AEC 2015 Humanities

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AEC 2015 Humanities

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111 items
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86 item sets

25 items

  • 'We Can't Stop': The Verbal and Visual Rhetoric of Miley Cyrus and Robin Thicke's 2013 Music Video Awards Performance

    This research examines the verbal and visual rhetoric of Miley Cyrus and Robin Thicke's 2013 Music Video Award performance of 'We Can't Stop.' By using the method of an ideological visual rhetorical criticism, I argue that the rhetoric of this performance is hegemonic. Hegemony is a form of social control that maintains the present power structure through a consensual form of oppression. In this case, the rhetoric reveals the two contrasting ideologies of feminism and patriarchy. The verbal rhetorical strategies employed include naming and personification, whereas the visual rhetorical strategies include figure and ground, shapes and space, and lighting and color. This analysis demonstrates how the status quo of male dominance is upheld today in popular culture, even as women try to assert their empowerment.

  • An Internship Program Created by an Intern: What Are the Benefits?

    A well-designed internship program provides many opportunities for students to make connections and gain experience. In this presentation, I will outline my experience designing a company-wide internship program as an intern for Markem-Imaje. I researched the best practices, identified by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), and defined the criteria necessary for a successful program. This included real work experience, team involvement, and compensation. An internship ultimately should benefit both the student and the company; the student, by expanding knowledge and gaining skills, and the company, by adding youthful talent to the team. This presentation is for parents, faculty, students, and anyone looking to learn more about internships, how they work, and their benefits.

  • Bad Faith, Finitude, and Meaning in Chuck Palahniuk's Fight Club

    Soap. It is used to wash our hands, wash our bodies, and clean almost everything. According to Tyler Durden, one of the main protagonists in Chuck Palahniuk's Fight Club, soap is a bi-product of human sacrifice and destruction. It is through destruction of the material world that Durden cleanses himself. Though the novel pulls its reader through a whirlwind of violence, it also reveals a passageway for ridding ourselves of the sickness of social conformity. In essence, the text offers the soap for our current generation. In this paper, I utilize the existential concepts of bad faith, meaning, and finitude to uncover how the main character in Fight Club creates meaning in his life through destruction. However, I argue that the message of the novel is ultimately hopeful. It challenges readers not to limit themselves, rather, to seek out meaning through accepting responsibility for one's own life.

  • Bedtime Story To Book: Journey To Publication

    This poster presentation seeks to articulate the process of writing, illustrating, and self-publishing a bedtime story into a paperback book. Today, publication without the right connections is nearly unattainable, which is the reason self-publication was chosen. The poster will show the steps taken during all aspects of the publication process including artifacts like: feedback from professors, friends, and an author; illustrations; the editing process; and the book itself. In addition, there will be personal artifacts such as hand written notes that will show my thoughts throughout the creation of the middle grade fantasy novel. A display of strategies will focus on marketing and advertising with the climax of how two stores agreed to sell my book. Through visual and written artifacts, my poster will convey an in depth view of the writing process, providing suggestions, insights, and tips for fellow aspiring authors.

  • Cinema Of Extremism: Filmmaker Gaspar Noe As Extremist Icon

    Abstract: This paper explores the French film movement, the New French Extremity, its place in contemporary global cinema, and how filmmaker Gaspar Noe embodied the ideals of the movement. The New French Extremity was an explosion of films that sought to bring exploitative images, sexual and violent, into the high art environment of French National cinema. This was a unique eruption of films that wanted to challenge cinematic conventions. The use of shocking images helped broaden the definition of art cinema to include films containing vulgar content. The movement eventually led to a mainstreaming of those images. As film continues to develop, it is important to broaden the definition of art cinema. Noe was a major artist in the New French Extremity, and through a close analysis of his filmography, I will demonstrate his skill as a filmmaker and his place at the forefront of the New French Extremity.

