Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Adventists And Pentecostals Of Donetsk Region In The Late Soviet Era: Between The Scylla Of Legalization And The Charybdis Of Opposition, Oksana Salata, Karen Nikiforov

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article describes religious policy of the Soviet government concerning the Protestant communities on the basis of archival materials. Two different models of Soviet policy in the field of religion are analyzed, using the activities of the Commissioner of the Council for Religious Affairs in the Donetsk region in relation to Pentecostals and Adventists as an example. Ukrainian SSR was the "Bible belt" of the Soviet Union. Donetsk region was characterized by high percentage of Protestant communities in general and Adventist communities in particular. Most of the Adventist communities in the region were officially registered, and their members did not …

Scientific Review, Nadiia Stokolos

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Protestants In Soviet Ukraine In The 1920s To 1930s: Political And Historical Aspects, Roman Sitarchuk

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The aim. The article offers a general political-historical analysis of the Protestant movement in the context of the party-state policies of Soviet Ukraine in the 1920s and 1930s. Scientific novelty. The study of state-church relations of polyconfessional Ukrainian society in general and Protestant currents, in particular, actualizes a new scientific understanding of the state religious policy at different stages of development of the historical past and present. Research methods. The research project studies Baptists, Evangelical Christians, Seventh-day Adventists, and Pentecostals, utilizing the principles of objectivity, ideological pluralism, complexity, methodologies of mathematical statistics, comparative studies, and problem-chronological method. The study is …

The Legend Of Neptune: A Portrait Of Enslavement And Emancipation In 18th-Century Worcester County, Massachusetts, Brigitte Lewis

Honors Theses

“The Legend of Neptune” tracks the life of a man named Neptune, who was enslaved at my childhood home in Still River, MA 01467 for fifteen years during 1742-1757. The general topic of this undergraduate thesis is slavery in seventeenth and eighteenth-century central Massachusetts; the main topic is uncovering the voice, history, and stories of an identified enslaved and then free Black man named Neptune. The project uses a vast array of primary sources to construct a narrative that centers Neptune’s life and experiences, supported by secondary historical research. This project also tells a counternarrative to the official history of …

The Importance Of Adaptability In Art And Travel: My Experience Abroad, Callie E. Dowd

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis presentation will expand on my personal experience studying abroad in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria. I travelled there the semester of the unexpected pandemic causing a worldwide shutdown. I take the reader through past theatrical experience and my training as an actor at ETSU. These things led me to my personal revelation of connecting art with travel and the importance of adapting in every situation.

I share with the reader times of trial during my training as an artist along with lessons I learned before the ultimate expedition to Bulgaria, which tied all of the lessons into one. I reflect on …

The Importance Of Adaptability In Art And Travel: My Experience Abroad, Callie Dowd

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis presentation will expand on my personal experience studying abroad in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria. I travelled there the semester of the unexpected pandemic causing a worldwide shutdown. I take the reader through past theatrical experience and my training as an actor at ETSU. These things led me to my personal revelation of connecting art with travel and the importance of adapting in every situation.

I share with the reader times of trial during my training as an artist along with lessons I learned before the ultimate expedition to Bulgaria, which tied all of the lessons into one. I reflect on …

Castle Building: Contemporary Poetry And Flash Fiction From Appalachia, Sharolyn Shae Johnson

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Appalachian writing brings a voice to the region that is often obstructed or excluded by popular culture throughout the United States. Crowded with stereotypes, many stories of Appalachian culture are misconstrued or never heard at all. This makes the work of modern Appalachian writers especially significant. Perhaps one of the best ways to reach a broader audience of people in this fast-paced digital time is through shorter writings, and in this thesis I will be presenting my process of writing modern flash fiction and poetry and of sharing the truths of working class, Appalachian people.

