Creative Writing Commons^™

Embracing The Sacred Oath Of Healing: Lessons From When Breath Becomes Air, Rudayna S. Tabbara

be Still

This essay explores how When Breath Becomes Air embodies the Sacred Oath of Healing through Paul Kalanithi’s journey as a physician and a patient.

A Child’S Oath, Nozimakhon K. Omonullaeva

be Still

"A Child's Oath" reflects the transformative journey of a young girl shaped by her personal experiences with healthcare inequities, both in her home country of Uzbekistan and in the United States. This piece explores the emotional impact of these experiences and how they inspired a lifelong commitment to healing and serving underserved communities. It is a testament to the resilience born from hardship and the sacred promise to bring compassion and equity to medicine.

Helping As A Student, Dayna R. Smerina

be Still

Being a medical student can sometimes feel powerless. However, there are special ways that students can make an impact on their patient's lives.

The Glacier, Emily Rodman

be Still

The Glacier discovers the inner workings of a medical student's mind as she devotes years of her life to eventually partake in the "sacred oath of healing." She knows that these years of medical training - filled with strife and joy alike - will eventually lead her to fulfill the career of her dreams, serving others.

The Sacred Healing Of A Little Warrior, Adrianna M. Zambrano

be Still

As a hopeful pediatrician, I find my sacred oath of healing to be inspired by the radiant positivity and resilience of children. My goddaughter was not even three years old when she had her first major surgery, and I was so worried about her future recovery. Then, she was just a few hours post-op and already cracking a smile. Her innocence and purity extended to the point where she made sure that she wasn't the only one being taken care of; after all, her "baby" Julie needed to be taken care of, too.

The Heart Of Healing, Madison Prieto

be Still

No abstract provided.

Nourishing The Body, Nurturing The Soul, Vidhi Raval

be Still

No abstract provided.

Frankenstein Colorized, Marianne Koleng

be Still

One of my favorite novel's growing up was Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. I see Frankenstein's desire to create a "Monster" as a way to grasp at the fundamental human drive for connection, and healing through connection. In this piece, I attempt to bring that inner yearning for fundamental connection to paper.

Beyond Myself - Healing Through Pain, Marianne Koleng

be Still

In this piece I reflect on the importance of setbacks, non-linear growth, injuries, and pain and their ability to provide self-reflection, a platform for growth, and an crucial reminder of the fragility of life. I have often been self-critical for not following a "traditional" path in life, and reflecting on my experiences allows me to show myself grace and hopefully may influence others to do so as well.

The Orchard Of Golden Apples, Ambika Kapil, Brendan Ginsberg

be Still

This poem was written collaboratively by Ambika Kapil and Brendan Ginsberg, reflecting our shared journey through the challenges and rewards of medical school. The inspiration for this piece comes from a pivotal time in Ambika's journey, when she found herself balancing the demands of medical education with personal struggles. During this period, she often turned to the lectures and guidance of various faculty members, including Dr. Lori Dribin, whose wisdom and support provided a sense of stability and hope. The guidance of these mentors became a beacon, helping Ambika navigate through uncertainty.

As many students face an array of challenges …

The Sacrifices Of Being Away, Claudia Pedreira

be Still

No abstract provided.

Remedios De Abuela: Sacred Traditions Of Healing, Madeline R. Sardinas

be Still

Remedios de Abuela is a narrative-style essay reflecting on the Cuban remedies and family caregiving practices that shaped my journey into medicine. From the warmth of sopa de pollo to the soothing ritual of Vicks VapoRub, these traditions embody the sacred oath of healing.

Through personal stories, including caring for my grandfather with diabetes, this essay explores the intersection of family, culture, and the art of medicine. It is a tribute to my grandparents and a testament to the enduring power of traditions and the human connection at the heart of the healing profession.

Death Is Not The End, Marianne Koleng

be Still

In this piece, Death is Not the End, the juxtaposition of maintaining a connection with those lost, while simultaneously adjusting to life without them is explored. The use of mixed media to convey a spectrum of emotions surrounding death along with the use of both a skeleton, to represent death, and "normal" hands and body contours to represent life, highlight the importance that proper healing play in both mourning and celebrating life.

Melville And The Market: Literature And The Language Of Capitalism In Nineteenth-Century America, Emma Williams

History & Classics Undergraduate Theses

No abstract provided.

