The purpose of this research is to observe and document the learning practices of affinity groups known as guilds and their functions within collaborative virtual spaces. This ethnographic study follows a guild known as Acta nøn Verba as they progress . . .

Terraforming Hell is a collection of poems that explore the dark terrain of reality, the fantastic, and the rift that lies between. It traverses the æther and the dreamstate. Some poems find their footing in the natural world while others walk beyond . . .

Walking the line between historical autobiography and analysis of Communities of Practice and Situated Learning theories, this thesis simultaneously conducts a close examination of my own personal journey in the writing program at California State Uni . . .

Queens of Sheba is a collection of six personal essays that seek to present both personal story and universal themes. In my essays, I share stories of my family, my father’s dementia, the loss of my first husband, my relationship with food and body im . . .

Two Rooms is a collection of stories comprised of both fiction and creative nonfiction. The use of nonfiction and fiction in this project is a meditation on my recovery as an alcoholic. The two rooms discussed in this project refer to the use of ficti . . .

This thesis is built on the assumption that in order to be a serious Thoreau scholar, one must move away from Walden (1854) and read his other works. Walden is, to be sure, Thoreau’s most studied book and remains an iconic example of 19th-century Amer . . .

Inheritance is a collection of poetry that sets out to redefine the word “inheritance” through three sections. The first section of the collection follows the musical inheritance of the speaker and the impressions of family that have come before him. . . .

This memoir is a coming-of-age story utilizing three main segments: one focusing on a failed relationship with my father, another confronting mortality through the diagnosis of a chronic illness, and a third strand focusing on death through a work exp . . .

An American Dream is made up the first five chapters of a work of fiction that will ultimately become a novel. An American Dream is a novel about John and Matt, two young men who have been friends most their lives, and how this friendship comes to an . . .

Whipstitch is a collection of poems that explores themes of amateurship, grief, mental illness, addiction, and love through the poet’s decisions regarding how to use imagery, humor, and form. The poet describes individuals and cultures that make mista . . .