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The seven interconnected short stories of Miserablists spring from a reality created by its protagonist and ostensible author: Paul Marston, a persistently melancholy undergraduate who tries to exorcise the ghost of a past love by adapting the story into a screenplay for a film entitled Miserablists. What happens to our identity, Paul asks, in post-narrative selfhood—that is, when the meaningful narratives we’ve told ourselves about others and ourselves collapse?
In other stories (wherein Paul tries—and often fails—to figure himself a secondary character), the tangled lives of his immediate social circle unravel, overlap, and disintegrate amidst the decaying milieu of the Scene and the maddening sprawl of Phoenix. A brief sampling of happenings: Sophie confronts ideological qualms with capitalism by way of a summer gig selling knives to depressed housewives; Brett nearly burns a house down on the Fourth of July; hallucinogenic kombucha is foisted upon a hapless Alex; black mold overtakes Paul’s residence; etc.
The core text is followed by an afterword supposedly written by (the perhaps psychotic) Saul P. Thomas Marton, Ph.D. and acts as an academic analysis of the nonexistent film adaption of Miserablists. There, Marton places Marston’s work in conversation with many influential critical text and works of fiction that shaped the formation of Miserablists (including Roland Barthes’ Lover’s Discourse, Slavoj Žižek’s The Plague of Fantasies, and Alain Robbe-Grillet’s Last Year at Marienbad).
In other stories (wherein Paul tries—and often fails—to figure himself a secondary character), the tangled lives of his immediate social circle unravel, overlap, and disintegrate amidst the decaying milieu of the Scene and the maddening sprawl of Phoenix. A brief sampling of happenings: Sophie confronts ideological qualms with capitalism by way of a summer gig selling knives to depressed housewives; Brett nearly burns a house down on the Fourth of July; hallucinogenic kombucha is foisted upon a hapless Alex; black mold overtakes Paul’s residence; etc.
The core text is followed by an afterword supposedly written by (the perhaps psychotic) Saul P. Thomas Marton, Ph.D. and acts as an academic analysis of the nonexistent film adaption of Miserablists. There, Marton places Marston’s work in conversation with many influential critical text and works of fiction that shaped the formation of Miserablists (including Roland Barthes’ Lover’s Discourse, Slavoj Žižek’s The Plague of Fantasies, and Alain Robbe-Grillet’s Last Year at Marienbad).
ContributorsWebb, Zachariah Kaylar (Author) / Gilfillan, Daniel (Thesis director) / Garrison, Gary (Committee member) / Department of English (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
Dale and Edna is a hybrid animated film and videogame experienced in virtual reality with dual storylines that increases in potential meanings through player interaction. Developed and played within Unreal Engine 4 using the HTC Vive, Oculus, or PlayStation VR, Dale and Edna allows for players to passively enjoy the film element of the project or partake in the active videogame portion. Exploration of the virtual story world yields more information about that world, which may or may not alter the audience’s perception of the world. The film portion of the project is a static narrative with a plot that cannot be altered by players within the virtual world. In the static plot, the characters Dale and Edna discover and subsequently combat an alien invasion that appears to have the objective of demolishing Dale’s prize pumpkin. However, the aliens in the film plot are merely projections created by AR headsets that are reflecting Jimmy’s gameplay on his tablet. The audience is thus invited to question their perception of reality through combined use of VR and AR. The game element is a dynamic narrative scaffold that does not unfold as a traditional narrative might. Instead, what a player observes and interacts with within the sandbox level will determine the meaning those players come away from this project with. Both elements of the project feature modular code construction so developers can return to both the film and game portions of the project and make additions. This paper will analyze the chronological development of the project along with the guiding philosophy that was revealed in the result.
