Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Strategies For Integrating Teaching For Artistic Behavior (Tab) In A High School Ceramics Classroom, Joanna Gurney

Art 895 Research Papers

This research study reveals strategies for the integration of Teaching for Artistic Behavior (TAB) in a high school Ceramics classroom. The primary objective is to identify potential, effective strategies for implementing TAB approaches within a single-media environment. Using a Case Study approach, this study examines and synthesizes existing theories with student outcomes, researcher field notes, teacher observations of a TAB classroom, and teacher reflections to understand how TAB-based pedagogical shifts can be used to effectively promote artistic behavior, while balancing student autonomy with the need for structured skill development in a single-media. Findings from this research will contribute to the …

Authentically Assessing Student Learning In A Data Driven School System, Curtis Marolf

Art 895 Research Papers

As educators, we are often tasked with measuring student progress and understanding using standardized testing methods. As a visual arts instructor, I find these testing methods to be antiquated and inadequate for measuring students’ knowledge in the classroom, as they solely focus on an individual’s ability to recognize, recall or repeat factual data. If the goal of a quarterly assessment is to answer the question, “How do we know that the students know what we want them to know?” then standardized assessments are not the answer for the visual arts. The art classroom is a creative and expressive space, where …

Contending With Anxiety In The Elementary Art Classroom, Natalie Petrushonis

Art 895 Research Papers

The focus of this qualitative study is to explore how students are affected by anxiety in the art classroom. The major objective of this research is to explore methods and strategies to support students who suffer from anxiety to prevent it from negatively affecting their art education. The participants of this study will be elementary students within an art classroom who feel anxiety while engaging in artmaking. This case study research will provide insight into approaches that have been utilized to assist students with anxiety in art while observing the effectiveness of these methods with students in an elementary art …

Robotic Rhythm: A Contemporary Look At Ai-Driven Editing Tools’ Efficacy In Understanding And Replicating Creative Rhythm Editing Techniques., Alexander Selby-Lara, Charles Howard

Honors Thesis

It is undeniable that artificial intelligence (AI) has made its way into the film world. From AI-generated imagery and sound design in two 2025 Oscar nominees — The Brutalist and Emilia Pérez (Pulver) — to weekly updates and monthly beta releases of existing and new generative image and video models, AI-driven filmmaking tools are here to stay. But what does this mean for the post-production workflow? Much like camera development, editing technology has come a long way from flatbed film editors to Adobe Premiere Pro v. 25.0. Yet, despite each technological leap from system to system, the delicate task of …

The Hagiography Of Trinity Sparkle, Emma Marie Schwartz

Theses - ALL

Through painting and soft sculpture, I create a theoretical realm intertwined with my lived reality pushing against norms perpetuated by religious and secular heteronormativity. I mobilize my desire and dualistic experiences to initiate and recognize the uneasy and necessary conversations surrounding the ways we search for and live out our sexualities and identities in relationships and communities. Themes of acceptance stem from my personal life and are applied in the fictional realm through figuration, cropped imagery, and highly saturated colors in my paintings and soft sculptures. I rewrite art historical Biblical imagery and interweave them with my personal experiences, in …

Annihilation, Reconstruction And Harmony In Carnal Desire, Yukang Tao

Theses - ALL

This thesis investigates the aesthetic, ethical, and philosophical implications of meat consumption and bodily commodification of humans and animals within capitalist hierarchies through the lens of digital art, performance and sculpture. Focusing on the intersection of humanity, animality, and technological embodiment, the project interrogates how contemporary systems of power aestheticize violence and disguise exploitation under the guise of ethical consumption. Inspired by critical theories, particularly of Amber Husain, Jacques Derrida, George Bataille, and Donna Haraway, the thesis examines the ambivalent tensions between seduction and slaughter, subjectivity and domination, and how these dynamics are embedded in both animal and human exploitation. …

Hope In The Living Water, Athena Grace Schamowski

Theses - ALL

This thesis focuses on the concepts and ideas behind my paintings. It aims to explain the conceptual and theological aspects of my works as well as the importance of faith in a Christian’s life. Using my own experiences, I reveal how faith can help us understand sufferings, and how through our faith-related experiences we mature in spirit, learn to understand God’s ways, and ultimately enjoy His companionship. Though our faith does not live by understanding all the ways of God, by growing in faith we will understand in spirit that all things will work out for good for those who …

Hooves, Paws, And Patriarchy: Reimagining A Multispecies Society In Late Chosŏn Korea, Jenny Paszik

