Herron School of Art and Design Theses
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Item Constructivist Hardware Pedagogy in an Electronic Music History Curriculum(2025-05) Dobbs, Christopher Stephen; Drews, Michael; Masko, Meganne; Walzer, Daniel; Sherman, BrandonConstructivist Hardware Pedagogy in a Music History Curriculum is a qualitative case study that seeks to understand the student experience when given access to the modern equivalents of influential music technology designs with the end goal of expanding the student’s historical understanding, instrument literacy, and musical creation skills. The music manufacturing industry is producing new approximations of historical music technology including the Theremin, analog and digital synthesizers, drum machines, and other physical devices that reflect a renewed emphasis on hardware interaction in music production. While most of these devices are more affordable than their predecessors, ownership and experience is beyond the financial means of most students. This intervention provided equity to music technology students in their access to essential modern hardware. Constructivism is used as the foundation for pedagogical revisions to the MUS-M340 History of Electronic Music course in conjunction with the hardware access. The instruction intervention followed a balanced model focusing on student-centric instruction techniques for group learning. Students were provided with access outside the class to work with the hardware to become personally familiar with it, emulating and recontextualizing the work of music technology pioneers and modern creators. Group and individual research projects provided opportunities for students to function as teachers and for the instructors to be the learners. The primary research question is “In what ways does a constructivist design emphasizing physical hardware interactions affect the student experience in an electronic music history course?” The results highlight how this intervention affected the students’ personal creative practices and their understanding and interest in the historical content.Item Exploring Human Adaptations in M-RTC (Music Real-Time Communications): A Qualitative Study(2024-11) Goot, Dana Kemack; Walzer, Daniel; Cafaro, Francesco; Drews, Michael; Palamara, JasonThe research explored how musicians adapt to technology and how they adapt musically and cognitively within the technical and distanced environment of Music Real-Time Communication (M-RTC). Tracing its roots from the U.S. Air Force's 1950s SAGE radar system to today's high-speed Internet, the study highlights the crucial role of the Internet in facilitating real-time collaboration and music sharing. Understanding the technical requirements and challenges of real-time online musicking, alongside necessary cognitive and musical accommodations, addresses the problem of spatial separation and the perception challenges imposed by physical distance. Implemented through a qualitative observational study based on user experiences, the project included real-time online music sessions followed by post-project semi-structured interviews, identifying the adaptations musicians make during real-time online musicking. Case One involved participants from Israel and the United States performing John Lennon's "Imagine." Case Two consisted of observations from M-RTC sessions accessed through social media and platforms like JackTrip, JamKazam, Jamulus, and SonoBus. Case Three included sessions with musicians that I was acquainted with, either through professional organizations or friendship, that had some experience in M-RTC. Through these three cases, three overarching themes emerged: Adaptation to Technology, Adaptation of Sound Embodiment, and Social Experience. The theme of Adaptation to Technology emphasizes the importance of suitable instruction for implementing M-RTC, commitment to learning, and sufficient time for skill acquisition. The Adaptation of Sound Embodiment theme showcases how sensory awareness, spatial hybridization, and interaction dynamics intertwine through music technology tools in musicians’ cognition. The Social Experience theme highlights how collaborative musicking strengthens social bonds and transcends geographical barriers. M-RTC offers a consistent platform for teaching and learning, from music education to cultural exchange, ensuring continuity even when faced with world circumstances that may prevent in-person gatherings. This study's findings offer significant insights into the ways musicians adapt to and navigate the technical and social environment of real-time online musicking, contributing to broader implications for music practice and education in the digital age.Item Measuring and Improving Audience Experience in Online Electro-Acoustic Concerts Through Interaction Design(2024-08) Meng, Chuiyuan; Deal, Scott; Martin-Hammond, Aqueasha; Hsu, Timothy; Palamara, JasonOnline concerts and music events are increasingly needed, especially for genres such as electro-acoustic music. But the perceived levels of social experience and overall satisfaction for online audiences have been low. Recent literature on online concerts indicated that the low audience satisfaction could be caused by the lack of social experience, but the audience experience construct is multifaceted, and it could be influenced by many underlying factors. Audience in online electro-acoustic concerts can be viewed to carry several roles: as concert audience, as consumers of performing arts, as participants in an online social environment, and as end users in an interactive system. This study aims to understand the construct of audience experience in online electroacoustic concerts, examine the influence of underlying factors, and develop an instrument to assess online audience experience by adapting existing tools that separately measure each of the factors from the online audience experience construct. The design of online concert system could also have significant influence on online audience experience. Based on the resulting instrument, this study examines the influence of online concert system design on audience experience and attempts to improve audience experience through system design. The findings will generate strategies to enhance audience experience in future online electro-acoustic concerts.Item An Integrative Literature Review: Understanding Grief Through Interactions with Clay(2024) Downs, Abigail Grace; Misluk, Eileen; Mower, AshleighItem Using art therapy to facilitate interpersonal relationships with LGBTQ+ adolescents in the school setting: A literature review(2022) Dorsch, Gracen; Misluk, EileenThe mental health needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ+) adolescents are worsening due to the lack of available and appropriate services. It was hypothesized that the queer adolescent population would be vastly overlooked in research, thus leading to a significant lack of knowledge on how to best support them. A literature matrix was used to organize research