Arts and Humanities Commons^™

The Sounds Of The Shore: An Afrofuturistic Double Record Performed Through Vernacular Technology, Collin Bright

Masters Theses, 2020-current

Predominately white institutions are socially exclusive hostile environments that uphold white heteronormative patriarchal systems (Harper, 2013; Holliday & Squires, 2021; Razzante, 2018). The everyday task of existing on campus is a struggle for students of color as they are asked to enter spaces/places that are not diverse, inclusive, equitable, or accepting. To address the oppressive and dismissive forces of campus, my thesis uses Afrofuturism to reimagine what it means to exist as a student of color at a PWI. Afrofuturism is a “counter-imaginative cultur[al]” aesthetic-based practice that uses creative postcolonial critiques to reimagine future possibilities (Asante & Pindi, 2020; Pirker …

The Daniel Harrison House Project: Heritage Education Programs At A Historic House Museum, Megan Schoeman

Masters Theses, 2020-current

This thesis project attempts to identify and address outdated interpretation and education programs of the Daniel Harrison House, a historic house museum commonly known as Fort Harrison, in Dayton, Virginia. The project consists of two parts, a written component and an online digital exhibit. The written component of the project evaluates the Daniel Harrison House’s current educational programs and provides updated suggestions to reflect current trends within the heritage education and public history fields. The Interpretation Plan identifies the organization’s existing interpretation methods, historical content, artifact collection, education programs, staff and volunteers, accessibility of information to the public, and development …

Ladies Of Distinction: Examining Twentieth Century African American Socialites And Civil Rights, Mackenzie Mason

Masters Theses, 2020-current

Discontent post-war Philadelphians had a full list of problems which the city had been dealing with since the beginning of the Great Depression. Conditions in the city had deteriorated so badly that by the late 1930s, a group of young middle-to-upper-class professionals who called themselves “Young Turks” began advocating for postwar progressivism in the city. These wealthy white male lawyers, architects, and university professors frequently met and discussed their reformative ideas within intellectual associations and gentleman’s clubs. During this same time period and inside the same city, two African American women born into affluent families in Philadelphia desired to design …

Dirt Circus: Queering Sports And Home Through Filth, Hannah Patteson

Masters Theses, 2020-current

This monograph accompanies the MFA Thesis Exhibition, “Dirt Circus”. I outline the history of circus and carnival culture and the ways in which queer identities are expressed through these artistic modes. I describe the nonconforming expressions of gender in these arenas through bearded ladies, aerialists, clowns, and the freak show. I then explore various groups from the 70’s to present day, including Bread and Puppet Theater, The Cockettes, and Split Britches, who utilize performance to further their ideologies of gender freedom, anti-capitalism, and sexual liberation. I compare our differing uses of cheap art and public engagement within the realm of …

Communicating Across The Pond: Evaluating Perceptions Of Dialectal Divergence Among American Student Sojourners In England, Katherine T. Peppiatt

Senior Honors Projects, 2020-current

Although at first glance the differences between British English and American English seem trivial, “apartment” vs. “flat” or “color” vs. “colour," these dialectal divergences immediately create an othering effect. Subtle changes are representative of the deeper implications of this issue; altered language impacts perceptions about the validity and correctness of a written work. My research seeks to understand how the differences between British English and American English impact American student sojourners during an abroad experience in England. Examining how American sojourners perceive dialectal differences and adapt their written rhetoric to match that of a British audience offers valuable insight into …

Alcea, Autumn Johnson

LSU Master's Theses

This exhibition was created with the intent to investigate and celebrate gender fluidity in both nature and humanity by depicting one plant, the hollyhock, whose reproductive parts share a structure that changes from male to female as the plant matures. Alcea consists of prints, drawings, and installations that showcase the hollyhock in each stage of its transition.