Theses - ALL

In late Chosŏn Korea, domesticated animals were more than passive fixtures of human society and culture, but rather active participants in the negotiation of social power dynamics. This paper proposes a species-inclusive reading of Chosŏn society, focusing on the eighteenth century, to expand our understanding from a patriarchal system to a kyriarchal framework. This thesis examines how horses, dogs, and sacrificial animals were enmeshed in intersecting hierarchies of gender and social class in urban and peripheral spaces. I argue that while interactions and conceptions of animals were shaped by the prevailing Confucian worldview, these relationships also worked reciprocally to reinforce, …

The Price Of Fame: Materialism, Social Media And The Pursuit Of Celebrity In The Bling Ring (2013), Irma Mosqueda Perez

Television-Radio-Film - All Scholarship

In a society obsessed with materialism and appearances, The Bling Ring (2013) by Sofia Coppola stands as a timeless reflection of the dangers of desiring fame and wealth at any cost. Through the use of slow-motion sequences and immersive cinematography, Coppola tells the true story of five California teens whose desire for wealth, fame and status drives them to commit a series of robberies targeting the homes of Hollywood’s top celebrities. Coppola succeeds in creating an atmosphere of dreamlike hedonism and euphoria through oversaturated neon colors and a pop soundtrack which transports the viewer into the minds of these teenagers …

Better Writers: Our Relationship To Graduate Student Writers In Rhetoric, Composition, And Writing Studies, Zakery R. Muñoz

Dissertations - ALL

My dissertation studies graduate students and how we teach them disciplinary writing conventions. Following the work of rhetorical genre theorists such as Catherine F. Schryer and Caroline R. Miller, I question how our mainstay academic genres in graduate school influence writing habits and the extent to which they are incommensurate with disciplinary genre expectations and the workload of faculty. I believe studying graduate students as writers is an ironically underexamined area of research in Rhetoric, Composition, and Writing Studies (RCWS)—a field committed to undergraduate writing. The data in this dissertation comes from a large national study that I distributed to …

Disabling Structures: Disability And Graduate Student Professionalization, Gabriella Wilson-Kopko

Dissertations - ALL

While scholarship on graduate education and graduate teacher assistant training has emerged as a growing trend in the field of rhetoric and composition, perspectives from disabled graduate students about their navigation of academic spaces remain understudied and undervalued (Lutkewitte, Kitchens, Scanlon; Macaulay; Badenhorst, Amell, Burford; Brown). An often neglected and precarious student population, disabled graduate students’ experiences are critical to graduate education scholarship because their lived experiences offer insight into critiques of normative and disabling academic structures. This IRB-approved study contributes to scholarship on graduate education by carefully analyzing the cultural expectations of normativity, ability, and productivity that are implicitly …

Chinese Women’S Perspectives In Metaphorical Narratives: Exploring Identity, Growth, And Societal Expectations Through Illustration, Cancan Jin

Theses - ALL

This thesis explores the struggles and growth of Chinese women through metaphorical narratives, focusing on how they navigate societal expectations, gender inequality, and personal identity. First, it examines the importance of metaphor and anthropomorphism in storytelling. It analyzes how these techniques are used to address women's issues. Second, it explores the social background of Chinese women, from the May Fourth Movement, which challenged traditional gender roles, to the socialist era’s push for labor equality, and the modern struggles of workplace discrimination and the "double burden." Third, it introduces Tortoise on the Way, a visual thesis written and illustrated by the …

The Idiot's Asylum: What Better Place To Do It Than From My Own Grave?, Kara Stallings

Theses - ALL

The Idiot's Asylum: “What better place to do it than from my own grave?” is an essay that examines how vulnerability and collaboration operate as the throughlines of collective creativity. By utilizing live performance, large-scale installation, video, food, and humor, I explore how immersing my audience in a unique experience encourages them to bear witness to or physically engage in a social and vulnerable act of trust – especially within a state of uncertainty. I consider historical and cultural movements centered around radical play, humor, and participation such as Dada, Surrealism, Fluxus, Situationism, and feminist performance art to be foundational …

Allegories In Fiction: Shaping Our Thoughts And Outcome Of Technological Advancements, Rick Li

Theses - ALL

This thesis investigates how fictional storytelling, particularly in science fiction films, games, and literature, influences real-world technological advancements and public perception of innovation. By examining recurring themes such as automation, technological overdependence, ethical dilemmas in AI, this study highlights how media functions as a cultural reflection to reality, and as a speculative tool. While drawing on popular examples like The Terminator (1984), Fahrenheit 451 (1953), I, Robot (2004), and The Mitchells vs. The Machines (2021), this research also considers the importance of contemporary and minority voices like artist Kapwani Kiwanga in reimagining futures beyond dominant Western narratives. These stories reflect …

