Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Pressing: Where The Objective Meets The Subjective, Mariana Parisca

Undergraduate Theses—Unrestricted

Through this essay I describe the theoretical and anthropological ideas that led to the creation of the Cushing Series. An interest in the obsession with photography in popular culture leads to an understanding of the permeation of structured reasoning beyond scientific research and into everyday life. Taking evidence from photography, and philosophy of science I establish the limitations of structured reasoning, both as a way of perceiving the world and as an understanding of identity, and define surface and frame as its physical representation. Using Sartre’s existential theory and phenomenological anthropology I then describe the infinite subjective existence of …

The Final Frontier: Navigating From Material To Virtual, Alexandra Neuman

Undergraduate Theses—Unrestricted

Humankind’s continual creation of and progression into virtual space is a hugely significant event on our evolutionary timeline, one that signifies a sort of imminent and already in-process departure. While the more popular notion of our species’ eventual exodus is linked to outer space and planetary exploration, our existing conceptualization of cyberspace connotes an identical unknowable vastness and sense of discovery, with its depiction relying on nearly identical imagery. The projection of a virtually based human future is thereby left with an already carved out spot in the collective imagination. The lone floating astronaut locked into a suit unable to …

Ritual Embodiment: The Body Remembers Through Ritual, Ayesha Mohyuddin

Undergraduate Theses—Unrestricted

Ritual externalizes religious belief through physical embodiment and codified performance that allows it to be shared through a community. In a post 9/11 American society where Muslims are subject to increased scrutiny,. In a secular society that regulates religion to the private sphere so as not to conflict with the identity of the state, externalized religious identity can become problematic, especially as a Muslim living in post 9/11 United States. Ritual thenritual becomes a way to otherize a community based on shared practices. an identity under increased scrutiny. However, looking beyond the framework that the specific rules of ritual creates …

Landmarks For Sleepwalkers, Isaac S. Howell

Undergraduate Theses—Unrestricted

Abstract:

In my recent work I have been interested in thinking about notions of instability. In order explore these notions, in this paper I will like to explore the relevance of postmodern literary theory and the color black in my work, as well as think about the importance of the grid as a tool for organization and ontological delineation.

I will be examining writing by Alain Robbe-Grillet, as well as art work by Mark Manders, Giorgio de Chirico, Kay Sage, and Ad Reinhardt.

The Girl Who Didn’T Know She Wasn’T Singing, Rebecca M. Lothan

Undergraduate Theses—Unrestricted

I am interested what is obscured by the mundane, diurnal nature of objects that surround us which uphold a comfortable rhythm that easily resists close observation. My thesis work examines states of flux, a body of work that is neither here nor there, but hovers in an in between area: in existing between painting and sculpture, in revealing transcendent qualities of the everyday, raising questions about value, and fundamental acts of seeing and considering artwork. context becomes key in framing the experience of the work, each piece is perceptually contingent on external factors; in viewership and the individual viewer experience …

Ghosts In The Garden: Cultural Critique Through The Lens Of The Absurd, Andrew T. Catanese

Undergraduate Theses—Unrestricted

The primary lens by which I deconstruct my work is the absurd and “lucidity” of the absurd as developed by Camus in The Myth of Sisyphus. Camus’ absurd grows out of the tension between human desire for establishing order with the impossibility of doing so in a universe that continually resists our abstractions. The absurd then becomes a means to understanding the criticisms in my work of consumerism, behavior, and spaces which attempt to control or constrict people. I approach my art as an “other” or “outsider” from the system of Protestant moral dichotomy in which I grew up. …

Process As Practice : Expressions Of The Numinous, Morgan Dowty

Undergraduate Theses—Unrestricted

This statement explores the ways in which language and art making approach description of spiritual and largely ineffable experiences. Through the lens of Rudolf Otto’s discussion of the numinous, visual languages, including darkness, scale and silence, are explored as methods for expression of the spiritual. Throughout the exploration of material and process, an emphasis is placed on exploring a relationship between the transcendental and the everyday, between the physical and spiritual world. The making process is highlighted for its ability to create space and time to reflect on these questions. Printmaking as a translator of both object and image plays …

Black Culture: A Societal Problem, Quamesha Brown

Undergraduate Theses—Unrestricted

American society, regardless of what history has been told, has never been a society that is truly free of social prejudices especially for its black community. The many depictions of black people in America has caused a number of psychological and physical difficulties for black communities. In this paper, the main topic is the ways in which black culture is portrayed in American society and how that representation has affected the black community and the black experience. Although there are common experiences shared between people in the black community, the black experience is highly individualized; there is no singular definition …

Untitled (Too Real Is This Feeling Of Make-Believe), Tucker Pierce

Undergraduate Theses—Unrestricted

Tucker Pierce works to examine the constructed nature of identity through the act of modifying the surface of his body, the site of all identity expression, and through the strategic crossing of borders, both internally and externally. Using drag and his own body, he crosses the internal boundaries that govern identity expression and then the more physical border between the private and public sphere. He crosses this boundary by taking this modification of his external identity expression into the world at large. On a personal level, this project allows him to engage more completely with his own sense of self, …

