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Traditionally modern: achieving thermal comfort in housing with conventional passive systems
No full textIn contemporary architecture, traditional passive systems are a time-tested,
overlooked solution to reducing energy consumption and enhancing thermal
comfort. The thesis focuses on adapting traditional practices from Europe and
the Middle East in designing passive heating and cooling systems and their
incorporation into modern residential design to minimize HVAC use, creating
more sustainable architecture.
Located in Los Angeles, the project investigates climate-responsiveness using
techniques such as thermal mass, natural ventilation, shading, and evaporative
cooling. Historical precedents provide insight into how they functioned, while
new research enables their optimization for modern application. The project
demonstrates, through analysis and experimentation, how passive strategies
could be integrated with modern materials, construction methods, and
aesthetics. Additionally, the project highlights the benefits of passive systems,
including economic savings, improved air quality, increased comfort, and a
richer spatial experience. The program of the project is a single-family house
that displays the practical use of these systems in a modern urban context.
Models, drawings, and performance analysis are fundamental in highlighting
these benefits. By revisiting and adapting these building practices, the research
aims to create a better, energy-saving, and climatically responsive way of
designing residential buildings.Thesis (B. Arch.)College of Architecture and Plannin
Community-centered filmmaking: a journey of documentary and distribution
No full textIn the past, independent documentary filmmakers have experienced an increasingly complex distribution landscape shaped by film festivals, streaming services, and public broadcasting. This creative project explores the creation and potential release strategy for The Common Market: Beating Heart of Muncie, a short documentary about the community impact of the titular gathering space in Muncie, Indiana. The project uses a hybrid methodology, while also reflecting on the creative ideologies made to align with those approaches. The distribution methods analyzed include grassroots screenings, film festivals, digital, public television, and hybrid models. Research findings informed the film’s twelve minute runtime, maximizing its potential within community-first engagement and festival acceptance. While logistical limitations shaped the decision to focus on grassroots engagement and the festival circuit, the broader analysis hopes to provide filmmakers with a blueprint for their own, individualized creative projects. This creative project demonstrates that community-focused stories and independent creative work can reach wide audiences when artistic vision and distribution decisions are purposefully aligned
The trials and triumphs of female college students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) as they transition to college
No full textMany females with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are not diagnosed until adulthood although they exhibited signs of the condition in childhood which were often misinterpreted or were masked to obtain social acceptance. A delayed diagnosis in females, even during secondary school, can significantly impact them as they transition into postsecondary educational settings where they are at increased risk for academic underperformance, persistence, and degree completion. College students with ADHD are at increased risk of not completing their degree programs due to obtaining failing grades and withdrawing from courses. Parents worry about taking a subordinate role in the lives of their children with ADHD as they transition and must manage symptoms associated with their ADHD for the first time independently. Characteristics of ADHD such as an impaired behavioral regulatory system may interfere with a young woman’s ability to assess and evaluate situations that may place her at harm for intimate partner violence or sexual assault. The purpose of this study was to gain insight into the experiences of female college students with ADHD during their transition into college. Critical disability theory and an interpretive paradigm provided the theoretical framework for this narrative study. The three research questions asked: How do female college students with ADHD describe their academic, their socioemotional, and relational experiences when transitioning to college. Three core themes emerged from the study: compensatory behaviors, relational stress, and treatment. The results showed that the study participants had to create systems to ensure academic success and to nurture and maintain their relationships with others. Living with ADHD was viewed as overwhelming without the proper structure. Support and encouragement from peers and family, in addition to treatment, helped them cope with the stigma often associated with ADHD. The implications of the study and recommendations for future practice were developed for the following areas: students with ADHD, disability services in higher education, faculty and others in higher education, and the field of adult and continuing education.D.Ed
Optimizing choral sound through vowel modification: the resonance matching method
No full textThis dissertation examines the effectiveness of vowel modification—specifically Scott Kitzmiller's Resonance Matching Method—as a tool for enhancing choral resonance, blend, and intonation. Resonance Matching groups vowels according to shared first format (F₁) frequencies, enabling singers to align resonance patterns and achieve more unified formant tuning. Although vowel modification is well established in vocal pedagogy, its systemic application with choral ensmbles through formant-based grouping is a novel concept. The study scaled the method from its origin with barbershop quartets to a tenor-bass choir.
Using VoceVista Video Pro spectrographic analysis, this study compares recordings of tenor-bass choirs from 2009 (control) and 2023 (experimental), performing David Phelp's arrangement of "O Love That Will Not Let Me Go." Selected cadences were analyzed for spectral peaks, formant-harmonic alignment, and amplitude of overtones. A newly developed metric, the Harmonic Vowel Index (HVI), provided quantifiable measures of resonance matching and spectral reinforcement.
Results demonstrate that ensembles employing the Resonance Matching approach exhibited stronger and more consistent spectral energy, clearer harmonic alignmentm and improved ensemble resonance. These outcomes support the claim that choral blend and intonation can be optimized through resonance-based vowel unification. Furthermore, the findings underscore the pedagogical value of integrating acoustic analysis tools into rehearsal processes, offering conductors an empirical framework that moves beyond subjective descriptors of tone quality.
By linking source-filter theory, overtone reinforcement, and spectrographic imagery to practival rehearsal strategies, this research contributes to the fields of choral acoustics, ensemble redagogy, and voice science. The study concludes that vowel modification informed by formant alignment provides a viable and measurable pathway toward cultivating a resonant, unified choral sound.D.A
Dear God, I'm doing the best I can
No full textI have created five sculptures, with the main medium being glass, for this exhibition. Glass is the material that I find myself to be the most naturally drawn to and find the most enjoyment working in. Several artists, architectural styles, and elements of the natural world have influenced my artwork. These include the artist duo Stanislav Libensky and Jaroslava Brychtova, Kit Paulson, Wesley Fleming, Gothic cathedral architecture, and the native Orb-weaver spiders of Indiana. These sculptures illustrate a home in the wake of abandonment by the church. This series of artwork is about climbing back from the ruins and the rubble of being left behind and to continue to carve out a space, a home, for yourself.B.F.A.School of Ar
This is not a Ferrari!
