Other Arts and Humanities Commons^™

As The World Watches, George Goss, Nicholas Perez

Capstones

In 2015, President Barack Obama pledged to admit more than 10,000 Syrians fleeing the civil war, but with an asterisk: the near absence of religious minorities, including Christians, Yazidis and Shia Muslims. It is an omission that some have charged is discriminatory but, at the very least, has left some of the world’s most vulnerable hanging in the balance.

http://georgegoss.com/theminorityreport/

Vidigal Nights: Big Dreams In A Small Favela, Christina Thornell

Capstones

This 14-minute documentary follows Tatiane and Rafa, two aspiring actors in Rio de Janeiro's favela of Vidigal in Brazil. They are both performing in “Noites de Vidigal” (Nights of Vidigal) a community play about their favela and the challenges it has faced in the last decades. As we follow Tatiane and Rafa while they rehearse and perform, viewers are offered a window into their lives and the world around them.

Tatiane and Rafa aren't just aspiring actors but community members who experience firsthand the joys and hardships of living in a favela.

Vidigal, the favela Tatiane and Rafa live in, …

Collections Management Systems At Natural History Museums: A Centralized Approach, Allison M. Pohl

Master's Projects and Capstones

Natural history museum collections are an invaluable learning tool for audiences of many ages. However, learning experiences can be hampered if collections are poorly managed. Inconsistent object numbering systems, scant information associated with a specimen, and differences in records management styles of individuals in the same organization all stem from the lack of collections management standards set forth by some institutions. Natural history museums historically manage their collections in a decentralized manner, with each collections department responsible for its own objects, managing records as the staff sees fit. This report advocates for the unification of collections in natural history museums …

Crime And Culture : A Thematic Reading Of Sherlock Holmes And His Adaptations., Britney Broyles

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on the adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes character and stories into the television shows Sherlock and Elementary on air today. The project will consider three central questions: 1) Why is this Victorian detective hero still popular in the twenty-first century and what has remained constant and still resonates with modern audiences? 2) Both television shows transport Holmes in time by setting their narratives in the present day; therefore, what has been changed in this process of adaptation? 3) How do these changes represent shifts in our cultural thinking about important aspects of humanistic inquiry? The …

Patchwork : A Southern Family Portrait., Rebekah Dement Farmer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is a jointly scholarly and creative exploration of the potentials of autobiography. Specifically, this dissertation seeks to examine how the personal narrative may be utilized to undermine or challenge prevailing cultural myths and legends of the American South as they are manifested in master narratives propagated within an individual family’s narrative. As emblems of Southern culture, these master narratives have privileged the white male experience over other Southern voices. An interdisciplinary examination of selected historical and literary texts reveals certain external challenges to the resilient master narrative, but this dissertation suggests autobiography may prove a particularly potent force …

Ireland Defined As Place, Halley Andrews

Honors Theses

Ireland is a country filled both with rich land and rich culture. In this project, I undertook to better understand this beautiful country by examining it in terms of place and space, and also by studying and analyzing its literature. I discuss the complex relationship between space, a physical location, and place, the meaning given to a certain location and construct a “tablecloth model” that I then use to analyze the place and space seen in modern Irish literature, examining writers such as Seamus Heaney, William Butler Yeats, and Patrick Kavanagh. I compare the authors’ and poets’ sense of Irish …

The Cultural Politics Of Affective Bureaucracy In Service Delivery To North Korean Refugees In South Korea, Seo Yeon Park

Theses and Dissertations

This study explores the affective dimensions and intersecting politics of service operations for North Koreans, focusing on semi-government institutions, Hana Centers in two different regions of South Korea. It probes into how bureaucratic service institutions for North Koreans operate on the ground using affect-laden languages and practices in creating a specific type of clientele subjectivity. This study also points out how the state bureaucracies identifying themselves as “practical” and “neutral” agencies reveal contradictory and fragmented governing which is antithetical to how the state institutions are imagined. There are underlying politics working in the realm of a so-called neutral service agency, …

Defining And Displaying Gallo: Language And Ideology In Upper Brittany, France, Sandra Keller

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines discourse practices in and about Gallo, a marginalized Romance language of Upper Brittany, France. Specifically, it explores how various Gallo social actors (advocates, performers, teachers and students) defined, labeled and displayed Gallo, as they constructed it as a language capable of participating in modernity, producing local authority, and forging links with loved people and places.

