For my final project, I have decided to create an art piece showcasing the haunting, yet beautiful, chilling ruins left behind from the first world war. My project was inspired by the movie “1917” which was loosely based on real life events. The movie tells a story of two British soldiers who must deliver a message across no man’s land, to stop an attack on the Germans, that would lose entire platoons if attempted. The story itself moved me, however in the final scenes of the film, it shows a soldier running through a series of ruins that are being lit up by flares and other weaponry fire (such as grenades and machine guns). The scene told a story of bravery and fear, running through a battlefield of destroyed architecture, fallen soldiers around every turn, while the sky is lit up by enemy fire, as this soldier races against time to deliver a message to save his comrades. The artwork I decided to create is an abandoned building, ransacked by German forces. As you may know, and as depicted in the film, German’s knew that after you left a place, you destroyed a place, so it could not be used by any enemies who followed behind. The artwork I am creating will show rubble from grenade and gunfire, as well as burning walls, an attempt to showcase the German style of military I mentioned above. If you pay close attention to detail, you will notice that I attempted to add details to this piece that you would perhaps find in a true battlefield, such as fallen soldiers, rats eating away at dead or wounded men, helmets left behind, bullet holes in the architecture and cracks in the foundation. I chose to use dark colors to attempt to capture the idea of a smoke-filled room, and I researched French military uniforms of the time, since the battlefield I created is set to take place in France. I also researched French architecture during that time to try to accurately represent what a real battle scene might have looked like during this time. I also watched videos of French and British soldiers describing their time serving during World War One, to somewhat put myself into their shoes, and gain a more mindful perspective before I created this piece. I also watched videos of French battlefields “then and now” to get a better idea of what France looked like during the war. These videos showed a lot of grass and hill like land, however there were a few buildings which were extremely helpful and even a few images of soldiers during that time. While researching this project, I tried to envision what it would be like to be a soldier during WW1. I learned a lot about courage, bravery, and pride. These men were called to war for their country, not knowing when (or if) they would return, and yet they sprung to action to defend their country. Some of these men would even lie down their lives for their cause, and that is something I do not know if I would have been able to do. Young men with lives yet to live and older men with families to care for, all came together to fight for their country. I also learned a lot about respect while researching this project. Learning what I now know about courage, I have gained a lot of respect for the men and women who have fought, and continue to fight, for my country. Although I did most of my research on Europe (France) during the first world war, I was able to develop a new perspective for the veterans of my own country as well.

The Vietnam Conflict has affected the lives of many people. This includes the South Vietnamese refugees and immigrants who came to the United States in the years following the conflict. Many of these individuals were seeking to escape hostile treatment or for better economic opportunities. Regardless of the various reasons, refugees and asylum seekers faced societal and everyday obstacles as they arrived in a new culture. These obstacles heightened as they dealt with the trauma and ramifications of coming from a country in conflict. For our project, we will use an informational poster to demonstrate our research. Our project focuses on understanding and portraying the transition of Vietnamese refugees into American society and the impact the Vietnam Conflict had on how they have adapted? This poster will explore the relationship between locals, refugees, and immigrant populations and the transformation that has happened within those relationships over time.

In the late fifteenth and early sixteenth century, thousands of people across Europe were accused of witchcraft. This resulted in thousands of witch trials and executions. For such a large-scale pandemic like this to traverse an entire continent, there had to be a key trigger. During this time, women were viewed as less-than, and there was a clear patriarchy in place over them. It is also well documented that women were the main targets when it came to witch accusations, trials, and executions. Women and witches were basically used as props to instill the current patriarchy of the time, as well as further the movement of the Reformation at the time. Using the figure of the witch to scare the public into following the church’s will, as well as the law (which often were intertwined). The government and religious figures of the time did this effectively by giving out pamphlets with scary witch-like figures in them, and even going as far as to having public executions of those accused and convicted. This may seem like so long ago, but the aftermath of these events has even had lasting effects on the way society views magic, witchcraft, and women today. Anyone who practices magic in general is usually eyed strangely, but especially women. Most people usually think of women as being the ones who still mainly practice magic, and it’s always seen as this evil, taboo, and downright strange practice. Witches are also usually linked to horror-like genres of books, movies, and film, and the term “witchy” is even used to describe women who appear dark and/ or mysterious (usually not a good connotation either). This discussion will argue that although women were not the sole targets during the witch trials, they were the main target for gendered, political, religious, and propaganda-fueled reasons.

When most people think of Japanese history, their first thought is the samurai, which are usually thought to only be male. Many know little about female samurai, or deny that they exist in any form other than modern entertainment like Japanese anime. Referred to as onna bugeisha, female samurai did in fact exist, and some are highly revered in Japanese history and culture, contradicting the view of Japan's historically strict gender roles. However, they remain relatively unknown to the Western world. Due to this lack of knowledge by the general public, my poster presentation looks at the few women we do know about and how they impacted Japanese history. It will also give some general facts about the onna bugeisha, including what weapons they typically used compared to male samurai and the training they underwent. The information that is presented will be from a variety of sources, many written recently.

This newspaper style poster presentation will depict the global events of the 1960s and 1970s and their relation to the events which occurred at the Kent State University Campus on May 4th, 1970, which lead to the untimely deaths of four students and injury of nine others, and will analyze the enduring impacts of the event on our society. There will be focus placed on the events which occurred in the lead-up to May 4th and in the aftermath of the devastating incident as well as its lasting impact in the fifty years since. There will be a concentration on the events of the conflict in Vietnam and their influence on dissent in American society and among students at Kent State University. There will also be coverage of the Jackson State University shooting of 1970.