No full textCar museums often fail to engage visitors beyond static displays, treating
automobiles as artifacts rather than experiences. As a result, they become rigid
spaces that lack interaction, failing to ignite curiosity and emotional connection.
In response, this thesis poses the question: How can innovative architectural
design redefine the car museum to enhance visitor engagement through
aesthetics, spatial organization, and interactivity?
The Lamborghini Experience Museum proposes a new model that integrates
design, technology, and storytelling to create a multi-sensory, immersive
journey. Located in a high-profile urban setting, the museum is conceived as
an architectural landmark, drawing inspiration from Lamborghini’s signature
design language bold, aerodynamic, and sculptural. The exterior itself becomes
a statement, blurring the line between architecture and automotive form. Inside,
the museum challenges conventional gallery layouts by introducing a dynamic
spatial organization that encourages exploration. A rotating exhibit ensures a
fresh and evolving experience, while the interactive design lab invites visitors
to engage in the creative process, assembling scaled models and envisioning
future Lamborghini concepts. The museum’s design prioritizes flow, visibility,
and engagement, using strategic sightlines, layered experiences, and bold
materiality to create an environment that is as thrilling as the cars themselves.Thesis (B. Arch.)College of Architecture and Plannin
Projecting student success: predictive analytic explorations of admissions data, the LASSI-HS, and institutional academic performance
No full textThere is an increasing need for student success professionals to have accurate data on students
who are most likely at-risk in order to promote outreach efforts and interventions to those who
may benefit the most. Using predictive analytics, university personnel can potentially identify
these students on a large scale, allowing for targeted interventions, maximizing impact with
limited institutional resources. The goal of the study was to attempt to build “real-time” models
predicting for graduation that adapted as new information about a student cohort was available.
Utilizing random forest algorithms, conditional inference trees, and logistic regression, this study
explored the possibility of utilizing these techniques in a new institutional context. The first
models started with low predictive accuracy, moving to moderate predictive accuracy as
additional student data was incorporated. Variables related to high school performance and firstyear
collegiate performances were the strongest predictors found in the models. Survey data on
student attitudes towards learning was not found to be a strong predictor overall, although it may
be more predictive for students with lower high school GPA. Future studies should consider
disaggregating the data further to see if certain variables predict with higher accuracy for specific
student groups, such as students below a GPA threshold, or in a particular academic program.M. S
Guns, gods, and grand delusions
No full textGuns, Gods, and Grand Delusions is a body of work that confronts the injustices woven into American society—white supremacy, political extremism, and systemic abuse of power. Drawing inspiration from personal experiences of marginalization and artists like Francisco Goya and Sue Coe, my work aims to expose uncomfortable truths through raw, provocative imagery. I explore these themes using a dark, muted color palette, distorted figures, and nontraditional perspectives to communicate urgency and emotional weight. Influenced by my upbringing in a predominantly white, conservative town, I create work that channels grief, rage, and empathy into visual protest. Each piece is a reflection of the social chaos we live in and a call to question complicity, challenge authority, and demand accountability. My process is intuitive and rooted in mixed media, allowing space for subconscious expression and unpredictable outcomes. This exhibition is both deeply personal and unapologetically political, created to disturb, provoke, and inspire change.B.F.A.School of Ar
Useful decorations: exploring ornamentation in the contemporary scene
No full textThroughout architectural history, ornament has long been understood as an
important component of architectural design. With the rise of the Modernist
movement in the early 20th century, architectural thinkers abandoned ornament
in the pursuit of a more simplistic approach to creating space. This view has
influenced contemporary design, and ornament is now often seen as superficial
and excessive.
Useful Decorations explores how re-engaging with ornament might bridge
historical and contemporary practices and philosophies, offering insight into
how ornament can be purposeful and relevant in today’s built environment.
This proposed new rationale for ornament examines how the visual language
established in cultural crafts, traditions, and motifs of a particular place and
time can be leveraged for creating both decorative and ornamental gestures
in architecture. This thesis also explores the relationship between profile and
ornament through pattern-making, object design, architectural representation,
and performative architectural applications. This project aims to contribute to a
more nuanced understanding of ornament as a useful and heuristic component
of contemporary architectural expression. In doing so, this thesis encourages
a reconsideration of ornament that acknowledges its potential to enrich
contemporary architecture and the culture of place.Thesis (B. Arch.)College of Architecture and Plannin
The ceryneian hind
No full textAs one of his labors, Heracles was tasked with capturing a deer without harming it, but in my collection of essays, aptly named The Ceryneian Hind, I killed the sacred deer and must atone for this. This collection is a series of coming of age essays that explore anxiety, dysphoria, and heartbreak, with each essay twined with a Greek myth: Prometheus and Epimetheus, Atlas and Heracles, Ariadne and her string, and the Minotaur and Theseus. Through these myths, I am better able to explore my circumstances, and through writing these essays, I am able to understand my mistakes and seek a path of redemption. In composing five essays and two multimodal pieces (one comic and the other an essay on a string,) I bridge the ancient and modern, the despairs and hopes of a young writer, and the textual and visual to broaden my sense of reality and seek answers to long-held questions. The Ceryneian Hind is an omen and a blessing; in loss, we will find the stories to uplift our hearts.M. A