Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Graduate Recital: Prado, Composition/Percussion; April 25, 2026, Ethan Prado

School of Music Programs

This is the one hundred and ninety-fifth program of the 2025-2026 season.

Cook Hall 212

April 25, 2026

Saturday Evening

8:00 p.m.

Silent Persuasion In The Classroom: Rethinking Student Silence As Rhetorical Agency, Deepa Silwal

Frontera Retórica Symposium

In most educational settings, rhetorical participation refers to the recognized ways people communicate and persuade. It is measured almost exclusively through verbal contribution, a norm that frames silence as disengagement or deficit. This assumption overlooks the communicative work performed through the body itself, particularly among students navigating linguistic, cultural, or institutional constraints. I ask: how might embodied silence be theorized as a form of rhetorical agency among students positioned at the margins of institutional power? I propose the concept of silent persuasion, which refers to rhetoric enacted not through speech but through the body's presence, posture, stillness, and restraint. Drawing …

From Dilemma To Decision: Rhetorical Positionality As A Framework For Designing A Doctoral Dissertation Topic, Purna Bhusal

Frontera Retórica Symposium

Finding a dissertation topic for doctoral students in liberal arts education is one of the most difficult and defining moments of their academic journey. In my experience and observation, most graduate students struggle to identify a research topic that is both intellectually meaningful and aligns with their personal and scholarly commitments. To address this challenge, in this presentation, I propose rhetorical positionality as a framework for designing and formulating a doctoral research topic. To develop this framework, I draw on theoretical and methodological insights of the rhetorical situation as discussed by Scott Consigny, Richard Vaz, and Lloyd Bitzer, as well …

Using Action Research To Inform Graduate Research Theories, Methods, And Praxis Among Master’S And Phd Multilingual And International Students, Thomas Maldonado

Frontera Retórica Symposium

In an attempt to provide multilingual and international graduate students food for thought, this work-in-progress presentation examines a day in the life of a multilingual PhD student’s use of action research during the teaching of RWS 1301 in both Fall 2025 and Spring 2026 to better inform his data collection via student questionnaires.   Action research, “generally involves inquiring into one’s own practice through a process of self-monitoring that […] includes entering a cycle of planning, acting, observing, and reflecting on an issue or problem in order to improve practice” (Farrell, 2007, p.94).   My research question answers how using action research …

Cultivating Home: Nepali Migrants And Gardening As Everyday Rhetoric, Menuka Gurung Lama

Frontera Retórica Symposium

Rhetorical knowledge is often discussed through formal institutions and textual traditions, leaving everyday community practices underexamined. This paper engages the theme “Rhetoric from the Margins” by examining how Nepali migrants’ gardening practices in Hooksett, New Hampshire produce knowledge outside dominant academic and institutional frameworks. I ask: How do Nepali migrants use gardening as a way of making meaning, sustaining memory, and cultivating belonging in unfamiliar environments? In what ways does gardening function as a rhetorical and epistemic practice through which migrants carry and transform land-based knowledge across borders? Rather than treating gardening simply as leisure or subsistence activity, I examine …

2025-2026 Master Of Music Recital - Maria Savelyeva (Cello), Maria Savelyeva, Diego Suarez

Master of Music Recitals

No abstract provided.

Themed Entertainment Design, Katelyn Jones

Whittier Scholars Program

This project is a comprehensive design package for a themed entertainment experience. It is formatted similarly to how a project pitch works in the Themed Entertainment industry. This is my concept work for an immersive, interactive, themed walkthrough that takes the guest through the story of King Arthur and the wider Arthurian legend. I have done extensive tonal research, leading me to develop a narrative structure for the experience. From this narrative, I created iterative sketches, a key illustration, a CAD model of one of the spaces, and a scale physical model. All of these pieces together give the viewer …

Attend The Tale: Scenic Design For Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street, Andrea Imsland

Honors Theses

I designed the set for Western Michigan University’s 2026 production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street written by Steven Sondheim and directed by Jay Berkow. My thesis advisor was Prof. Dave Nofsinger and my thesis chair member was Dean of the College of Fine Arts Dan Guyette. I began my design process in September of 2025. The show ran from April 10th through April 25th. This was my final scenic design as a Theatre: Design and Technical Production undergraduate student at WMU.

