Interdisciplinary Arts and Media Commons^™

An Interview With An Instagram Archivist: @404mph Interviews @Onlystarleft, 404mph (On Instagram)

Digital Laboratory: Publisher of Internet Journal

An Interview with an Instagram Archivist: @404MPH Interviews @ONLYSTARLEFT is a dialogue conducted entirely through iMessage, presented as both a publication and a designed artifact. Within this text exchange, the conversation navigates themes of digital preservation, authorship, and self-curation—examining how social media aesthetics transform personal experience into collective memory. @ONLYSTARLEFT reflects on the act of archiving not as static documentation but as a living, participatory practice shaped by the speed and impermanence of online culture. Formally, the project recognizes the iPhone as a cultural mediator—its interface shaping not only how we communicate, but how we perceive and construct value within …

Generative Ai (Genai) For Co-Creating User Personas, Douglas Strahler

Proceedings of the New York State Communication Association

Integrating Generative AI into communication courses can really enhance the development of user personas, making the process smoother and encouraging critical insights into audience analysis. This G.I.F.T.S. presentation shows how tools like ChatGPT can support students in developing user personas while encouraging creativity and efficiency for the students. Students will be creating two personas, one human-created and one that is AI-generated, followed by conducting a comparative analysis of similarities, differences, and any potential biases. The activity underlines basic competencies in the development of user personas and ethical considerations that prepare students for the responsible use of AI with a full …

In Tensile // In Between, Corinna Di Niro

Staff Scholarship - Australia & Dubai

"In Tensile // In Between" operates as both artistic artefact and theoretical critique, demonstrating how creative practice can embody and extend academic discourse. This creative-critical work examines shifting perceptions of course delivery within creative tertiary education, arguing that project-based learning enables the seamless embedding of socio-cultural discourse and theories within practical making processes.

The poem interrogates how educational environments can cultivate critical thinking through what I term "tensile pedagogy"—an approach that maintains productive charge between opposing forces rather than seeking synthesis or resolution. This concept builds upon King's (2017) work on pedagogy as tension, which argues that "tension and incompleteness …

Arts-Based Sustainability: From New York To Malawi, Martha B. Lerski

Publications and Research

Recognizing that libraries serve multiple constituencies and subject areas, this chapter documents and advocates for development of transdisciplinary arts-based research (ABR) and culture-related projects linked to environmental challenges. Libraries contribute collections and spaces, as well as the research of library and information scientists. Libraries are currently among invisible contributors to sustainability planning and services. The chapter will link this invisibility to the value of what visual arts refer to as negative space elements in subjects ranging from traditional ecological knowledge to environmental science. Library collections, projects, and research contribute to education for sustainable development (ESD) as required to achieve the …

"Maine Office Of Behavioral Health’S Section 17 Self-Direction Pilot Program: Executive Summary", Rachel M. Gallo Mph, Sarah Goan, Emma Schwartz

Publications

The Self-Directed Care (SDC) pilot program in Maine tested a service delivery model that allows individuals with mental health needs to manage a personal budget, supported by a trained broker to purchase goods and services that best support their recovery goals. Funded through the American Rescue Plan Act, the Maine Office of Behavioral Health implemented the nine-month pilot in three counties, partnering with Alpha One, Maine’s Center for Independent Living, to provide reloadable debit cards for participant purchases. The program aimed to promote autonomy, satisfaction, and stability among adults receiving Section 17 Medicaid services while informing decisions about the model’s …

"Maine Office Of Behavioral Health’S Section 17 Self-Direction Pilot Program: Evaluation Report", Rachel M. Gallo Mph, Sarah Goan, Emma Schwartz, Aaron Rose

Publications

Maine’s Office of Behavioral Health conducted a nine-month pilot of Self-Directed Care to support adults with serious mental illness in Cumberland, Hancock, and Washington Counties. The program allowed eligible participants receiving MaineCare Section 17 services to manage a personal budget, guided by trained Support Brokers from Alpha One, to purchase goods and services that would advance their recovery goals. The pilot aimed to increase participant choice, autonomy, and flexibility in managing their mental health needs. Support Brokers worked closely with participants and Case Managers to develop and approve individualized purchase plans, monitor expenditures, and ensure alignment with treatment objectives. A …

