Student Work
This collection contains works by undergraduate and graduate students in the Department of Languages and Literatures at the University of Northern Iowa.
To go to the Department of Languages and Literatures page, click here.
Theses/Dissertations from 2026
A Hero For Whom: The Caped Crusading State Apparatus, Jonathan Bethards Thesis (UNI Access Only)
ChatGPT and L2 Writing Development: A Perception-to-Performance Study with Adult Multilingual Learners, Doaa Ibrahim
“En la clase, sí. En Estados Unidos, no.”: La motivación, la pertenencia y el intercambio de recursos en clases para adultos aprendices de inglés, Katie Hunter Open Access Graduate Research Paper
“Police Power” or Puppeteer: US Interventions in Latin America and its Immigration Crisis, Alison Meagher Poster Presentation
Secrets of Scholars: On Becoming a Novelist, Payten Reese Honors Program Thesis (Electronic Copy Not Available)
The ABC’s Few Chapters, Kaleb Soucie Thesis (UNI Access Only)
The Role of Google Translate in Supporting Writing Accuracy and Classroom Expectations Among ESL Students: A Qualitative Case Study, Thi Thu Ngan Ho
The Sisterlands, Elise McDowell Thesis (UNI Access Only)
Touch with the Soil: Foreign Settings in Contemporary American Expatriate Fiction, Wesley Fraiman
Submissions from 2025
A Case Study of Harmful Revisionist History: An Analysis of Nada Por Lo Que Pedir Perdón by Marcelo Gullo Omodeo, Anna Anderson Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Addressing the Overemphasis and Impacts of Academic Language in English Language Learner Instruction, Rebecca Pint Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Censorship: Through an Iowan’s Eyes, Erin McRae Open Access Thesis
Countering Deficit Ideologies in Adult Multilingual Education, Fatma Ahmed Hussein Ryad Graduate Research Paper (Electronic Copy Not Available)
De QuikTrip a la Panadería: El Paisaje Lingüístico de Capitol East, Des Moines, Iowa, Kathleen Hunter
Gonna, Kinda, Nothin’, an’ so on: Attributions of Literary Dialect by American Versus British Writers, Wesley Freiman
Hireability of Female Hispanic Applicants by Accent/Career Type and Participant First Language, Lauren Logue and Helen C. Harton Poster Presentation (UNI Access Only)
Hireability of Female Hispanic Applicants by Accent/Career Type and Participant First Language, Lauren Logue and Helen C. Harton
Inclusive Language: Evolution of Morphophonological Gender Agreement in Spanish and Modern Perceptions of Its Use, Acelia Dianne Watts Honors Program Thesis (UNI Access Only)
Investigating Pronunciation Teaching Practices and Teachers’ Beliefs about Pronunciation in EFL Classrooms in Burkina Faso, Moussa Barry
Investigating Pronunciation Teaching Practices and Teachers’ Beliefs about Pronunciation Instruction in EFL/ESL Classrooms, Barry Moussa Open Access Graduate Research Paper
Las Experiencias en Escolarización de Hablantes de Herencia en Iowa: Sus Propias Palabras, Anna Anderson
Linguistic Representation in the Public Library of Cedar Falls: Successes and Recommendations, Sara Petersen Poster Presentation
Material Sins: A Novel Excerpt, Patrick Markovich Open Access Thesis
¿Por qué Estudiar Español?: Un Examinación de los Motivaciones de los Estudiantes Universitarios, Neah McGovern
Rural Girl Comedy Hour, Riley McCall Open Access Thesis
Sons of the Red Earth: A Collection of Short Stories, Tomiisin Ilesanmi Thesis (UNI Access Only)
Sunlight through Stained Glass, Lauren Hanssen Thesis (UNI Access Only)
The Eights, a Play by Katrina Sandvik, Katrina Sandvik Thesis (UNI Access Only)
The Influence of Field Experiences on English Language Teachers' Preparedness: An Analysis of Teacher Education in Nigeria, Bushroh O. Animashaun
The Relationship between Backgrounds and the Perception of Tones in Mandarin, Abigail Franks Open Access Honors Program Thesis
The Schooling Experiences of Heritage Speakers in Iowa: In Their Own Words, Anna Anderson Open Access Poster Presentation
The Use of Spanish in Political Advertisements, Bailey Johnson