Assessing The Preservation Of Black Cultural Heritage In Baton Rouge, Kirsten Lashay Campbell

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This project is an exploratory investigation into the current state of preservation of Black Cultural Heritage in Baton Rouge. Through interviews with stakeholders at local archives, institutions, and repositories about their collections, programs, and other initiatives, it aims to assess what resources and services are and are not currently available to the Black Community in Baton Rouge. Additionally, it emphasizes the importance of community archiving, specifically how community archives can be used to fill the gaps missing as is the case in Baton Rouge. Additionally, this study provides the foundation for building a community archive dedicated to Black Cultural Heritage …

Looking Back…There Is A Direction Home, Ioannis Galanopoulos-Papavasileiou

All Works

The article offers a rereading of Scorsese’s “No Direction Home” (2005, 2016,). The film replaces D. A. Pennebaker’s famous cinema verité, observational documentary “Don’t Look Back” (1967) about Dylan’s 1965 tour in Great Britain, which has proved, as years have passed, to be insufficient to convey the full story of Dylan’s personality behind his artistry. The article’s purpose, however, is not to cross-analyze the latter two documentaries. Instead, it provides a closer analysis of “No Direction Home” and explains how and why Dylan appears more appropriately different in this 2005 to 2016 production, while revealing the Scorsese–Dylan connection and commenting …

American Income: Analyzing Workplace And Domestic Biases, Lindsey Shrodek

The Downtown Review: An Interdisciplinary Journal Written and Peer-Reviewed by Mandel Honors College Students at Cleveland State University

This research paper aims to use several forms of regression analysis and neural networks to examine disparities in American income based on demographic groups. We present three models: a linear regression, a logistic regression, and a neural network to determine significant predictive factors in determining income. Exploring concepts presented by past literature in the field of economics, our research aims to pinpoint disparities and provide explanations for why they may be present in American income patterns. Our research confirms that being a female and being black has a negative relationship with income. Based on literary analysis, these findings can be …

“She Didn’T Know I Was In The Room”: The Effects Of Hatfield’S Illustrations On Readers’ Interpretations Of “The Yellow Wallpaper”, Mason Repas

The Downtown Review: An Interdisciplinary Journal Written and Peer-Reviewed by Mandel Honors College Students at Cleveland State University

When Charlotte Gilman's short story, "The Yellow Wallpaper," was first published in New England Magazine in 1892, staff illustrator Joseph Hatfield created three realistic-style images to accompany the text. Research suggests that Gilman had no control or influence over these images, which altered readers' perception of her story about the dangers of the rest cure for female hysteria. While Hatfield faced artistic limitations and his intentions are not discoverable today, the choices and details in his illustrations support interpretations of the short story as a piece of horror fiction in which his cohesive series of images is a more reliable …

A New World Order?: Considering Slaughter’S Notion Of The Disaggregated And Networked State, Darlene N. Moorman

The Downtown Review: An Interdisciplinary Journal Written and Peer-Reviewed by Mandel Honors College Students at Cleveland State University

This paper briefly explains Slaughter's (2004) argument for the emergence of a new world order defined by a disaggregated and networked state where the relevance of soft power has become all the more critical in conversations of politics and corresponding theory. This transformation (arising in the face of the so-called 'globalization paradox') is considered, exploring (a) what this means for the world system and (b) what concerns it may consequently bring.

Removing A Log From The Nation’S Eye: A National Self-Analysis Of The Domestic Terrorism Question, Katherine R. Doan

Helm's School of Government Conference - 2021-2024

Terroristic values are easy to be ascribed to foreign enemies, but it is far more difficult to admit that domestic citizens could be extremist to the point of being labeled a terrorist. Terrorists are not born; they are made. The following research focuses on the commonalities of upbringing in known domestic terrorists within the United States of America that may reveal noticeable similarities in education, radicalization, and identity. The criminal justice system has yet to discover a perfect method of administering retribution to terrorists. While they have broken the law, their intentions and results are not the same as an …

Letter From The Chairman: Over One Hundred Years Of Student Publications At Concordia Seminary, Ben Vanderhyde

