Arts and Humanities Commons^™

An Adventure With Ai: A Relational Techno-Life Design Approach, Yue Zou, Shenhuan Lu, Yile Zhang

Nordes Conference Series

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into ecosystems necessitates a paradigm shift in design thinking, moving beyond anthropocentric models to embrace relational frameworks. This paper proposes relational techno-life design, an approach to reconceptualize AI as co-constitutive agents within socio material networks and broad ecological system. Through speculative case studies—LOVOT, LO, and AquaGuardian—we analyze how relational techno-life design can foster symbiotic relationships across human, nonhuman, and AI. An eco-cultural-techno framework reveals the potential for AI to mediate ecological resilience, cultural practices, and ethical co-evolution, while critiquing anthropocentric hierarchies and dualisms. The study contributes to relational design theory by advocating for nondualist …

Co-Creating The Good Life Through Food-Based Inquiry, Danielle Wilde, Leena Naqvi, Mary Karyda

Nordes Conference Series

Food and eating (re)connect humans daily with worlds within and beyond us. From the trillions of microorganisms that help make us who we are; through the socio-culturally and tangibly graspable people, animals, plants, fungi and algae that we cohabit with; to decreasingly relatable systems of food production and provisioning across the planet, food stitches us together. We provide four mini cases to consider how using food as a methodology for experimental design research can build relations towards ensuring ‘the good life.’ We explore what the good life is, why relationality sits at its heart, and provide a framework for using …

Exploring The "Human Norm" In Design: Integrating More-Than-Human And Norm-Critical Design Approaches, Katerina Cerna, Yi Luo, Britta Teleman

Nordes Conference Series

As designers, we design from a human perspective—a position we cannot change but must critically reflect upon. This workshop addresses this fundamental challenge: the invisible "human norm" in design. While norm-critical approaches have explored norms, the most profound invisible norm is simply our existence as humans. This is particularly significant as we confront environmental crises demanding design beyond human needs. We integrate two complementary approaches: more-than-human design, which challenges the assumption that "human-centeredness" represents a neutral viewpoint, and norm-critical design, which makes invisible norms visible. Our 3-hour workshop engages participants in interactive activities analyzing human norms, shifting perspectives, creating norm-critical …

Relational Design For More-Than-Human Narratives, Margaret Rynning, Lene Utigard, Annette Briest Kriszat

Nordes Conference Series

This workshop explores the intersection of relational design, storytelling, and more-than-human perspectives to challenge anthropocentric assumptions and foster deeper ecological awareness. Through speculative and sensory-based design interventions, participants will engage with local edible wild plants, highlighting their agency and cultural significance. By addressing the phenomenon of "plant blindness" and incorporating multimodal storytelling, the session aims to reframe human-nature relationships, cultivating empathy and care for non-human entities. Participants will co-create speculative narratives, experiment with sensory engagement, and develop ethical frameworks for more regenerative design practices. The workshop encourages designers and researchers to rethink their roles, embracing interdependence, sustainability, and justice in …

In The Relational Sandbox: Deep Democracy And Technology, Alma Leora Culén, Nicholas Sebastian Stevens, Jasmin Niess, Sisse Finken, Jason Miklian, Kristian Hoelscher

Nordes Conference Series

Designing for democracy often emphasizes values but underestimates the role of relationships in shaping civic life. This workshop explores how relationality - our social ties, political agency, and economic conditions - affects grassroots democratic design experiments and the technologies they inspire. Grounded in deep democracy and participatory approaches, we engage in small-scale experiments using Relational Sandbox to explore how new technologies that support democratic values can reshape power dynamics and how locally rooted, tailored designs can counteract capital-driven technological development. By experimenting with relational civics, we will collectively imagine new design strategies that prioritize meaningful technologies for deep democracy over …

An Exploration On Relationality And Decoloniality In Participatory Design Based On Care, Annalinda De Rosa, Milagros Hurtig, Marco Andrea Finardi

Nordes Conference Series

How is positionality brought into participatory practices? How are moments for self-reflection created in participatory design? How do design researchers challenge colonial perspectives in design? The workshop aims to create a space for a collective reflection on the need to undo the narratives of modernity and the cult of futurity that brings to the ubiquitous discourse on innovation as the only possible path for a better future. The workshop experiments with materiality as a channel to collectively explore how designing – as a transformative action embracing relationality – could adopt a pluriversal mindset. It furthers the discussion on relationality, elucidating …

Designing With Relationalities: Interweaving Human And More-Than-Human Approaches, Barbro Scholz, Michaela Honauer, Claudia Nuñez-Pacheco

Nordes Conference Series

This workshop explores the interweaving of human and non-human relationalities through noticing strategies that decenter the anthropocentric perspective. As a starting point, we propose to examine our position of humans as interconnected and entangled with more-than-humans, problematising how this perspective could reshape human-centred methods and practices. We intend to elaborate on how our being in the world –co-shaped by non-human entities– can be experienced through embodying other (human or non-human) perspectives. We thereby explore noticing as a method and start tackling the following questions: How do designers relate in the design process to other humans and non-humans? How does decentring …

Unwrapping The Cube Visual Essay, Arthur L. Loeb, C. Todd Stewart

Loeb Design Science: Documents

A visual and conceptual essay illustrating the many faces and properties of the cube.

