English Language and Literature Commons^™

The Affective Poetics Of War In Emi Mahmoud’S Sister’S Entrance, Noha Hanafy

English Language and Literature

The paper attempts to explore the affective representation of war in Sudanese American poet Emtithal (Emi) Mahmoud’s collection Sister’s Entrance (2018). In her debut collection, Mahmuod offers a poignant exploration of war's emotional and psychological toll through the lens of a woman immigrant from Darfur. The poetry in this collection is not solely about the war in Darfur or Mahmoud’s experience during that time. It delves into the war, but it also highlights the repercussions of the war for her and her family. Such repercussions as displacement, becoming a refugee and eventually living with a hyphenated identity in a world …

The Ripple Archives, Aidan Harper Smith

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Throughout my undergraduate education, my writing has turned towards subjects that most people willfully ignore. I’ve been fascinated with the machine of capitalism, and how it often leads to death or unfulfilled life. We pack infinity into a small box we carry around, endless information that leaves us feeling a multitude of ways. With this endless information, progress, and consumption, comes death. Death on the personal level, a human experience for all of our sentient existence, but also death within our surroundings, and deaths worldwide, broadcasted and mediated through our technology and news sources. With the help of my honors …

The Island Of Lost Things, Miranda Eve Emerick

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

The Island of Lost Things is a speculative fiction novel following a man named Maurice. He is a long-time resident of the titular island. His life changes forever when a mysterious young girl washes up on his shores. As he gets to know her, Maurice realizes that he must make a choice between staying in the place he has lived for most of his life or leaving to make sure she gets home. Along the way, they make friends in unlikely places and learn about the extraordinary goodness in everyday people. This novel explores heavy themes of grief and social …

Shakespeare, Storytelling, And Science: An Exploration Of The Relationship Between The Early Modern Scientific Movement And Shakespeare’S 17th-Century Works, Morgan Mead

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

The 17th-century scientific movement generated a “death of the metaphor” that reverberated across the literary landscape. The creation of the Royal Society in 1660 shifted the ways in which literature and art were represented and respected in Western society. Shakespeare's works, believed to have been written from 1592-1615, show the growing relevance of the scientific and philosophical issues and queries that led to the formation of the Royal Society. A deep dive into Shakespearean metaphor and the scientific works that were causing shifts within Shakespeare’s world provides insight into the mind of an artist consumed and perturbed by matters of …

Embodied Feminist Authorship In Stage And Screen Adaptations Of Mary Shelley’S Frankenstein, Abigail Marie Hoehn, Leah Grace Ollie

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Mary Shelley’s feminist ideals and lived experience have been illuminated by years of adaptation, retelling, and counter-discourse that have told her own story within that of her acclaimed novel Frankenstein. In this thesis project, we argue that through the process of reproducing the narrative of Frankenstein, such adaptations — on both stage and screen — have memorialized authorial identity on Shelley’s behalf, as well as highlighted her feminist outlooks on birth, motherhood, loneliness, and womanhood that live on in her creative works. By first surveying a selection of films that tell the story of both Frankenstein and its storied author, …

Reconstructing A Voice In The Diaspora: Language And Hegemony In Theresa Hak Kyung Cha's Dicteé, Ryann Bahnline

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

“Reconstructing a Voice in the Diaspora: Language and Hegemony in Theresa Hak Kyung Cha's Dicteé” is a close reading into the experimental work Dicteé by Theresa Hak Kyung Cha. The text explores the interplay of language, identity, and cultural hegemony and primarily focuses on how Cha deconstructs language and narrative to critique colonialism, patriarchy, and the diasporic identity that generations feel after losing their voice. The fragmentation of the text mirrors the effects of diasporic trauma, specifically with symbolic violence and the fragmentation of the self. Pierre Bourdieu, Antonio Gramsci, and Victor Turner’s theories — symbolic violence, cultural hegemony, and …

The Shame Of (Be)Longing In Jamaica Kincaid's Lucy, Grace S. Miholic

All Theses

This thesis examines the role of shame in Kincaid's Lucy. Separated into four separate sections, the thesis moves through Lucy’s relationship with her boss, Mariah, her Antiguan mother, and the shame that is identified at the end of the novel. In the introduction, I identify the passage that frames the novel around shame. I then identify my thesis, which centers around Lucy’s shame and her inability and refusal to situate herself with neither Mariah nor her mother’s expectations. The second section of the thesis revolves around Mariah and the form of feminism that skews her perception and expectations of …

The Robert Burns Portraits Revisited, Patrick Scott

Faculty Publications

Illustrated lecture for the 2025 annual meeting of the Robert Burns Association of North America, in Atlanta, Georgia, on the major portraits of the Scottish poet Robert Burns (1759-1796), and on the dissemination of the well-known Nasmyth portrait through engravings, copies, and adaptations, charting the delayed emergence of the other portraits now generally recognized, surveying recurrent efforts to get other 'discoveries' accepted as depicting Burns, and suggesting possible dramatic further news likely to come later in the year.

