Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2024, Arts Administration, Education and Policy

The contemporary glass world is a place of diverse making that ranges from fine art to design to craft. Artists in the field fluctuate from formally educated with MFAs to individuals who are self-taught, trained through various apprenticeships and/or piecemeal educational experiences. How glass artists define success in their field, and how they chart a potential trajectory towards it, are questions that seem as though they should have clear answers. However, as the number of graduates from art programs increases, as well as the cost to start and sustain a career in the field, there is precariousness about how to maintain a successful practice. Additionally, the glass profession remains male dominated even though more females currently graduate from higher education programs throughout the US. This study focuses on female glass artists from emerging to established in their careers through qualitative interviews with 27 participants, and 7 participant observations, to reflect on the challenges and successes they have experienced and to provide a survey of the field at a time that women are seeking parity. Their stories and experiences are cross referenced with descriptive quantitative data gathered from the institutions they have interacted with as artists, students, educators, and/or administrators. The analysis and interpretation of the collected data summarizes emergent themes, and focuses on core challenges, and successes that participants encountered, while highlighting strategies that participants employ persist in the field. Utilizing portraiture methodology with narrative analysis and auto-ethnographic inclusions throughout, I provide a critical survey of the field, how female glass artists are currently working within its limitations, and how they define success.

Committee: Shari Savage PhD (Advisor); Rachel Skaggs PhD (Committee Co-Chair); Dana Carlisle Kletchka PhD (Committee Member); Christine Ballengee Morris PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Art Education; Arts Management; Fine Arts

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2022, Interdisciplinary Arts (Fine Arts)

This dissertation investigates the works, thoughts, and practices of everyday life of a diverse range of emerging contemporary Syrian artists and filmmakers who created art during the Syrian crisis since 2011. Some stayed in Syria. Others fled the country. Some engaged in armed resistance or political activism. Others lost their lives. This dissertation is primarily concerned with how these individuals created art that reflected the everyday life of Syrians throughout the crisis. The focus on everyday life is crucial because it shifts scholarly attention on the Syrian crisis away from the war itself and onto the overlooked Syrians who are creatively trying to survive it. Drawing on interviews, aesthetic analysis, and participant-observation, I argue that Syrian artists try to reclaim the Syrian identity and homeland concepts back to their cultural heritages and away from political or war realities. In addition, I discuss a new model of the Syrian body of survival and its representations based on its transformations between different modes of survival practices. This dissertation seeks to enrich art history, Performance Studies, and scholarly approaches to the Syrian crisis by positioning Syrian art as a global and contemporary art phenomenon and by documenting, preserving, analyzing, and presenting its artists to the international public. It pays particular attention to Syrian art's local, regional, and global specificity while also considering how the artworks and films are produced, distributed, and presented across international art arenas. The ultimate goal of this dissertation is to clarify what it means to be Syrian today, a concept that has been mostly unrepresented, misrepresented, or distorted by stereotyping.

Committee: Charles Buchanan (Advisor); Garrett Field (Committee Member); Erin Schlumpf (Committee Member); Jennie Klein (Committee Member) Subjects: Art Criticism; Art History; Film Studies; Fine Arts; Middle Eastern Studies; Performing Arts

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1978, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Education

BA, Oberlin College, 2015, Environmental Studies

"Performance and Resilience: Performance, Storytelling, and Resilience Building in Post-Katrina New Orleans" uses a mixed method approach to investigate the role of digital storytelling and contemporary performing arts in building community and environmental resilience. Through semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and scholarship from the fields of performance studies and environmental studies, this piece focuses on post-disaster landscapes, particularly post-Katrina New Orleans, to investigate the impact of storytelling platforms and performance spaces in retaining social and cultural memory.

Committee: Janet Fiskio (Advisor); Victoria Fortuna (Committee Member); Phyllis Gorfain (Committee Member) Subjects: Environmental Justice; Environmental Studies; Performing Arts

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2009, Mass Communication (Communication)

This qualitative audience reception analysis explored the cultural believability of fictional portrayals of Latinos in English-language television programs. The informants for this study were predominately second and third generation Mexican Americans, living in the Los Angeles, California area. This research focused on the ways these Latino viewers experienced, interacted with, and assigned meaning to Latino television characterizations. Because these activities do not occur in isolation particular attention was given to the social construction and negotiation of meanings. Reception typically occurs and is discussed in informal settings, so the researcher employed the naturalistic methods of guided conversations and participant observation. During the field study, viewers discussed whether they could imagine a real-life person having similar characteristics to fictional characters on television. Moreover, they communicated the social significance of programs including fictional characters that reflect Latino persons' cultural realities in more inclusive and diverse, yet entertaining ways. Viewers wanted to see more second and later generation Latino characters in scenes where they would have an obvious presence in similar real-world settings. The main finding of this research indicated that the viewers in this field study not only paid close attention to cultural details in characterizations and their believability, they were able to recall these details after a long period of time, indicating that these details were highly salient in their believability judgments. Most notably, viewers repeatedly conveyed the perception that too often productions emphasized cultural extremes or exaggerations that did not reflect the ways they experienced their Latino identities. They were particularly concerned by the frequent use of stereotypes, the use of exaggerated foreign accents, and the lack of attention to differences in heritage nationalities and heterogeneity of Latino p (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Drew O. McDaniel PhD (Committee Chair); Newton Gregory PhD (Committee Member); Perla Jr. Héctor PhD (Committee Member); Jokisch Brad PhD (Committee Member); McKerrow Raymie PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication; Hispanic Americans; Language; Mass Media; Minority and Ethnic Groups

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2013, Theatre

This dissertation examines stage hypnosis as a contemporary popular entertainment form and investigates the relationship between public perceptions of stage hypnosis and the ways in which it is experienced and practiced. Heretofore, little scholarly attention has been paid to stage hypnosis as a performance phenomenon; most existing scholarship provides psychological or historical perspectives. In this investigation, I employ qualitative research methodologies including close reading, personal interviews, and participant-observation, in order to explore three questions. First, what is stage hypnosis? To answer this, I use examples from performances and from guidebooks for stage hypnotists to describe structural and performance conventions of stage hypnosis shows and to identify some similarities with shortform improvisational comedy. Second, what are some common public perceptions about stage hypnosis? To answer this, I analyze historical narratives, literary and dramatic works, film, television, and digital media. I identify nine common beliefs about hypnosis and stage hypnosis, and I argue that the Svengali archetype, introduced in George du Maurier's1894 novel, Trilby, may have helped shape such perceptions. Third, does the relationship between contemporary practice and public perceptions matter to stage hypnosis as a performance phenomenon? To answer this, I interview volunteer performers and stage hypnotists and analyze my experiences as an audience member and volunteer performer, to determine how differences between perceptions and practices might influence the ways in which stage hypnosis is experienced and/or performed. In general, my findings suggest several things. Prior perceptions about stage hypnosis did not correlate with interviewees' perceptions about their ability to become hypnotized or with their ability to participate in performances. Their prior perceptions did appear to influence their affective experiences of their performances, however; whe (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Lesa Lockford (Committee Chair); Ronald Shields (Committee Member); Scott Magelsson (Committee Member); Richard Anderson (Committee Member) Subjects: Performing Arts; Theater; Theater Studies