Fine Arts Commons^™

As If It Were One Day, Megan Rowley Stern

Theses and Dissertations

As If It Were One Day is a multimedia art installation that chronicles patterns of light, movement, and sound, channeling the fluidity of time within the newborn phase of familial living. After giving birth to my daughter, I spent the next seven weeks observing these elements and recording them via video. The resulting art installation acknowledges my efforts to navigate my current life as an artist and a mother, my past battle with postpartum depression, and my consequent gravitation toward light.

Blue Moon: Exploring The Complexities Of Human Love Through A Werewolf Romance Novel, Kayla Lafroth

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Blue Moon is a werewolf romance novel that emphasizes the heartbreak and triumph of human love through a cast of non-human characters. This story is written to explore the complexities of love, acting as an intersection between werewolves and romantic tragedy. In Blue Moon, Luna’s perfect world comes crashing down when her soulmate, Aspen, rejects her as his mate, something unheard of in werewolf culture. In a desperate attempt to win his affection, Luna feigns a soulmate bond with Kodiak, an alpha werewolf who is looked down upon for having no mate. As the layers of Luna’s relationship with …

Your Mission, Should You Choose To Attempt It, Is To Save The Mona Lisa! Gamification As A Method For Teaching Art, Caleb Ovard

Theses and Dissertations

To increase student engagement in their classroom, the author created an art curriculum using gamification methods that incorporates elements of tabletop role-playing games. The Role-playing Art Curriculum is a key element of this thesis. Possible research approaches involving game-based learning and gamification were examined to point toward future research and reflection regarding games and game-like content into an art curriculum. Action research methods were used to create and run the Role-playing Art Curriculum. The author concludes that the gamified curriculum took extra preparation and required more management to run then other traditional art curriculums.

Harnessing The Power Of Student Voice: A Case Study Of Hybrid Proficiency-Based And Co-Created Curriculum And Assessment, Kaitlyn A. Seamons

Theses and Dissertations

Assessment has become a dirty word in arts education, because art is notoriously difficult to assess. Assessment, which is often disliked or even disavowed by arts educators, due to its history of incompatibility with the idiosyncratic nature of arts learning, should ideally be utilized as a means of measuring student progress and help teachers understand how to help students succeed. While assessment can also be used to evaluate programs and teachers and to compare student successes relative to those of other students, I will be focusing on measuring individual student progress for my thesis and building a curriculum to support …

Hosts: Relic, Gesture, Site, And Connection In An Art Installation, Gabriella Warnick

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This project is meant to contextualize the art installation Hosts within research regarding ritual, relics, and the concepts of gesture and sites which accumulate in human connection and wonderment. It investigates the historical and philosophical significance of Catholic relics regarding their ability to conjure connection between an audience and their divinity as well as play host to a sense of awe. Additionally, this essay will explore the terms gesture and site as they relate to the ability to create moments of interaction between spans of time, context, and intention. The work will also examine the particular experiences encountered in Rome, …

Qosqo: A Documentary Approach To The Preservation Of Andean Culture, Emma Volz

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis and creative project aspire to follow the well-worn path of documentary filmmaking. The written portion of this thesis includes background information on Incan history and the Southern Andean language of Quechua that informed and developed into my film, Qosqo. The short documentary is a hybrid between traditional and experimental non-fiction filmmaking, exploring Cusco, Peru’s spirituality through the sage perspective of a native Cusqueñan woman, Norma Sanchez de Incaroca.

The film is a personal reflection of Norma’s experience with the Quechua language, a historically marginalized and currently endangered language. Her reflections are framed within the context of Cusco’s complex …

Playing To Play: A Critical Analysis Of Masaaki Yuasa's Ping Pong: The Animation., W. Ranse Gale

Theses and Dissertations

Masaaki Yuasa's 2014 series Ping Pong: The Animation approaches the ideas of play, competition, and victory in unique ways, especially when compared to other series in the sports anime genre. Through the protagonist Smile, Yuasa encourages viewers to engage with play in a childlike, empathetic and naïve way, as opposed to focusing on victory. By analyzing the series using De Koven's ways to approach play, scholars and fans can better understand the variety of ways in which the characters approach play, and how each of them eventually learns to play well. Analyzing this series through the perspective of metamodernism as …

Digital Habits Of Gen Z: A Qualitative Study On Why And How College Students Use Instagram, Josie Rackley