Women Disrupting The "Roundness" In "No Name Woman" And Sula: How Maxine Hong Kingston's And Toni Morrison's Titular Characters Combat Restrictive Communal Norms Surrounding Sex, Michelle Victoria D'Alessio

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

This thesis examines how Maxine Hong Kingston’s “No Name Woman,” the opening chapter of her memoir, The Woman Warrior, and Toni Morrison’s novel, Sula, portray communal perceptions of women who contradict traditional gender norms surrounding sex. The titular characters in each of these stories express their sexualities in ways deemed unfit by their people and are accordingly demonized and outcast from their communities. These characters are afforded some subtle admiration for their personal power by the artists who are portraying them, but this reverence is inevitably rescinded and replaced by the disdain of the tight-knit communities surrounding them. This tension …

Using Wearable Sensors For Gait Analysis: Measurement Accuracy For Linear Measurements, Chaenaya Underwood

English

The emergence of “new media” has fundamentally reshaped human interaction, relying on algorithm-driven content saturation to shape user experiences and reinforce cognitive biases. While digital platforms offer unprecedented access to information and global connectivity, they also contribute to emotional disengagement, increased anxiety, and diminished critical thinking. “New media” often isolates individuals, encouraging passive consumption and emotional dysregulation. However, the challenge lies not in technological advancements but in society’s lack of critical engagement and effective regulation. This paper examines the misuse of new technology and its negative implications on human behavior. Incorporating evidence from journal articles, books, and personal correspondence, this …

The First Amendment On Trial: Hate Speech, Free Speech And College Campuses, Maya Rotman

English

This thesis examines the tension between the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech and the harmful impact of hate speech on college campuses. As incidents of targeted, discriminatory rhetoric rise in academic settings, the need to reevaluate what constitutes protected speech has become increasingly urgent. Through legal analysis, including case law such as Brandenburg v. Ohio and Schenck v. United States, this paper argues that the Supreme Court must distinguish between constitutionally protected speech and harmful hate speech. The thesis uses contemporary case studies from college campuses across the country. It includes firsthand accounts from the University at Albany …

The Modern Gothic: Examining Humanity’S Relationship With Technology In Black Mirror’S Be Right Back, Ana Radojevic

English

The Gothic genre, since its beginning, has been a reflection to society's fears and anxieties towards cultural and technological shifts. This thesis critically examines how Netflix's "Black Mirror" episode "Be Right Back" continues the Gothic tradition by reflecting contemporary fears of humanity's complex relationship with technology. Through an analysis of the traditional Gothic elements: haunting and death, the supernatural, and the uncanny-- "Black Mirror" is placed in the Gothic genre identifying fears of artificial intelligence and human identity. The episode's portrayal of an AI surrogate for a dead boyfriend, the episode is a cautionary tale about the limitations of technology …

Dwelling At The Gates Of Difference: The Intersection Of Beowulf, American Politics, And Monsters, Emma Rennard

English

Many political scientists, legal scholars, and American citizens have found themselves dedicating a great deal of time to asking why American politics has become so largely polarized over the last 10 years. We are seeing more than ever political acts of violence, families and friendships dissolved over political disagreements. We are witnessing the liquidation of civility in American politics, with a staple of current political debates being personal insults and aggression. Attitudes towards women have become more hostile and negative, attitudes towards transgender Americans have become more disparaging and dangerous. These political opponents become scapegoats and are dehumanized and politically …

Her Hideous Progeny: Frankenstein'S Legacy, Adaptability, And Contemporary Prominence To Critical Story Telling, Ryan Penske

English (MA) Theses

This thesis situates the narrative of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley with two contemporary adaptations Get Out (2017) by Jordan Peele and Poor Things (2023) by Yorgos Lanthimos. The original 1818 Frankenstein text is composed of different discourses about race, gender, monstrosity, and what it means to be an abject other. As a text full of critical discourse, it has reached great popular culture legacy and has become adapted numerous times over the past two centuries. This thesis explores and acknowledges instances where the text has been adapted and applied to harmful discourses, such as British Prime Minister George Canning’s use …

"Homesick For You:" An Archival Analysis Of Love Letters From World War Ii, Cambria B. Acheson

English (MA) Theses

In this project, I cherish and explore a collection of correspondence exchanged between a married couple during World War II. Applying an embodied research approach that incorporates archival, historical, and cultural studies, I analyze key elements of these letters with special attention for themes of love and family, valuing their insights to touching personal stories that nuance the dominant narratives of history. I contend for the preservation and discussion of these letters and similar artifacts, advocating for their lasting significance within both past and present contexts and their irreplaceable contributions to the cultivation of collective memory and empathy across generations.