Deliberate Lives: A Reassessment Of Post-Wwii American Women’S Agency, Caroline Elizabeth Stewart

Masters Theses

World War II had an important impact on American women’s social and economic roles, helping them gain opportunities and skills which impacted them long after the war. While scholars have debated the exact extent and longevity of the changes, an examination of these women’s lives and the many roles they filled shows their quiet agency in making these post-war decisions. Social pressures and expectations certainly impacted their experiences, but examining their lives shows that many women also showed agency in multiple ways. More recent post-war narratives have acknowledged agency in more rebellious women but have increasingly focused on social expectations …

Tracing חֶסֶד And Ἔλεος: A Prototype Theory And Componential Analysis Of Covenantal Loyalty And Divine Mercy Across The Pentateuch, Septuagint, Targums, And New Testament, Jarritt B. Tadlock

Masters Theses

This thesis explores the semantic and theological dimensions of the Hebrew term ḥesed and its Greek counterpart eleos through a comparative intertextual and linguistic analysis. Utilizing prototype theory and componential analysis, the study examines occurrences of ḥesed in the Masoretic Text and Targum Onkelos, alongside eleos in the Septuagint and New Testament, to trace the development of divine-human relational language across textual traditions. The findings reveal that ḥesed consistently embodies covenantal loyalty and divine mercy, while its frequent rendering as eleos in the Septuagint emphasizes compassion within a Hellenistic framework. In the New Testament, eleos both preserves and reconfigures ḥesed’s …

Echoes Of Redemption: What Typology Reveals About The Significance Of Isaac In The Aqedah, Jacob A. Lugo

Masters Theses

In this thesis, I outline a problem of logical consistency within the typological interpretation of the Aqedah narrative in Genesis 22. I also attempt to provide a more consistent interpretation that still seeks to remain faithful to the text while recognizing how this account fits into the overall narrative of Scripture.

In times past, the literature on this topic has been saturated with the identification of Isaac as a type of Christ; this is seen most readily in the Early Church Fathers’ interpretation. I also explore other modern readings to demonstrate the multiplicity of understandings that have arisen regarding this …

Don't Say You Love Me, Breanna Dunwell

Masters Theses

Teen dating violence is a silent epidemic that is not talked about enough or taken seriously. This shows that age does not matter when it comes to any type of abuse or harassment – physical, emotional, sexual, stalking, etc. The household that the victim lives in, race, parents marital status, and financial situation do not play a role into who is a victim versus someone who is not. The perpetrator does not care about those kinds of details. They only care about needing to be in control of the other person. Even though this is a snippet, the story shows …

Prison-Breaking From Plato's Cave, Brennan Mcdavid

Philosophy Faculty Articles and Research

This article examines the philosophical significance of nature (ϕύσις) in Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. The word is used in the protasis of the conditional clause at 515bc where Socrates proposes to inquire into ‘what the manner of the release and healing from these bonds and this folly would be if in the course of nature (ϕύσϵι) something of this sort should happen to them’. This instance of ‘nature’ has been a matter of philological and philosophical debate, with attention paid principally to the narrow passage of the allegory for reconstructing Plato’s meaning. This article argues from the standpoint of …

Idiomatic Compositional Techniques In John Rutter’S Requiem, Marguerite Walsh

Student Publications

John Rutter is an extremely significant figure in choral music, and his 1985 Requiem is one of his most widely performed works. Despite this popularity, it has yet to be analyzed in a rigorous academic capacity. Requiem is a harmonically rich and sophisticated work, and said lack of previous analysis represents a gap in theoretical research. This thesis analyzes Requiem for significant harmonic structures and idiomatic compositional techniques and applies those techniques in an original composition. Subtopics of note included harmonic non-functionality, modulations, and orchestration. The original work is comprised of two movements for choir and piano respectively titled “Requiem …

Changes In Perspective - A Pov Exercise, Lauralynn Filidoro

Masters Theses

Point of view is an important tool in fiction writing, as is an exploration of how choice of POV affects how a story is experienced by an audience and what to consider as an author when making that choice. Taking the time to study not just the options for point of view, but the profound impact that a thoughtful and considered use of this device can have on one’s writing is not just an exciting endeavor, but an inspiring one.

