UMD Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/3
New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a given thesis/dissertation in DRUM.
More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.
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Item Book Ends(2024) Hilker, Kenneth; Keener, Cy; Art; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This thesis marks a pivotal transition in my artistic journey, detailing the creation of Book Ends, a large wood sculpture that emerged as a culmination of my experiences and reflections during the MFA program at the University of Maryland. Moving away from my previous focus on painting, this work embraces sculpture to explore themes of memory, loss, and rebirth. Book Ends is crafted from repurposed wood, each piece with its own history and emotional weight, collected from dismantled homes and reshaped into a new form. This sculpture not only represents a physical assembly of materials but also embodies my personal and artistic transformations, reflecting on the interconnectedness of life's continuous cycles and the impermanent nature of existence. Through Book Ends, I aim to connect viewers with the deeper narratives embedded in the materials I use, inviting them to contemplate the layers of history and transformation inherent in the wood.Item MY TRANS.PARENT WOMB: QUANTUM PLAY, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, AND ASEXUAL REGENERATION FROM WITHIN THE US WAR MACHINE(2024) Leizman, Danielle; Collis, Shannon; Art; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)"FROM BENEATH" is a multimedia art installation which offers an immersive experience through three distinct works that act as “wombs.” The work aims to redefine conventional ideas of reproduction and futurity by transforming the gallery space into a realm of sensory exploration and non-linear time. Utilizing devices such as optical illusion, tactile sound, AI generation, and re-animation of archival media, the work advocates for embodiment as a catalyst for a queer navigational strategy which the artist defines as “quantum play.”Item The Other Life(2024) Cronan, Anna Patrycja; Casey, Maud; English Language and Literature; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The Other Life is a collection of short stories about identity in between two cultures, Polish and American, and the gifts, pressures, mysteries, celebrations, and challenges that sprout from this experience. Showcased through interconnected stories centering food, language, the natural world, and a child’s perspective, this collection depicts a first-generation Polish-American’s exploration of identity. Three children visit their grandmother’s orchard, where mysterious events unfold that make them realize their grandmother may be a baba yaga. Two Eastern European girls find solace in one another in America, until they don’t. A young woman and her grandmother embark on a foray in search of mushrooms. A village in Poland recounts its complicated history with salt mining. Throughout these stories, the yearning and longing for a life that could have been is explored as a way to make sense of the life that is.Item THE PROM: A SCENIC DESIGN(2024) Roak, Brandon; Kachman, Misha; Conway, Daniel; Theatre; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The purpose of this thesis is to provide a record for the scenic design process for The Prom, a musical by Matthew Sklar, Chad Beguelin, and Bob Martin, produced at the University of Maryland – College Park by the School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies. This thesis contains documentation for the scenic design and production process for this performance. These documents serve as the foundation of this scenic design. Each element was used to communicate design ideas and technical specifications to the director, other designers, and craftspeople involved in this production. Included are research images, photographs of ¼” scale models, drafting plates, paint elevations, a properties list and a properties book detailing furniture and hand props, along with a final reflection of the scenic design and production process.Item Programmatic Music in Violin Literature(2023) Zhong, Qian; Salness, David DS; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This dissertation explores programmatic music in the violin literature, highlighting how composers convey extra-musical meaning in their works, inspired from literature, stories, or even personal experience. The research is organized into three thematic recitals: "Love," "Nature," and "Legend," each showcasing a range of compositions unified by a common theme. The paper will explore each piece from a variety of perspectives: cultural influences, composers' style, and their life experiences. It aims to investigate how music can tell stories while emphasizing how composers use similar themes yet with their unique approaches create distinctly personalized works. These programmatic pieces often make a