When Honor Falls: A Study Of Japanese Honor In Young Adult Literature, Joshua Nave

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The concept of honor has developed over several centuries on the island nation of Japan. Due to this institutionalized growth, honor is something to be explored for how it has shaped and how it continues to mold contemporary Japanese culture. One way to examine Japanese honor is through the primary lens of Young Adult literature. By examining representations of Japanese honor in Young Adult literature, readers can learn how honor developed Japanese culture. Furthermore, readers can discern what aspects of honor in Japanese culture should be scrutinized. Through this scrutiny, readers will be able to discover how honor may be …

Tennessee High School Band Directors' Knowledge, Perceptions, And Training Regarding The Teaching Of Students With Autism Spectrum Disorder (Asd): An Initial Inquiry, Cameron L. Phillips

Undergraduate Honors Theses

In hopes to add to the existing, yet limited literature surrounding music educators’ experiences with students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), our study surveyed n=62 high school band directors currently serving in the state of Tennessee about their knowledge, perceptions, and training regarding the teaching of such students. By administering an originally designed, twelve-item survey, it was discovered that the majority of respondents had been underprepared in both their preservice and in-service training to effectively address the needs of students with ASD. Despite their lack of preparedness, an overwhelming amount of the surveyed band directors reported their students experiencing social, …

Kinetics For Enzymatic Conversion Of Biomass To Glucose, Jordan Broadwater

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Biofuels are a sought-after alternative for fossil fuels in today’s society. More specifically, cellulose-based biofuel is an avenue of research intending to limit waste and provide new renewable energy. Cellulose is a rigid polymer of glucose monomers that is found abundantly across different agriculture crops. However, its stability is a barrier to energy production from this source. Pretreatment followed by hydrolysis of cellulosic materials serves a potential to produce glucose to be used in biofuels in larger quantities compared to other methods. This project studied the effect microwave pretreatment and oxygenation have on hydrolysis of cellulose in Arundo Donax. Arundo …

Representation Matters: African American Female Readers’ Perceptions Of Young Adult Literature, Asia Harden

Honors Theses

In 2019, only 6% of U.S. children’s books published were written by black authors. This portion of the publishing industry, and particularly the category of young adult literature (YA) has room for improvement when it comes to African American representation. To identify how this lack of representation affects readers, this study was broken into two parts which resulted in obtaining the African American female YA author perspective, as well as African American female readers. J. Elle and Kristina Forest were interviewed in the first portion of the study, and three focus groups were conducted in the second study with 13 …

The Role Of The Kurds In U.S. Foreign Policy, Davis Mccool Iii

Honors Theses

The Kurdish people in the Middle East have played a valuable role in furthering U.S. policy interests in the region. The U.S. has aligned itself with various Kurdish groups in a series of strategic partnerships dating back to the early 1970s, yet has never considered the Kurdish nation an ally. As such, the U.S. has reneged on multiple different pacts with the Kurds and opened the door for state-sponsored conflict against a supposed ally, despite mutual interests between both groups. This thesis aimed to assign a formal role to the Kurds within U.S. foreign policy, and to analyze the function …

China, Xinjiang, And The Genocide Convention: The Fragility Of International Law, Lucy Kate Herron

Honors Theses

This paper examines China’s actions through the lens of the Genocide Convention to examine the whether the crimes of genocide are being committed against the Uyghur population. It contends that according to the Genocide Convention, China is committing genocide, and particularly through conditions, torture, and rape, against the Uyghur population. However, prosecuting a genocide in court would prove difficult due to China's laws and actions that can be used to defer accusations of genocide and problems with the Genocide Convention in the context of China and the Uyghurs.

Being Female And Indigenous: Barriers To Reducing Bolivia's Maternal Mortality Rates Under Evo Morales, Channell Cole

Honors Theses

This thesis seeks to answer the question: What are the barriers to attempts to reduce Bolivia’s maternal mortality rate under Evo Morales? While Morales’ presidency began in 2006, the timeline is from 2004 to the present to account for changes due to his policy. Using activity theory and social capital theory, I argue that machismo and racism are two social factors that are barriers to efforts to reduce the maternal mortality rate. Machismo manifests itself uniquely in Bolivia, as I argue through a comparison to Paraguay. Machismo is also riddled with a history of anti-indigenous racism. I examine the Rockefeller …

The Impact Of Intercultural Healthcare On Indigenous Maternal Health And Access To Care In Ecuador, Lea Dudte

Honors Theses

Article 32 of the 2008 Ecuadorian Constitution states that all citizens have the right to intercultural healthcare, which combines traditional and western medical practices. This thesis investigates the implementation of this policy and analyzes its impacts on Indigenous maternal health. I focus on Indigenous maternal health because there is a disproportionately high maternal mortality rate among this ethnic group. Moreover, medical racism and distrust of biomedical practices in public hospitals often deters Indigenous women from attending these facilities. This policy is highly tailored towards the needs of Indigenous mothers. In order to analyze the impacts of this policy on Indigenous …

Captions For Covid? Hearing Accessibility In Virtual "Zoom" Theatre, Gianna Schuetz

Honors Theses

The COVID-19 pandemic shut the doors of theatres across the United States and the rest of the world. Live theatre came to a sudden halt as gatherings of people served as significant health risks. As live theatre performances became nearly obsolete, many theatre organizations were forced to creatively adapt to move their programming to a virtual format. Presenting theatre in a virtual format brings many challenges; however, it also brings opportunities for increased accessibility and access, particularly for individuals who are hard of hearing.