  • Controlling the Storm: The Magic of Language in Shakespeare's The Tempest

    Language and magic are intricately connected in Shakespeare's The Tempest. Critics have often observed a connection between Prospero, the play's protagonist, and Shakespeare himself. By reading and presenting sections of my paper, I will demonstrate that the mystic forces that drive the play forward become metaphoric reflections of Shakespeare's own writing prowess. Similar to Prospero's careful construction of his revenge plot, Shakespeare pulls no punches in his writing. He abandons his typically loose interpretations of unity for a tight, meticulously constructed plot, expertly weaving the play's place and action into a single day on a single island. Prospero grapples with the morality of his craft and actions, and his expounding on the depth of his struggle underscores the immensity of the writing process itself. However, Shakespeare overcomes these artistic challenges with grace. At my presentation's end, I will field and answer any questions to the best of my ability.

  • December Mourning and Falling: Two Dances From a Common Theme

    December Mourning and Falling, two modern dance works, are this choreographer's response to the crisis at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut. The choreographer began her creative research in 2013 by writing about how her personal journey of mourning started. For December Mourning, the choreographer studied poems related to the tragedy and also visited the site and memorial multiple times. The experiences she chose to investigate choreographically became images of struggle, relapse, helping, and healing. The second piece in the series, Falling, was created in 2014; the choreographer found that the distance of time provided new perspectives and, therefore, new movement vocabulary in the making of this work. This presentation will include a discussion of the creative process, a performance of the two pieces, and an opportunity for the audience to ask questions about the work.

  • Emulating Bach: The Balance Between Stylistic Imitation And Artistic Expression

    Igor Stravinsky allegedly said that 'good composers borrow and great composers steal.' This presentation will explore the dynamic between imitation and personal expression through the lens of KSC composer Scott DeMeo's new composition for solo piano, 'Modern Suite,' modeled on the concept of the traditional dance suites that were epitomized by Bach in his musical suites. The presentation will address similarities and differences between Bach's suites and Scott DeMeo's compositional style in 'Modern Suite.' It will expose how one composer can pick and choose elements from another style to match his own aesthetic without lifting phrases directly from the music. 'Modern Suite' shares commonality in form and rhythmic treatment with Bach's European suites, but it does so while juxtaposing these features against a modern harmonic language. The audience will be asked to voice their questions.

  • Entertainment And Redemption: A Fantasy Critique Of The Wrestler

    The 2008 movie The Wrester, directed by Darren Aronofsky, uncovered the dark world of entertainment that many of us are not familiar with, specifically in the sport of professional wrestling. In order to examine the director's motivation to create this movie, the researchers used the fantasy theme critique method. This method involves examining how the director of the movie uses the character themes, entertainment and redemption; the setting themes, past and present; and the actions of the character themes to paint a rhetorical vision. The analysis reveals the director's rhetorical vision, which includes showing the hidden struggles of people in the entertainment world, the dichotomy that exists in the act of redeeming oneself, and the struggle between a healthy work-life balance.

  • Female Sanctity, Wealth, and the Foundation of Monasteries In the Early Middle Ages

    During the early Middle Ages, women of high status could gain authority and secure their property by founding a monastery for women. Women with large inheritances were vulnerable to kidnap and forced marriage, and endowment of a monastery was one way to secure the fortunes of widows and heiresses. Additionally, by founding a monastery and appointing herself abbess a woman could maintain the management of her property and, in double monasteries, control both monks and nuns. This is true for Queens Radegund and Balthild, who founded the monasteries of Poitiers and Chelles. For both Radegund and Balthild the use of their wealth to found a monastery was central to the development of their saintly cults. Through a comparison to the vitae of contemporary male saints of similar economic status, this paper argues that female sanctity was often based on a woman's ability to provide substantial wealth to monastic establishments.