An Interactive Walkthrough Of Richard Kostelanetz’S Library, Martin Glick

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

My project utilizes the visual novel game engine Ren’Py to create an embodied virtual walkthrough of Richard Kostelanetz’s personal library. Kostelanetz is a pioneering avante-garde artist, critic, and anthologist whose work spans multiple decades and artistic practices. This interactive experience introduces users to the astounding collection of 25,000 books that Kostelanetz has amassed in Ridgewood, Queens over his decades of publishing avant-garde literature. While scholars might be familiar with his anthologies such as Scenarios: Scripts to Perform (1980) and Texts-Sound Texts (1980), my project allows users to browse through sample pages of his original “Book Art”.

This New Media Object …

Field Journal: The Excluded Middle, Carrie E. Kouts

Masters Theses

What does it look like to engage with organisms and landscapes at the periphery of anthropocentric value structures? How does one break the internalized myth that the “built” environment is excluded from the natural world? When does a hyper-mobile and hyper-commodified society confront the exponential crisis of animal death? Within this series of journal entries, field notes, collection observations, weird prose, and sensory musings, one will find questions on the nature of being human and the complex narratives of care we encounter in a world shared with more-than-humans. Each handwritten vignette and photograph from daily life weaves a non-linear and …

Rooted In Embodied Making: A Notebook On Process, Vija Lietuvninkas

Masters Theses

This thesis takes the form of a wooden box containing an archive of fragments – scanned notebooks, sketches, photographs, emails, journal entries, and other materials – that trace a year of embodied, process-based inquiry. Rather than presenting a linear argument or a polished final product, the work reflects a nonlinear, exploratory methodology grounded in making, wandering, and self-reflection.

Born within the context of the 2025 Sustainability Design Lab, an interdisciplinary initiative at RISD examining the material culture of wood across design fields, this project documents the artist’s evolving engagement with green wood as both material and metaphor. Through practices such …

Stitch Theory, Brittany Adeline Adama King

Theses and Dissertations

This paper weaves personal history together using “stitched” citational text, supporting the concept that an archive can function as support, as worn; as garment.

Pedro Aceves Mfa Thesis, Pedro M. Aceves

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

My Work is about looking at Cruising through a queer decolonial lens. Using multiple mediums such as photo, glass, Augmented reality, and film, I explore these queer histories and aesthetics through not just an anthropological approach but also an artistic epistemological approach weaving together narratives of prehispanic and modern queer Latinidad.

Social Imagining In “Youth Taking Action:” Documenting Immigrating And Settling Through A Hybrid Youth Participatory Action Research Project, Natacha Monestel Mora, Julia Iriarte, Jennifer A. Vadeboncoeur, Sediqa Temori, Mathias Abraha

Occasional Paper Series

This paper is a memoir of our experiences with Youth Taking Action (YTA), a YPAR program that took place during the COVID-19 pandemic. YTA, a collaborative effort organized by a non-profit based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, provided a space for 6 newcomer youths and 4 immigrant adults to engage in active dialogue. Through these conversations, we explored stories of immigration and settlement, identified barriers that limit opportunities for young newcomers and discussed possible actions to address these issues. The youth also learned documentary filmmaking techniques, which helped them collect data and generate more dialogue. This process revealed that linguistic …

Parody And Mis-Unda-Stendings In Comics Art World: Bridging The Gap With New Criteria, Yannis Koukoulas

SANE journal: Sequential Art Narrative in Education

The word parody and its many cognates such as appropriation, adaptation, pastiche, travesty, forgery, homage, tribute, swipe, etc., have often been at the centre of fierce debates within the traditional Artworld and various criteria have been proposed for the critical evaluation of visual and literary works. In particular, parody as a dominant practice in postmodern art is a concept that is subject to misunderstandings as to its content and meaning. In Comics Artworld, however, within which recontextualizing practices are very common, often with humorous content, the attempt to describe artists' works and intentions by the criteria applied to other arts, …

Towards Active Learning Practice: A Theory To Practice-Led Model. Part 1: Principles Of Student-Centred Learning, Strutts Psyridis

Staff Scholarship - Australia & Dubai

This monograph explores Active Learning as a student-centred pedagogical model that bridges theory and practice in screen education. It examines constructivist approaches, metacognition, and situated learning, arguing for performative, embodied teaching methods. The paper highlights tensions between traditional instruction and experiential learning, proposing adaptable frameworks for enhancing engagement, autonomy, and transferable skills.