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper explores twelve Gen Z college students' usage of Instagram. Analyses of semi-structured and verbal think-aloud observations identified why and how participants use Instagram. Four quadrants of usage grew from participants’ data: Community-driven Creators, socially motivated Gardeners, Digital Scrapbookers, and enlightenment-seeking Observers. These usage quadrants structured the paper. Each quadrant had unique habits and motivations, yet, some themes spanned across all quadrants, such as the themes of mindless usage and The Boredom Paradox. Results have applications for social media marketing research as they relate to studying the nature of Gen Z Instagram usage for understanding young people’s lived experiences …

"Very Beautiful And Very American": A Multicultural Analysis Of Florence B. Price's Quintet In A Minor For Piano And Strings, Taryn Jane Carvajal Harding

Theses and Dissertations

This paper examines the Quintet in A Minor for Piano and Strings by Florence B. Price (1887-1953). One of Price's latest compositions (with final revisions dated January 21, 1952), the Quintet is a masterful example of what is possible when using a multicultural lens to approach the making of American music. This paper exposes the insufficiency of examining (and assessing) multicultural composers and their works only with traditional Western European analytical views, when an expanded approach is needed to explain many of the non-European musical influences and phenomena. While more complex and challenging, this expanded analytical approach sheds added light …

Not Acting, Reacting: An Analysis Of Reaction Videos, Reactors, Viewers And Authenticity, Cameron Cox

Theses and Dissertations

The digital age has brought about a new type of YouTuber content creator, the Reactor. Reactors film their supposed first-time reaction to various online videos including trailers, film, television etc. Reactors represent a new performance mode at the intersection of audience member and performer attempting to recreate a lost sense of community in an increasingly digitally mediated world. The act of filming one's reaction calls into question the authenticity of a reaction however, it is this very authenticity that drives Viewers to watch the content made by Reactors. Using reaction videos to the first year of Marvel Studios Disney+ shows …

Korean Pop Idols: The Dark Side Of The Limelight, Ashley Chase

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Korean pop music has risen to an international consciousness during the surge of the cultural Korean wave. However, many are still unaware of the struggles that idols face when pursuing a career in this industry. Many artists in the industry struggle with their physical and emotional health due to rigorous schedules in training and as a performing group, high expectations of performance and appearance, and restrictive contracts known as “slave contracts” that limit their personal freedoms and financial resources. These factors lead to the industry being highly damaging to the stars that participate in it.

In this documentary, I take …

Repertoire For A Graduate Tenor Trombone Audition, An Annotated List Of Trombone Solos For A Master's Program Audition, Ashley Rands

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Students in the field of trombone performance may find preparation difficult for graduate auditions due to the diversity of required selections and lack of standard repertoire. While not always explicitly available, many graduate programs have a list of required or recommended solos. This brief study is the result of preparations for graduate school auditions, including the challenge of deciding what solos to perform. After looking at application requirements for fifteen strong trombone programs, I created a list of the most frequently required/recommended solos. The study of the pieces provided insight into specific difficulties and performance notes for each solo. Included …

Extra, Extra, Read All About It: An Analysis Of News Platform Preferences, Gabrielle Shiozawa

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis analyzes the correlation between age, political leaning, and the way people interact with news media by examining data from a sample survey of 254 news consumers. Results indicate that older and/or more conservative people are more likely to get their news from print newspapers, cable news, broadcast, and radio, while younger and/or more progressive individuals are more likely to get their news from social media. Younger and/or more progressive people are also more likely to trust the news than their older and/or more conservative counterparts. Subjects across the board preferred reading articles to watching the news, with no …

"This Is The Way": Gender Representation In Disney's The Mandalorian, Brooke Solorio

Theses and Dissertations

When Disney released The Mandalorian, it quickly became the top show on its highly popular streaming platform. As with all media wielding this level of exposure, it is important to closely examine its content for depictions of peoples including females. In accordance with Sandra Bem's gender schema theory, the implicit messaging in this series can influence the formation of people's mental shortcuts about what it means to be female. This study employs content analysis to illuminate the portrayal of physical and non-physical attributes of the women present in the two seasons existing at the time of this study. Results reveal …

Return, Leilani Bascom

Theses and Dissertations

Return is a video-based installation which includes sound, performance, and textile elements. Leilani Bascom is the lone actor navigating the water and where the water meets the land in this personal project exploring concepts of the life cycle from birth to death and rebirth. Life's paradox of struggle and release unfolds with imagery of battling through waves to swim deep underwater, fighting a river current and then surrendering to the flow, and carving a hole in the sand to climb into and be held. Viewers are immersed in the movement and sounds of water to witness the power and meaning …