Storytelling Pedagogy To Promote Musical Expression Through Community Building In The High School Ensemble Class, Hector E. Ayerdiz

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Despite research on technical pedagogical techniques to improve musicianship in students, there are still some non-conventional pedagogical approaches that educators have not researched in detail. Among these is purposeful storytelling to develop community and vulnerability in students to enhance musical expression and technique. This study sought to understand the impact of the music teachers' use of storytelling on high school music ensemble students. It also investigated storytelling's usefulness in developing music skills and techniques in students by forming positive learning environments. Guided by narrative design, this qualitative research study looked at the phenomenon of storytelling in the high school music …

Sustaining The Score: A Narrative Inquiry Comparing California Teacher Induction And Adult Ensemble Participation For Music Educator Longevity And Growth, David Haley Green

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The relationship between music educators' participation in adult ensembles and any perceived benefits to their teaching careers remains underexplored. At a time when teacher recruitment and retention rates are unsustainable, this information can help provide ways to engage educators in a way that benefits both themselves and the academic success of their students. This qualitative study examines the perspectives of music educators across a wide variety of ages and grade levels. This study compares explicitly the formal, mandated support of California’s teacher induction program with the informal, voluntary support found in adult ensembles. Many music educators in California began their …

Ethnic Diversity And The High School’S Band Repertoire, Shane Ryan

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Despite the development of strategies to increase diversity in the music classroom, there is still room for further advancement. Ensuring that each student is represented in the class allows everyone to feel appreciated and work together. Research has shown the current state of diversity and inclusion in band literature selections and has presented recommendations for the next steps. By modeling Whitmore’s diversity in band literature research, this mixed-method research study identified the criteria by which band literature has been selected over the past five years. Perspectives on social issues, database availability, and educators making changes have emerged as themes through …

Authentic Disciples Of Christ: An Exegetical Analysis Of Jesus’S Expectations Of His Disciples’ Behaviors, Jessika S. Sandel

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The fulfillment of the Great Commission demands that the Church possess a clear and objective understanding of what constitutes a disciple. Because the New Testament does not present a specific definition of a disciple, local churches adopt culturally-shaped paradigms—conversion-only evangelism, curriculum-driven frameworks, or programmatic models—that fragment the biblical vision and conflate orthodoxy and orthopraxy. This study addresses this tension by articulating a biblically-formed composition of a disciple, arguing that authentic disciples do not merely confess belief but are Spirit-formed witnesses to Christ’s redemption, reflecting his identity through enduring faith marked by love, obedience, perseverance, and gospel proclamation. Motivated by theological …

Understanding How The Spiritual Formation Process Has Been Affected In A Post-Covid 19 World, Matthew E. Hunter

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The need for community is essential in the life of the believer. Without a solid community, a believer may fall into isolation and even driven away from God instead of closer to Him. Psychologists have stated that community impacts human cognitive and moral development. James Fowler takes this a step further, outlined a believer’s stages of faith compared to human development. These levels of development directly impact the spiritual formation process in the life of a believer and demonstrate the vital role it plays in the believer’s life. Discipleship remains an important tool for helping a believer move through these …

The Competition Effect: Comparing Music Education Stakeholder Perceptions Of Success To Student Achievement, Jake M. House

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Despite numerous studies examining stakeholders’ opinions on the benefits of marching band competitions for students’ musical development, current research has not fully addressed how directors, parents, and administrators perceive musical success in relation to students' performance abilities. The purpose of this qualitative hermeneutic phenomenological study was to identify previously unexplored perspectives and determine the relationship between stakeholders’ perceived musical performance success at marching competitions and students’ actual musical performance abilities, specifically in terms of tone, intonation, technique, rhythm, balance, and musicianship, across schools of varying sizes. This study gathered data from directors, parents, students, and administrators using surveys and interviews. …

Creating A “Modern Social Imaginary” In The Pages Of Godey’S Lady’S Book: The Work Of Sarah Josepha Hale 1827-1877, Kimberly Carlisle

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

For forty years Sarah Josepha Hale was the editor of Godey’s Lady’s Book, the most popular periodical in antebellum America. She played a crucial role in shaping a modern social imaginary for women in the United States. Her editorial influence extended beyond literature and fashion as she championed causes such as women’s education, the professionalization of domesticity, and the nationalization of the Thanksgiving holiday. Hale’s editorial work, personal writing, and activism shaped the modern American social imaginary by defining national customs, reinforcing gender norms, and fostering a moral framework that balanced religious influences with an evolving secular public culture. Hale …

The Indications Of The Need For Training For Biblical Worship Principles In Evangelical Churches In Texas, Carlos Benson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Despite numerous Evangelical churches in Texas, most churchgoers hold limited ideas about what defines worship. There is a shortage of biblically principled teaching in the Evangelical Church, particularly in the areas of First and God-honoring worship and its practices, including the Great Commission. This research primarily defines and explores the current state of worship in the Evangelical Church. This research examines how the original Adam and Eve beings, created to worship, have transformed into present-day worshipers. Today's worshipers include Sunday-only attendees, schedule-driven individuals, and spiritually drained souls, with a particular focus on those in Texas. This study will also provide …