Zephyr: The Twenty-Fifth Issue, Zephyr Faculty Advisor, Autumn Brophy, Thomas Garcia, Jasmin Y. Townsend Ng

Zephyr

This is the twenty-fifth issue of Zephyr, the University of New England's journal of creative expression. Since 2000, Zephyr has published original drawings, paintings, photography, prose, and verse created by current and former members of the University community. Zephyr's Editorial Board is made up exclusively of matriculating students.

2025 Greenleaf Review-- Fever Dream (No. 38), Sigma Tau Delta

The Greenleaf Review

No abstract provided.

Controlling The Narrative: How The United Daughters Of The Confederacy Shaped Collective Memory Through Romance Novels, Karie L. Cobb

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

While existing scholarship on the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) reveals the immense influence the organization wielded in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, I assert that their legacy has had a broader and more insidious reach than previously believed. Through close analysis of two foundational romance novelists’ works published during the rapid escalation of the genre’s popularity, I contend that the rhetoric of the UDC shaped generations of Southerners as demonstrated through repetitions and parallels of the Lost Cause ideology found in UDC publications and sponsored materials within romance novels written by white Southern women who came of age …

Arts & Literature: Another Roadside Attraction: Pol Pot's Pyre, Craig C. Etcheson

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

This piece summarizes the author’s 2001 trip to Anlong Veng, Cambodia, to visit the location of Pol Pot’s cremation near the former headquarters of the Khmer Rouge guerilla movement. The paper describes the terrain that must be traversed in order to get there, and the individuals one encounters along the way. In the process, aspects of Cambodian history and culture are revealed.

Representation Of South Asians In U.S. American Children’S Picture Books, Eman A. Chaudhry

Senior Theses

One potential cause of racism against South Asian Americans in school could be the lack of authentic representation of South Asians in the media. A method to properly depict them is via children’s picture books, which can be used to explore different cultures within the classroom. I examined the current landscape of American children’s picture books that depict South Asians and found that the most authentic portrayals included characters embracing certain holidays or traditions. Additionally, I researched issues that affect the South Asian community, one of which includes the stigmatization of mental health. Drawing on my own experiences, I wrote …

Exophonic Literature: Why And How Authors Write In A Second Language, Jonathan M. Bost

Senior Honors Theses

Milan Kundera, Julio Cortázar, Joseph Conrad, Rigoberta Menchú, and James Joyce are just some of the multitudinous authors who wrote in languages that are not their mother tongue. This phenomenon is called “exophony,” and it is more common than many would expect. There are various reasons why authors write exophonic literature: James Joyce wrote to a friend that he was at the end of English (1957), and Menchú’s editor Elizabeth Burgos-Debray claims Menchú wrote in Spanish to use the language of her oppressors against them. This thesis will investigate case studies of various exophonic authors, relate advice such authors have …

The Blood Moon, Omar Shafi

Calvert Undergraduate Research Awards

What turns someone into a monster? Is it their nature—or what the world has taken from them? These are the questions at the heart of The Blood Moon, a short story that reimagines the origin of the werewolf myth through a tragic lens. Created for an upper-division honors course titled Monsters and Monstrosity, this project draws from literary research, folklore, and cultural analysis to examine how trauma, grief, and unresolved hatred can transform even the most innocent among us.

Set in a mythic past, The Blood Moon follows Warrei, a young, wolf-like creature known as a Wolven, who loses everything …

For The Birds, Charlotte L. Middleton

School of Art, Art History, and Design: Theses and Student Creative Work

For the Birds is a homogenous material exhibition of porcelain pottery that explores the relationships between, expectations of, and roles placed upon women and pottery. Using traditional craft processes, still life imagery, and the language and limits of porcelain, I create arrangements that expose the viewers assumptions of both subjects. Pottery- pitchers, cups, and vases—is a product of anthropocentrism and anthropomorphism and can be entirely taken for granted- their role is assumed and unquestionable—to serve. The language and expectations of these objects are the medium I build with.

The title of the show, For the Birds, is both a …

Brain Candy: Wayne State University School Of Medicine Journal Of Arts And Culture, 12th Edition, Wayne State University School Of Medicine Gold Humanism Honor Society

Gold Humanism Honor Society

Brain Candy incorporates paintings, written pieces, and poetry from all the medical classes at Wayne State University School of Medicine to shed light on the creative process in medicine, the city of Detroit, and the experiences of health care providers. This year, the journal is organized into four sections, each of which denotes a particular time period within medical school. The first edition of Brain Candy was published online and in print in 2009, produced by a generous grant by the Gold Humanism Honor Society (GHHS). The edition featured poetry, nonfiction, short fiction, and different types of artwork. With generous …

Noteworthy, Meredith Harrigan, Patrick Montanaro

Noteworthy

Noteworthy recounts Merry's journey to understand her grief in losing her smile. She explores her community park and discovers solace and inspiration in sights and sounds along the way.