Grapho : Concordia Seminary Student Journal

For hundreds of years, in various countries, through various languages, Christian pastors have exhorted their people to lift up their hearts in the liturgy of Holy Communion. Whether or not every church has always used these precise words, the exhortation is universal among Christians. We are called to put our faith and trust in the one who is above us; to set our hope firmly on the one whose second advent is on the verge of dawning; to aim all of our desires and affections toward the one who made us. In short, we lift up our hearts to the …

A Lutheran Perspective On Righteousness In China, Futao (Gary) Liu

Grapho : Concordia Seminary Student Journal

The recent history of China cannot get away from the impact of western thoughts and industrialization, including Democracy, Marxism, Republicanism, etc. For two millienium or so, the Chinese philosopher, Confucius (551–479 BCE), had dominated Chinese society through his philosophy (commonly called Confucianism) in every respect, from the hierarchical structures of governments and states to familial relations. Confucianism met its real challenge only in the recent history of China. At the collasping edge of the last feudal society (the Qing Dynasty which fell in 1911), patriotic Confucians had tried to bring what is useful of the West into traditional values and …

Almsgiving In Early Christian Catechesis, Ben Vanderhyde

Grapho : Concordia Seminary Student Journal

To say simply that almsgiving was a part of early Christian catechesis would not say much that is new to the Lutheran church today. Our own catechism includes this idea in its explanation of the 5th commandment: “We should fear and love God so that we do not hurt or harm our neighbor in his body, but help and support him in every physical need.” It is not so much significant that the Apostolic Fathers taught almsgiving but how they did so. Almsgiving played such a central role in the life of the early church that it came to be …

Pierre Manent: The Empire Of Modernity And The Church’S Response, Hayden Lukas

Grapho : Concordia Seminary Student Journal

Manent’s body of work often problematizes the modern conservative impulse to draw on the history of thought with modernity’s conception of history, and this essay will attempt to explain this dynamic. To do this, I will explain the basics of Manent’s account of modernity as a way of evaluating history, drawing on the work of other political philosophers to supplement Manent’s account. Then I will examine how the work of Manent and Emile Perreau-Saussine, with the Catholic response to the Enlightenment, can contribute to the Church’s strategy to engage with the puzzle of modernity. .

The Holy Heart, Cody Macmillan

Grapho : Concordia Seminary Student Journal

No abstract provided.

Bounding Down The Mountain Peaks, Andrew Bloch, Lindsay Bloch

Grapho : Concordia Seminary Student Journal

Poetry composed by Andrew & Lindsay Bloch.

Ariel, Hayden Lukas

Grapho : Concordia Seminary Student Journal

Poetry composed by Hayden Lukas.

Learning The Liturgy With Mr. Miyagi: The Case For Liturgical Catechesis, Benjamin Leeper

Grapho : Concordia Seminary Student Journal

Using the narrative of The Karate Kid as a guide, I will demonstrate that Christian formation is a matter of recontextualizing liturgical practices in the daily life of the believer, so that she knows when, where, and how to use the precogni¬tive spiritual habits formed by Word and Sacrament in Christian worship. This understanding challenges prevalent liturgical theology, which tends to assume an automatic connection—or worse, no connection at all— between worship and daily life, by highlighting the necessity of locating for believers the telos of the church’s rites and ceremonies in discipleship. Finally, I will provide concrete examples of …

Grapho 2023, Ben Vanderhyde

Grapho : Concordia Seminary Student Journal

Lift Up Your Hearts

Milton Time Final Report, Jacqueline Rounsavill, Eleanor Geno, Alessandra Costantini, Brian Miller, Mia Bohi-Green

Final Reports in ENST 411: Environmental Community Projects

Our main focus with this project was to hold a well-attended event in Milton, PA on Earth Day (April 22nd) that raised awareness for TIME’s “The Landscape of Main Street” Museum. We wanted this event to be accessible to all ages and marketed towards, but not limited to, the Milton community. Additionally, we hoped this event would generate attendance to the museum, educate attendees (especially children) on Milton’s history and ecology, get local businesses involved, and ultimately generate excitement within the community; getting residents more involved and bringing people together. We planned that this event would also include a brochure- …