Three Youth, Three Experiences with Spanish as a Heritage Language, Lizbeth Montalvo Poster Presentation
Submissions from 2024
A Departure from Standards Focused Writing, Clement Peneueta Graduate Research Paper (UNI Access Only)
Changing Demographics in a Rural Iowa High School: A Case Study of the Experiences of Emergent Bilinguals, Lindsay Carter Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Childhood Experiences with Finances and How They Affect Bargaining for Salary, Lauren Logue and Maelah Golden
Culturally Responsive Practice and Reading Motivation: Action Research on Community Involvement in Literature Circles, Lindsey Sinnwell Graduate Research Paper (UNI Access Only)
Equity in Harmony: Music Teacher Preparedness and Perceptions of Multilingual Learners In The Midwest, McKenzie Vick Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Examining the Use of Personal Narrative on Students’ Understandings of Identity, Abigail Heggen Graduate Research Paper (UNI Access Only)
Fostering Multiliteracies and Engagement with Multimodal Texts in the Secondary English Language Arts Classroom, Amanda J. Hargis Open Access Graduate Research Paper
Gender and Student Motivation in Domestic and Foreign Language Study, Macey Overturf Open Access Honors Program Thesis
How Pizza and Stickers Drove My Kids to Read and Kept Them Reading, Tiya Montaño Open Access Graduate Research Paper
If You Give a Reader a Depression Narrative: The Mental Health Memoir as a Vessel for Education and Representation, Riley McCall
Little Miss Sure Shot: Essays on a Young Woman Journalist's Search for Fulfillment, Mallory Schmitz Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Positioning Paperback Books as Americana: Cultural and Historical Impacts of the Wadle Pocket Book Collection, Jake Volk Open Access Thesis
Retention and Attrition of Teachers of Color: Why Teachers of Color Leave the Profession, Alexix Noring Graduate Research Paper (UNI Access Only)
“Sit Still, Look Pretty to Survive”: An Analysis of The Hunger Games Trilogy, Bryleigh De Jong Open Access Poster Presentation
¿Tengo el derecho a votar?: The Impacts of Accessible, Multilingual Voting Materials on the Participation of Hispanic/Latinx Groups, Madeline Hinz
¿Tengo el derecho a votar?: Un análisis de las leyes del acceso lingüístico y los impactos de recursos multilingües de votación en la participación de votantes hispanos en Iowa y Michigan, Madeline L. Hinz Open Access Honors Program Thesis
The Frequency of Interrogative Structure Variants of WH-Questions in Spoken French-Language Media Interviews from The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Emily Mae Wilding and Elizabeth Zwanziger
Unreliable Narrators; Origins and Impact, Lauren Fetzer Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Why Would I Read When the Game is On?: Reasons Adults Give for Reading or Not, Emmy C. Nelson Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Events from 2023
Acoustic Analysis of L2-French Vowels Contrasts Produced by Native Speakers of American English, Benjamin Godard
¿Adónde ir? Los efectos perpetuos de la formación "inexistente" para maestros de inmersión lingüística, Cody J. Boozell Open Access Graduate Research Paper
Bilingual Baby: Confessions of a Latina Woman, Karina Ortiz
Carpet Hell: A Backrooms Story, A Creative Exploration of The Backrooms and Liminal Space Horror, Christian Dean Jauron Honors Program Thesis (UNI Access Only)
From Art to Propaganda: The Shift in the Concept of the “Most Dead” in True Crime Literature, Hannah McConkey Open Access Thesis
Sinking Into My Skin: An Exploration of the Mind and Body Through Multigenre Creative Writing, Ana Elizabeth Eagan Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Spanish in the U.S. PSA Project, Sam Zimmerman and Jordan Carter
The Pandemic-Uncanny: Self-Estrangement and Environment in Out There and Bliss Montage, Kersten Khaley Open Access Thesis
Trending en TikTok: El cambio de código como estrategia discursiva; Trending on TikTok: Code-Switching as a Discursive Strategy, Jessica Vrioni
