Arts and Humanities Commons^™

The Fabric Of Labor: A Study Of Labor History Through The Upstate New York Textile Industry, 1950 – 1968, Anthony Parillo

History Honors Program

This paper explores three textile mills in upstate New York in the post-WWII years, and specifically the relationships between mill hands, management, and the national Textile Workers Union of America (TWUA). While historians have studied textile mills and labor relations in the twentieth-century South, they have paid little attention to their northern counterparts during that era. This paper, conversely, writes northern mill workers into the larger scholarly conversation about twentieth-century union decline. It shows that union campaigns often failed due largely to the cunning, if not deceptive, maneuvers of management. Drawing on union records, contemporary local newspapers, and census data, …

The Terrifying Convergence: A Legacy Of The U.S Far-Right’S Leaderless Resistance In The Twentieth Century, Ryan Szpicek

History Honors Program

A former Klansman and Aryan Nations ambassador named Louis Beam argued that right-wing activists would need to go to war with the U.S. federal government to preserve their culture. He updated an organizational theory known as “leaderless resistance” to prepare the right-wing militants for war. His version of leaderless resistance called for a decentralized communication network that allowed right-wing activists to exchange knowledge about engaging in independent violence. Aryan Nations brought leaderless resistance theory to life through their Aryan Liberty Network, which debuted in 1984 and enabled previously isolated right-wing groups in the United States to communicate with one another. …

Judge, Jury, And Executioner: Drone Warfare And The Expansion Of American Executive Authority (2001-2020), Joseph Pignataro

History Honors Program

This paper examines how the United States’ proliferation of unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs), or drones, have allowed the executive branch to concentrate its power to wage the post-9/11 War on Terror. This paper will examine the proliferation of drone warfare during the George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump presidential administrations and how they have expanded executive authority. Although historians have emphasized the moral and legal consequences of drone warfare such as its civilian casualties and potential violations of U.S. and international law, they have paid little attention to its impact on the distribution of power among the …

A New Normalcy? A Look Into The Future Of Collaboration: An Examination In Online, Digital Theatre, Alexa Rose Passante

Music

Beginning in March 2020, live theatre and entertainment has been on furlough due to the Covid- 19 Pandemic. The pandemic has inspired individual artists to create and revolutionize the theatre industry by implementing new styles of origination such as online theatre. Online theatre grants opportunities to playwrights, directors, stage managers, actors, and designers to collectively formulate a show with a virtual experience. Over the course of the years 2020-2021, productions have been using various software programs to stage full-scale shows, which makes theatre more accessible than ever before. This paper documents the evolution of theatre through the pandemic, affecting the …

The Role Of Film And Television In American Shakespeare Studies : 1940s To 1990s, Jonah Kent Richards

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The rise of Shakespeare film and television transformed American Shakespeare studies over the period from the 1940s to the 1990s. The birth of Shakespeare film scholarship was only possible in the United States where the expanding postwar economy and academy provided a film market and student population large enough to fuel the subsequent film booms. The five chapters focus on the following: Laurence Olivier’s 1944 Henry V, John Barton’s 1982 Playing Shakespeare, the BBC’s 1978-1985 The Shakespeare Plays, Kenneth Branagh’s 1989 Henry V and 1993 Much Ado About Nothing, S4C’s 1992 Shakespeare: The Animated Tales, Ellen Hovde and Muffie Meyer’s …

The Materiality Of Metaphor In Mayan Hieroglyphic Texts : Metaphor In Changing Political Climates, Rebecca Ann Dinkel

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Recent research on the discursive and rhetorical forms of Mayan hieroglyphic texts has demonstrated how language and writing were used to frame, not just represent, Pre-Columbian Mayan history. Research on the role of metaphor in this framing has only just begun, and despite the well-known multimodal character of Mayan hieroglyphic texts, research on the role of metaphors in pictorial images has been even more limited. Previous research has not fully documented metaphor variation, particularly as it materializes across different modalities, media, places, and times. Doing so will allow for more subtle and elaborate interpretations of metaphor use and meaning in …

Gender Inequality In The Workplace, Katelyn Barger

Finance Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper analyzes the history of gender inequality in the workplace, the detailed nature of issues that society faces, research in today’s world, and how to aid in the removal of gender stereotypes and thus removing consequences, unbeknownst to women a lot of the time. The goal of this analysis is to broaden the view of the reader and gain perspective into a world, which may or may not be familiar to them.

