Nonfiction Commons^™

Las Pintas Interview Project 2025, Beth Gulley, Luz Alvarez, Vallerie Rogers, Gabrielle Rock, Danielle Mullins, Nina Mcnay, Jayda Diaz, Audrey Weaver, Haisie Halperin, Rita Terrones, George Newham, Esmeralda Monroy

The Las Pintas Collection

In May of 2025, after a five-year hiatus, Johnson County Community College (JCCC) resumed sending students to Las Pintas, Mexico. Traditionally, JCCC sent student from Nursing, Dental Hygiene, and Solar Energy to practice their acquired skills and serve the community at Centro Integral Comunitario (CIC). This latest trip, though, was for Spanish language students to enhance their cultural competency, language practice, and learn about opportunities to study away.

This collection contains stories from eight former JCCC Study Abroad trip members, five people who live and work in Las Pintas, and the ten current JCCC students who traveled to Las Pintas …

Climate Goodbyes: Reporting On Loss, Change And The Human Response In Montana, Madeline Jorden

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This portfolio explores how climate-driven environmental change intersects with long-standing tensions over natural resource management, tribal sovereignty, and rural identity in Montana. It consists of three stories: a historically low water year at Flathead Lake that intensified disputes between tribal dam operators and non-tribal waterfront homeowners; the first confirmed presence of invasive smallmouth bass in the Bitterroot River, signaling warming stream conditions and ecological disruption; and a political narrative from Colstrip, where coal industry workers cling to promises of revival amid economic and regulatory decline. Each piece illustrates how climate change acts not only as an environmental force but also …

Reject Modernity, Embrace Tradition: Unpacking Gender Roles In Social Media Performances Of "The Good Life", Lauren Mar

Scripps Senior Theses

What do JD Vance, tradwife influencers, and the “sprinkle sprinkle” movement have in common? They all have something to do with the increasing popularity of an apparent return to traditional gender roles. This thesis is an intersectional investigation of women’s gender roles in relation to class and race as they appear in different performances of “the good life” on social media. Through a series of personal essays, this thesis explores how these media examples represent a deeper political unhappiness with present conditions. This thesis takes the time to unpack the different sides of discourse surrounding each subject, and counters the …

Zippymania: A Multimedia Record Of The 2024-25 Akron Zips Men's Basketball Team, Drew Bailey

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project will involve the production, promotion, and distribution of a weekly 30-minute live radio show focusing on the Akron Zips men's basketball team. After the airing of each show, the recorded episode will be published as a podcast. Additionally, a weekly column or sports blog (written by myself) will be published and serve as a companion work or supplement to the radio program.

All In The Family: Truths From A Broken Home, Susan Asher

Master's Projects

All in the Family: Truths from a Broken Home is a collection of micro-memoirs about finding strength in the aftermath of a childhood of neglect and harm. Susan Asher shares her story not as a tale of perfect healing, but as a testament to the survival skill of self‑care. Through vivid scenes of family chaos and the hard truths of abuse, she reveals how caring for oneself becomes the essential act of resilience.

This book is not only about one woman’s journey—it is about the lessons anyone can draw when life denies them safety and love. Readers will discover how …

Discovering Identity, Gabriel Torres

Intertidal

No abstract provided.

Author Bios, Author Bios

Intertidal

Intertidal Vol. 3 Author Bios

36,572 Feet Above The Pacific Ocean, Alyssa Levin

Intertidal

No abstract provided.

Tracing The Lines In Comics And Life: Genealogies And My Place Within Them, Audrey M. Loo

Honors Theses

My thesis is a hybrid English Lit/Creative Writing project on comics. The English Lit half is an Artist’s Statement comprised of scholarly research and both analytical and personal writing, and this work will necessarily inform and be informed by the Creative Writing half, in which I create my own comics.

Tim's Dedication, John Henry Price Iii

Mighty Pen Project Anthology & Archive

My son Tim attended VA Tech as a member of the Corps of Cadets. He graduated and was commissioned as second lieutenant in 2002. Attended Military Police Officers Basic course at FT Leonard Wood, MO. Reported to permanent duty station in Giessen, GA. Served as a platoon leader with 527th MP Company in Baghdad, Iraq during OIF 1. Three months after redeploying to Germany, volunteered to return to Baghdad to replace poor leader with 127th MP Company during OIF 2. KIA, Baghdad, Iraq 7SEP04, shot by a sniper.

Articles, stories, and other compositions in this archive were written by participants …

Extra Bucks, Joseph Stanley Maslanka

Mighty Pen Project Anthology & Archive

A young married man, fresh out of the Marine Corps, has to decide whether it's worth joining the Army Reserves just for a few extra bucks every month. For a Marine, that's a heavy lift.