Gallo was popularly imagined as part of a rural past and dismissed as a “deformation” of French, unlike the Breton language, which stood as a salient emblem of Brittany’s cultural distinctiveness. This dissertation elucidates the ideological and everyday consequences of using this …

Centralized, Decentralized, Distributed: Disruptive Technology In Distance Education From "Sunrise Semester" To Present-Day Moocs, Rosanna Flouty

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Lessons from early academic television courses from the 1950s guide an assessment of current disruptive technologies that shape Massive Open Online Courses (known as MOOCs) and other informal online learning opportunities today. This dissertation explores some of the unique contributing factors that led to the creation of Sunrise Semester (1957-1982), a popular network television program co-produced by New York University and CBS that offered college credit to viewers. Despite the fact that the show aired at dawn and rarely included one-on-one interactions with professors, Sunrise Semester aired for nearly twenty-five years and attracted a devoted viewership of over two million …

Perceived Life Satisfaction Among Gay Males: The Coming-Out Process, Kimberly D. Carter

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This research project was a mixed method of both a quantitative and qualitative design to examine the perception of 38 gay male’s life satisfaction post coming out. In the past few years, laws affecting the gay community have been at the forefront of policies and debates, given all communities an insight into the specific challenges that are endured. As the gay community starts to openly live their lives as a gay man, there has been a need to accept and understand not only the challenges, but to give acceptance.

Additionally, this project sought out to determine if the gay community …

The Ideology Of Commodification In The Music Industry, As Exemplified By Taylor Swift, Sydney Taylor Jordan

Communication Studies

No abstract provided.

The Rsvp Production Manager, Ethan Cantrell

Music

A brief guide to the responsibilities of the 2016 RSVP production manager

The Modern Book: The Forms, The Essence, The Experience, Melanie J. Renton

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

The digital era has changed the way we humans read a book. No longer are words confined to a bound leaflet of pages sitting on a bookshelf. Now, technology has transformed the mediums upon which books are written. Electronic books are sweeping the book market, digitizing the stories to display them to a larger audience. Audiobooks are whispering tales in our ears, resting our eyes while igniting our imaginations. With stories jumping off the traditional medium of print, we are able to experience the new possibilities of how books are published, each with its own advantages and drawbacks. This essay …

Dynamic Media: A Need For The Dynamic Use Of Media To Meet Organizational Goals, Alexander J. Scott

Capstone Collection

This qualitative research study looks at how media can be used dynamically as a vehicle for study abroad students to create more meaningful engagements with the communities they visit. It takes a post-structural approach with an emphasis on how media supports participatory community-driven initiatives. It is the result of a 3-month participatory research process that looks at how media is emerging as a resource in some of the most remote communities in Nicaragua. The study was based on interviews with community stakeholders of the study abroad program, participatory observation, questionnaires, talks with community members, and the results of dynamic media …

Reflect & Connect- Helping Students Make The Most Of Their Study Abroad Experience, Rachael L. Dean

Capstone Collection

In our world of internationalization and global networking, students that study abroad have a definite advantage when transitioning into the professional world after graduating college. However, when asked, many have a difficult time articulating and marketing their international experience. When transitioning back to the United States and campus culture, students also go through varying degrees of reverse culture shock. They want to talk about their experience and share their newfound love of another culture, however many run into disinterested friends and glossy eyes.