Can Small-Scale Poultry Initiatives Alleviate Food Insecurity And Increase Empowerment For Women In Economically Disadvantaged Areas?, Patrick Daniels

Accounting Undergraduate Honors Theses

In the summer of 2019, I, along with 8 other students from the University of Arkansas departed the United States for the Central American country of Belize. Despite our limited knowledge of what Belize held in store for us, we were enthusiastic about the coming months. While we had different projects, we all set out with the same universal question in mind. How can we use the knowledge we have gained through education to make a positive impact on the lives of people living in an impoverished town? Some of the members of our team worked alongside local businesses to …

Spectrum, Kara Kellett

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Many people believe their memory works like a video camera, capturing and storing their experiences. However, memories can be manipulated or planted without us noticing. If this seems insignificant, consider the big consequences of false memory: although eyewitness identification of a criminal is often unreliable, it has an incredible power to sway a jury.¹

My interest in studying memory and my introspective nature has led me to create this series of work—a visual collection of my experiences as a spectrum of color and shape. These pieces have been influenced by age, emotion, personality, and bias. With each piece, I …

Fanfiction As: Searching For Significance In The Academic Realm, Megan Friess

English (MA) Theses

What is literature? What is art? And, just as importantly, what isn’t? What criteria are you using to make this judgment call? As natural as we feel our views to be, they are not; they are culturally and socioeconomically based. How and when we live affects what we see as literature or art and what we deem not to be. While there was originally a large chasm in Western cultures between what was considered to be “proper” art and literature and what was considered lowbrow and for the uncultured masses, this divide has diminished over time. Instead of everyday people …

Journeying To A Third Space Of Sovereignty: Explorations Of Land, Cultural Hybridity, And Sovereignty In Ceremony And There There, Jillian Eve Sanchez

English (MA) Theses

In Native American literature, there is a discourse that solely focuses on the relationship between Indigenous people and the land. This relationship is vital to understanding the traditions, rituals, storytelling, and practices of Native Americans. The presence of settler colonialism changes the relationship, effectively changing the nature of cultural and spiritual relationships as well. Indigenous literature provides examples of the modern relationship Native people have with their land; an example of this is Leslie Marmon Silko’s Ceremony and Tommy Orange’s There There Despite modernity, assimilation, and ways of life introduced by settler colonialism, Native people maintain a relationship to the …

Realism & Language: How Luis Alberto Urrea Uses Bilingualism To Elevate His Works Of Realism, Ashley Gomez

English (MA) Theses

The trajectory of writer Luis Alberto Urrea stems from autobiography, poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, yet his works are not widely taught in academic settings, nor is there substantial scholarly work discussed on his published works. This thesis focuses on Urrea’s trajectory in order to situate him as a realist writer, as I discuss Urrea alongside Amy Kaplan and Ramón J. Guerra. Alongside this I will also focus on his most unique aspect of realist writing that sets him apart from other realist writers, his use of English and Spanish within his works that forms itself into bilingualism. I will look …

Surveillance: The Digital Dark Side, Brittyn Davis

English (MA) Theses

The aim of this thesis is to take a closer look at Jeremy Bentham’s eighteenth century prison, the Panopticon, in order to address how its structural makeup was not only intended to effectively surveil prisoners, but also how this very early model of surveillance has developed over time and has found its way into the digital sphere of our world. By closely examining Dave Eggers’ novel The Circle, specifically by tracing the character arc of the main character Mae, this dystopian novel will track how Mae’s evolving relationship with the digital sphere is much like society’s newfound relationship with …

Time. Moves. Things. Change., Jennifer Wester

Art Theses and Dissertations

In this paper I discuss my art making principles and their physical representation in some examples of my most recent work.