  • Finding Meaning in Existence: Sartre vs. Heidegger

    In this paper, I examine the phenomena of trying to find meaning in existence, and the differing views between two prominent existential philosophers, Martin Heidegger and Jean-Paul Sartre. Sartre, in his book Being and Nothingness, offers a fundamentally different view from Heidegger in his attempt to complete Heidegger's unfinished work of Being and Time. While Heidegger says our consciousness is always already a consciousness of something and therefore intrinsically meaningful in the world, Sartre says our consciousness can never actually become anything. This creates a world void of meaning, and a life that does not allow an individual to ever have a meaningful existence. I will discuss the implications of these different ways of seeing existence in the world, as well as argue that Heidegger's perspective offers hope and the possibility for authenticity in one's life.

  • Her Mood Will Needs Be Pitied: Agency, Madness, The Pathetic, And Ophelia

    Of all the female characters in William Shakespeare's plays, Ophelia from The Tragedy of Hamlet is arguably one of the most interesting. With very few scenes or lines of dialogue, her character has still managed to leave impressions of shocking insanity and deep sadness on generations of artists, actors, and play-going audiences. However, although her character is fascinating and the ending she comes to is notoriously sad, Ophelia cannot truly be considered a tragic heroine. I argue in my paper that because her narrative is so rigidly controlled by the actions, words, and patriarchal influences of those around her, except in her one scene of madness, when she quite literally takes center stage, Ophelia has no agency to act or choose for herself. This makes her character purely pathetic: a victim of circumstance rather than a tragic heroine.

  • Iberian Conceptions of Chivalry and Honor

    Analyzing the complex mix of cultural and religious systems influenced by Islamic, Christian, and Jewish cultures that developed in the reconquered Christian territories of northern areas of the Iberian Peninsula during the Reconquista offers a unique window into understanding the connections that bind masculinity, honor, and a gentrified society in the medieval code of chivalry. This presentation examines the development of the unique chivalric ideal that developed in the multi-faceted society of Iberia through a reading of The Poem of El Cid, written in the thirteenth century. Contrasting the reading of El Cid with texts from the Frankish territories highlights how the development of masculine codes of honor in a singularly Christian society differed from the ideals found in Christian Iberia. El Cid is a man between worlds, a character both historic and legendary who embodies the precept that chivalry transcends religion and demonstrates the ideals of the time.

  • In Flight: The Process and Performance of an Original Modern Dance

    In Flight is a presentation of an original modern dance work by senior dance major Erin McNulty. Performed in the 2014 Choreography Showcase, In Flight explores the anxiety and excitement people feel when they are on the verge of something new. The choreographer found the inspiration for this piece during the commute to the first day of her summer job as the community relations intern at Boston's Urbanity Dance. Through a combination of traditional and creative research, the choreographer developed this modern dance work into a poetic expression of the varied emotions people feel when figuring out what lies directly ahead of them, including where and how they will fit in. This presentation will consist of a live performance and discussion of the choreographer's process, followed by questions from the audience for the choreographer and the dancers.

  • Me and My Best Friend, Beyonce: Can the Investment Model Predict Parasocial Relationships With Musical Celebrities?

    The Investment Model is a model used to gauge satisfaction, commitment and investment levels that individuals have in relationships. This oral presentation will test the limits of the model and expand the practice towards parasocial relationships. There have been limited opportunities to use this model with relationships people feel they have only through the media. The goal of this study is to determine whether people feel as though they have relationships with musical celebrities they follow through the media and if there is a gender difference on relational effort. The study concluded that males and females have high commitment and investment levels with musical celebrities they follow through the media and that females invest more relational effort towards musical celebrities.