deep emotional connection with the audience all the while inspiring the imagination. The paper also addresses, with specific suggestions, the technical challenges of performing transcriptions of orchestral scores that have been arranged for much smaller instrumentation, such as solo violin with collaborative piano. The "Love" themed recital includes Poème, Op. 25, by Ernest Chausson (1896); Suite from Romeo and Juliet for Violin and Piano, by Sergei Prokofiev (1935) and arranged by Lidia Baich and Matthias Fletzberger; Three solos for Violin and Piano from Swan Lake, Op.20, by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1875-1876) and arranged by Endre Granat; Suite from West Side Story for Violin and Piano, by Leonard Bernstein (1957), and arranged by Raimundo Penaforte. The "Nature" recital features Sonata Representiva for Violin and Continuo in A Major, by Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber (1669); The Lark Ascending, by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1914); Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 8, RV 315, "Summer" (L'estate), by Antonio Vivaldi (1718- 1720) and arranged by Christopher Hogwood; Verano Porteño Trio for Piano, Violin and Cello, by Astor Piazzolla (1965) and arranged by José Bragato; Summer Night, by Shanle Yang (1952); Summertime, by George Gershwin (1935) and arranged by Jascha Heifetz. The "Legend" themed recital presents Butterfly Lovers’ Violin Concerto, by He Zhanhao and Chen Gang (1959); Myths, Op.30, by Karol Maciej Szymanowski (1915); Red Violin Caprices, by John Corigliano (1999). This dissertation also contains three live recitals. The live audio recordings of these three recitals can be found in the Digital Repository of the University of Maryland (DRUM).Item Art as Architecture: Abstract Modernist Painting Techniques and the Viewer Experience(2023) McClure, Katherine; Tilghman, James; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The reciprocal relationship between art and architecture has been a longstanding practice in the design process of both fields. The geometric forms, textures, and colors of various forms of art, but especially painting, have been known to inspire the architectural design process. Similarly, the shape and environmental experience of buildings can inspire or host works of art. Certain paintings, like those of Mark Rothko, are often cited in foundational architectural courses as examples of comprehensive and layered forms suggestive of architecture. However, these references are not typically taken beyond the parti phase in the early stages of architectural design. But how far can this reciprocal inspiration be taken? How can architecture evolve as not just a place for art, but as art itself? This thesis will explore the ways in which the abstract modernist painting techniques of the late works of Mark Rothko can affect the compositional form and experience of a mixed-use artist residency in Georgetown, DC.Item The Home We Can Never Leave(2023) Richardson-Deppe, Charlotte R; Keener, Cy; Art; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Growing up, I performed aerial arts in a circus. In the circus, a web of interdependence keeps you off the ground—the tightness of your grip, the strength of your friend holding you up, the trust in an apparatus to hold your weight. In my own body now, I feel the residual stretch, tension, and ache the circus left in me—remnants of bodies pushing through pain, defying gravity to hold one another up. Via soft sculpture and performance, I negotiate the body as a site of both liberating autonomy and confining oppression.Item EVERY PLACE WE’VE BEEN(2023) Qiu, Elaine; Craig, Patrick; Art; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Combining printmaking and painting, hovering between abstraction and representation, "Every Place We’ve Been" documents the disorienting experiences of the last years on both a collective and personal level. Using images culled from various archival sources, as well as personal snapshots, the installation examines how history becomes a collective embodied memory and draws attention to the boundaries between the personal and the public.Item Embrace the Wave(2023) Shahramipoor, Hosna; Strom, Justin; Art; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Everything in the universe is made up of waves. "Embrace the Wave" is a journey of self-discovery, in which our own inner waves can resonate with and influence the world around us, dissipate, magnify, and transform.Item I HOLD YOU CLOSE(2023) Mercedes/Greene, Stephanie; Collis, Shannon; Art; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)I Hold You Close articulates the precarious emotions of being queer in a society riddled by violence. Using steel, melted weapons, sound, and motors, this installation reflects on my own experience of queerness and queer love. Rather than framing vulnerability as a weakness, these works invite the viewer to consider vulnerability as a weapon.