SYE and Honors Theses
Senior Year Experience (SYE) Honors Theses
Departmental honors are awarded according to University and departmental policy, as outlined in the Student Handbook. Departmental honors is different than the Honorary Society, and is achieved only after successful completion of an honors project. A minimum GPA of 3.5 in all courses in the major is required. Students interested in pursuing an honors project should consult with their advisor and with the chair of the department early in their junior year to begin to formulate their honors projects. Honors Projects are year-long projects that emphasize independent work. Proposals are due spring semester of the junior year, one week prior to registration.
2011: Senior Year Experience (SYE) Theses:
- Claire Alai, “Encapsulating a Vision: A Critical Examination of Jacobello del Fiore's Enthroned Justice.” Advisor: Dorothy Limouze
- Caitlin Amborski, "All-Fair's Merry Makers are Money Makers: A Critical Analysis of All-Fair's Great Depression Board Games." Advisor: Dorothy Limouze
2010: Senior Year Experience (SYE) Theses:
- Olivia Birdsall, "Art Meets Math: A Visual Relationship Between Art and Mathematics." Advisor: Melissa Schulenberg.
- Fernando Gomez, "Francisco Goya's Iberian Goddesses: The Maja Portraits." Advisor: Dorothy Limouze.
- Nathalie Kurtz, Painting. Advisor: Kasarian Dane.
- Mailin Plagge, large-scale figurative paintings. Advisor: Kasarian Dane.
- Maria Santiago, charcoal drawings. Advisor: Kasarian Dane.
Honors Theses
2011: HONORS
Tandazani P. Dhlakama
Echoes of the Past: An Exploration of Personal History, Memory and Cultural Values
Advisors: Amy Hauber, Art & Art History, Obiora Udechkwu, Art & Art History, and John Collins, Global Studies.
Tanda's Research Blog: ARTZIMBABWE and images from Tanda's Thesis Exhibition.
"Life is always giving us signs and codes that reveal hidden truths from the past. These hints are supposed to warn us, encourage us or help us to understand why we are at the place we are at. As I grow up, I hear the echoes more distinctly and more often. As a result of this, my work is an exploration of personal memory, history and cultural values. It is an analysis of how the past can affect one’s present and can create a new sense of identity. I experiment with textures by using various organic materials in unconventional ways. This is because organic material such as earth, wood and stone all a have a sense of history to them. In some cases, these elements outlast generations of people. I merge old traditions and ideas with new concepts and techniques to portray how the past is linked to the present. Through my work, I explore my Zimbabwean history, in particular the Chimurenga War years and the post Independence disillusionment of the eighties and nineties. I reference particular narratives that I have heard from my father and older family members. Thus, my work is enables me to better understand to the challenges that they have gone through."
2010: HONORS
Samantha Rodriguez, My Life As A Human Being, autoethnographic documentary film. 40 minutes.
Advisors: Amy Hauber; Art & Art History, Chris Watts; Music, and Evette Hornsby-Minor; Gender Studies
A link to her film: My Life as a Human Being.
A summary about this project from Samantha's website, Follow the Stray: In [My Life As A Human Being] ... I look at how my family has had to deal with HIV/AIDS, from my perspective. Being that I am HIV- my perspective is often one that goes ignored. I know, from experience, that just because the virus does not run in my blood its effects are just as damaging to me as they are to those who are HIV+ in my family.
On Follow the Stray, Samantha shares an abridged statement of the process and the film My Life as a Human Being.
Valerie Nelkin, The Aesthetics of Creative Exchange in the Digital Community
Advisors: Amy Hauber; Art & Art History, Rich Sharp; Computer Science, and Chris Watts; Music.
PROCESSING: using open source* software and other tactics to create and personally explore definitions of beauty, authorship and
accessibility to emotions such as empathy and compassion within the context of global communications.*OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE Software whose source code is published and made available to the public, enabling anyone to copy, modify and redistribute the source code without paying royalties or fees. Open source code evolves through community cooperation.