The purpose of my research is to persuade the audience that the art of suspense is vital to any film. This would be of interest to the reader, because films are something that the majority of people have access to or have seen at least once in their lifetime.
 
My hypothesis is that the execution, or lack thereof, of suspense in a film of any genre, is crucial to the film’s likeability and success. The question at hand is what type impact does the use of suspense have on a film’s likeability and success, and how significant is the impact?
 
The methods I plan on using in my exploration are archival study from academic journals on film and screenwriting, and a survey or focus group for data collection. My anticipated discovery is that suspense plays a key role in screenwriting and directing, and that films which properly execute the art of suspense are more likely to have an overall higher success rate and be well-liked.
 
This is significant because film is one of the most impactful and widespread forms of media, and a study on the role that suspense plays in filmmaking provides valuable information to screenwriters, directors and patrons.

With origins rooted in colonial practices, most museum collections are teeming with artworks that despite being created in a variety of periods, styles, and subject matter, are linked by one undeniable fact: the majority are created by white male artists. This one-sided perspective is embedded in modern museum practices and manifests in the lack of diversity within museum collections, exhibitions, and staff. Consequently, few permanent collections include work by historically marginalized artists and exhibitions organized by these institutions reflect a long-standing collecting practice of erasing the contributions of artists of color, particularly those of women. Despite a history of colonialism and the exoticization of non-Western culture and because of the efforts of activists who addressed these institutional shortcomings, a burgeoning community of curators is ascending. The legacy of these activists manifests in the increased hiring of minority curators and the creation of over 20 curatorial studies and art history programs at minority-serving institutions funded by the Walton Family Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, and other philanthropies. The efforts of artist, curators, and art historians have resulted in a moment of appreciation for African American artists, many of who have been producing work since the 1960s. Rather than seeing this increase in value and merit of African American art as cyclical, I argue that with careful consideration, best practices, and dedication to perceptible change, a permanent path forward is possible.
 
 
 

 
Where there is a Black power movement, there is a Black arts movement. Black arts movements shape the course of the diasporic narrative and reclaim the vitality and dignity of Blackness by critiquing colonial and racist ideologies that distort African history and identity. Born out of the global Black Arts Movement and student protests at Brown University, Rites and Reason theatre was founded in the fall of 1970 by professor, and playwright, George H. Bass. Rites and Reason theatre is a research-based theatre that creates original productions that analyze and articulate the vast diasporic experiences of blackness. This work highlights Rites and Reason theatre as a movement grounded in political and intellectual bursts of energy that has been able to influence, sustain and dismantle ideologies and change the campus culture of Brown University.