Tú dices “plátano” y yo digo “mofongo”: Una representación de la normalización del biculturalismo en Alma’s Way, Jordan Carter
Unlocking Possibility: The Influence of the Oulipo Movement on Language, Semantics, and Politics in Modern Literature, Sidney M. Haren Thesis (UNI Access Only)
Using Color with Care: An Exploration of the Application of Psychological Color Theory within Language Classrooms, Mackenzie Wisneski Open Access Poster Presentation
"Variety": A Look at Several Genres, Ryan Dean Carlin Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Events from 2022
Conversaciones sobre los latinxs en EE.UU.: A Spanish-language Podcast, Emily Robinson
"Descendant" or "The Children of Life:" Superhumans, not superheroes, Kellen Schmidt Honors Program Thesis (UNI Access Only)
Doing corpus pragmatics: Variations in speech acts performed in conversations occurring naturally in academic contexts, Jacob Philip Rigal Open Access Thesis
Ecocriticism in young adult dystopian literature: Revealing a generation's desire to reconnect with nature, Alexus Williams Thesis (UNI Access Only)
Prophet loss, Brooke Marie Wiese Thesis (UNI Access Only)
Tell me, which realm do I remember?, Danielle Dunagan Thesis (UNI Access Only)
The new independents: A historical analysis of webcomics and webtoon, Leonal A. Sepúlveda S. Open Access Thesis
The trouble with floating, Alyssa Minch Thesis (UNI Access Only)
Using color with care: An exploration of the application of psychological color theory within language classrooms, Mackenzie Wisneski Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Using Color with Care: An Exploration of the Application of Psychological Color Theory within Language Classrooms, Mackenzie Wisneski Open Access Poster Presentation
Young adult Holocaust literature: How is the Holocaust depicted and what is appropriate to teach?, Madison Hilbert Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Submissions from 2021
An hour and a half from nowhere: A collection of rural fantasy stories, Ashley Jean Webb Honors Program Thesis (UNI Access Only)
Deities and dumbasses, Isaac Nielson Thesis (UNI Access Only)
Trouble Brewing: An exploration in parasocial relationships with fictional characters, Isabelle Zeimetz Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Exploring the rhetorical constitution of a safe space for women in Begum Rokeya and Frances Ellen Watkins Harper's works, Rifat Rezowana Siddiqui Open Access Thesis
Gio's story, Sermantha Louisy Thesis (Electronic Copy Not Available)
Hybridity, border-crossings and the homeland in contemporary literature by women, Rand Omar Khalil Khalil Thesis (UNI Access Only)
"Into the Unknown": Masquerading Fear in Over the Garden Wall, Kayla Lawrence
It's hard to lose: Embracing a place-based mindset and reculturing rural areas and students, Anthony T. Skip Olson Graduate Research Paper (UNI Access Only)
My year with digital supremacists, Nick Baur Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Phonology and fluency: How pronunciation is (and is not) taught in United States ESL classrooms, Nik Hucke Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Possessive structures and genitive case: Spanish and English compared, Elizabeth Kelsey Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Preparing tomorrow's teachers: A program analysis of teacher education in Iowa and its role in preparing preservice teachers for emergent bilinguals, Karrigan Alexandria Mentzer Open Access Honors Program Thesis
"The Concord Concept:" Speculative fiction challenging young adult literature conventions, Dylan Lee Haase Honors Program Thesis (UNI Access Only)
What man artow?: An exploration of the narrator of the Canterbury tales, Kimberly Cavalier Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Theses/Dissertations from 2020
An elephant is in the lake: How a nice girl navigated growing up amidst murder and madness in suburban Chicago, Mary Chipman Thesis (UNI Access Only)