Inspiring The Nation: French Music About Jeanne D'Arc In The 1930s And 1940s, Elizabeth Dister

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation, a cultural history of interwar and wartime France, investigates the wealth of music dedicated to Jeanne d'Arc during the tumultuous 1930s and 1940s. Jeanne d'Arc's status as an ambivalent symbol of French nationalism allows a novel appraisal of both the music of this period and its larger historical issues: the formation of French national identities, how music is used to convey contradictory political ideologies, and how music participates in both collaboration and resistance during periods of unrest. Relying on extensive archival research, this project investigates an unusually varied cross-section of musical activity in France during the 1930s and …

Divas, Buffalo Gay Men's Chorus

Programs

Good evening, and welcome to the BGMC Spring concert "Divas!" Tonight the BGMC will perform the music of many beloved Divas who have made significant impact and contributions to the LGBTQ community through their music.

Alsobrook, Harvey S. Bartlett Iii

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

N/A

If Not Now: An Account Of The Challenges And Experiences Of Writing, Directing, And Editing A Graduate Thesis Film, Tylyn S. Anson

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

In this paper, I will catalog and describe my process involved in the creation of my thesis film If Not Now. In the main body of the paper I will cover the topics of Writing, Casting, Directing, Production Design, Cinematography, Editing, and Sound, as well as Technology and Workflow. Special emphasis will be placed on Writing, Directing, Editing, and Sound. The Analysis section will discuss the overall effectiveness of my goals to communicate a story about self-identity and community, as well as the film's artistic merit and quality.

Broad Shoulders, Hidden Voices: The Legacy Of Integration At New Orleans' Benjamin Franklin High School, Graham S. Cooper

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This paper seeks to insert the voices of students into the historical discussion of public school integration in New Orleans. While history tends to ignore the memories of children that experienced integration firsthand, this paper argues that those memories can alter our understanding of that history. In 1963, Benjamin Franklin High School was the first public high school in New Orleans to integrate. Black students knowingly made sacrifices to transfer to Ben Franklin, as they were socially and politically conscious teenagers. Black students formed alliances with some white teachers and students to help combat the racist environment that still dominated …

“Cowboy, Paladin, Hero?”: Being Boys And Men In David Foster Wallace’S The Pale King, David J. Guidry

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Often aligned with post-postmodernism, David Foster Wallace’s later work retreats from the ironic detachment and cynicism of postmodernism in favor of a more sincere approach to writing. This is especially evident in his posthumous novel, The Pale King, a work dealing with what it means to be human in the Information Age. After locating the novel’s setting within a recent history of American masculinity and work, this paper examines several of the novel’s male characters as they struggle to be fully realized boys and men, concluding that The Pale King is Wallace’s final statement that enduring the ennui of …

Feeling Your Heart Beat In The Palm Of Your Hand, Kami L. Ownbey

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

N/A

Never Getting Back: Creating The Title Role In Rajiv Joseph's Bengal Tiger At The Baghdad Zoo, John H. Neisler

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This thesis documents my rehearsal and performance of the role of Tiger in Rajiv Joseph’s Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, including research, character analysis, role development, rehearsal journal, and an evaluation of my performance. Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo was produced by the UNO Department of Film and Theatre, under the direction of David W. Hoover. The play was performed at the Robert E. Nims Theatre of the Performing Arts October 2 - 4, 9 - 11 at 7:30pm, and October 12, 2014 at 2:30pm. The play was performed at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival …

Copper Kingdom, Eric J. Gremillion

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This paper thoroughly examines the production of the thesis film Copper Kingdom. From writing, directing, production design, editing, to cinematography, sound, and workflow, each aspect of the creation of Copper Kingdom is carefully detailed, with insights regarding the decisions made throughout the filmmaking process.

The Stars Of David, Eric B. Millman

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The Stars of David is based on the true story of a woman whose love of baseball stood above all. Set in the midst of the Great Depression, Jackie Austin, disgusted by the chauvinistic expectations of her impoverished father, sets off on her own to play for whatever team that will have her. That team proves to be the barnstorming House of David Baseball Club, an ascetic religious commune struggling to regain past glory after a decade of tragedy and shame. Outsiders and freaks to the rest of the world, these new "Stars" of David must learn to work together …

For Want Of: A Punk Rock Short Film, Jonathan P. Kieran

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

In light of the specific challenges of assessing a thesis film—a project which contains artistic and academic components—the author examines his own short film For Want Of as a prototype for future work in film and as an opportunity for introspective investigation into the nature of filmmaking and personal artistic process. Reference is made to specific episodes during the film’s conception and production, as well as higher-level insight gained from following the film through an 18-month production cycle.