2025-2026 Junior Recital - Lillian Platte (Viola), Lillian Platte, Sheng Yuan Kuan

Junior and Senior Recitals

No abstract provided.

Narrative Traditions In Francophone Africa And The Caribbean, Elizabeth Kill

Honors Projects

This research paper explores the cultural significance and the roles of folktales in francophone countries in Africa and the Caribbean. By analyzing recurring themes and character types in folktales, this study argues the importance of storytelling and traditional folklore in the shaping of a culture. Through close reading of a selection of folktales from a variety of francophone countries in Africa and the Caribbean, the research highlights themes of wisdom, greed, and explanations of the natural world, among others. Additionally, this paper touches on the historical importance of storytelling in cultures around the world. The research draws on information from …

“…You Lost Your Way On That River As You Would In A Desert…”: Spec Ops: The Line As A Post-Imperialist Adaptation And Response To Heart Of Darkness, Logan Grime

Honors Projects

As an adaptation of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, the military shooter video game Spec Ops: The Line grapples with adapting the themes and the narrative of an imperialist work into a modern post-imperialist context. By swapping England in Africa for America in the Middle East, the game criticizes America’s conduct of war in the Middle East by showing its similarities to the novella’s imperialism. Furthermore, Spec Ops: The Line focuses on America’s imperialism by adapting Heart of Darkness to an interactive format. “The horror” of violent imperialist action is placed upon the player as Spec Ops: The Line …

Modeling The Interaction Of Electrons And Dispersive Alfvén Waves In The Io Plasma Torus, Peter Damiano, P. A. Delamere, Jay Johnson

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

A Pentadic Rhetorical Analysis Of Malala Yousafzai’S Address To The United Nations’ Youth Assembly, Alexis Rehm

Pepperdine Journal of Communication Research

This paper is a rhetorical criticism of Malala Yousafzai’s 2013 address to the United Nations Youth Assembly using Kenneth Burke’s pentad. Malala Yousafzai’s address was delivered less than one year after surviving an assassination attempt by the Taliban. The address reframes access to education as a shared moral responsibility rather than a personal or political issue. By analyzing the scene, act, agent, agency, and purpose, this analysis shows how Malala constructs rhetorical authority through personal narrative, forgiveness, and moral appeal. Her speech positions education as a universal human right and challenges global audiences to move from sympathy to accountability.

Between The Middle Kingdom And The Middle Way: An Analysis Of State Power And Sacred Authority In The Sino-Tibet Conflict, Madison M. Berry, Aimee N. Ebeling, Jayden A. Hanson

Pepperdine Journal of Communication Research

This research paper addresses the growing concerns of the Sino-Tibetan conflict by analyzing the relationship between the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) through an intercultural communication and negotiation lens. By analyzing historical relationships between the two parties and comparing them to similar contemporary situations, this paper examines the sinicization of the Tibetan people. By exploring the “Old Tibet” and “New Tibet” narratives, while acknowledging the centrality of the Dalai Lama to both parties, it also addresses territorial disagreements and the contrasting understandings of sovereignty and modernization, which fuel the conflict. Finally, a policy framework …

Partnership For Observation, Leadership, And Arctic Resilience (Polar): Strengthening Eu–Us Cooperation Through Technology, Trade, And Arctic Governance, Nikki Quartuccio, Emily White

