Research Papers
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Research papers submitted to the Graduate School by Ball State University master's degree candidates in partial fulfillment of degree requirements.
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Item The monstrous queer in Jennifer's Body(2023-05) Spriggs, Erica; Rapatz, VanessaThis thesis explores how queerness is socially repositioned in order to maintain the heteronormative status-quo. Because the queer body is not a site for heteronormative replication, the masculine cannot claim ownership over the othered to resolve the castration complex and maternal contaminant, making the queer body monstrous in order to resolve their sociological uncanniness through death. However, Jennifer’s Body, a film written by Diablo Cody and directed by Karyn Kusama, refuses those narrative solutions and remains the unresolved uncanny, making Jennifer a threat to the dominant hetero-narrative, because she resurrects, insatiably consumes, and self-replicates. Diablo Cody’s Jennifer’s Body is a warning. Try to regulate the queer body, and they will rise from the dead to dig your grave.Item Hit the road Jackson: an analysis of parking availability in Jackson, Michigan(2023-05) Schauerte, Anton; Deeg, LohrenThis study examines the utilization rate of parking spaces in downtown Jackson between July 2022 and September 2022. The research aims to highlight the usage of 4,524 public and private parking spaces during both times of high occupancy and normal occupancy. Data was collected for parking spaces located on the street, in an off-street surface parking lot, and in the downtown parking garages. The study found that although some areas occasionally experienced occupancy rates exceeding the recommended 85% threshold, there was typically ample parking available on at least one adjacent block. This research suggests that downtown Jackson has enough parking to meet both the current needs and the needs in the short-term. Nonetheless, a list of recommended actions has also been included to ensure the existing parking infrastructure is used efficiently as therefore reduces the need to build additional infrastructure.Item Imagining ogbanje: recentering African culture in Akwaeke Emezi's Freshwater(2023-05) Ramos-Niaves, Vincent; Ferguson, MollyThis essay seeks to recontextualize the African spirits (Ogbanje) in Akwaeke Emezi's Freshwater from western interpretations of them as alternate personalities back towards their more traditional roles as African trickster spirits. Because Freshwater does not adhere to the larger standard literary definition of a migrant narrative, the text is often subjected to solely Western-based theorizations of what these spirits could represent in a primarily American text according to dominant Western cultural themes. However, the novel’s lean towards disruption of binary systems of power, primarily in gender, allows for a more thorough elaboration on the role Ogbanje and African culture takes in the discovery of identity for the central character Ada. This then creates a more dynamic understanding of Freshwater as an African immigrant text that offers a separation from typical interpretations of psychological themes. In combination with Sarah Ahmed’s Theory of Happiness and Jack Halbertstam’s Female Masculinity, this essay then seeks to recontextualize key gendered implications in this text through established African cultural implications.Item How sports television broadcasts have evolved in the covid era(2023-05) Leff, Grant; Brookey, RobertThis review has presented an analysis of the evolution of sports television from its previous iteration prior to the COVID-19 pandemic into its new era in the 2020s. The pandemic has kickstarted a massive shift from standard production flows to remote integration productions (REMIs), which allow for many production roles to be done off sight. This has resulted in the economics of sports television being vastly affected, from the cost of production per game to the local employee market. Combined with advancements in camera and production technology as well as general societal shifts, the look of a broadcast in the 2020s is noticeably differently than one from just a few short years ago. Beyond that, the distribution of sports broadcasts to the masses is amid its biggest transformation in modern history. The expiration of decades-long television rights contracts as well as the meteoric rise of streaming has opened the door for the leagues and their broadcast partners to revolutionize the way fans consume live sports. Many of the most impactful changes have already occurred or are in their earliest stages, but massive dominos have yet to fall that will have ripple effects across the industry for the remainder of the decade. Particularly, the upcoming pivot of the NFL Sunday Ticket package after nearly three decades from DirecTV to YouTube TV as well as the ongoing bankruptcy of Bally Sports will fundamentally alter the terrestrial television model and the prevalence of regional sports networks (RSNs). There is sufficient evidence suggesting these changes could mark the end of traditional television viewing as we know it.Item Preservice teachers' perceptions of critical thinking, dis-information, and fostering an informed citizenry in Indiana P-12 schools and implications for their future classrooms(2022-12-17) Siebert, Cathy J.; Schaal, Pamela M.Access to abstract permanently restricted