Liturgy & Life: How The Divine Service Connects With The Rest Of The Week, Benjamin Janssen

Grapho : Concordia Seminary Student Journal

On vicarage, I was blessed to spend many hours with a faithful member named Ginger, who, alongside her husband Walter, runs and operates the congregation’s robust food and clothing distribution center. This center is completely run by volunteer efforts out of the undercroft of the church and successfully feeds and clothes 150 families a month. This work both serves the neighbor in need and brings the congregation into contact with many of those living in the immediate community. In short, it is a blessing to the congregation and the surrounding community. Therefore, at the end of each service day, I …

Members Of One Holy Body, Benjamin Leeper

Grapho : Concordia Seminary Student Journal

Poetry composed by Benjamin Leeper.

Concordia Seminary Magazine Spring 2023, Vicki Biggs

Concordia Seminary Magazine

His in Community

Buddhist Nationalism: Rising Religious Violence In South Asia, Eva Chappus, Benjamin Nourse

DU Undergraduate Research Journal Archive

Buddhist nationalism has contributed to expanding religious violence in many South Asian countries. The roots of this violent form of nationalism are complex and multi-faceted, making a clear solution difficult to achieve. Thailand, Sri Lanka, and Burma are some of the most pressing and violent case studies in South Asia today and can illustrate the reliance of Buddhist nationalists on ethnoreligious identities to relegate non-Buddhists to second-class status, to the point of massive acts of violence and aggression. This paper seeks to illuminate the complex social history driving the rise of Buddhist nationalism in these countries, particularly strong military-religion relationships, …

All Clear: A Workbook For Sexually Active Accutane Users Who Can Become Pregnant, Taylor Petersen

Honors Projects

Accutane is a pill-based derivative of Vitamin A used to treat cystic acne. The process to start and continue the medication each month is tedious and full of potential for error. This is especially true for female patients who are able to become pregnant as they have the additional step of monitoring and updating their birth control through an online portal. Patients are treated like numbers and there is little to no customization within Accutane treatment from patient to patient. To make this worse, reliable information about the drug is scarce and many turn to social media platforms or other …

This Is A Present From A Small, Distant World, Samantha Slone

MFA in Visual Art

I make toxic pastoral paintings in the style of the Dutch and Old Masters, and media installations which depict natural landscapes as distanced, deconstructed forms. What I explore most in my practice is our damaged relationship with land and nature, and our capitalist and media ecologies as artificial landscapes which suspend us from the natural. In a dissection of the dualisms of man and nature, and progress and sustainability, I create microcosms of our detached condition.

Other Oceans, Other Skies, Sharlene Lee

MFA in Visual Art

I create immersive installations, performances, and time-based media artworks that delve into stories of belonging, feminism, and language as power. These stories offer a potential for transformation from viewer to participant and a shift in how our world is seen and experienced. Through an exploration of perception and affect, I challenge dominant narratives, prompting a contemplation of contemporary power struggles for control.

In this text, I examine the impact of historical borders and migration on my life while also investigating questions of home, shared values, and rituals that contribute to one’s sense of belonging. I also highlight my commitment to …

The Voice Of One Crying In The Wilderness, Megan Kenyon

MFA in Visual Art

I am a Midwestern, Christian, and feminist artist. I make work about the beautiful, broken, and absurd ways in which American evangelical culture influences lives, especially women’s lives. I’m dragging everything into the light by deconstructing and critiquing the world in which I live, move, and have my being. I do this by harnessing prophetic imagination and incarnational space to shine a light on how patriarchy infects evangelical Christian theology and practice. Using prophetic imagination through photographic self-portraiture and text (my own and found texts using the Bible), I seek to make plain the effects of white, Christian patriarchy on …