Dante, Damnation, And The Undead: How The Conception Of Hell Has Changed In Western Literature From Dante's Inferno To The Zombie Apocalypse, Isabelle M. Whitman

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Dante's Inferno defined hell in Western literature for centuries; it was a physical place for sinners, they were subjected to physical torments, and it was in the afterlife. Dante’s depiction was firmly rooted in Christian theology. However, as fears and morals change, ideas of hell evolve as well. With the popularity of the zombie and other apocalypse narratives, these ideas return to the notion of physical torment and earthly places. In poetry, novels, theater, television, and film, writers examine different interpretations of hell, punishment, and redemption as metaphors for modern sins. In Sartre’s Huis clos, hell is a windowless …

Blank Page: A Teacher Begins, John D. Wolfe

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Comprised of seven essays, this collection of literary nonfiction explores one man's journey into the teaching profession. The author recounts his experiences from just before he heard the call, to his first year teaching as an intern at Punahou School in Honolulu, through his first three years teaching full-time, and the challenges, mostly internal conflicts, he worked through as he taught freshmen and then two junior/senior electives before eventually going on sabbatical to Tanzania for his ninth year.

Examination, Exertion, And Exemplification: Wives Of Anglican Clergymen In Jane Austen’S Northanger Abbey, Sense And Sensibility, And Mansfield Park, Lauren K. Sauzer Dunn

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Jane Austen’s Anglicanism shaped her works, especially her novels Northanger Abbey, Sense and Sensibility, and Mansfield Park. Austen is didactic regarding the future of the clergy of the Church of England through the clergymen in these novels (Henry Tilney, Edward Ferrars, and Edmund Bertram, respectively), but her didacticism is clearest through these characters’ wives, Catherine Morland, Elinor Dashwood, and Fanny Price. Mansfield Park and the marriage of Edmund and Fanny are the most explicit exploration of Austen’s view of what was necessary for the future of the Church as it continued changing in the nineteenth century.

Imagining New Possibilities Through Social Practice, Sarah O. Hull

Undergraduate Theses—Unrestricted

In my practice, I have significantly questioned the role of the arts in social change. I have explored various forms of social practice, especially political art,public art and community art. Social practice lives in-between the world of art and social action and can add an important voice to both. Still, social practice, (like all forms of art) is limited and cannot be the sole source of social change. It is by working with others already organizing for social change, but bringing in the unique skills and perspectives of an artist that social practice is most effective. In this thesis, I …

Michelangelo And Pope Paul Iii, 1534-49: Patronage, Collaboration And Construction Of Identity In Renaissance Rome, Erin Christine Sutherland

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

For his greatest patron, Pope Paul III Farnese (1534-49), Michelangelo painted the Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel, two monumental frescoes in the Pauline Chapel, and managed the design and reconstruction of St. Peter's Basilica. The pope and artist maintained a harmonious and remarkably productive association for the entirety of Paul's fifteen-year pontificate. The artist's projects at the Vatican defined the most important sacred spaces of Renaissance Rome and helped construct the identity of the papacy at the inception of the Counter-Reformation. At the same time, these are the finest examples of Michelangelo's mature painting and architecture. Following Giorgio Vasari's …

Paradigmatic Self-Deception, David Stephen Winchell

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

I present a theory of what I call "paradigmatic self-deception," the most serious and vivid cases of self-deception. While there has been much philosophical discussion of self-deception in recent decades, existing work does not explain how and why some cases of self-deception are more severe than others, when self-deception is intentional, and when an individual may justifiably be held morally responsible for being self-deceived. This dissertation answers all three of these important questions. The first chapter reviews the existing literature and motivates the need for a theory of paradigmatic cases. In the second chapter, I introduce three characteristic features of …

Fixed And Fleeting: An Exploration Of Film Poster Art From Weimar Germany, 1919-1933, Melissa Lee Olson Meeks

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

My research investigates film advertising and poster designs produced in Germany during the Weimar Republic as significant cultural artifacts revealing the intersections between consumerism and aesthetics, popular entertainment and fine art. The intent of my dissertation is two-fold. On the one hand, I reconsider the intellectual debates surrounding the artistic legitimacy of film as argued in the so-called Kinodebatte of the early twentieth century, an unsettling of the perceived boundaries between high and low art that remains significant to theorizations and explications of cinema today. On the other hand, my examination of the film poster aims to complicate the theoretical …

The Depression Modonna, K. S. Hardy

Westview

No abstract provided.

Earthquake, James Valvis

Westview

No abstract provided.

Perfection, History, And Harmonious Individuality: Herder's Ethical Thought, 1765-1791, Charles Richard Booher

Dissertations - ALL

This work is a study of the ethical thought of Johann Gottfried Herder. I examine the development of his ethics from 1765 through 1791. I contend that the earliest texts express a set of ideas that Herder modified and developed throughout the rest of his work. These are a perfectionist conception of the end of human life, a belief in the centrality of history for ethics, a form of naturalism, and a commitment to the idea that every individual ought to blend their characteristic powers into a harmonious whole. The study considers a set of texts in chronological order. I …