Articles, stories, and other compositions in this archive were written by participants in the Mighty Pen Project. The program, developed by author David L. Robbins, and in partnership with Virginia Commonwealth University and the Virginia War Memorial in Richmond, Virginia, offers veterans and their family members a customized twelve-week writing class, free of charge. The program encourages, supports, and assists participants in sharing their stories …

A Medal For My Cat, Margaret Serig

Mighty Pen Project Anthology & Archive

“A Medal for My Cat” chronicles the support and sacrifice that family provide to service members, as seen through the eyes of a cat. CiCi graduates from a PetSmart adoption program only to find herself enlisted as a lifelong wingman. She takes on her new role with gusto, usually leading the way, but sometimes… needing to stop and lick her wounds.

Articles, stories, and other compositions in this archive were written by participants in the Mighty Pen Project. The program, developed by author David L. Robbins, and in partnership with Virginia Commonwealth University and the Virginia War Memorial in Richmond, …

Inshallah, Phillip Trezza

Mighty Pen Project Anthology & Archive

Set during a deployment in Iraq, Inshallah follows a U.S. Army medic reflecting on the chaos, camaraderie, and moral ambiguity of war. As his platoon conducts a routine patrol, they encounter violence, uncertainty, and a wounded enemy combatant whose life hangs in the medic’s hands. Through moments of tension, dark humor, and introspection, the story explores the psychological toll of combat and the fragile line between duty and humanity. Ultimately, the medic chooses compassion over vengeance, leaving the outcome to fate—Inshallah, if God wills it.

Articles, stories, and other compositions in this archive were written by participants in …

Taken For A Ride, Reinetta Van

Mighty Pen Project Anthology & Archive

The author recounts a moment of realization about her fiancé Frank’s drinking during a bike ride, which leads to a deeper conversation at home about alcohol’s impact on their relationship.

Articles, stories, and other compositions in this archive were written by participants in the Mighty Pen Project. The program, developed by author David L. Robbins, and in partnership with Virginia Commonwealth University and the Virginia War Memorial in Richmond, Virginia, offers veterans and their family members a customized twelve-week writing class, free of charge. The program encourages, supports, and assists participants in sharing their stories and experiences of military experience …

Con Thien - The Ambush, Richard Michael Everington

Mighty Pen Project Anthology & Archive

This true story takes place just below the DMZ of South Vietnam, during the undeclared war years of 1967- 1968, at Con Thien. The Marine forward combat base had sustained constant artillery bombardment and enemy attacks for a year. The Marine’s newly acquired night vision scopes discovered that North Vietnamese recon teams were coming in at night to spy on the base. An ambush was put together to eliminate the enemy reconnaissance team and to get revenge from loses from the week before. The plot revolves around Rick and Smitty, two of the lowest ranking Marines in the platoon.

Articles, …

The Hardheaded Got To Feel It To Believe It, Magdalene Eden Luna-Buckelew

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Memoire short stories about the author’s experiences in Southern California working as an artist, exotic dancer, and going through various 12 step recovery programs and therapies to heal from childhood trauma.

Girl, You Crazy, Stefani T. Flanagan

Master's Projects

The main premise behind Girl, You Crazy is to inform others of what life is like as someone who experiences psychosis (specifically schizoaffective disorder), as well as show the warning signs that I believe people should be aware of. This text is a nonlinear narrative of my personal experience that explores themes of substance abuse, hallucinations, religion, interpersonal conflict, and family dynamics starting from 2019 through 2025, through the onset of symptoms to diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder. This work also entails some of my experiences as a gay Black woman who was raised in a religious family, bullied throughout my …

Research Reimagined: The Dissertation-To-Book Journey And Building A Scholar-To-Author Presence, Seema Kumar

Master's Projects

This capstone project, completed for a second master's degree after a Ph.D., discusses aspects of transforming the doctoral dissertation on digital versus manual mediums in fashion design into a research monograph book proposal for academic publication. It reflects on a publisher's requirements and the process, including de-thesizing the dissertation, planning the book's structure, rewriting sample chapters to improve flow and readability, and creating a table of contents that demonstrates the work's development into a publishable book rather than a dissertation. Another part of the project includes developing an author platform through blog posts and platforms such as Substack, preparing the …

Nothing I Said Was Enough: Writing As Self-Validation, Michama M. Dorvile

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

This thesis explores the process of using writing as a coping mechanism to heal from trauma by portraying how personal narratives confront pain and reclaim agency. This thesis also explores how writing serves as a means of survival and sharing testimony. The thesis starts with a critical analysis essay, drawing on literary criticism and trauma theory. I explore how Roxane Gay, Kathryn Harrison, Bessel Van der Kolk, and Maya Angelou have used writing to challenge societal perceptions of trauma, and how through writing, they have resisted erasure.

