Melanie Hamon
Spring 2021 Project
Communication: A Greater Analysis of Storytelling Through Mayuzumi's Bunraku
This project combined technical knowledge of the cello with writing talent to research the history of Toshiro Mayuzumi's cello composition Bunraku, compose a short story correlating with the piece, and perform an excerpt of the composition on the cello.
It won honorable mention for Miami University's annual LAURE award.
An Analysis of the Use of Profanity in Informal Text (and What it Can Tell Us About the Community)
A mentored project that used Twitter API resources to analyze the context of Tweets containing "huge" or "huge-ass." Data from the project suggested a significant difference in the way "huge" and "huge-ass" were used, with Tweets containing more informal language occurring more commonly with "huge-ass" and Tweets containing more standard, less taboo language occurring more commonly with "huge." This information could lead the way for more studies examining variance in language according to expected audience - and the realities of the actual audience.