Having started my artistic practice during a particularly transformative period of my life, this paper reflects on my artistic evolution, it’s influences, and the principles I’ve acquired along the way. In it, I explain and analyze the function of failure and mmy relation to manipulation. I show, through image and descriptions, the ways in which a spectrum of pieces converge to substantiate my claims of intent to outcome. And I illuminate synergies between my practice and historical artists such …

From Prop To Partner: The Evolution Of Female Roles In American Opera, Mariah J. Berryman

Honors Theses

For many years, women in opera have been in service to their plots. They have always been present but have either been relegated to passive roles in their own stories or actively considered societal outcasts. They were dramatically stereotyped as either airheads or witches, mothers or daughters, love interests or foes to be conquered. And, along with the character stereotypes came typically associated vocal stereotypes. Lighter and higher voices were assigned to roles that portrayed virtue, innocence, and other general characteristics of the “feminine ideal.” Conversely, lower voices were assigned to sinful, outcast, “fallen women.” These vocal stereotypes are especially …

The Space Between: A Photographic Exploration Of Identity And Place As An Act Of Self-Determination And Social Consciousness, Iris Brito Stevens

Literary and Intercultural Studies | Senior Theses

This project is an online photographic exhibit and exploration of “identity and place.” Its premise is centered on the importance of knowing and understanding one’s personal family history and ancestral lineage for two reasons: that it empowers one to determine their identity for themselves rather than being defined by society, and that an appreciation of our own unique backgrounds encourages our ability to embrace the stories of others and the diversity of our collective identity as humans. Research for this project was based on my own history as a daughter of Mexican immigrants growing up in California. It is centered …

What And Whose Confucianism? Sinophone Communities And Dialogical Geopolitics, Quan Gao, Justin K. H. Tse, Orlando Woods

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This commentary responds to An et al.’s (2020) article, ‘Towards a Confucian geopolitics’ by re-examining ‘the political’ of Confucianism and its contribution to fostering a cosmopolitan form of Confucian geopolitics. By taking note of the differences within and between Sinophone communities, we discuss the variegated forms of Confucianism, and their various geopolitical implications. In doing so, we call for re-theorising Confucian geopolitics as dialogical geopolitics that challenges the cultural and ideological basis of statist and Sino-centric geopolitics.

Julia Morgan: Forgotten, Omitted, Overlooked, Or Celebrated, Renee Meyer

Masters in Architecture Program: Theses

Julia Morgan (1872-1957) was the first female registered architect in the state of California (1902). Despite her prolific independent practice, recognition for her work came late even for her most known project, Hearst’s Castle in San Simeon, California.

Throughout history, women have been repeatedly left out of the history of architecture and design, often being overshadowed by their male partners. This paper will seek to clarify reasons to decipher why this particular architect was left out of history and the media during her lifetime and will show that her omissions were not solely due to the fact that she was …

Are Small Businesses The Framework For A Successful U.S. Economy?, Carson Clevenger

Accounting Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis will investigate the impact of small businesses on the United States’ economy. I will be assessing several impact areas including gross domestic product, employment, and local economy contribution. This thesis will cover a study from the time periods of 1998-2014 of the gross domestic product and employment levels and will use numbers from the years of 2018- present for other impact areas. Furthermore, I will be analyzing certain sectors of the economy, comparing small businesses contribution to corporate contribution, in order to discuss if small businesses are necessary for our country’s successful economy.

On Intentions And Facts: Ukrainian Protestants Are Striving For Public Recognition, Valentyna Kuryliak, Maksym Balaklytskyi

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Scientific Review, Yurii Chornomorets

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Protestant Pentecostals In The Post-War Repression In Southern Ukraine 1945 – 1953, Mykhailo Fedorenko, Serhii Makarchuk

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article examines one of the most dramatic pages in the history of the Pentecostal religious movement, which is related to the repression against them in the postwar years of 1945-1953 (the period of late Stalinism). The object of the study involves the communities of Pentecostals in the South of Ukraine, which operated in the territory of modern Mykolayiv and Odessa regions. After presenting the historiography of the question, it is shown that despite thorough scientific research on the activities of Protestant movements in Ukraine during the Soviet era, there are not enough separate studies related to the Pentecostals. Pentecostals …

Visual Rhetoric Of Protestant Architecture (On The Example Of Adventist Churches In Kyiv), Petro Kotliarov

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article examines the features of the architecture of prayer houses of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Ukraine from the end of the 19th century to the present day. An attempt was made to explain the phenomenon of the development of Gothic elements in the construction of houses of worship in the late 20th - early 21st centuries, a chronological period that coincided with the collapse of the Soviet Union and Ukraine's independence. The connection and role of architecture with the dogmatic foundations of the doctrine of the SDA church have been established. The study partially refers to the methodological …