The heart of this thesis is an original creative work, which involves an …

A Story Of Oppression A Psychological And Creative Approach, Juan R. Morillo

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The aim of this project is to survey the manner in which oppression is expressed in selected works of literature. It is a topic that not only am I familiar with through my studies of literature and psychology, but one that I, as well as every Venezuelan expatriate has witnessed and felt for their country. The project focuses on social and political oppression, using the current Venezuelan crisis as a focal point, and selected literary sources as a framework. I will analyze dystopian classics such as George Orwell's 1984 and Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, as well as Margaret Atwood’s The …

A Symphony Of Distractions, Alisha M. White

Ought: The Journal of Autistic Culture

No abstract provided.

Creative Nonfiction, Abby Mcarthur-Self

A Midwestern Review: A Magazine of the Arts and Issues at DePauw University

Abby McArthur-Self is a senior from Greencastle, Indiana, double majoring in English literature and art history. Their art deals with themes of memory and nostalgia, particularly within the context of the home.

Gratitude., Beamlak Kebede

A Midwestern Review: A Magazine of the Arts and Issues at DePauw University

Beamlak Kebede is a student from Ethiopia currently double majoring in global health and political science with a minor in English writing. She is still exploring, but nonfiction has become her favorite genre! She loves reading books and crocheting cute trinkets in her free time.

Just Missed You Mom, Trista Keeton

A Midwestern Review: A Magazine of the Arts and Issues at DePauw University

Trista Keeton has always been a writer, ever since she held a pen she’s been writing little stories. The popular kids on the bus would pay her to write a survival plot line that included slight nudity. Now she’s writing at DePauw with no nudity :/ not as fun

In Yaakumech, Audrey Ickes

A Midwestern Review: A Magazine of the Arts and Issues at DePauw University

Audrey Ickes is a Junior, majoring in English writing and double minoring in history and communications, studying abroad this semester at the University of Glasgow. She fancies herself as an amateur world traveler but has only really been to two continents. This is her third published work.

Hit-And-Runs: A Memoir, Alison Cope

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The vignettes in this collection are memoir essays connected by the theme of hit-and-runs – i.e., random life encounters in which people share bits of themselves and leave subsequent lasting impressions. Resonating with themes of identity and belonging, overcoming obstacles and taking risks, the chronological throughline visits unique locations around the world, and frequently “hits” historical events, while tracing the narrator’s coming-of-age and spiritual journey from the mountains of Appalachia to the streets of Prague and home to Houston, as she “runs” with carnies and psychics, hurricane refugees, lovers, and predators from whom she must escape. Interspersed in these memoirs …

Election Season Capstone, Richard G. Mendez

Capstones

My capstone project takes a dive into politics this election season by looking at the growing Republican party in New York City, how young voters felt about the failed Harris campaign and how Democrats could learn from their mistakes.

Campaigns, Climate, And Congestion: Reporting From The Hudson For Newmark's "Audio Files", Jesse King

Capstones

"Audio Files" is an annual news podcast series by students at CUNY's Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, producing stories to "inform, help, and delight" New Yorkers. This capstone includes a collection of political news stories and science features written for this program, all of which are based in New York's Hudson Valley. The first is a political piece breaking down how Congressional races in the suburbs could impact overall control of the House in the 2024 election. The second focuses on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's approval of a new congestion pricing plan in Manhattan, as proposed by New York …

Eleven Are The Stars Of Joseph’S Dream; His Coat, Many Colors, Alexander B. Bloom

Capstones

At the Conservative synagogue where I attended Saturday school for part of my childhood in the 90s I recall the teachers’ reimagination of the popular Michael Jackson song “We Are the World,” taught to the seven and eight year-olds who were made to sing it in chorus at some holiday celebration that year.

“We are the Jews,” we bleated out, in concert, “We are the Chosen.”

From my place among them I remember the unsettled feeling I had, to consider my non-Jewish friends at school, teachers and babysitters who knew not of tefillin, my maternal grandparents in the pews of …

Some Rhythm, Some Blues, Kapri Washington

Master's Projects

Although it might sound cliche, Dr. King was my childhood hero. Every year, my mom would rent Selma Lord, Selma for me from the library and I’d watch it in awe as if I’d never seen it before. Not only was I inspired by how Dr. King and several others led the Civil Rights Movement but, more so, by how he used words to pierce even the hardest of hearts. I’d entertain myself with thoughts such as, “I wonder if I could do that, change the world with words one day.” So, I began writing poetry.

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This project consists …