Breaking Boundaries: Memory And Female Identity, Hui Qi

Theses - ALL

My artistic practice revolves around material exploration and transformation. Initially, I focused on wearable metal jewelry, as its precision and independent craftsmanship allowed me to express the strength of female identity. Inspired by Mindy Herrin-Lewis’s use of micro-sculpting and her integration of ceramics and metal enameling, I began incorporating color, texture, and layered surfaces to express emotion and personal narrative. By merging metal, enamel, ceramics, and found objects, I create contemporary jewelry and sculptural pieces that bridge traditional craftsmanship with modern storytelling. This thesis explores how art serves as a tool for reshaping identity and reclaiming autonomy. In navigating the …

Existing Now In Space And Time: In A Body With Limits On Both, Kirstin Dunlap

Theses - ALL

Kirstin Dunlap’s work is deeply rooted in her understanding of the personal connection between the body and the Earth. Every individual’s life experience is shaped by their relationship with these two bodies—both of which undergo growth, erosion, and decay processes. For Dunlap, there is a striking similarity between these two realms: both are places of tension, where struggles for survival unfold. She sees herself in the fringes of the Earth, in areas where natural forces collide. This conflict mirrors a personal battle within her own body, where her immune system mistakenly attacks itself, resulting in a body that is progressively …

Curricular Reconciliation: Equitable, Inclusive, And Accessible Approaches To Professional Writing Through Coalition-Led Technical Communication, Lerie M. Gabriel

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation examines the process of revising a core professional writing course to integrate anti-ableist and anti-racist pedagogies throughout its design. Focusing on the pragmatic and theoretical aspects of this collaborative curriculum redesign, this dissertation examines how an intersectional, Black feminist approach to professional and technical communication curricula disrupts neoliberal legacies. In addition to limiting students’ critical thinking skills, interdependence, and imagination of workplace ethos, these legacies affect instructors' experience of teaching professional and technical writing (PTW), particularly those individuals who hold (multiply) marginalized identities. Through archival research and interviews, this dissertation contextualizes these revisions by exploring the rhetorical history …

In Favor Of The Mother-Artist: The Case For Self-Actualization In Motherhood, Lottie Elizabeth Caiella

Theses - ALL

This thesis paper discusses the symbiotic relationship between the roles of mothering and being an artist and makes the case for why art made by mothers can have a lasting impact on both society as well as within the family dynamics of the artists’ lives. The obstacles that stand in the way of mothers pursuing art, or even pursuing becoming her full self, are many. This paper reimagines what the role of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs might look like from the lens of a caretaker, and how it can be an overall triumph for society from a wider perspective. This …

The Politics Of Artisanal And Small-Scale Gold Mining (Asgm) In Tanzania In The 21st Century., Eliud Atugonza Kabamanya

Theses - ALL

This study investigates the politics of Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining (ASGM) in 21st-century Tanzania, focusing on the organization of miners towards access to key resources, namely land, capital, markets, geological information, technology, and examining environmental degradation, health, and safety concerns affecting miners and surrounding communities. Grounded in historical and dialectical materialism, the research traces ASGM’s evolution from the pre-colonial period through colonial exclusions, post-independence reforms, and neoliberal restructuring. The study employs qualitative methods, including interviews, field observations, and document analysis, conducted over two months across key mining sites in Tanzania. Findings reveal that ASGM is shaped by systemic exclusion, …

Ua35/7 Class Of 2025 Commencement, Wku Gatton Academy Of Mathematics & Science

WKU Administration Documents

Commencement program for the WKU Gatton Academy of Mathematics & Science with list of graduates.

Navigating Structural Behaviors To Education: A Qualitative Analysis Of Attendance, Behavior, And Academic Outcomes Among African American Scholars In Grades K-5, Tony E. Howard

ATU Theses and Dissertations 2021 - Present

This qualitative study explores the structural behaviors within public K-5 education that affect African American students' attendance, behavior, and academic outcomes. With a persistent achievement gap disproportionately affecting African American learners, the research investigates how systemic inequities and institutional practices hinder equitable access to quality education. Using a phenomenological approach, the study draws on the lived experiences of educators, administrators, and support staff across several school districts to understand the nuanced challenges African American students face.

