Browsing by Subject "Story"
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Item Designing visitor engagement for online museum exhibitions(2012-08) Briggs, Brian; Cho, Hyojung; White, Scott; Dean, David K.For many museum professionals, particularly those who work in American history museums, designing exhibitions that engage a broad audience can be a difficult, but necessary, matter. As these professionals try to compete in new markets, broad engagement becomes more important. Even when they compete to tell familiar stories, such as those of the American Indian Wars, this type of design can still prove challenging. For over 20 years museums have continued to seek means for broad audience engagement in physical exhibitions, but little critical inquiry has occurred regarding neither online exhibitions nor the American Indian Wars. To fill this niche, this study offers a new method of designing, critiquing, and re-designing the narratives used currently in online museum exhibitions of the American Indian Wars. By advocating a means of argument built in communication theory that is capable of providing analytical tools for developmental work of online exhibitions, this study seeks to expand the disciplinary capacity of Museum Science. By applying Altman’s Theory of Narrative to three specifically chosen case studies this study produced two results. One that the current works of exhibition designed online by history museums seems to offer limited character constructions to the audience thereby limiting user choice and ultimately audience engagement. Secondly, that the narratives currently produced also limit engagement potential by returning a singular message from the museum as an authority figure. These results demonstrate how the tool advocated here, a combination of two aspects of communication theory can better inform the design of online museum exhibitions and by extension the exhibitions of the American Indian Wars as they occur online. The recognition that narratives are currently formed in ways that limit the engagement of a digital audience produces the ability to begin to break down these forms and re-design them focusing on expanded characters and narratives built to foster discussion and inquiry by the audience.Item I used to be an asshole. I got better.(2016-05) Novacek, Natalie Louise; Lynn, Kirk; Isackes, RichardBefore UT, I didn’t feel like a story-maker. I was a director. Or maybe a story-interpreter. I had a desire to have authorship that extended beyond the production or the process, but I had no idea how to make that happen. Through my work on new plays with generous playwrights and close collaborations with designers, I began to see my ideas take solid form on the pages of the script and on the stage. That level of physical input and meaningful change felt both rewarding and important. It is now something I strive for in all my projects and something I value in artists with whom I choose to work. In this thesis, I will reflect on my directorial history, how that history led me to a place of authorship, and where my work stands today in my evolution from story-interpreter to story-maker.Item Short fiction creative writing: storytelling with a film perspective(Texas A&M University, 2005-08-29) Francis, JamesThe research and material contained in this thesis will examine short story theory from current perspectives in the field and provide a response to questions posed about the composition of short fiction. A critical introduction will take into account these theories and lead into a collection of five short stories written from a filmmaking perspective. The collection of work provided represents an attempt to break stereotype in the construction and formatting of what is considered standard short story material. Focus for the collection concerns sensory perception, elements of film (flashback sequencing and extended exposition) and gender/race identity. Through the critical introduction and short story collection, the completed thesis will prove that the study and practice of creative writing cannot be regulated by a set of technical guidelines.Item Transcending invisibility through the power of story: an analysis of the life journey of Mr. John, a rural school custodian, as told by his granddaughter(Texas A&M University, 2005-02-17) Maxwell, Gerri M.Public school leaders routinely overlook the talents and contributions of blue-collar support staff that can and do play viable roles in the success of schools. Somewhat ironically, a common piece of advice given to first year teachers by more experienced mentors is, ?Get to know the school secretary and custodian ? everybody knows they really run the school.? Although this phrase is commonly bantered about by educators and informal school lore accords it the status of truth, the school leadership research literature is virtually silent about the contributions such workers can make. In Texas, where there are over one thousand school districts, many of which are rural and ?stepping stones? for career track administrators, it is these community members who work as the secretaries, bus drivers, and custodians that many times serve as the cultural glue helping these districts survive. These invisible workers make important contributions to the coherency of the culture and mission of the school. My white maternal grandfather worked as a custodian in a rural school district for more than fifty-three years. Within the past five years, in the course of conversation, two casual acquaintances volunteered information regarding my grandfather?s contributions as a custodian in that school district that later I realized were instrumental in the sense of the project coming to me (Cole & Knowles, 2001). As a rural school custodian with a third grade education, my grandfather lived with multiple oppressive forces in his life. The lack of opportunity for education, the low socio-economic status of his rural family, the marginalization that society deals to those persons who choose dirty work (Meagher, 2002), and the sometimes overt, but often just an unintentional, power struggle with school leadership were all oppressive forces in his life. Whether he consciously realized it or not, my grandfather?s behavior (as evidenced by informant conversations) revealed this oppression. He survived, even thrived, and dealt with this oppression through the most effective means he knew of and obviously honed throughout his lifetime. My grandfather used humor as a means of survival. My grandfather was a master storyteller. This is his story.