De Vos a Tú: Acomodación lingüística y actitudes lingüísticas en estudiantes internacionales de Centroamérica en los Estados Unidos = De Vos a Tú: linguistic accommodation and language attitudes among Central American international students in the United States, Jose Salinas Herrera Open Access Graduate Research Paper 2021 Award
Evercross, Randi Ann Smith Thesis (UNI Access Only)
Guardian, a novel, John Ross Mason Thesis (UNI Access Only)
Stained glass, synthetic web: The simultaneous rise and fall of something person, Seth Thill Thesis (Electronic Copy Not Available) 2020 Award
Synchronous Online Teaching of English as a Foreign Language with Young Learners: How Do Teachers Do It?, Ruford Cross
The miseducation of American youth: The detriments of whitewashing literature in secondary schools, Molly Magill Open Access Honors Program Thesis
"This is how we play destroy": Deconstruction and the construction of a cyborg future in Poppy's Am I a Girl?, Stevie Eve Sanchez Open Access Thesis
Submissions from 2019
Coming of age, coming out, and coming to terms: An essay collection on self-discovery, Mallory Wohlford Honors Program Thesis (UNI Access Only)
Finding the fantastic in Magic: The Gathering: Rhetorics of fantasy and collectible card games, Tait Larson Honors Program Thesis (UNI Access Only)
"Something beyond ordinary love": (Re)covering the extraordinary in Compton Mackenzie's Extraordinary Women, Hannah Lane Thesis (UNI Access Only)
Wandersoul of the South: Situating 20th century Alabama poet Clement Wood in a literary tradition, Skye Rozario Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Theses/Dissertations from 2018
Affects and absences: Public memory at the Oklahoma City National Memorial, Jeremy Roberts Thesis (UNI Access Only)
"Among the unspeakable foundations": Melville's use of the book of Job in Moby-Dick, Andrew S. De Luca Thesis (Electronic Copy Not Available)
A narrative study: Utilizing personal strengths to manage foreign language anxiety, Lauren Anderson Open Access Honors Program Thesis
A study in positive psychology: An analysis of pictured victims and empathetic reaction, Alyssa Hanken Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Avoiding heteronormativity: Breaking barriers in the English classroom: A potential model for a teaching workshop, Jessica Morris Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Banging spinning hallelujahs, Moriah Henkelman Thesis (UNI Access Only)
Imágenes de identidad: Student expressions of identity and culture in the college Spanish classroom, Elizabeth Bair Open Access Honors Program Thesis
In the hollow of a tree, Lisa A. McClurg Thesis (UNI Access Only)
It starts with "F": A collection of short stories, Arielle Irvine Open Access Thesis
La discriminación contra latinos (Discrimination Against Latinos), Lauren Swan Open Access Poster Presentation
La discriminación contra los Latin@s, Lauren Swan Open Access Honors Program Thesis
"Night Devils:" An exploration of identity in a long form adult novel, Johnathan Cody Galbreath Honors Program Thesis (UNI Access Only)
Positive Language Teaching: Culturally Responsive, Strengths-Based and Empathetic, Lauren Anderson, Alyssa Hanken, and Tessa Noes Horn Open Access Poster Presentation
The girl who lost her shadow: A collection of short fiction, Paola Alfano Thesis (UNI Access Only)
The intercultural communication of the business world: A review of the literature and application to Colombian and English-speaking professionals, Anna Colleen Kelly Open Access Honors Program Thesis
The moth-eaters & other stories, Adrianne Lea Lloyd Thesis (UNI Access Only) 2019 Award
The use of mod in Old English: Tracking semantic drift in the Anglo-Saxon period, Joanna Eyanson Honors Program Thesis (UNI Access Only)
They that go down to the sea in ships: Richard Henry Dana, Jr.'s Two Years Before the Mast and the Sublime, Laurie Anne Lee Open Access Thesis
Tom and Jerry: Performative queerness in action, Cade M. Olmstead Open Access Undergraduate Student Work
Waiting for the mail: A collection of short stories, James Matthew Keane Open Access Thesis
Theses/Dissertations from 2017
