Fairy tales have been around for centuries, always changing and adapting along with the cultures in which they're recreated. And yet, when Disney fairy tales are brought into the conversation, the response from critics and scholars is almost always a negative one. Through analysis of famous fairy tale collectors Giambattista Basile, Charles Perrault, and the Brothers Grimm, I highlight how sociopolitical conditions affect the way fairy tales change over time. I then dive into Walt Disney and The Walt Disney Company© to explore the influences that helped to shape their versions of the tales. To show these effects more specifically, I analyze each of the above-mentioned collectors' versions of Cinderella and how the different themes in each version of the tale were reflective of the societal and personal beliefs of the collector who wrote it. Through this, I hope to argue that the Disney versions of the tales have gone through the same "sanitization" process as every other version of the tale and that the changes they made were necessary for the preservation and continued popularity of the genre.

RIIIIING. The class bells ring to signal the end of the school day for Timmy and his classmates. Mrs. Clark, the boys’ sixth grade teacher, is in the middle of a vocabulary lesson, but as soon as the bell rings everyone rushes out the door. She sets her chalk down on the desk and waves goodbye to everyone as they head home. Timmy and his best friend, Ben, hop on their bikes and start their ride home.
Every day, the boys drive past Merlin’s Magic Shop on the way back from school. Today when Timmy and Ben ride past the store, Timmy sees something new in the window. It appears to be an old box. Wooden, a little worn in, but it still looks like something special.
The boys go inside to ask someone about the box. Towards the back of the store there is an older gentleman stocking the shelves. The gentleman sees the boys looking his way and he begins to head towards Timmy and Ben.
“How do you do?” the man asks. He can tell they are stealing glances at the box, too nervous to ask about it. He points towards the object in the window and says, “You know, that was my old magic box when I was a boy. I thought it looked like it might need a new home.”

Timmy thinks for a moment. The man seems a bit odd—could this really be magic or is he tricking us? By the way he talks, it’s as if he already knows what people are thinking. He knew right away that we wanted that box. He can be standing in the middle of an aisle and in the blink of an eye, he’s gone! Is he magic himself? The store is odd too. You won’t find more than two of an item in there. The store is full of wands and hats and capes, but none of them look the same. Nothing comes in packages or pretty boxes—everything comes as it is, as if it has been used before.

This project, originally inspired by the photography blog Humans of New York, is a series of digitally drawn portraits and profiles of individuals in the downtown Phoenix area. Phoenix is a relatively young city and the city's character and style has not yet been cemented. But this city is just as lively and interesting as older, more established places and deserves the same kind of attention that people documenting their homes have given their subjects.

The profiles, which have been collected at https://rebeccaspiess.com/humans-of-phoenix-pg/, were created from subjects I met at coffee shops, art galleries, on study abroad trips and through personal research. The only criteria for inclusion in the project was their connection to Phoenix. Additionally, because of the digital nature of the portraits, I have included timelapse videos showing the process of creating each image on my YouTube channel, called Rebecca Spiess.

I want the “Humans of Phoenix” project to be like speed-dating the city, getting to know the stories and the people you might pass on the street. People love to get a glimpse into the lives of others. I love the thrill of meeting new people with great stories, and I want the readers of this project to get that satisfaction as well. And hopefully, I want these narratives to engage readers in a way that elicits empathy, understanding and excitement.

A 27k word reinterpretation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, focusing on the originally-secondary character Rosaline Capulet and viewing the relationships portrayed between the other characters in a different light through her presence. With hefty consideration of the historical circumstances that existed during Shakespeare's time, including factors ranging from to the death of Shakespeare's son at the age of eleven to the common immigration/trade routes existing in the late 1500s to the ways in which historical figures navigated ideas of gender and sexuality, 'And Rosaline' aims to take a compassionate approach to the story of the Capulet and Montague families and the lives of those around them. Finalized for the purposes of the Barrett Honors Creative Project as a story created in an open source format known as Twine 2.0, produced by Twinery Inc, 'And Rosaline' will be a commercial project available for purchase in Q4 2017 later distributed in Ren'Py.

This creative project is the result of reading several novellas, doing research about the form, and doing academic research regarding exchange students, South American migration to Europe, and Korean culture. Julie Yun is a Korean-America who is determining whether she will move back to Korea with her family or stay in the United States; Nathan is a young expatriate traveling in Europe who paused his education and hasn't determined whether he will return to his "home"; and Rima is a Central American who left her family and is trying to adapt to living in a new country and trying to learn a new language. The novella takes place primarily in Lausanne, Switzerland, and explores the themes of self-identity, cross-cultural communities, and how people with different backgrounds but in similar situations define home. One particular motif is that people and places are sometimes more similar to each other than we imagine.

The elements that connect humanity to the corresponding environments that we inhabit are diverse and complex. These connections are central to understanding human interaction, our environment, and ourselves. The purpose of this thesis is to establish how connection (or lack thereof) to a region, in this instance New England, is found through environment and family. This compilation of four short stories demonstrates environmental connections via technology and familial interactions.