Category: Fall 2026
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Negotiating Beauty Standards in Guam: Western Influence and the Reconfiguration of Local Norms
in Fall 2026As the world becomes increasingly interconnected with the continuous exchange of tangible goods and conceptual ideas, even the most subtle concepts are not immune to these global forces. Beauty standards, once rooted in the traditions unique to each culture, have become a “melting pot” shaped by transnational influences and global media, redefining how people across…
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Disabled at Disney: A Multi-Source Qualitative Analysis of Accessibility for Motor, Sensory, and Cognitive Disabilities in US Amusement Parks
in Fall 2026Abstract Accessibility for individuals with disabilities has been a growing concern for years across multiple domains of public living. The United Nations, as well as professionals in the field of occupational therapy, write that while having a disability is not an inherently negative attribute, navigating everyday life can be difficult in a world not built…
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Sustainable 3D Printing Filaments: an In-Depth Comparison
in Fall 2026Introduction 3D Printing is an additive manufacturing technique that is used for precise prototyping and production of small-scale products. There are many types of 3D printing techniques, but the most common are material jetting, material extrusion, and powder bed/vat fusion [1]. Material jetting is a type of additive manufacturing that sprays material through a nozzle…
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Advancing First Responder Preparedness through Digital Twin and XR-Based Indoor Drone Training
in Fall 2026EXECUTIVE SUMMARY First responders often work in hazardous and unpredictable environments, where traditional training can be costly, risky, and difficult to repeat. To address this challenge, we developed an immersive simulation environment that allows users to operate a drone inside a realistic virtual building during an emergency scenario. This project presents an immersive training approach…
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Hope’s Survival
in Fall 2026When given the opportunity to create a creative work as a research project in my World War II course, I decided to compose a song. As a French horn player, I chose to write a short, soloistic piece for my instrument that explores how people used music in their day-to-day lives while living through a…
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A Vision of Chinese Landscape: A Contemporary Ink and Color Scroll Painting
in Fall 2026Inspired by ancient Chinese landscape hand scrolls, “A Vision of Chinese Landscape” depicts layered mountains, plunging waterfalls, pine trees, and misty valleys. I aim to capture the harmony between nature and human perception, a core idea of traditional Chinese landscape art. While rooted in old painting techniques, this piece is a contemporary creative response. Through…
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Leddy Frye
in Fall 2026Artist Statement “Leddy Frye” is set in rural Appalachia in the 1950s. It explores the grief a mother feels after losing her son Leddy Frye, a larger-than-life character. Even though he is just a young boy, many are drawn to him. The only person who has difficulty seeing Leddy’s unique qualities is his mother, who…
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“I was a new many now, a new girl”: Queering the American West in Sebastian Barry’s Days Without End
in Fall 2026In his 2018 book, Making the Frontier Man, Matthew C. Ward posits that the typified image of the American Western frontiersman is not a natural iteration of masculine expression, but a conscious and deliberate creation devised in the face of uniquely western challenges to American masculinity. During the process of westward expansion, Ward claims characteristics…
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An Era of Censorship: Case Studies in the Origins of the Queer Novel
in Fall 2026Abstract Just like how queer humans have existed for as long as the human race has, queer identities have been reflected in literature for as long as literature has been written. Beyond the mere inclusion of queer characters, however, in the past 150 years, the literary canon has seen the emergence of a kind of…
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How well can ChatGPT write fanfiction? An analysis of AI-generated fanfiction
in Fall 2026Abstract Since the rise of generative AI, applications like ChatGPT have skyrocketed in use, particularly for writing. While studies have examined generative AI chatbots for creative and scientific writing, few focus on the genre of fanfiction, a unique form of writing that draws upon media (literature, film, TV shows, video games, etc.) or real-life people.…