Through a unique blend of critical autoethnography, parable, collage, and visual art, this book captures the intricacy, complexity, and fluidity of navigating a difficult experience, and engages readers in exploring how human and natural elements in combination with the arts, sciences, and humanities might pave a path to self-acceptance during times of difficult change.

Noteworthy Expanded: Creating Spaciousness In Higher Education, Meredith Harrigan, Patrick Montanaro

Noteworthy

Noteworthy Expanded: Creating Spaciousness in Higher Education builds on the story of Noteworthy, adding in education-related reflections, inquiries, discoveries, and the new practices they inspired. It builds on Merry's story to explore the intertwined personal and professional journey the author traversed. Alongside the story is a notebook that presents a combination of jottings, drawings, and reflections, and tangible examples of changes and expansion in the undergraduate classroom throughout this journey.

The Tragic Outlaw Hero In Modern Egyptian Fiction: A Case Study On Naguib Mahfouz’S "The Thief And The Dogs", Manar Ellethy

Regards

This article examines the outlaw figure in modern Egyptian fiction

through the lens of the conceptual framework of social banditry and classical

tragedy. It offers a unique angle of analysis of one of Mahfouz’s most prolific

works that emerges in times of growing political anxiety following the Egyptian

Revolution of 1952. Reading the 1962 film adaptation of Naguib Mahfouz’s The

Thief and the Dogs directed by Kamal El-Sheikh as a projection of the socio-

political uncertainty of the post-revolution Nasser era, this paper considers the

outlaw figure within the condition of social alienation. Using the conceptual

borders set by Eric …

A Polyphonic Adaptation: Noir Sensibilities In Naguib Mahfouz And Salah Abu Seif’S Take On Émile Zola’S "Thérèse Raquin", Fadi Awad Elsaid

Regards

In 1951, Salah Abu-Seif directed Lak Yūm yā ẓālim (Your Day Is Coming) – scripted by Naguib Mahfouz – adapting Émile Zola’s Thérèse Raquin (1867). In their third collaboration, Abu-Seif and Mahfouz went beyond merely adapting Zola’s novel – they also incorporated traits and techniques from film noir, creating what this article terms a “polyphonic adaptation” that draws from multiple sources. While their partnership is often credited with pioneering realism in Egyptian cinema, this article argues that the film’s crime-thriller elements invite a reassessment of that narrative. Although adapting French novels was common in pre-1952 Egyptian cinema, their …

The 1953 Codes: Rayyā And Sakīna On Screen (1953-2005), Elena Chiti

Regards

This paper examines on-screen representations of female criminals. It focuses on Rayyā and Sakīna, two sisters who were arrested in Egypt in 1920 and executed in 1921. Since 1953, the sisters have inspired movies and TV series that have entrenched their myth in popular culture. Rayyā and Sakīna are at the core of narratives that bear moral imperatives on societal issues, such as the place of women in society and the relation of the nation to its margins. I will argue that, until a recent off-screen resignification, Rayyā and Sakīna have not been deeply resignified in Egyptian movies. Instead, they …

Alterity And Kinship: Co-Writing Posthumanist Speculative Nonfiction With Ai, Jeffrey Bardzell, Maliheh Ghajargar

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

As a response to the climate crisis, scholarly literature has introduced new theoretical perspectives, such as posthumanism, which seek to reimagine the relationships between humans and nonhuman others, including environments, animals, and plants. Reimagining these relationships depends in large part on our ability to engage nonhumans in their otherness, or alterity, but doing so is challenging. Responding to calls throughout posthuman literature for experimental new modes of imaginative encounter with nonhumans, and inspired by speculative traditions from literature to design, we devise a methodology involving “creative experiments” aimed at disrupting, decentering, and disorienting the human-centered thinking that interferes with humans’ …

Volume 36 Issue 2

NEBO: A Literary Journal

The Fall 2023 issue of Nebo: A Literary Journal (Volume 45, Issue 1) marks a significant moment in the journal’s history—it is the first full semester back on campus without interruption since the COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns. This issue symbolizes a fresh beginning, a renewed appreciation for storytelling, and a commitment to fostering creativity in a post-pandemic world. Centered around the theme "The Power of the Painted Word," this edition embraces literature as both an art form and a force of expression. Featuring poetry, fiction, and essays from a dynamic selection of voices, this edition highlights resilience, artistic rebirth, and the …