The following thesis explores hearing accessibility measures taken by theatre companies as they ventured into virtual …

A Stolen Culture: The Harmful Effects Of Cultural Appropriation, Amirah Lockhart

Honors Theses

Entertainment has always been an outlet from reality, no matter the culture. Whether in the form of music or television, entertainment has something for everyone. Different factors influence the content of the entertainment being consumed, but culture is one of the most important and decisive elements. The appropriation of entertainers in their work is not always immediately obvious to all consumers of entertainment, but members of the affected culture are quick to notice and usually shut out. I argue that the cultural appropriation of Black culture in most cases facilitates results that are harmful and damaging to the Black community. …

Dissipation In The 1920s: Disparate Presentations Of Alcohol Consumption In Selected Works Of Hemingway And Fitzgerald, Amanda Wilson

Honors Theses

The objective of this thesis is to explore the ways in which Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald define the 1920s and, in particular, the American expatriate culture in Europe. Each author describes the culture of the “Lost Generation” in large part through alcohol consumption and dissipation. In their literary works, alcohol is portrayed as glamorous as well as destructive, as both curing and exacerbating post-WWI anomie. Through their chronicling of this era in fiction and nonfiction, each author memorializes their own participation in the culture along with their legendary consumption of alcohol. This study will concentrate upon selected short …

Gay Identity In The Gdr: The Homosexuelle Interessengemeinschaft Berlin Between Self-Expression And State Control, Susanna Cassisa

Honors Theses

This thesis examines the Homosexuelle Interessengemeinschaft Berlin (HIB), the

first gay liberation group in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). Specifically, it analyzes the demands and tactics of the HIB alongside London Gay Liberation Front activist Peter Tatchell at the tenth World Festival of Youth and Students (WFYS) in 1973. This study analyzes four primary sources: 1) the HIB’s banner from the WFYS, 2) the leaflet Tatchell distributed at the WFYS, 3) Tatchell’s placard from the WFYS, and 4) a 1978 letter from the HIB to the People’s Chamber arguing for a socialist information center geared toward a homosexual patronage. I …

Film Festivals And The Covid-19 Pandemic: How A Global Health Crisis Changed The United States Film Festival Circuit, Treviso M. Davis

Honors Theses

An essential step in the life cycle of a film, film festivals provide an organized opportunity for filmmakers to present a film to an audience, gain feedback on their work, develop a reputation in the film industry, network with other individuals in the field, and attract the attention of distributors. Fulfilling these purposes became drastically more difficult because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and its effects will bring about lasting changes to the independent film landscape once the virus is not an immediate threat to the success of a festival. This thesis outlines strategies taken among film festival organizers in response …

Refugees Not Welcome Here: An Analysis Of Human Rights Transgressions Under The Migrant Protection Protocols, Claire Haxton

Honors Theses

On December 20, 2018 the Trump administration released a statement announcing the signing of an executive order implementing a new asylum program called the Migrant Protection Protocols. Under this legislation, third party nationals arriving at the United States’ southwestern border seeking asylum would be forced to remain in Mexico throughout the processing of their asylum application. This new protocol promised to limit false asylum cases and streamline meritorious applications while preventing migrants from exploiting loopholes in the former asylum system. However, critics argue that the Migrant Protection Protocols further endanger refugees and infringe on their human rights. This study aims …

Rome Joins The Belt And Road Initiative: Implications For The Development Of Trieste And Italy’S Position In Chinese Foreign Policy, Colin Durkin

Honors Theses

In March of 2019, during a visit from Chinese leader Xi Jinping to Rome, Italy became the first G7 country to sign on to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), generating an intense reaction from allies. The non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) included 29 deals, a number of which were signed between private Italian and Chinese companies on the sidelines of Xi’s visit. One of the most important of these deals was between the Chinese SOE China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) and the Trieste Port Authority. The deal promised increased cooperation and investment in a number of areas. Optimists on …

Marine Melodies: Traditional Scottish And Irish Mermaid And Selkie Songs As Performed By Top Female Vocalists In Contemporary Celtic Music, Olivia H. Phillips

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Mermaids and human-seal hybrids, called selkies, are a vibrant part of Celtic folklore, including ballad and song traditions. Though some of these songs have been studied in-depth, there is a lack of research comparing them to each other or to their contemporary renditions. This research compares traditional melodies and texts of the songs “The Mermaid,” “The Grey Selchie of Sule Skerry,” and “Hó i Hó i” to contemporary recordings by top female vocalists in Scottish and Irish music.