Audience And Mockingbird: A Narrator's Guide, Charisse Baxter

Theses and Dissertations

While adaptation research possesses longstanding applications and ample material for study, seldom has a data set proven to be as iconic and culturally relevant as the various iterations of To Kill a Mockingbird. Novel to film to stage play, and then nearly 60 years later to a second stage play, the story has resonated with audiences in a range of performative variations. A defining characteristic of Harper Lee's tale is her use of a narrator; this characteristic provides an effective entry-point in examining the two stage adaptations by way of their interpretation of the narrator. A study of the respective …

A Hug For Humanity: Metamodernism And Masculinity On Television In Ted Lasso, Kennedy Lesley Koford

Theses and Dissertations

The Apple TV+ sports comedy Ted Lasso has been a hit among fans, who flock to the show and its positive messages. The show offers a refreshing tone, one that promotes positivity and optimism even when faced with the reality of a cynical world. By using the analytical perspective of metamodernism to understand its popularity, scholars and fans alike can gain a deeper understanding of core message of the show, which mimics the oscillation between the cynical and the sincere. Fundamental scholars in the emerging study of metamodernism, such as Robin Van Den Akker, Timotheus Vermeulen, and Alison Gibbons will …

Exploring Perceptions Of New Media Among The Lakota Nation, Isabelle C. Kramer

Theses and Dissertations

Since its inception, the worldwide web has fundamentally altered our understanding of communications. With the rapid adoption of new media around the globe, individuals are increasingly able to communicate with people on the other side of the planet in real-time--traditional boundaries like time and space are no longer relevant barriers to intercultural communication. As such, scholars are scrambling to recognize and understand the broader implications of social media, videoconferencing, blogging, etc on more traditional definitions of culture. Additionally, researchers are beginning to study the ways in which minority cultures are utilizing new media, and the way that new media impacts …

Examining The Effects Of Eating Behaviors On Mental Health And Internalization Of Weight-Based Messaging, Avery E. Bollinger

Theses and Dissertations

The current study sought to explore the effects of eating behaviors on mental health and the internalization of attitudes toward one's appearance. This was performed through a survey distributed through a global online market research firm, Dynata, and gathered 495 eligible participants. Of those, 78 represented the plant-based group, and 417 represented the non-plant-based group. Each completed the survey containing sections with the Mizes Anorectic Cognitions Scale (MACS) to assess if they were at low or high risk for having/developing an eating disorder, a section determining if participants were plant-based (defined as a regimen that encourages whole, plant-based foods and …

Between The Garden And The Gardener, Sara Lynne Lindsay

Theses and Dissertations

My work uses plant material and soil as a record of personal, cultural, and ecological history. History is not only held in the buildings and monuments, but in the soil itself. I gather this soil and foliage from both cultivated and uncultivated locations for my artwork. Using traditional domestic techniques of drying and canning, I preserve the materials that I have gathered. These will then be sewn together, cooked, and encrusted into objects. Despite my labor of preserving, these organic art supplies are transient. When made into works of art, they can be viewed in their vulnerable state, fighting against …

Mindfulness And Observational Drawing, Corinne Christopherson Sonderegger

Theses and Dissertations

Observational drawing has many benefits, yet it can be a difficult and frustrating curriculum for students and teachers alike. As I was teaching elementary and college art classes simultaneously, I noticed a significant discrepancy between my younger and older students. Students in my elementary art classes loved to draw and often expressed how excited they were to make art. However, students in my college art classes were more hesitant and self-conscious about drawing and did not believe they could progress artistically. Many of these students had abandoned drawing in elementary or middle school. This pattern evokes the U curve of …

Mutants, Sentinels, And Cerebro: Messages About Technology And Society In Science Fiction Films, Paige Marie Lee

Theses and Dissertations

Technology plays a significant role in society and in entertainment. People hold an ambivalent attitude about technology that is often illustrated in science fiction films. Much like myth telling stories to teach a lesson, science fiction films caution viewers of the effects of powerful technology usage in culture today. This thesis examines X-Men to show how relevant principles found in myth continue to be relevant to media consumption. Using media ecology to inform the reader about the technological environment (Mumford, 1944), this analysis of technology portrayed in X-Men shows the implications real world technology, such as radiation, weapons, and artificial …

Is This A Line? Visual Literacy, Visual Inquiry, And Visual Communication In The Elementary School Years, Connie J. Broadbent