Catholic Mass Music And Spiritual Growth, Stephenie Dinah Mokriakow

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Participation in music among Catholic grade school students is insufficient, despite research suggesting the importance of music at Catholic Mass. Student perspectives provide researchers with an understanding of music's connection to students' spiritual development. This qualitative experimental case study investigates fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade student perspectives of their spiritual development through worship music participation during the Mass. This experimental case study identifies perspectives not yet explored and documented concerning this group of students. This study focuses on students' social, emotional, and physical well-being throughout the study regarding the connection of music to spiritual development. Approximately thirty students participated in pre- …

Catholic Action At War: Prayer, Study, And Action In The National Catholic Welfare Conference Bulletin, 1939-1945, William Vician

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The study of the Roman Catholic Church in America during the twentieth century focuses on the Second Vatican Council’s (1962-1965) massive social changes and reactions, often minimizing the importance of the social and political forces of the preceding decades. The most significant of these forces was the Second World War (1939-1945), in which the nation’s twenty million Catholics participated in roles both on the battlefront and the home front. The Catholic Church that met the challenge of the war effort was increasingly led by the National Catholic Welfare Conference, the forebear of today’s United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The …

A Strategic Study Seeking To Increase Tithe And Offering At The Ephesus Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Harlem, New York, Silburn I. Reid

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This doctoral thesis explores the complex relationship between church members and financial giving at the Ephesus Seventh-day Adventist Church. The study aims to understand why members refrain from contributing to tithes and offerings by examining their trust in local church leadership and the denomination at large. The study identifies several underlying reasons for the reluctance to give by using qualitative and quantitative research methods, including surveys, teaching seminars, and participant group observations. These are grouped into three primary themes: transparency, education, and dissatisfaction with church governance. One of the key findings was that the lack of trust in church leadership …

Leadership, Personality Traits, And Teacher Training Characteristics Of Secondary Band Directors In Small Alabama Schools, Robbin Nicol Holder

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This quantitative, quasi-experimental study aimed to determine the disparities in the leadership, personality traits, and teacher training characteristics of successful public and private secondary band directors in small schools in Alabama. The study focused on identifying perspectives that have not been previously explored or documented. A survey was conducted among band directors at Alabama secondary schools with a daily average enrollment of 300 or fewer students in grades nine through eleven. This information was based on data provided by the Alabama Department of Education and reported by the Alabama High School Athletic Association. The research encompassed dependent variables in leadership, …

Sport And Black/African-Palestinian Transnational Solidarity: A Conversation, Joezer Antoine, Sean Jacobs, Munene Mwaniki, Yasmin Elgoharry, Jess Nachman, Chen Chen, Roc Rochon, Anthony J. Weems

Sport Management Collection

This paper is an edited transcript of an online panel that took place February 11, 2025, exploring the historical and contemporary forms of Black/African solidarity with the Palestinian liberation movement in the context of sport. Foregrounding the long tradition of leveraging sport within various anti-racist, anti-colonial, and anti-imperialist movements worldwide, this conversation emphasizes the urgency of developing sustained and renewed strategies of resistance. First, we outline Black-Palestinian Transnational Solidarity (BPTS) as a historical movement sustained by shared anti-imperialist principles. For decades, radical and revolutionary Black and African peoples have recognized Zionism as an extension of the racialized Western imperial project …

A Strategy For Helping Mother And Daughter Churches Foster A Healthy Symbiotic Relationship, Timothy Blazer

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This action research project explores the dynamic relationship between mother churches and daughter churches within the context of church multiplication, with particular emphasis on the mutual benefits and shared challenges that emerge throughout the planting process. Central to the study is the guiding research question: “Will applying biblical principles of church planting partnership between mother and daughter churches enable church plants to thrive and flourish?” While much of the existing literature centers primarily on individual church planters, this study focuses on how mother churches and their church plants can experience growth and vitality through intentional and collaborative partnerships. The purpose …

Island Transformation: A Missional Approach To Cultivating A Jesus Culture On The Transitory Island Of South Padre., Matthew A. Wyatt

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The following DMin action research project explores the transformative potential of a missional approach to cultivating a Jesus culture within the transitory community of South Padre Island. The research addresses the challenge faced by OneTwo Church, where many members, entrenched in the local island culture, find themselves ill-equipped to evangelize effectively to a transient population. This paper contends that by implementing a unique missional model, the church can instigate cultural transformation from within through strategic engagement in missional evangelism. Equipping OTC with this distinctive model will shift the community’s paradigm from passive island participants to active missional agents. Central to …