Theses and Dissertations from UMD

Permanent URI for this communityhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2

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 give thesis/dissertation in DRUM

More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.

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Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
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    Driving Around Los Santos: Space, Place, and Place-making in Grand Theft Auto V
    (2014) Neuner, Alyssa Marie; Farman, Jason; American Studies; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    With the emergence of videogames came an exodus to the digital worlds created within them. To understand this shift is to understand the human needs they have come to fulfill. One of these basic human necessities is having a sense of place. Here Grand Theft Auto V becomes one game in a slew of game titles to foster this need.
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    Sound, Awareness and Place: Architecture from an Aural Perspective
    (2007-12-17) Bryant, John W; Eisenbach, Ronit; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    The human experience of sound is an essential element to our understanding of the built environment. However, sound has played a minimal aspect in the construction of meaning in contemporary architecture, and is given little attention in architectural education as a source for design inspiration. This thesis investigates sound as an architectural, cultural and environmental phenomenon through the design of a small listening pavilion. This thesis has two goals: 1) To provide an exploration into the potentials of sound as a source for design inspiration and architectural meaning. 2) To provide a space that heightens one's awareness of sound, both in the environment, and within the space itself.
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    Digital Theatre: A "Live" and Mediated Art Form Expanding Perceptions of Body, Place, and Community
    (2007-05-22) Masura, Nadja; Hildy, Franklin J; Theatre; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    This work discusses Digital Theatre, a type of performance which utilizes both "live" actors and co-present audiences along with digital media to create a hybrid art form revitalizing theatre for contemporary audiences. This work surveys a wide range of digital performances (with "live" and digital elements, limited interactivity/participation and spoken words) and identifies the group collectively as Digital Theatre, an art form with the flexibility and reach of digital data and the sense of community found in "live" theatre. I offer performance examples from Mark Reaney, David Saltz, Troika Ranch, Gertrude Stein Repertory Theatre, Flying Karamazov Brothers, Talking Birds, Yacov Sharir, Studio Z, George Coates Performance Group, and ArtGrid. (The technologies utilized in performances include: video-conferencing, media projection, MIDI control, motion capture, VR animation, and AI). Rather than looking at these productions as isolated events, I identify them as a movement and link the use of digital techniques to continuing theatrical tradition of utilizing new technologies on the stage. The work ties many of the aesthetic choices explored in theatrical past by the likes of Piscator, Svoboda, Craig, and in Bauhaus and Futurist movements. While it retains the essential qualities of public human connection and imaginative thought central to theatre, Digital Theatre can cause theatrical roles to merge as it extends the performer's body, expands our concept of place, and creates new models of global community.
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    The Geography of Juvenile Crime Place Trajectories
    (2005-09-14) Groff, Elizabeth; Weisburd, David L; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    The crime drop of the 1990s has been the subject of a large body of research, which has suggested juvenile crime was the major source of this decline. However, a satisfactory explanation for the crime drop remains elusive. While most of the work has focused on longitudinal studies of the development of delinquency in juveniles and macro-level patterns of juvenile crime, recent empirical and theoretical developments indicate that the processes driving crime trends may be operating at micro-level places. Thus, an examination of micro-level places may hold clues to understanding the crime drop. This research builds on two earlier studies in Seattle, Washington, that used trajectory analysis to identify temporal changes in crime at street blocks over a fourteen-year time period. Specifically, this research used a variety of spatial techniques to describe the distribution of the street blocks in each trajectory and their relationship to one another.
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    Regenerative Place-Making at Benning Road Metro Station: Architecture as a Determinant of Identity in the 21st Century
    (2004-05-20) Way, Michael A.; Bowden, Gary; Sachs, Stephen F; Architecture
    Where "placelessness" occurs, inhabitants' potential for finding an existential foothold is compromised. Residents' identities are existentially dispossessed. The effect of such dispossession generates a spectrum of unfavorable behavior patterns, ranging from apathetic malaise to criminal activity. "Regenerative Place-Making" will explore design in a viable but overlooked urban environment. Located near a Metro Station at East Capitol Street and Benning Road, the site is the geographic center of Eastern Washington and is a potential gateway intersection for the district. The urban design will investigate exterior space issues, mixture of uses, and transit-oriented development as stimulus for surrounding neighborhoods. The architectural design will address creation of a landmark, to set character and programmatically anchor the intervention. Character will be rationalized by mnemonic and tectonic aesthetics. Approached holistically, "Regenerative Place-Making" can revitalize neighborhoods, individual identities, and community pride, all of which can reduce crime and raise the median quality of life.