  • Medieval Music In A Modern Choral Rehearsal: Thomas Tallis' 'If Ye Love Me'

    This performance lecture will focus on the learning process that a collegiate choir undergoes when studying a piece of music. As an introduction, the Keene State College Chamber Singers will serve as a demonstration choir for the Medieval choral anthem, 'If Ye Love Me' by prominent sixteenth century English composer Thomas Tallis. The presentation will continue with a lecture to inform audience members of how this composer's contributions during the Medieval Era continue to impact modern choral music today in terms of texture, phrasing, rhythm, pitch, and dynamics. Medieval music composition theory, historical implications, and Biblical text for this piece will also be addressed. The presentation will culminate in a final live performance to show the result of the techniques that had been discussed, followed by a brief question and answer session.

  • Peeling Back the Layers of the Middle East: An Analysis of Early Twentieth Century International Policy towards the Creation of the State of Israel

    Our panel will examine the role of Western governments in creating the conditions which gave rise to the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict as revealed in historical documents and events from World War I through World War II. We will show that the McMahon-Hussein Correspondence (1915-1916), the Sykes-Picot Agreement (1916), and the Balfour Declaration (1917) reflect the goals of Britain and France in the Middle East at that time and set the stage for future conflict across the region. Events during the interwar and postwar periods will be examined, with particular attention to the reasons for and consequences of the United States? recognition of the State of Israel, including the influence of the Zionist lobby and disagreements among government officials. We will attempt to explain the relevance of the reorganization of the Middle East in the twentieth century to many of the issues in the region today.

  • Queer Ecology: Investigating the Intersection of Queer Theory and Environmentalism

    This interdisciplinary paper focuses on how our heteronormative society has shaped our ideas of, and relationships with, nature. Queer people are often driven to nature as a way to escape homophobia, transphobia and heterosexism in modern culture. Their relationship with nature is complicated, however, because traditional gender roles in our society enforce a rigid gendered lens through which we are expected to view and interact with the natural world, and ideas about the supposed 'naturalness' of heterosexuality inform how we understand the environment. Despite this complication, queer communities often find links between their own political struggles and the environmental movement. Drawing from ecology and queer studies, I will address how and why these two seemingly disparate fields of study have come together, and what lessons can be learned to further both the queer and environmental movements.

  • Rehearsal And Performance Strategies With Chock Full O' Notes, KSC's A Cappella Vocal Group

    This lecture performance will focus on the arrangement, rehearsal, and performance of an a cappella piece featuring KSC's Chock Full O' Notes (CFON). CFON is the only student led a cappella group on campus and involves singers from a variety of degree programs. The eighteen auditioned singers arrange and perform their own unaccompanied songs. The director will discuss her process for transcription and notation while arranging the pop rock song 'Radioactive' for a 7-voice part a cappella piece. Considerations for rehearsing and refining the piece will be described. The singers will demonstrate specific musical elements including rhythm, dynamics, diction, intonation, breathing, and performance aspects required for this arrangement. The presentation will culminate in a full performance of the piece followed by a brief question and answer period with the director.

  • Riots To Civility: Kant's Moral Education

    This paper will analyze Immanuel Kant's Metaphysics of Morals, discussing his moral education and how it can be used to teach immature and careless individuals to become moral beings. In past months, the US has increasingly become a more turbulent country. Protesting, riots, looting, and destruction have gripped the nation. Even the small city of Keene, N.H. has been affected by the Pumpkin Fest riots, causing tens of thousands of dollars in property damage. These became riots celebrating violence for violence's sake, where morality was replaced with carelessness and immaturity. Citizens of a state have rights and freedoms, but also have duties to individuals and themselves, which are derived from reason and the moral law which commands respect. Rational beings who do as they please are not free. One should act with restraint, respecting the laws of the state. All rational beings respect one another as commanded by the moral law.

  • Selling Freedom And Resistance: An Ideological Rhetorical Criticism Of Apple's "Think Different" Commercial

    This research study conducts an ideological rhetorical criticism of Apple's famous 'Think Different' commercial that aired on television in 1997. I argue that the commercial persuades viewers to believe in ideologies of freedom and resistance. My analysis shows how ideological rhetoric empowers underrepresented populations such as African-American civil rights activists. However, Apple is hypocritical when 'selling' rebellion and freedom, especially to minority groups in the U.S., given that Apple products are made in factories that employ poor people in third world countries who do not have basic human rights. Some implications of this research include how advertising and consumer products empower some populations while disempowering others.