articles and various forms of media regarding this topic. Significant findings include the following: LGBTQ+ adolescents are much more likely to experience disparities in treatment for mental health-related symptoms; safety concerns stem from historical instances of discrimination and adolescent peer conflict; therapeutic approaches, including art therapy, have documented little amounts of research among this population; and the school setting offers a safe environment for receiving therapeutic services. As hypothesized, there was a significant gap in available research pertaining to queer adolescents and their treatment. The proposed art therapy group was included to reduce this gap and offer a template for available services moving forward.Item Overrepresented and Underserved: A Humanistic Art Therapy Group Proposal for Queer Youth in Out of Home Care(2024) Thompson, Dollee; Misluk, Eileen; Chopra, NatashaThe purpose of this review was to explore existing literature on the clinical needs of queer youth in out-of-home care and propose an evidenced-based art therapy group for this population. A traditional literature review was used to gain an understanding of the needs of queer youth, protective factors, minority stress and resilience, and therapeutic approaches. The thematic analysis found queer youth in out-of-home care have experienced more disruption in the development of their physiological needs. These findings were used in the development of a six-level group art therapy proposal for queer youth in out-of-home care. The proposal addresses the needs, challenges and strengths of the population and provides art directives, materials, goals, themes, psychoeducation, and processing questions. The implications of this group proposal are to support this population through research and resources and create more evidenced based approaches for their needs.Item Exploring Cultural Differences in Children’s Artistic Development: Comparing the United States and Japan(2024) Barannikova, Larisa; Misluk, Eileen; Anderson, MyrdeneThis research investigates the impact of culture on artistic development in elementary school children in the United States and Japan. A quantitative study collected drawings from six children in each of the elementary school grades of one, three, and five from both countries and rated each drawing on four developmental measures. The analysis found that children’s drawings in both cultures showed similar developmental levels according to Lowenfeld’s Stages of Artistic Development. It also found that children’s drawings in Japan in all grades had higher levels of detail and manga influence in their figure drawings compared to children in the United States. Finally, the drawings of children in Japan showed forms of spatial representation that were distinct from those of children in the United States and were not accounted for by Lowenfeld’s framework. Due to the small sample size of this study, further research is needed to assess the generalizability of these findings.Item Understanding First-Generation College Students’ Barriers: An Examination of Art Therapy Accessibility(2024) Cook, Kaylin; Misluk, Eileen; McCullough, ShannonThe following study focused on first-generation college students (FGCS) and their relationship to art therapy, specifically asking the question, “How accessible is art therapy for first-generation college students, and what potential barriers do they face when seeking services?”. The study was conducted with 141 FGCS using a mixed methods approach of both qualitative and quantitative data, allowing for the collection of demographic data and insights into FGCS’ experiences. Participants were individuals whose parents had not obtained a four-year degree, were full-time students, and currently enrolled in a large urban midwestern university. Although FGCS reported a high number of barriers, including time availability and financial constraints, participants remained open to art therapy as a mental health service. A combination of high adverse childhood experiences and low mental health service utilization rates within predominately low-income FGCS showcases a high need for the push of art therapy interventions within the community. Future research should explore integrating art therapy services into community-based university engagement events to promote art therapy, analyzing the cost and benefit of such services, and eventually conducting a resiliency-based art therapy group study.Item The Use of a Survey to Identify Types of Self-Care That Graduate Art Therapy Students Engage in For Well-Being(2022) Quinn, Makenzie; Misluk, Eileen; Leeds, ChelseaThis study aimed to identify types of self-care that graduate art therapy students engage in for their overall well-being. To learn more, 108 current graduate art therapy students completed an online survey including questions related to demographics, well-being, self-care, and barriers. The anticipated outcome that graduate art therapy students will use response art and art-making less than other types of self-care was true for response art but not for art-making. The study found that leisure activity was the most common type of self-care used among graduate art therapy students. This study resulted in ample amounts of results that can imply the importance of self-care to graduate art therapy students and could be helpful in further research towards beneficial ways to incorporate self-care within individuals' daily lives for overall well-being.Item Effect of Transracial Adoption on Racial Identity Development : A Phenomenological Arts-Based Self-Study(2024) O’Rear, Hannah; Misluk, Eileen; Neubaum, BrookeCurrent conceptualizations of the impacts of transracial adoption on racial identity development lack a centering of adoptees' perspectives and, furthermore, have yet to be explored through an arts-based approach. In this study, a phenomenological self-study approach was employed, utilizing art-based processes to explore the impacts of transracial adoption on racial development. The methodological structure included six weeks of self-study exploring relevant themes pulled from the literature review, including identity, adoption, cultural identity, and emerging adulthood. Weeks 1 to 4 explored each theme individually, while the last two weeks explored the intersection of all themes combined. Art making utilized 2D and 3D materials occurred twice a week for at least an hour and was analyzed to record sub-themes post-art making. This exploration found that this structure provided a place to artistically express complicated emotions surrounding the intersecting themes related to transracial adoption and facilitated the emergence of sub-themes to consider in further research. This designed self-study structure empowers the transracial adoptee's voice, providing an outlined method that other adoptees may utilize to deepen self-identity understanding. Moreover, this research informs the greater understanding of the impacts that transracial adoption has on adoptees.