Exploring Homogeneity In Today's Cultural Expression, Roderick Hunt

Digital Laboratory: Publisher of Internet Journal

This article examines the increasing cultural homogeneity driven by the internet's global reach and accessibility. Roderick Hunt—an educator, brand expert, and fashion designer—integrates writing into his creative practice and brand ethos. Through his label, Uniform Journal, he merges ideas and products, emphasizing both form and function. In a Q&A discussion, Hunt explores how the internet has influenced contemporary cultural practices and challenges the notion of originality in an era of digital interconnectedness.

Maine Career Exploration: Final Evaluation Report, Julia Bergeron-Smith Mppm, Msw, Sarah Goan, Madison Burke, Becky Wurwarg, Amy Geren, Shannon Saxby

Publications

The Maine Career Exploration (MCE) Program was a two-year, $25 million pilot initiative launched in 2022 by Governor Janet Mills as part of the Maine Jobs and Recovery Plan. The program aimed to connect young people aged 16 to 24 with Maine’s economy through paid, age-appropriate career experiences that matched their interests, while also expanding career exploration opportunities in schools and communities and building long-term infrastructure to sustain these efforts. Managed by the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development, MCE distributed funding across three main streams: the Maine Children’s Cabinet Career Exploration Pilot Project, the Maine Department of Education’s …

Examining The Creative Process Of Visual Artists: A Phenomenological Study, Filiberto Vargas

Dissertations

Creativity fuels problem solving and innovation, driving both economic growth and individual success. Yet, many schools and organizations fail to nurture it. Today, there is a decline in creativity scores among U.S. students. This is concerning since many of these students will be the future leaders of organizations and communities. For this reason, this dissertation explores the creative process of visual artists to better understand how creativity can be cultivated. Visual artists' perspectives and sense-and-meaning-making processes offer a unique view of innovation and creativity. However, there is limited research on the creative processes of contemporary visual artists from culturally diverse …

Glitched Humanity: A Digital Media Arts Advocacy Project, Shelly Maloney

Teaching Resource Archive

This lesson includes an original sample project and website that directs students towards learning how to utilize digital glitch art to create advocacy or raise awareness for the social, cultural, environmental, or political issue of their choice. It is designed to engage students in critical thinking skills, cross-curricular connections, reflective writing, digital art making, group discussion, and peer review.

Artists can use video and other media sources to explore the self-destructive tendencies of human nature (i.e. violence/war, consumption, and/or carelessness/environmental neglect) or other social, cultural, or political issues using digital manipulation, layered imagery, sound, and video.

The Representation Of Feminine Beauty In Generative Artificial Intelligence Models, Haley R. Stacy

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

As Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology advances, its influence on media and societal perceptions becomes increasingly significant. This dissertation explores how popular generative visual AI models represent women and the implications for racial and body type inclusivity. This study examines women’s perceptions of AI-generated representations. Two primary research questions are being explored: (1) How do AI-generated algorithms represent women in visual outputs when prompted with broad beauty-related keywords? (2) How do women perceive their representation in these AI-generated visual outputs? Through a detailed analysis of AI-generated imagery, the research uncovers implicit and explicit biases within these systems. The research also gathered …

Lives And Lessons Of Zoo Animals, Nicole Emlen

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

This project was an interdisciplinary museum exhibit that was displayed at the Montana Natural History Center between April 4 and May 12, 2025. It displays my photographs that I took of some of the animals I worked with during my summer 2024 internship at ZooMontana. In this project, I educate the public about three main functions of zoos--rescue, conservation, and education--through the stories and lives of four species. These animals all have unique stories that are important to share to improve public knowledge of why zoos are important and how we can improve relationships between humans and wildlife. Photography is …

Hypnosis And Mindfulness Audio Recordings For Reducing Fatigue In Individuals With Multiple Sclerosis: A Randomized Controlled Study, Mark P. Jensen, Susan Robles, Michael G. Nash, Susanne May, Dwan M. Ehde, Melissa A. Day, Owen Gottlieb, Laurence I. Sugarman, Kevin N. Alschuler

Articles

Background

Fatigue is a common problem in individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS).