  • The African American Athlete (Commodity, Image, and Narrative)

    African American athletes occupy various social and cultural spaces within American imagination. Our research explores careers and configurations of African American athletes drawn from American sports. Identifying patterns that cast African American athletes as freedom fighters, angry brutes, buffoons, we contextualize spaces African American sporting figures claim within the United States and beyond. These patterns are original categories created by the students themselves with some categories in relation to theoretical works by other scholars. Some of these scholars that will be discussed include Thabiti Lewis, David L. Andrews, Rob Ruck, Leola Johnson and David Roediger. Students from the American Studies capstone course will summarize their individual projects and discuss their interdisciplinary explorations of the construction, commodification, and representation of African American athletes in the United States. There will be an in depth look into the African American athlete's reflection on society as well as American culture as whole. These impacts will show a change over time and the evolution of the role of the African American athlete. Figures such as Bill Russell, Jackie Robinson, Michael Jordan, the University of Michigan's Fab Five and others will be examined throughout the student's work. The student's research will explore the ways in which African Americans have been marked, marketed, and remarked upon within their roles as athletes. African American contributions to the social and political discourse concerning race, identity, and opportunity in the United States will underscore these student research projects.

  • The Opera Aria: Specialized Techniques and the Process of Preparation

    This presentation will demonstrate performance considerations for singing operatic arias. Two contrasting Italian arias, or accompanied songs for the solo voice, from Georg Frideric Handel's opera Alcina will be featured to illustrate a wide range of vocal techniques, styles, and expressive moods. The presentation will define and model fast melismatic sections, sustains with dynamic contrast, and musical ornamentations. Thematic ideas presented in Alcina include love, betrayals, and demonstrating power over others. The first aria, 'Tornami a Vagheggiar' is fast-paced and impressive, with themes of love and commitment, while in contrast, the second aria, 'Mi restano le lagrime' has a slower tempo, beautiful melody, and displays the character's fragility and loss of power. These arias, performed with piano accompaniment, will provide insight on preparation and performance aspects of opera arias. The audience is invited to pose questions on any aspect of the aria preparation process.

  • The Truth on Truth: Method on Expressing Discrimination in Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One

    William Greaves' Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One (1968) was a groundbreaking film that utilized recent revolutionary sync-sound technology to address issues of discrimination. For this oral presentation I will be critiquing the film and its methods. Greaves' intention, was to capture a vision of human flaws in hopes of engaging audiences to think critically about social interactions. The focus of the film captured the director and crew members acting poorly to one another in between takes of a failed film shoot. By leaving the lines between what is scripted and what is real, Greaves casted a complex understanding of cultural discrimination of the late 1960's. Greaves chose to create a film that embraced flaws of documentary filmmaking, and its preconceived notion of always displaying truth. With this, Greaves was able to manipulate the documentary genre in a such a way that had rarely been seen before in the world of filmmaking.

  • Untried Ideas: Composing Music for Unfamiliar Instruments

    In a college music program, a critical step in a composer's growth and development is to write daringly for new instruments, without having had extensive training in the intricacies and techniques of each instrument. Inevitably, a balance must be found between the composer's intent and the performer's ability to produce those ideas. The composer is challenged by not only creating a successful new composition but also adhering to the demands, challenges, and individual characteristics of each complex instrument. This presentation will address one student's compositional process beginning with his initial ideas and inspiration, then describing his research with respect to three wind instruments with which he was unacquainted, and finally describing the process of rehearsals, editing, and final performance of the piece. The presentation will conclude with a performance of Thomas Fox's suite for woodwind trio, 'Tales of the Cosmic Charles Bronson.'