It Crits Different: Analysis Of Dungeons & Dragons And Tabletop Roleplaying Games As An Oral, Collaborative, And Immersive Genre Of Literacy, Olivia Haslett

Honors Theses

With the introduction of multimodality enhancements to literature, such as e-books and audiobooks, alongside the resurgence of Tabletop Roleplaying Games such as Dungeons & Dragons, there has been little consideration for how these two seemingly unrelated fields marry into a new opportunity for literary development. These games often have a fundamental purpose: storytelling. Storytelling has long since been an oral tradition which has been converted into its literary form: books. Books tell us their story without the need of company and are often written by a sole author. However, with more and more Tabletop RPGs coming into popularity, storytelling is …

Weird And Cosmic Short Horror Fiction And The Illustration Of Existential Fears, Brianna Williams

Honors Theses

The literary genre of horror fiction is uniquely capable of presenting its readers with the horrific, terrifying, and repulsive while remaining an acceptable and sought-after genre. Moreover, the horror genre is also often able to serve as a type of lens through which readers can recognize socio-historical and cultural fears. Within the many subgenres of horror, cosmic and weird horror continue in this ability, but are able to present their readers with more abstract, existential fears. This research is an exploration and analysis of the ability of cosmic and weird horror to reveal the real, personal existential fears of their …

Reparations, Jhedienne Adams

Honors Theses

This collection of original poems is a testament to the tenacity of Black American women. It deals with the connection between personal and collective identities, and attempts to make tangible the pervasive themes of racial oppression, familial tension, societal vulnerability, and hope that are uniquely found in the experiences of southern Black women. This collection began as an exploration of transgenerational trauma, and while the final project addresses that theme, it is primarily an exercise in grappling with the modern manifestations of a complex history, a process with an importance that grew exceedingly more obvious as the nation faced a …

Amateur Photography: Finding New Perspectives And Seeking Authenticity, Stephanie Swart

Honors Theses

This paper acts as a detailed research and understanding of amateurism within the photographic medium and practice. The research serves to unveil the influence that the turn of the 19th century amateurs in America and beyond have on contemporary photographers utilizing aspects of amateurism. The history of amateur photography is discussed as a precursor to the introduction of two contemporary photographers who utilize amateurism to varying degrees. This paper exists as a way to learn from the amateur mindset and embrace the spontaneity and magical whim of pointing and shooting. In order to satisfy the varying elements of amateurism in …

Profiles In Leadership: Women Of Color Elected To Office In Massachusetts, Center For Women In Politics And Public Policy, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Publications from the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy

In 2015, UMass Boston’s Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy released the first-ever publication exploring the elected leadership of women of color in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts largely to make known the contributions of female electeds of color across the Commonwealth. The publication also aimed to delve into what hinders and what facilitates the elected leadership of women of color. This 2021 updated publication contains profiles of the 174 women of color who have been elected to key policymaking positions and offers quantitative analysis to better understand office-holding patterns.

Evident in the profiles is the centrality of community …

The Effect Of Synchronous And Asynchronous Music On Heart Rate Variability And Mental State Among Runners, Jeni Gustafson

Masters Theses

The primary purpose of this N-of-1 study was to examine whether running to synchronous, asynchronous, and no music affected the physiological measure of heart rate variability (HRV) and the perceptual measures of rate of perceived exertion (RPE) and experience of flow state while running. In this study, the term synchronous referred to music that is set at a tempo where running pace can synchronize to each beat. The term asynchronous referred to music set at a tempo where it is not possible to synchronize the running pace to each beat. A chest belt that measured heart rate variability via RR …

Taking Her At Her Work: Reconsidering The Legacy Of Alma Mahler, Rachel E. Scott

Faculty and Staff Publications – Milner Library

Alma Mahler (1879–1964) grew up surrounded by artists in late nineteenth-century Vienna. Despite her musical training, demonstrated passion for music, and publication of several Lieder, Mahler’s identity as a composer has remained overshadowed by narratives surrounding her personal life and those of her husbands and lovers, not to mention the artistic work of her husbands and lovers. Increasingly, however, interest in Alma Mahler as a composer has been nurtured through creative engagement with that legacy, and frequently by women authors and artists. This dissertation explores the existing literature written by and related to Alma Mahler and identifies some approaches for …