The Education Abroad office at Central Palm International University is looking to expand their outreach and commitment …

Marble Made Flesh: Michelangelo's Bruges Madonna In The Service Of Devotion, Lindsay R.E. Sheedy

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Facilitating Environmental Literacy In A Socio-Digital Landscape, Anna E. Hotard

Honors Theses

My work engages digital communications, traditional writing, and campus/community engagement in order to curate emergent knowledge of environmental citizenship and sustainable development. In the city of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, there has been a growing interest in environmental literacy both on the University of Southern Mississippi campus and within the city community. Environmental literacy takes many forms from informational sessions, fundraisers and events, to outright activism. This work informs my evolving identity as an editor as I choreograph traditional transcripts into a digital sphere in order to provide a collective space for related interests.

Two Thousand Words: Aphrodite And Kali Reimagined, Aleta Walsh

Senior Theses

Kali and Aphrodite are archetypal goddess images that have stood the test of time because of their universal symbolism. Each represents aspects of human nature and of life itself. Although their representations may be particular to their cultural origins, the symbolic significance of these two goddesses can be recognized universally. For example, Aphrodite is the ancient Greek goddess of love, beauty, and sexuality. In artistic renderings of her myth, she is often depicted in the form of a beautiful young woman rising from the sea at her birth or bathing near water. On the other hand, Kali is a Hindu …

Love On - The Life Of A Suicide Survivor: A Performance Autoethnographic Study, Patricia R. Wheeler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Suicide touches the lives of millions of people each year in this country alone, yet conversations about suicide loss and survival after a loss remain taboo and often do not happen. The story I performed for this performance autoethnographic study centers on my life as a survivor of suicide. It provides a starting point for dialog regarding trauma, grief, and suicide loss. The narrative was constructed directly following the sudden death of my father, which had a direct effect on my ability to produce artistic work. The development, staging and performance of the story were altered to account for the …

A Reception History And Conductor’S Guide To William Grant Still’S ...And They Lynched Him On A Tree, Harlan Zackery Jr.

Dissertations

William Grant Still’s lynching drama …And They Lynched Him on a Tree is a rarely performed work for white choir, black choir, contralto soloist, narrator and orchestra. The title and subject matter of the work have been significant hurdles for many conductors who have considered the piece for performance. Additionally, the piece exists in several editions, and among each edition there are inconsistencies in terms of scoring and text, further making the piece difficult to program. Further, the piece, published as a choral ballad, is often labeled as a cantata, oratorio, ballad or play. It is true that the piece …

"Whatever I Want:" Death Grips, Disobedience And The Music Industries, Grant M. Hawkins

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The experimental hip-hop group Death Grips, formed in 2010, quickly rose to prominence and signed with the major label Epic Records in 2012. Their first Epic album, The Money Store, (2012) did well and the band appeared to be settling in to a profitable and productive relationship with the company. Yet in 2013 Death Grips released their second album, No Love Deep Web, online, for free, and without authorization from the label. Despite this breach of contract, Epic Records did not do the expected and seek to enforce their contract or sue for damages. Instead, Death Grips were …

The Effect Of A District-Wide Literacy Initiative On English/ Language Arts Standardized Test Scores, Sheri R. Robken

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of a District-Wide Literacy initiative that implemented the 18 literacy strategies and Silent Sustained Reading activities incorporated in the 2008 Revised Louisiana Comprehensive Curriculum on English/Language Arts standardized test scores. Standardized test scores were obtained for seventh and eighth grade students from a control group (n=204, 2006-2008 tests administrations) and an experimental group (n=185, 2008-2010 test administrations). An Analysis of Variance was used to determine significance (p

Experiences Of Personal Therapy As A Client: Perspectives Of Asian Music Therapists During Their Training In The Us, Hyejin So

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

This phenomenological research explored previous personal therapy (PT) experiences of East Asian music therapists during their training in the US. The study focused on examining the meaning of being therapy clients while they were music therapy students, and discovering the influence of PT on their personal, clinical, and musical development during and after the training. In addition, two different cultural influences on the therapeutic process were examined. Eight music therapists from Korea, Hong Kong, and Japan participated in this study. The length of their PT experiences ranged from six to 24 months. The participants’ therapists were Asians who immigrated to …

Making Machines Learn. Applications Of Cultural Analytics To The Humanities, Javier De La Rosa Pérez

