Category Archives: Thesis Defense

Thesis Defense Announcement- “An Analysis of Abbott Elementary Through the Lens Black Placemaking”

The Department of English and World Languages would like to announce the thesis defense of Taylor Green for her BA in Multidisciplinary Studies in Digital Journalism, Honor’s College. Her thesis, titled “An Analysis of Abbott Elementary Through the Lens Black Placemaking” is chaired by Dr. A Nicole Pfannenstiel with committee members Dr. Caleb Corkery and Dr. Elizabeth Thyrum. Her defense will be held tomorrow, April 28th, at 1pm in McComsey room 359.

Thesis Defense Announcement- “Disability Studies Informed Creative Writing: Care not Cure”

The Department of English and World Languages would like to announce the thesis defense of blue Guckert for his MA in English. His thesis, titled “Disability Studies Informed Creative Writing: Care not Cure,” is chaired by Dr. Emily Baldys with committee members Dr. A Nicole Pfannenstiel, Dr. Jess Hughes, and Professor Michele Santamaria.  blue’s thesis defense will be held tomorrow, April 28th, in McComsey 359 at 4:30pm.

Successful Thesis Defense Announcement- William Artz

The Department of English and World Languages would like to congratulate William Artz on his successful thesis defense for his M.Ed. in English. His thesis, which is titled “The Digitized Post-Secondary Transdisciplinary Humanities Classroom,” was chaired by Dr. A Nicole Pfannenstiel with committee members Dr. Kaitlin Mondello and Dr. Emily Baldys.

“Integrating Social Emotional Learning through Instructional Strategies in the English Language Arts Classroom”- Natalie Flory Thesis Defense Announcement

The English and World Languages Department would like to announce the thesis defense of Natalie Flory for her B.S.E in English and the Honor’s College. Her thesis, titled “Integrating Social Emotional Learning through Instructional Strategies in the English Language Arts Classroom” is chaired by Dr. Kim McCollum-Clark with committee members Dr. A Nicole Pfannenstiel and Dr. Karen Rice. The defense will be held today, April 14th, at 4:30pm in McComsey English and World Languages conference room 359.

“Exploring Mythology Through Drama: A curricular artifact” Kara Travis Thesis Announcement

The English and World Languages Department would like to announce the thesis defense of Kara Travis for her MA in English. Her thesis, titled “Exploring Mythology Through Drama: A curricular artifact,” will be defended on zoom today, April 5th, at 2pm. Her thesis is chaired by Dr. Kim McCollum-Clark with committee members Dr. A Nicole Pfannenstiel and Dr. Justin Mando.

“L’État actuel du français louisianais” – Hunter Davis Thesis Announcement

The English and World Languages Department would like to announce the thesis defense of Hunter Davis for his BA in French and Spanish, Teacher Candidate, and Honor’s College. His thesis, titled “L’État actuel du français louisianais” or “The Current State of Louisiana French,” will be defended today, April 3rd, at 1:30pm in McComsey 237. His thesis is chaired by Dr. Christine Gaudry, with committee members Dr. Clarence Maxwell and Dr. Elizabeth Thyrum. The abstract for his thesis is included below.

Abstract: “In 2010, the American Community Survey of the US Census Bureau announced that less than 3.4% of the total population of Louisiana still spoke some form of Louisiana-dialectal
French at home (“Language Spoken at Home”). During the last 10 years, that number has only diminished, with a most recent estimate of around 1.5% of the total population in 2021 still speaking some form of the dialect (“Language Spoken at Home”). This shows a loss of 77,434 native speakers of Louisiana French or roughly 54.2% of the francophone population of Louisiana since 2010. The question proposed by this thesis is if there is any way to slow, stop, or reverse the decline of the use of dialectal varieties of Louisiana French in Louisiana. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the longevity of Louisiana French in relation to other linguistic groups who experienced a revival of their heritage language, with the goal of
analyzing their commonalities in order to draw concrete, feasible solutions for the case of Louisiana French.”

Winnona Piazza Thesis Defense- “The Indigenous Persona: Examining the Modern Native American”

The English Department would like to announce the thesis defense of Winnona Piazza for her MA in English that will take place today, March 30th. Her thesis, titled “The Indigenous Persona: Examining the Modern Native American,” is chaired by Dr. Caleb Corkery alongside committee members Dr. Katarzyna Jakubiak and Dr. A Nicole Pfannenstiel.  The abstract for her thesis is included below.

Abstract: “Examination of the modern native looking beyond the stereotype or phenotype used to create the definition. Opening with a historical investigation on established Indian identity and how it was determined through governmental systems both on and off Indian reservations. The controversy with the ways of confirming native identity undermines the individual and negates their experiences. Through the voice of several Native American authors, their fictional characters are used to substantiate that the state of native identity is at a time of flux. The many characters that find themselves to not fully belong to their ethnicity or culture due to mixed blood is formidable. These native fictional characters are used to explore with aid of Gloria Anzaldúa’s Borderland theory to reveal that the new native was something that did not meet the romantic view of the indigenous but worked to help create an identity of their own that belonged within the community and culture. Developed with the voice of the new native, four pieces of creative non-fiction written from experiences growing up on a reservation within the Native American culture.”

Successfully Defended Thesis Annoucement- Kristy Davis

The English and World Languages Department is happy to announce the successful defense of a thesis by graduate student Kristy Davis. She defended her thesis “Edutainment in Podcasting: A content analysis of education and entertainment in the Serial Killers podcast” on March 16th for her MA in English. Her thesis committee members include Dr. A Nicole Pfannenstiel (chair), Dr. Justin Mando, and Dr. Kerri Farkas.

Thesis Defense for Hayley Billet

The English and World Languages Department is pleased to announce the defense of Hayley Billet finishing an M.A. in English. This defense is the last step of a lengthy independent research process. Graduate students work closely with the chair of their committee to add to existing scholarly conversations in a variety of fields within English and World Languages.  

 

The Portrait of a True Artist: Aesthetics and Social Critiques in the Works of Oscar Wilde

Wednesday May 4th at 10am in McComsey 253

Committee:

Dr. Emily Baldys, chair

Dr. Kaitlin Mondello

Dr. Carla Rineer 

 

All are welcome to attend.