Theses and Dissertations

As a mother and public elementary school art teacher, I recognize the impact images have in the lives of children. Our culture is image rich and often image saturated. I believe I can do more to prepare my students to become discerning consumers and creators of images. Art teachers are uniquely qualified to teach visual literacy and visual inquiry. If grade school children can be taught to think more deeply and critically about their visual world, they will be better prepared for responding to it in a healthy, empowering way. This research describes an elementary school curriculum based on teaching …

Always Running At Sunset, Amelia O'Neill

Theses and Dissertations

My thesis show includes paintings that depict scenes of the trails that my dog and I frequent in Utah. These paintings are a response to experiences I have in nature and explore my relationship with my dog and the surrounding flora and fauna along the local trails. The paintings include images of rocks, sticks, dirt, trails, dogs, clouds, and dried sunflowers in the wind. In addition to realistic depictions of nature, my paintings reflect on the psychological and emotional state of being in nature. The title of the show is Always Running at Sunset, which is meant to be taken …

Performing Italian Identity: Through The Plays Gemini And A View From The Bridge, Angela Dicarolo Moser

Theses and Dissertations

"Italian Identity"is the set of values and beliefs performed daily, that are markers of what it is to be "Italian,"whether those carrying those beliefs live in Italy or not. The latter point became evident in the United States following the vast wave of Italian immigration during the late-19th and early-20th centuries. Italian identity has been greatly influenced by Catholicism and its centering of values and beliefs on the family, heavily defined Italian life in America. One principal mode for constructing and disseminating these values and beliefs among Italian Americans was through the theatre. This thesis provides a close reading of …

The Intersection Of Fashion And Politics: A Semiotic Analysis Of Vogue Magazine Covers Surrounding Election Seasons, Megan M. Vincent

Theses and Dissertations

This study explores the political messages framed within the cover of Vogue magazines by reviewing the published issues that surround election season. By focusing on the intersection of politics and fashion through the visual representation provided by a prestigious, globally known fashion magazine, the research will observe the potential increase and growth of political involvement within influence of the fashion industry. This study will begin with the October, November, and December covers from the 2016 and 2020 presidential election. These will be accompanied by the January, February, and March covers of the following years. Guided by semiotic analysis and visual …

"A Crash Of Worlds": How Red Dead Redemption Ii Creates A World Where Players Experience Empathy Through Character Performance, Heather Rose Moser

Theses and Dissertations

Players of an open-world video game are more than merely audience members watching a narrative play out--they actively participate and perform in the world. Drawing from scholars like Edmund Husserl, Konstantin Stanislavski, Ossy Wulansari, and PJ Manney, this paper explores principles of performance, phenomenology, and empathy to examine how open-world role-playing games, specifically Red Dead Redemption II, help players experience empathy. Constructing this experience through character attachment, length of play, and identification in a safe experimental space, these games become a bridge leading to greater empathy for people who are different from the player. The immersive nature of these games …

The Materials Of Traditions, Victoria Jensen

Theses and Dissertations

The homes we grow up in have a great impact on the homes we create as adults. Many of the traditions I saw in my childhood home were expressions of love within our family. These everyday traditions helped not only to build bonds within my nuclear family, but also with the chosen family I have formed as an adult. Repeating these traditions, or at least my best memory of them, has helped me in building my own home now. The ways I interact with my friends often reflects those same traditions I learned from home. I brought a few of …

Examining The Perceptions Of Fake News, Verification, And Notices On Twitter, Brendan Patrick Gwynn

Theses and Dissertations

The rise of social media platforms has had a significant impact on the conventional model of gatekeeping. With increased access to information--as well as the ability to contribute to the public discourse--individuals no longer need to rely on the mass media for news. These realities have led to increased conversations surrounding credibility in the digital age. Although not a new concept, fake news has become increasingly common in recent years. The web--particularly social media outlets, like Twitter--have enhanced the spread of misinformation. To combat this, social media platforms have introduced gatekeeping features like verification marks and warning labels. However, questions …

Narrative Archetypes And Paratextuality: Analysis Of Three Films By Christopher Nolan, Alycia Burnett

Theses and Dissertations

Nonlinear films display unconventional narratives that leave ambiguous endings that create rewatchability, making audiences want to rewatch and review the films. These films also create conversation on social media outlets and infiltrate discussion on popular culture. This rhetorical analysis examines narrative structure, narrative archetypes, and paratextuality of three nonlinear Christopher Nolan films: Inception, Interstellar, and Tenet. By examining how these different forms of narrative display the moral messaging and structure within each film, this analysis provides context in how nonlinear narratives promote rewatchability and create continuous paratexts. Through Nolan's films, nonlinear film styles create more than rewatchability as Nolan specifically …