The texts and melodies I have identified as “source” material are those most thoroughly examined by early ballad and folklore scholars. The …

The Disconnected Podcast, Sydney Wright

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Humans are social creatures. Yet when the pandemic forced the world into lockdown, social interaction became limited and more intentional. I explore the forms of communication people turned to during this time through a series of podcast episodes. I interview people who can provide first-hand experiences of how major areas of life changed. The areas I focused on are digital literacy in the elderly, online connections versus in-person ones, telehealth, education, journalism, and social media. The episodes can be listened to on the Disconnected website.

Finding Personality In Animation, Jarrett Mcgill

Undergraduate Honors Theses

There is a difference between making something move and bringing something to life in animation. The animation principles work together to bring out character that is only visible with memorable movement. Given how the entertainment space has changed and grown over recent years, it is arguably vital for characters to be unforgettable for franchises to survive. This creative thesis explores how personalities are interpreted in animation by viewers and creators, and a workflow to bring the personalities to the forefront in the piece. Three distinct characters will be animated with the same set of animations to showcase how a personality …

The Dreams Of Metanoia: The Advent Foreigner: A Creative Thesis Based On A True Narrative Of The Forgotten American War Of Racist Imperialism, Zackary Keith

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This creative project’s ambition is to craft an original novel called The Dreams of Metanoia: The Advent Foreigner. The Dreams of Metanoia is initially influenced by The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, a true narrative by Rebecca Skloot. Henrietta and her family were subjected to Jim Crow scientific racism. Henrietta, a black woman with cervical cancer, had her cells removed and cultivated by John Hopkins doctors without any consent. The doctors discovered that Henrietta’s cells continued to divide relentlessly outside her body. They then sold them to other researchers without their knowledge. However, the gap in literature occurs within a …

Typology Of Projectile Points/Knives From Upper East Tennessee, Zoen Mclachlan

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Projectile points/ knives (PPKs) are categorized by morphology, also called typology, and associated with cultural periods. A total of 64 PPKs in collections in the Archaeology Lab at East Tennessee State University were curated as untyped and without provenience. They were allegedly collected from ground surveys in Upper East Tennessee, but without archaeological context research had not been prioritized. The importance of such research lies in the fact that few publications exist on the region of Upper East Tennessee and many reference books on lithic typology portray PPKs through illustrations of the ideal morphology of each type. The challenge herein …

Who, What, Why: A Self-Reflection On The Creation And Practice Of Audition Technique In The Business Of Live Theatre, Kenneth Thomas

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This study is a breakdown of what auditioning is in the world of professional acting and how I (the subject) have developed my own technique through my undergraduate journey.

Byzantine Empire Economic Growth: Did Climate Change Play A Role?, Thomas E. Lambert

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Different chroniclers of the history of the Byzantine Empire have noted various economic data gleamed from historical documents and accounts of the empire at different periods of time. Research for this paper has not uncovered any estimates of long term, annual macroeconomic data (gross domestic product (GDP), national income (NI), etc.) for the empire during its existence. Such data has been estimated to one extent or another for other nations and societies that have existed during the middle ages. This paper attempts to provide conjectures on approximate real GDP per capita trends for the empire over its existence from AD …

Reframing The Pedagogical Underpinnings Of To Kill A Mockingbird: Queering A High School Text, Hovsep Hovannesian

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Given the current climate for social and political change in relation to identity and being, traditional high school texts like To Kill A Mockingbird are being rejected as degrading, out of touch, and even regressive and are being taken off the pedagogical shelf. This article pushes back on this outlook by suggesting that a more critical approach to such texts can make them not only useful but enlightening for the high school population asked to read them. Specifically, by proposing that high school pedagogy apply the foundations and frameworks of critical, identity-focused theories, like queer theory, to traditional high school …