“How Close To The Edge We Are”: Ecologically Reading The Frontiers Of Joan Didion’S Early Nonfiction, Mia R. Speller

Honors Theses

Joan Didion’s work is heavily regional and rooted in place, whether that be the place about which she writes or, by contrast, the place she leaves in order to do her writing. This place-based context takes root in many American ideologies and mythos, like that of the frontier mentality and golden dream. For this reason, exploring Didion’s use of natural metaphor and description as she discusses various cultural phenomena is essential to understanding the layers of her social critiques of 1960’s and 1970’s American culture, especially as they reflect on the failures of the frontier ideology. Further, looking at her …

Love Y Ganas; A Revolutionay Revelation, Thomas J. Salas

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

My thesis does not have an abstract.

The Castle Is Still Here, And Yes, It's Still Scary: Reconstructing The Gothic Through Contemporary Short Story, Alyssa Kilroy

Undergraduate Theses

Since Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto published in 1764, the literary Gothic has grown and spread to include a multitude of subgenres in a variety of formats. Gothic literature has served as both a product and a showcase of its contextual influences, providing a deeper look at humanity's deepest flaws, fears, and passions that shape our societies. While the Gothic's historically fluid identity allows Frankenstein to exist in a literary realm alongside Wuthering Heights, something consistent in its core continues to appeal to modern audiences and remains relevant in contemporary literature and other media. This project offers a …

James Baldwin's Classroom And What He Can Teach Educators About Queer Representation, Matthew Callahan

Honors College Theses

This is an extended analysis of James Baldwin's "A Talk to Teachers" about how to bring representation into the classroom. I use Baldwin's other essays and fiction along with educational research to look into the way Baldwin understands education and the importance of bringing healthy queer representation into the classroom. I provide both theoretical observations along with practical implications of what this means for educators in the classroom and what they can do to help all their students feel seen, represented, and welcome in the classroom.

Double, Double, Toils And Troubles: Analyzing The “Magical” Relationships Between University Leaders’ Personality Traits And Their Self-Efficacy In Leadership Situations, Fay Ludvine Boudreaux

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This present study investigated the relationship between higher education leaders’ personality traits and their self-efficacy in leadership situations. A total of 151 leaders employed across the nine institutions within the University of Louisiana System completed a survey that prompted them to identify their personal values, traits, and skill sets, as derived from the online Pottermore quiz, the official Harry Potter Hogwarts House sorting instrument. This niche personality metric was chosen to cater to higher education’s evolving landscape, as it welcomes an influx of Millennials into leadership positions. Participants’ responses were eventually recoded to “sort” them into their respective Houses: Gryffindor, …

On Death And Disease: How Physicians’ Perspectives Compare Across Specialties Through Written Work, Stephanie Anne C. Alkonga

Honors Capstones

Narrative medicine is a tool that the medical field is increasingly utilizing to cultivate patient-centered and culturally competent doctors and to reflect on lived experiences through texts that focus on psychosocial best practices. This study aims to examine the language used in physician-written works that address how physicians in different medical specialties treat the aging and the terminally ill, and how they view the deceased. Qualitative data guided by thematic questions will primarily be used in the analysis and comparison of these texts’ tone, rhetoric, diction, and similar literary devices to uncover if certain patterns arise across such specialties. Findings …

"Death Is The Fifth [Season], And Master Of All": Necropolitical Violence And/As Environmental Violence In The Fifth Season, Mason T. Goodrich

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

While many scholars have already described N.K. Jemisin’s Hugo Award-winning speculative novel The Fifth Season as one that highlights intersections between race, settler-colonialism, neoliberalism, and, most frequently, climate change, I apply a necropolitical lens to The Fifth Season in order evaluate a relationship that exists between systemic violence and environmental degradation. The Fifth Season depicts a socially inscribed relationship between an othered race of humans, called orogenes, and the land, anthropomorphized as “Father” Earth. Orogenes have a paradoxical social status: they are simultaneously feared and revered for their ability to control the Earth. This paradox is the impetus for many …

‘King Of Infinite Space:’ Confinement And Identity In Hamlet & Contemporary Adaptations, Anna-Laura Houston