Keywords: virtual reality, film, videogame, sandbox
Keywords: virtual reality, film, videogame, sandbox
ContributorsKemp, Adam Lee (Co-author) / Kemp, Bradley (Co-author) / Kemp, Claire (Co-author) / LiKamWa, Robert (Thesis director) / Gilfillan, Daniel (Committee member) / Arts, Media and Engineering Sch T (Contributor) / Thunderbird School of Global Management (Contributor) / School of Film, Dance and Theatre (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
The events leading up to and following the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics can be better understood in the transhistorical context of the contentious relationships between the United States, Russia, and Germany since the 1960's. The intense nationalism that fuels Olympic competition was especially enhanced by the deep ideological differences of the Cold War, as seen in the 1980 "Miracle on Ice." The ideological fight between capitalism and communism became the frame by which social issues were politicized, such as doping, gender, and disability; then sociocultural divisions, like disagreements on the perception of gender and homosexuality, emerged in place of ideological ones. Through these cultural and political disagreements, we see continuing conflict between the United States and Russia on an international sport stage carried out in much the same manner (and to the same effect) as in the past.
ContributorsFehnel, Dana Ellen (Author) / Gilfillan, Daniel (Thesis director) / Moldabekova, Saule (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
This thesis covers second language acquisition in regards to age, examining the difference between elementary and high school students. The primary language of all the students tested was English. The second language being tested in this study is German. The general age range in the elementary students observed was 7-12 years old. The high school students' ages were between 14-18 years old. The environment consisted of a physical education atmosphere, which includes: gyms, outside recreational areas, fitness equipment, fields, etc. Methods used to conduct this study were visual and auditory/verbal approaches. No direct instruction was provided to the students, they were assessed based on their ability to absorb the information when provided to them indirectly in a traditional classroom atmosphere. In addition, direct instruction is also not conducive to a physical education setting as it has the potential to detract from the necessary lesson content.
ContributorsMarch, Ashley Taylor (Author) / Pangrazi, Connie (Thesis director) / Gilfillan, Daniel (Committee member) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / College of Health Solutions (Contributor) / Division of Teacher Preparation (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
Postmodernism has been one of the dominant modes of thought in literature and philosophy since the 1960s, but its roots go back much further. This thesis is an examination of Brechtian frameworks in an assortment of popular postmodern works. Both literary texts, such as novels, films, and music, and philosophical texts are used to form a general understanding of the postmodern project, and these concepts are then placed in conversation with ideas from the works of the 20th century German playwright Bertolt Brecht. I found that despite certain differences, the central ideas of postmodernism can be seen as the extension of Brecht’s philosophy, especially his concept of the Verfremdungseffekt. First, multiplicity—in perspectives and understandings—can be seen as an attempt to achieve this Verfremdungseffekt in the reader, and second, transgression in these texts can be used to evoke the same feeling. Many of the identifying techniques of postmodernism, e.g. juxtaposition, unreliable narrator, self-reference, and so on, can be interpreted as the extension of ideas pioneered by Brecht in the 1920s and 1930s. My thesis illustrates these connections.
Keywords: Postmodernism, Bertolt Brecht, Verfremdungseffekt
Keywords: Postmodernism, Bertolt Brecht, Verfremdungseffekt
ContributorsTeipen, Jakob Corry (Author) / Gilfillan, Daniel (Thesis director) / O'Flaherty, Katherine (Committee member) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
Description
The thesis explores the trial of the Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann, which occurred in Jerusalem in 1961. In order to do this, the thesis analyzes four sources—two films and two books—that exist as representations of and responses to the historic trial. My analyses investigate the role of the witnesses who offered testimony during the trial and the sentencing that occurred at the trial’s conclusion, which are two major aspects of the trial. By comparing the way that various witnesses, who appear in multiple representations of the trial, are portrayed, the thesis will make conclusions regarding the way that each source utilizes the witness testimony. In order to evaluate the way each source presents the sentencing of the trial, the thesis uses Yasco Horsman’s concepts of the constative and performative aspects of judgement. The thesis concludes by discussing the value that each of these works has as a representation of the Holocaust. Ultimately, as time distances the modern generation from the events of the Holocaust and post-Holocaust trials, the need for such representations as the four examined in this thesis continues to grow in importance.