A "Little House on the Prairie" education: Creating a Wilder identity, Victoria Anez Bertelsen Thesis (UNI Access Only)
Code of conduct, Kathryn Keene Wohlpart Thesis (UNI Access Only)
Culturally responsive teaching from a culture specific perspective: Chinese students' experiences of CRT in the U.S., Tessa Noel Horn Honors Program Thesis (UNI Access Only)
Ecocritical post-colonial studies on humans, land, and animals, Alia Afzal Open Access Thesis
Elephant in the Room: Bringing Homosexuality to the American Literary Conversation, Clay Whisler Poster Presentation (Electronic Copy Not Available)
Viride: An Iowa gothic, Rachel Iolene Bing Thesis (UNI Access Only)
Wearable and other stories, Jennifer Corrigan Thesis (UNI Access Only)
Submissions from 2016
A benefit to the profession: Teacher retention in the middle years, Claire Vander Wiel Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Brand new scars: complex characterization and literary craft elements in Ed Brubaker's Captain America, Lexi Nicole Byrnes Honors Program Thesis (UNI Access Only)
Chimera: a multigenre exploration of the postmodern self, Keegan D. Bosch Honors Program Thesis (UNI Access Only)
Degausser and other stories, Jake Limburg Thesis (UNI Access Only)
Momentum: Stories, Cody Michael Chesmore Thesis (UNI Access Only)
No one is here : Poems, Jennifer Pauk Honors Program Thesis (UNI Access Only)
Romantic melancholy: European post-Enlightenment protest in the Age of Reason, Erin Renee Frink Thesis (UNI Access Only)
The cultural and rhetorical elements of American picaresque, Cory James Dahlstrom Open Access Thesis
Submissions from 2015
Age variation in nonverbal cue recognition in computer-mediated communication, Nathaniel Beyerink Open Access Honors Program Thesis
All fortune is good fortune: the role of Fortuna in a monotheistic literary world, Kimberly Bridgewater Open Access Thesis
Between strangers, Sarah Pauls Thesis (UNI Access Only)
Reconciling the two cultures : A case study of the University of Northern Iowa, Elizabeth Ann Collins Open Access Thesis
Resurrecting the hip-hop and Christian cultures: Lecrae's unashamed use of the rap narrative, persona, and language, Marci Swank Open Access Thesis
The manual disconnect: narratives in prose and verse, Brian Pals Thesis (UNI Access Only)
The traumatic incursion of the Old South on gender and motherhood in William Faulkner's novels The sound and the fury, As I lay dying, and Light in August, Jordan Lea Ludwig Thesis (UNI Access Only) 2016 Award
The Untitled Life of Oliver Murphy, Michael Jackson Thesis (Electronic Copy Not Available)
Theses/Dissertations from 2014
Amalgamation: A collection of poetry, prose, and process, Grant Andrew Riedel Thesis (UNI Access Only)
Contemporary gothic literature: The need for fear, Erica Schael Kaitlin Engel Thesis (UNI Access Only)
Current developments in forensic science: establishing the credibility of forensic linguistics through authorship analysis, Annette Putnam Honors Program Thesis (UNI Access Only)
Rhetoric and science: examining and identifying the rhetorical techniques used by students in a composition classroom, Amanda Arp Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Solitary, Anita Ellen Schuck Open Access Thesis
Spillway: A Novella, Kyrie Dora Borsay Open Access Thesis
Study abroad: an essential part of language acquisition, Emillie Kenne Open Access Honors Program Thesis
The gay rites of passage, Zachary Paul Lowe Thesis (UNI Access Only)
The impact of the linguistic backgrounds of world language teachers on secondary world language classrooms, Sarah Bair Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Vodka lullabies and purple skies: A collection of creative works, Rachel Routier Thesis (UNI Access Only)
When I was your age, Pluto was a planet: two children's books concerning environmental issues, Caitlin A. Peterson Honors Program Thesis (UNI Access Only)
Submissions from 2013
A linguistic playground: A case study of trilingual code-switching, Aynur Damirgi Honors Program Thesis (UNI Access Only)
