal longing for home—a place of belonging, safety and peace. Spanning choral traditions from England, France, Estonia, Mexico, South Africa and the United States, the music reflects how hope, faith and shared humanity shape our understanding of where we belong. Across cultures and centuries, these works reveal music’s power to foster connection and community, even far from familiar ground. We hope this program invites listeners to consider home not only as a physical place, but as a space where we are known, connected and held.

2026 Document For Faculty And Staff Scholarship Spring Soirée, Kara Schleck, Diana Symons

Celebrating Scholarship and Creativity Day (2018-)

No abstract provided.

Mosaics: An Artist’S Thesis Of Identity Through Memory And Belonging, Sofia I. Menco

Honors Theses

Conceptually, this thesis engages visually with Magical Realism as pioneered by Colombian writer, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, as well as the symbolic color fields of Colombian painter Alejandro Obregon, and the narrative portraiture of Spanish illustrator, David de las Heras, by situating my personal narratives within broader themes of memory, color symbolism and faith-based art. Having this visual research in mind, I drew a lot of inspiration from Colombian Artisan Practices such as Mochilas Wayuu and the folkloric colors of such. At the same time, I explored the sociological and religious lens coming from a theoretical approach of George Hebert Mead’s …

Paradise Lost And Character Motivation: Sinful Behavior Or Inferiority Complex?, Esperanza Barrios

Honors Theses

Sin is a concept that is always viewed through a religious perspective. But, through Paradise Lost, John Milton was able to bring further understanding towards human nature and one’s own sense of committing what’s perceived as sinful behavior without the veil of religion glazing over academics' understanding. In religious terms, sinful behavior is the idea of defying God’s commandments, but for this research, sinful behavior may be described as abnormal behavior that damages our best interests and relationships, usually for selfish gains. Each of Milton’s main characters, Satan, Adam, and Eve, fell from grace because all three damaged their relationship …

“Wandering Between Two Worlds”: From One Marshall To Another, Robert Ellison

English Faculty Research

This personal essay chronicles my journey from Marshall, Texas, where I lived for 14 years, to Marshall University, where I have taught for 17 years. I discuss not only the move itself, but a pivot from Victorian studies to Appalachian studies, a change I made so I could focus on the region in which I live. The essay’s central question is mentioned in the title: how long do I have to live here before I can call myself a West Virginian, and before others will regard me that way as well? Is 17 years enough? If not, will I eventually …

Stolen Childhood: Picture Book Stories Of Indian Residential Schools, Maughn Rollins Gregory

Picture Books

In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries American and Canadian government agencies and Christian churches established Indian residential schools where hundreds of thousands of children were “reeducated” in English and Christianity. They were not allowed to use their native languages or given names, to practice their religions, or to communicate with their siblings or parents. They were made to work in crop fields, kitchens, laundries, and industrial workshops. Many were physically and sexually abused. Many never saw their families again. The nine picture books reviewed here are accounts of survivors of residential schools from eight different Indigenous nations. In addition to …