Honors Theses

This thesis explores the theme of identity confinement through the lens of Shakespeare's Hamlet and its contemporary adaptations, Fat Ham by James Ijames and Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard. At the core of this comparative study is Hamlet's paradoxical claim that he could be "a king of infinite space" were it not for his "bad dreams," a statement that encapsulates the tension between internal autonomy and external constraint. The thesis argues that Hamlet's sense of self is shaped-and ultimately fractured-by external demands, including his father's ghostly command for vengeance, the political corruption of Denmark, and an existential …

Divergent Paths Of Homosexuality: Clive And Alec In E.M. Forster's Maurice, Samantha J. Dean

Honors Theses

E. M. Forster’s Maurice is a paramount text in queer literary circles, though it is highly under analyzed and discussed. This thesis analyzes E. M. Forster's Maurice and takes the focus away from the main protagonist, Maurice, and instead focuses on an in-depth analysis of the two main love interests of the novel, Clive and Alec, and how they represent two paths of homosexuality, Clive representing social visibility and homosexual repression and Alec representing social invisibility and homosexual freedom, through a close reading of the text, with the help of theory from Foucault. It begins with an introduction to the …

Resilience As A Coming-Of-Age Model In Young Adult Literature, Maggie R. Turbyfield

Honors Theses

I argue that resilience should be recognized as a coming-of-age model because it offers support and empowerment while being inclusive to all comings of age. I have identified three types of resilience and analyzed them in three novels: non-guardian resilience in Rainbow Rowell’s Eleanor and Park, peer resilience in Matthew Hubbard’s The Last Boyfriends Rules for Revenge, and creative resilience in Isabel Quintero Gabi, A Girl in Pieces.

Anna On The Go, Emma Burgess

Honors Theses

28-year-old Anna McCarthy, better known by her Instagram alias @Annaonthego, appears to have it all: the perfect man, flawless style, the job of her dreams, and a spot at the top of New York City’s cutthroat social ladder. With so much to flaunt, one would expect Anna to pounce at the opportunity to attend her ten year high school class reunion. Instead, the event’s invitation forces her to confront the fact that she may not be able to bury her dark past from her multitude of followers, and herself, forever.

Please note: This thesis is permanently restricted and not available.

Transcendental Blooms: Margaret Fuller And The Radical Language Of Flowers, Jenna Mcclain

Honors Theses

Situated between the literary periods of American Romanticism and Transcendentalism, Margaret Fuller’s writings vary in their topic and medium, offering a unique fusion of literary style as well as a refined yet radical social perspective. Fuller’s work frequently employs flowers as tools for communication rather than as mere symbols, with flowers acting as transmitters of Fuller’s philosophical message in her many sketches and poems. In “The Magnolia of Lake Pontchartrain,” one of her most famous prose sketches, Fuller explores flowers in a nuanced way that exemplifies how floral representations function more like characters than objects in her work. While scholars …

Rights Of Nature: The White Earth Nation's Rights Of Manoomin Court Case, Kathryn Schug

Celebrating Scholarship and Creativity Day (2018-)

Leading the rights of nature movement worldwide are Indigenous communities aspiring to enshrine legal protections for Indigenous values and create an environmentally sustainable future. This poster explores the first Tribal court case in the United States by a federally recognized tribe, The White Earth Nation in Minnesota. By examining the achievements of White Earth, the challenges they face in the context of the global rights of nature movement, and with the perspective of Joe LaGarde, founder of the Niibi Center for the Rights of Nature, we find future success depends on strategic partnerships with communities in the global south and …

Sacred Connections In Cartoonish Places: Exploring The Implications Of Teotl In Avatar: The Last Airbender (2008), Makenzie P. Morrison

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Taking Avatar: The Last Airbender (2008) seriously, Sacred Connections in Cartoonish Places explores the animated children’s series and how it is understood through the monistic Nahua (Aztec) concept of teotl. Relying on James Maffie’s text Aztec Philosophy: Understanding a World in Motion (2014), this thesis determines that Avatar: The Last Airbender benefits from monistic analysis. This analysis results in a breakdown of the show into four body chapters. These chapters respectively explore Aang’s role as a monistic representative, the differences between the physical and spirit worlds presented in the show, the kind of relationships that appear in the series, and …

Coming Back To Bite: Reflecting On Constructs Of Adolescence And Girlhood In Young Adult Vampire Media, Gwendolyn Grace Klinkey

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The YA vampire genre has experienced a great amount of success throughout the past two decades with titles including Joss Wheadon’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Richelle Mead’s Vampire Academy. Within this group, two of the most widely successful examples are Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight Saga and the CW’s The Vampire Diaries, both of which have had a significant impact on Western popular culture. In this thesis, I use these two texts to explore the constructs of adolescence and girlhood that manifest as a result of the literary moves the writers seem to make in an effort to invite …