Pepperdine Journal of Communication Research

This speech was presented at the EU Delegation to the United States’ 2026 Schuman Challenge. The Schuman Challenge is an academic competition for U.S. undergraduate students to debate transatlantic issues, judged by a panel of stakeholders. The prompt for this speech was to create a policy that analyzes a current issue area in the E.U.-U.S. transatlantic relationship and suggests ways to strengthen it in the years ahead. Our policy, POLAR, the Partnership for Observation, Leadership, and Arctic Resilience, establishes a neutral, AI-enabled early-warning and consultation mechanism hosted within the International Maritime Organization (IMO). By institutionalizing shared situational awareness, structured clarification …

How Can I Keep From Singing: A Reunion Choral Concert, Andrews University

Concerts and Event Programs 2025-2026

Professor Stephen Zork presents a final Reunion Choral Concert as he steps into retirement. Over 200 voices join together to perform choral works that Zork's choirs have performed over the past 34 years at Andrews University.

This concert featured Zork's symphonic poem Matopos performed by the Andrews University Symphony Orchestra. Also including a world premier of James Lee III's When God Sings, a commissioned work to celebrate Zork's legacy at Andrews University.

The Emmanuel Missionary Choir joined the mass choir to perform John Rutter's The Lord Bless You and Keep You.

Cultivating The Future: The Similarities Between Thomas Jefferson And Voltaire's Candide, Natalie Craft

Honors Theses

Thomas Jefferson and Voltaire’s character Candide (the main character in his 1759 novella, Candide), possessed striking similarities in both their lives and their characters, and the understanding of one man is ultimately enhanced by studying the other. This thesis analyzes three of these similarities in three separate sections, which includes internal conflict, utopia, and gardening.

Jefferson and Candide both battled an internal conflict, represented by the head and the heart for Jefferson and pessimism and optimism for Candide, but their responses in the midst of it were the same as well, most notably when they both acted impulsively in their …

St. Charles County Formalizes Ice Partnership Under287(G) Program, Kay Copeland

Lindenlink (2012- )

No abstract provided.

Preserving The Untold Stories: Leveraging Emerging Technologies (Ai And Machine Learning) For Archiving Hidden Histories Of Children And Families Impacted By The Little Rock School Integration Crisis, Oluseyi Noah Adebanjo

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis challenges the dominant narrative of the Little Rock School Integration Crisis by recovering the hidden histories of families and siblings who made integration possible but have been systematically overlooked by historians. While existing scholarship focuses on the Little Rock Nine as individual heroes, this research demonstrates that integration was fundamentally a family crisis requiring collective decision-making, economic sacrifice, and multigenerational support networks. Through close reading of published memoirs, newspaper clippings, school board minutes, and original oral history interviews with Phyllis Brown and Dr. Sybil Jordan Hampton, this study reveals how approximately 200 eligible families were systematically reduced to …

Volume Cxlv, Number 19, April 24, 2026, Lawrence University

The Lawrentian

No abstract provided.

29th Annual Women's, Gender, And Sexuality Studies Symposium Program, 2026, Illinois State University, Women's, Gender, And Sexuality Studies Program

WGSS Student Research Symposium

Program from the Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Symposium

Hearing The Mystery: Musical Diversity And The Search For Beauty, John Macinnis

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"By shifting from primary reflection to secondary reflection in our thinking, from problem to mystery, we ensure that our aesthetic lives remain as expansive and vibrant as the diversity of creation."

Posting about ­­­­­­­­music appreciation from In All Things, an online hub that offers insight into maintaining and faithful and orthodox Reformed Christian worldview while fearlessly engaging in every aspect of contemporary life – until all is made new.

Hearing the Mystery

2025-2026 Performance Forum - April 24, 2026, Amanda Rearden, Sheng Yuan Kuan, Devin Foster, Patrick Hengstler, Rebeca Sierra, Joseph Muhl, Michael Shipps

Performance Forum

No abstract provided.

Lindenwood Student Government Announces Elected Officers, Chase Cuddy

Lindenlink (2012- )

No abstract provided.