Objective

The objective was to evaluate the effects on fatigue of having 4 weeks of

access to audio recordings of therapeutic hypnosis (HYP) and mindfulness meditation

(MM) practices.

Methods

A total of 333 individuals with MS and fatigue were randomly assigned to

one of the three treatment conditions for 28 weeks: (1) access to therapeutic HYP audio

recordings, (2) access to MM audio recordings, or (3) no access to recordings

(treatment as usual or TAU). Fatigue impact (primary outcome) and other outcomes

were assessed at 4, 16, and …

Teaching Technical Writing Through Designing And Running Escape Rooms, Marijel (Maggie) Melo, Antonnet Johnson

Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy

While many instructors recognize how the integration of popular culture and student interests can enhance student engagement and learning, this pedagogical approach remains rare in technical writing courses. In this article, we provide an end-to-end outline of an escape room project assigned to junior and senior level undergraduates, including an overview of our pedagogical rationale, institutional context, instructional materials, and synthesis of work produced by students. By collaborating on a range of technical documentation, students learn through experience that can be leveraged beyond the classroom and in their professional pursuits. Moreover, we aim to provide teachers with an example of …

Pura Vida: Reflections From Costa Rica, Lisette Gonzalez, Carolina Hernandez, Natalia Zevallos, Ailani Anglin, Isabela Jimenez, Melissa Johnson, Isabella Madrid, Xion Nelson, Alexia Pineda, Delaney Rendon, Chaylah Williams, Angel Vilchis

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

The First-Gen Voices Journal is proud to feature a special volume dedicated to the transformative experiences of first-generation college students on the recent Study Abroad Social Justice Immersion Trip to Costa Rica. Through this journey, participants gained a deeper grasp of activism and community building while engaging with social justice concerns on a worldwide scale. This volume will demonstrate the tenacity, enthusiasm, and vision of first-generation college students dedicated to societal change.

This issue features embedded film content. Experience the unique blend of text and film by clicking on the front cover image.

La Vida Rica, Angel Vilchis

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

Through a first-person perspective, we travel along to Costa Rica with LMU’s First To Go students. Utilizing a long format, home video style, the goal is to communicate the authentic experiences that occurred during the trip. It’s one thing to be a young adult getting the chance to explore new parts of the world, but it’s a different privilege to get to do it with others that you can connect with. So much so that in the couple months preceding the trip, I found myself dealing with that post-trip depression. However, in that state, I found the beauty of being …

On My Heart, Chaylah Williams

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

I never thought that when I would start traveling internationally that it would be alone I always imagined it with my family, but never did I imagine traveling to really interact with the communities either I always thought of traveling as leisure. I guess I could say this impression was not implemented when OI started traveling as I started to notice how I didn’t want to do touristy things and I really just wanted to be. To be there to be present to be aware and I think that is what I enjoyed the most about my trip to Costa …

A Worthwhile Perspective, Delaney Rendon

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

Opening your mind to a new wide perspective can shed light onto the knowledge and culture that another country can show you. There is much beauty in Costa Rica but also struggles that need to be shared.

“Feel The Rain On Your Skin”, Alexia "Lexie" Pineda

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

In the face of immense social and global crises, from genocides to overlapping racial, political, and environmental struggles, 19 students chose connection and healing through artistry. This shared experience in Costa Rica was a transformative journey aimed at reigniting hope, compassion, and responsibility.

Leading With Love, Xion Nelson

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

The travel experience to Costa Rica, how love is important in these travel experiences. Community is something to be thankful for, being able to learn to protect your communities.

Cries Of Injustice, Isabella Madrid

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

The injustices that occur in Costa Rica, the life that Costa Rica is filled with. Testimonies and tragedies that inspire and stick with you.

Costa Rican Culture Of Love, Melissa Johnson

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

This collection of photographs explores how the collectivist and vibrant culture of Costa Rica manifests as a profound sense of love, shared among humans, animals, and the land. This project celebrates the spirit of Costa Rica as a whole, where human connection, respect for the environment, and a genuine sense of community intertwine.