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The digitization of several million books by Google in 2011 meant the popularization of a new kind of humanities research powered by the treatment of cultural objects as data. Culturomics, as it is called, was born, and other initiatives resonated with such a methodological approach, as is the case with the recently formed Digital Humanities or Cultural Analytics. Intrinsically, these new quantitative approaches to culture all borrow from techniques and methods developed under the wing of the exact sciences, such as computer science, machine learning or statistics. There are numerous examples of studies that take advantage of the possibilities that …

Shadows And Light. Ernie Gehr Exhibitions At The Museum Of Modern Art, Sean M. Fuller

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis examines exhibitions and media installations of Ernie Gehr’s work at The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), beginning with the pivotal 1970 show Information, which presented four films by Gehr. Wait (1968), Transparency (1969), Reverberation (1969), and History (1970) were screened alongside work by other avant-garde filmmakers and video artists in a circular viewing booth in the gallery space, in a show featuring works now considered masterpieces of conceptual art. It also considers the two site-specific video works, MoMA on Wheels (2002) and Navigation (2002), which Gehr created for the lobby space at MoMA QNS, …

Can People Successfully Return To Nature?, Nicholas A. Sollogub

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Throughout the course of human history, people have not only survived but thrived through their intimate knowledge of the land that they occupy. This not only includes the ability to procure food and the materials to build a shelter or tools, but it also contains the information that kept them safe from predators and other natural elements that surrounded them. The Industrial Revolution brought about many changes. People began to leave their rural lifestyles and migrate to cities in large numbers. With technologies and urbanization increasing, people became more and more distant from food production activities. Basic necessities, such as …

A Skin-Deep Analysis On Deconstruction: How Transforming The Modern Surface Transformed Notions On Gender, Elise K. Young

Scripps Senior Theses

While focusing on high fashion and architecture, this thesis explores an aesthetic transition between the early 20^th century’s “modern” style and the later 20^th century style of “deconstruction.” We believe the style of “deconstruction” revolutionized visual metaphors for modern gender identity through the manipulation and experimentation of surfaces. These metaphors were accomplished through transformation relationships between surface, structure, and ornament. This study exclusively uses examples from women’s fashion and building façades for its analysis

The Groundwork For Food Criticism: How Normative Aesthetic Judgments Are Possible With Regards To Tastes, Jacob Caldwell

Senior Independent Study Theses

Issues of tastes and smells are often relegated to an ancillary or minor rank of importance in the domain of aesthetics, if recognized at all as legitimate objects of aesthetic inquiry and experience. This essay aims, firstly, to carve out a space of legitimacy for the aesthetics of tastes, and secondly, to clarify what aesthetic inquiry with regards to tastes must look like. In order for the above to be decisively established, the following positions will be argued for: (1) tastes are real, (2) our ordinary or scientific conception of what tastes are, upon which our reasons for doubting the …

The Golden Pandemic, Leo Dylan Stevens-Lubin

Senior Projects Spring 2016

The work in my senior show is a representation on how I feel about conventional focusing specifically on corn. The reason that I have chosen corn is because it is one of the most detrimental crops that we are growing in the US. It is grown specifically for livestock feed and ethanol with a minimal fraction for direct human consumption. Corn itself offers minimal nutritional benefits in comparison to most other vegetable crops and the overproduction of corn crops decreases the benefits all the more.

Artwork:

• Woodblock Print Series: The extent of how much land is actually used for corn …

Hidden In Plain Sight: Image, Text, And Social Commentary In Victor Ekpuk's Cartoons For The Daily Times Of Nigeria, 1989-1998, Kaleb W. Jewell

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis provides an analysis of the cartoons produced by Victor Ekpuk for The Daily Times newspaper of Nigeria from 1989 through 1998 and the artist’s use of ancient nsibidi script to “hide in plain sight” his social commentaries on sociopolitical and economic issues in Nigeria. Victor Ekpuk’s original cartoons within the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African Art are examined in the context of indigenous masking practices and other indirect methods employed by indigenous comedians to protect themselves. Moreover, the cartoons’ use of caricature and their nsibidi scripts within are argued to provide a connotative …