ContributorsKierum, Caitlin Anne (Author) / Gilfillan, Daniel (Thesis director) / Goodman, Brian (Committee member) / Historical, Philosophical & Religious Studies (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / Department of English (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / School of Music (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
Experimentation is as vital to literature as it is to the sciences. Experimentation through narrative is an evolutionary process that develops the art of storytelling through changing mediums, formats and forms of linearity. Challenging conceptual norms of narrative has resulted in a new genre characterized by interactive nonconventional structures, and the necessity of reading with nontrivial effort. The term ergodic was applied to literature first in Espen J. Aarseths 1997 study Cybertext: Perspectives on Ergodic Literature. In its simplest terms, ergodic literature requires nontrivial effort to transverse the text, as opposed to nonergodic literature, which would be the majority of traditionally formatted and conventionally read literature that requires no extraneous responsibilities of the reader (Aarseth, 1997). The qualities that necessitate a heightened requirement of nontrivial effort vary widely. Literary works like Doug Dorst’s Ship of Theseus (2013) integrates supplemental materials, and notes transcribed in the margins connected to the multiple narratives within the actual pages of the book. Some books such as Mark Z. Danielewski’s House of Leaves (2000) utilize coded messages and hidden information that contribute to the atmosphere of the narrative. These intricacies enclose information that constructs a veritable labyrinth, containing details and material not easily found but ultimately pivotal to the comprehension of the text. And while completion may be a goal of the standard text, it may never even be intended for works such as these. Throughout this discussion I intend to contest that House of Leaves is an apex of literature and experimental narrative. Furthermore, I will highlight the importance of experimentation in narratives and its role in the development of various modes and mediums while analyzing prominent works and themes that fall under the category of experimental narrative or ergodic literature.
ContributorsGalvan, Joshua Paul (Author) / Gilfillan, Daniel (Thesis director) / Rigoni, Adam (Committee member) / School of Criminology and Criminal Justice (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
Does immigrating to a foreign country cause you to become less inclined to use the traditional health remedies of your homeland? Is it possible that you can be more convinced of the effectiveness of the practices of health of your native country when you are exposed to health practices of different cultures? The aim of this study was to gain insight into how immigration and culture can affect the confidence people have in health practices. Russian natives (n=106) and Russian immigrants (n=46) were asked if they had experienced Russian health remedies and if so, for what illnesses and ailments? The participants were then asked to rate the effectiveness of 10 traditional health remedies. It was hypothesized that the sample of Russians living in America would rate traditional Russian health remedies as being less effective. The participants were asked to complete a survey distributed electronically and available in English or in Russian. Overall the results of the study did not support the hypothesis. In fact, the mean rating for health remedy effectiveness was higher for the sample of Russians in America than for the sample of Russians living in Russia. However, this measured difference between sample means is not particularly convincing because of a lack of statistical significance as measured by the Mann-Whitney and Wilcoxon W statistical tests. For 7 of the 10 remedies (vodka, garlic, dry mustard, gorchichniki, banki, potato steam, zelyonka and raspberry tea), the data did not show strong statistical evidence that attitudes generally change after immigration. The three health remedies that did show statistical significance were garlic, goosegrass, and use of a banya.
ContributorsDavis, Mitchell Sparling (Author) / Sipka, Danko (Thesis director) / Moldabekova, Saule (Committee member) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
Description
Children's literature is a comparatively new concept that has changed as the view of children and childhood has changed. The idea that books written for children are more than just amusement and that these books instill values and pride in one's culture has been approached very differently in the United States and Russia. While there are universal morals and common themes in children's literature, there are just as many culturally-dependent ideals that make children's literature and its translation an enlightening way to study the culture of a people or nation and ease the tensions between emerging global and traditional national lessons in children's literature.
ContributorsZubiate, Rachel (Author) / Moldabekova, Saule (Thesis director) / Hoogenboom, Hilde (Committee member) / Hogue, Cynthia (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (Contributor)
Created2012-12
Description
This paper explores policies for the management of oil wealth in Norway, Mexico, and Russia, and applies them to the situation in Kazakhstan to create policy guidelines to improve the management of oil wealth in Kazakhstan. Ultimately the paper recommends that Kazakhstan transfer oil wealth to the oil stabilization fund directly, that it increase the cap on annual transfers from the fund to the budget to 11 billion dollars, and that it create strict policies for the promotion of growth.
ContributorsHoyt, Christian Thomas (Co-author) / McCarty, Mark (Co-author) / Mendez, Jose (Thesis director) / Schoellman, Todd (Committee member) / Moldabekova, Saule (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor) / Economics Program in CLAS (Contributor)
Created2013-05