Apothecary and Other Stories: A Short Fiction Collection, Alissa Brianne Cornick Open Access Thesis
Batman and the superhero fairytale: deconstructing a revisionist crisis, Travis John Landhuis Open Access Thesis
Gaining Perspective: Student Learning Perceptions of the Role of TESOL Principles in Their English-Learning Experiences, Danielle Christine Westcot Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Opportunity for engagement : how viewing "The Lizzie Bennet diaries" transcends traditional reader response, Molly Hayes Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Postmodern humanism and the "exhaustion of easy life", Mason Beets Open Access Thesis
Storm’s Lake and Stories, A.J. Bernhagen Thesis (UNI Access Only)
Theses/Dissertations from 2012
A Wave Frozen in Bone and Flesh, Tiffany L. Bullen Open Access Thesis
Before Words, There Were Leaves: A Collection of Poems, Jason Bradford Open Access Thesis
In a Complex Plane, Todd Dralle Open Access Thesis
Lost in Translation: In Search of the "Real" "Wulf and Eadwacer", John Anderson Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Perceptions of "Americanism": U.S. high school students' attitudes towards non-standard English accents, Christina Michelle Goering Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Producing early modern space and the mind in public and closet drama, Megan M. Gallagher Open Access Thesis 2013 Award
Spanish Through Music: A Model for the Content-Based Classroom, Anna Gansen Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Spinning Wheels, Weaving Words, and Cupbearing: The Wife's Lament and Female Power, Agency and Resistance in Anglo-Saxon England, Alison Leytem Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Submissions from 2011
Bad Reputations: A Discussion of Gender Norms and Personas Created and Performed in Courtly (and Not So Courtly) Lyrics, Rebecca Ann Bohnet Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Pre-service general education teachers' attitudes on the education of English language learners, Rachel Margaret Zidon Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Theses/Dissertations from 2010
Kurt Vonnegut, Authorship and the Purpose of Literature: A Study of Kilgore Trout, Danielle M. Benesh Open Access Thesis
The perception and production of Spanish pure vowels by native English speakers, Lauren Erickson Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Theses/Dissertations from 2009
Captivating emotions: Sentiment and the work of rhetorical drag in colonial and early national captivity narrative, Gleidson Gouveia Open Access Thesis 2010 Award
Study abroad: Products, practices, and perspectives of a new culture, Molly Marie Juza Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Submissions from 2008
Identity in second language learning: Access to the target language group, Stephanie J. Marra Open Access Graduate Research Paper
Theses/Dissertations from 2007
Bomb Media 1951-1964, Tristan Edward Abbott Open Access Thesis
Submissions from 2006
Intuition, reflection, and theory: Student and teacher learning through multigenre memoir, Angela A. Benham Graduate Research Paper (UNI Access Only)
Up Wau Hollow and Other Stories, Deborah J. Bloom Open Access Thesis
Submissions from 2005
Seasonal allergies: An intertextual explanation, Nathaniel Abel Nieman Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Toward successful student writers: Change and growth in writing workshop, Kirstey Ewald Open Access Graduate Research Paper
Submissions from 2004
The Welsh language: Cultural preservation or a losing battle?, Kim Mercer Open Access Presidential Scholars Thesis
Submissions from 2000
Heaven and Hell united: What Dreams May Come in Purgatory, Lisa Beierschmitt Graduate Research Paper (UNI Access Only)
Submissions from 1993
Les influences du milieu canadien sur le vocabulaire du français québécois, Carol A. Wilson Open Access Graduate Research Paper
Theses/Dissertations from 1966
The Shift in Focus From the Group to the Individual in the Later Novels of John Steinbeck, Sandra Lee Gabel Open Access Thesis