“Some Rise, Some Fall, Some Climb”: Three Ways Of Looking At Robert Hunter’S The Giant’S Harp, Janet Brennan Croft, David L. Emerson

Journal of Tolkien Research

In this presentation we explore the world of the late Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter’s unpublished novel The Giant’s Harp. We will bring some of the tools we use in fantasy literature criticism and Tolkien studies to bear on this intriguing but sometimes problematic work. First, we want to look at the deep world-building behind the novel and related song cycles: does it create what in fantasy studies we call a legendarium, like the world J.R.R. Tolkien built? Second, how does it stack up as a mythology? What do we see when looking at it through the lenses of …

‘But I’Ll Get Back On My Feet Some Day’: Hopeful Losers In Grateful Dead Lyrics, David L. Emerson, Janet Brennan Croft

Journal of Tolkien Research

Many songs in the Grateful Dead repertoire, particularly those written by Robert Hunter but also those by other lyricists, feature “loser” characters: characters who fail, in ways mundane or spectacular, usually while simultaneously deluding themselves about their chances of success. In this presentation we examine several of these characters and their stories, applying Tolkienian terminology and concepts like ofermod, “Northern courage,” trust in providence, and eucatastrophe. We’ll compare our hopeful losers with Tolkien’s characters, who hold on to hope in the bleakest of circumstances, yet temper all hopes by acknowledging that living in the physical world is “fighting the …

Hiro Postcards, Kira A. Kainz

Research & Creative Achievement Day

For the course entitled Advanced Design Project (ART 375), we were given the assignment to create a design project of our choice. This project was to be created over the course of Fall semester with five different phases that were to be markers for progress. In terms of my own project, I was deeply inspired by the idea that design could connect us. And additionally, I wanted to explore novelty item design. Which is the reason my brand Hiro Postcards it was it is today. In terms of the branding of Hiro Postcards, I decided to name it after my …

History Showcase 2026: A Celebration Of Undergraduate Research, Winona State University-History & Legal Studies Department

Research & Creative Achievement Day

History Showcase 2026

WSU Research and Creative Achievement Day

Department of History & Legal Studies

A celebration of undergraduate research

2:00pm Welcome Professor Erik Heinrichs

2:05pm Senior Thesis Presentations, Panel I

• Travis Franzen, “On the Development of Early Modern Plague Theology in the Church of England”
• Riley Nelson, Title TBD
• Sophia Riedel, “This Land Is Your Land Until It's Not: The Arkansas Government and Japanese Americans in Internment Camps, 1940s”

2:45pm Senior Thesis Presentations, Panel II

• Brennen Hodnefield, “The Emergence of Gay Activism Amidst Government Suppression”
• Madyson Fischer, “Listening to Voices: Indigenous Roles in the Environmental Justice Movements of the …

Forgotten Heroes: The Legacy Of World War Ii Nurses, Emma M. Boots, Anna M. Kunau, Rachel B. Smith, Ella G. Stewart

Research & Creative Achievement Day

Our research project honors Gudrun Stenoien. Stenoien was a nurse in the 26th General Hospital Unit of the United States during World War II. During the war, Stenoien, affectionately known as "Goodie," documented her experiences through photographs and letters home. From North Africa to Italy, Goodie served as a Second Lieutenant nurse for the Army from 1942 to 1944. By reading her letters and analyzing documents, we have learned about the legacy Gudrun Stenoien left in her nursing career. Goodie's detailed collection of photographs and letters was generously donated to Winona State University, inspiring research into her journey. Her story …

The Living History Project: Documenting Winona State's Legacy, Holly A. Foss, Kenneth Goroztieta, Aubree G. Hansen

Research & Creative Achievement Day

This table will showcase the work of the Living History Project at Winona State University which preserves the history of WSU by documenting the careers of people who have impacted the university for the better.  The table will display three short documentary films produced by students during the Fall 2025 semester, running on a monitor with headphones on a continuous loop. The films feature Tom Sawyer (former football coach), Jo Stejskal (former Dean of Nursing), and Jim Bromeland (former Professor of Political Science).  Alongside the films, the table will include a display of photography from premieres over the past 20 …