Data collection involved semi-structured interviews and document analysis, yielding rich insights into how disciplinary policies, culturally unresponsive teaching practices, and inadequate support services contribute …

An Autoethnography Of My Experience Navigating The United States Educational System As An Immigrant: Intercultural Communication Challenges And Cultural Asynchronization, Anuti Ngangana

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to share experiences as an immigrant student and answer the following question: What does my personal life history reveal about the importance of intercultural communication in the U.S. educational system? Immigrants leave their countries of origin and migrate to the United States for various reasons. Many are traumatized when they enter the country due to civil unrest in their native countries. Immigrants arrive with their children, who join a school system that is generally unprepared to meet their needs. In order to document immigrant experiences, the researcher utilized an autoethnographic approach using counter-storytelling from …

Thomas Sutpen, Stephen Dedalus, And The Intersection Of Creation And Mortality, Layla A. Mcgovern

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

This paper examines William Faulkner’s Thomas Sutpen and James Joyce’s Stephen Dedalus as parallel creator figures who attempt to transcend their origins and combat mortality by establishing enduring legacies. After suffering humiliation regarding social hierarchy, Sutpen endeavors to create a material dynasty through land acquisition, property development, and the enslavement of non-white people, obsessively seeking to produce a white male heir in the process. Despite his efforts, Sutpen’s physical creation deteriorates, with his most enduring legacy being a distorted oral history beyond his control. Conversely, Dedalus rejects his Irish Catholic upbringing to escape the “nets” of “nationality, language, [and] religion” …

The Art Of Dreaming: A Surrealist Approach To Dream Analysis, Shelby Wright

Honors Thesis

Over the past two years, I created a series of paintings to explore the meaning of my nightmares. This study analyzes the themes and symbols in these dreams through the psychological frameworks of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung. Freud’s causal approach focuses on repressed desires, while Jung’s method relies on mythological symbols and archetypes in the collective unconscious. Drawing on the ideas of André Breton and the Surrealist movement, I examine how art can bridge dreams and waking life. By painting my dreams, I aim to better understand my unconscious and invite viewers to question their perception of reality. This …

Identification And Preclinical Assessment Of Novel Therapeutic Modalities In Environmental Exposure-Induced Lung Disease, Aaron D. Schwab

Theses & Dissertations

Environmental lung diseases are preventable respiratory conditions either caused or made worse by inhaled environmental exposures. Contemporarily, environmental lung diseases are most associated with workplace exposures given specific occupational processes aerosolize inflammatory agents that can be inhaled at high concentrations. Although a considerable amount is known regarding immunoglobulin (Ig)E-mediated responses to environmental exposures, little is known about non-IgE mediated respiratory conditions resulting from lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-enriched organic dust exposure(s). Chronic respiratory diseases such as asthma, hypersensitivity pneumonitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and pulmonary fibrosis have all been identified as environmental lung diseases caused or exacerbated by such environmental dusts. Therapeutic …

The Defect Within You, Sarah Spencer

Honors Theses

This thesis is a collection of science fiction short stories exploring human limitations in our era of unprecedented influence over the world. Despite everything we can accomplish, we are not as powerful as we think we are. My stories focus on how this manifests in our embodiment and our relationships with our bodies.

Maurice Jeremy Walton

African American Funeral Programs

No abstract provided.

The Corps, Greta Zimmer, Daniel Rogers

Honors Thesis

When a rich, sheltered girl joins a ragtag community service team in Mississippi, she must learn who she is while dealing with her arrogant rival, manipulative boss, and the brutal challenges of serving the unhoused population.

The Ethics Of Advertising Unhealthy Food To Children: A Study On Potential Advertising Policy Restrictions And Their Effects On Children Of Disadvantaged Minority Groups, Riley M. O'Neal

Honors Theses

According to the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention, one in five children in America have obesity. Black and Hispanic children experience obesity at higher rates than children of other racial groups. With obesity rates increasing, what should be done to stop this increase? One partial solution is to restrict the advertisements of foods high in sugar fat, and/or refined grains directed towards children. Advertisements may be restricted in their mode (i.e., the media through which they are viewed) or their content (i.e., the substance of the advertisement or product packaging). While these restrictions on advertising may help lower overall …

Juntos, Tori N. Saenz

Honors Theses

Juntos is a sculptural exploration of interconnectedness and dependence between people. Throughout my life and travels around the world as a solo backpacker, I have seen firsthand how the human desire for connection transcends language barriers, personality differences, and various belief systems. This natural tendency to form relationships and depend on each other is integral to our society and our lives. In juntos, which means “together” in Spanish, I explore these human connections through figurative sculptures using abstraction, repetition, diversity, and balance.

The simple, abstract figures that make up juntos capture the internal composition of a person rather than …