Digital Commons Network^™

Conceptualizing Technology In Landscape Architecture (Tla) For The 21st Century, Xiwei Shen

All Dissertations

Technology in Landscape Architecture (TLA) has continually expanded from the 19^th century arts-science binary narrative (Beardsley, 2000). However, the current scholarly literature does not appear to acknowledge TLA as core to the discipline of Landscape Architecture (LA) and indicates a knowledge gap. The goal of this qualitative research is to explore TLA and clarify DTT and TLA’s relationship(s) with themes and topics in LA research, and LA core domains. Additionally, the aim is to reveal the meaning of TLA for LA research. This study draws from three realms of knowledge: 1) Digital Tools and Technology (DTT) in LA; 2) …

“The People Make The Place”: Evaluating Mattering’S Influence On Graduate Students’ Intentions To Graduate, Kenzie Hurley

All Dissertations

Despite graduate students working hard and sacrificing various aspects of their lives (e.g., social time, personal time) to attend graduate school, an estimated 50% fail to complete their degrees (e.g., Gilmore et al., 2016). The literature varies in its explanations for graduate students discontinuing their education; however, consensus indicates improving social aspects of the graduate program experience (e.g., positive research communities) may increase graduation rates. These findings are especially true for students who are new to their graduate program. Although there has been a recent emphasis on understanding some social aspects of the graduate student experience, the literature lacks information …

Exploring The Interpretation Of Difficult Heritage At Football Grounds In Spain, Portugal, And Germany, Felipe Bertazzo Tobar

All Dissertations

European football heritage-based attractions such as stadium tours and museums, often characterized by an uncritical, celebratory, and nostalgic approach to football pasts, have become highly visited attractions important to cultural and commercial interests of football clubs. As the heritage field in Western countries experiencing a period of reckoning after numerous social movements challenged the meanings and interpretations of difficult pasts, this study aimed to comprehend how and why football clubs interpret their difficult heritage linked with European authoritarian regimes of the twentieth century. Specifically, this dissertation sought to understand what role local cultural, political, and/or economic considerations played in the …

The Struggle Is Real: Understanding Impacts Of Racial Microaggressions On Black Teachers, Joshua Miller

All Dissertations

Despite the progress that has been made regarding racism in education, Black teachers continue to be an underrepresented community among the teaching population. Addressing this underrepresentation can begin with better understanding the experiences of these Black teachers who have served in K-12 institutions. Although these experiences are multifaceted, educational leaders can make strides toward racial equity by fully understanding and acknowledging the impacts that racist interactions have on an individual’s work experience. By using racial microaggressions as a means of analysis researchers and practitioners can better understand the breadth and scope of these covertly racist attacks. Recognizing the influence of …

Opioid Prescribing Practice & Policy – A Study Of Medicaid Pediatric Population In South Carolina, Laksika Sivaraj

All Dissertations

Opioids are widely used as analgesics in different clinical settings, but they are also highly criticized for their downsides. Among the adult population, the addictive nature of opioids continues to be the main concern, while among young children, there are other adverse health outcomes that opioids can cause. These concerns have led the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other professional bodies to discourage opioid prescribing for children. Nevertheless, opioids continue to be prescribed for children for contraindicated health conditions. The goal of this research is to assess opioid prescribing practices for the pediatric population in South Carolina (SC). …

The Red Deeps: A Retelling Of George Eliot's The Mill On The Floss., Emily Denton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The culminating project toward my Ph.D. in Humanities under the Public Arts and Letters track is a combination of creative and scholarly work composed of two parts: a retelling of George Eliot’s novel The Mill on the Floss and a critical introduction outlining the creative concerns to the project. The novel, The Red Deeps, reimagines The Mill on the Floss in the recent past—during the late 1980s in the Copper Basin, the former copper mines in Eastern Tennessee. The critical preface draws broader categories of adaptation, ecocriticism, and climate fiction and incorporates theorists from new southern and Appalachian studies …

The Well-Tempered Android: Philosophical Posthumanism In Science Fiction Cinema., Cody Gault

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines philosophical posthumanism as a means for critical analysis of the interaction between humans and nonhuman androids in select science fiction cinematic universes. The interaction is analyzed through several facets, notably the interactions between humans and nonhuman androids, particularly as interactions between the human and nonhuman are often sites of violence. Chapter one is an introduction. Chapter two describes the development of philosophical posthumanism from humanism, also including an analysis of philosophical posthumanism, and how it can be used as a critical lens. Chapter three begins an analysis of science fiction cinema by examining the Blade Runner films …

The Landscape Does Not Care It Is A Landscape: A Utopian Pessimist Journey In Kentucky., Shachaf Polakow

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

These thesis and exhibition, invite the viewers to travel through different places in Central and Eastern Kentucky. The region’s landscape, like many other American landscapes, is often known to the public through the settler colonial lens—a lens that ignores Indigenous peoples’ history in the region. The work in the exhibition is a response to landscape art's history and its complicity with American settler colonialism- art that was recruited to create a new identity for the settlers and for the country from the beginning of the American Colonial Project. Landscape art was a crucial part of this effort, presenting the land …

Supraspinal Reorganization After Pediatric-Onset Spinal Cord Injury., Luis Alvarado

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Pediatric spinal cord injury (SCI) disrupts the efferent and afferent flow of the developing brain, leading to devastating functional impairments below the injury site, yet our understanding of its impact on the brain remains limited. This study examines supraspinal reorganization in children with SCI using electrophysiology and neuroimaging techniques to understand the relationship between residual spinal transmission and supraspinal reorganization. Chapter 2 discusses the development of a child-centric approach using ‘learn, play, and practice’ to foster a trusting relationship with each child and increase compliance with experimental protocols. Chapter 3 evaluates the residual neural transmission of three spinal pathways in …

Someone, Stop Her! The Musical (The Gallery Show): The Thesis Document., Hannah Dewitt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis document accompanies a body of work that is radically vulnerable, personally political, and emotionally complex. Through my work, I challenge myself and my audience to sit with discomfort and create an environment suitable to generate a nuanced appreciation of pain that approaches its acceptance through humor, confessionalism, and the subversion of tropes against themselves as an act of counter-mimicry. This document situates my work within art-historical context with a primary focus on performance art and applies insight from each artwork referenced to further analyze and defend my own work. Additionally, I use texts relating to Camp sensibility, binary …

A Meta-Analysis Of The Academic Achievement Of Students With Emotional/Behavioral Disorders In Traditional Public Schools In The United States., Dana Page

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Extensive research has been conducted on students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) and their rates of challenging behavior. Less attention has been given to their academic achievement and outcomes. Recent research examining outcomes for students with EBD has indicated that these students receive lower grades, are less likely to pass classes, and experience higher rates of school dropout than students without disabilities and students with other high incidence disabilities. Given that between 2% and 20% of the school-age population is likely to have EBD (though many may not be identified as such), this is no small problem. Despite the …

Adverse Birth Outcomes: Investigating The Role Of Nativity And Perceived Racial Discrimination Among Black Mothers Enrolled In Des Moines, Iowa Healthy Start., Kendria Kelly-Taylor

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Birth outcomes for Black women in the United States (US) are disproportionately worse in comparison to non-Black women, even when controlling for potential confounders. Existing studies suggest foreign-born (FB) Black women present better birth outcomes in comparison to US-born (USB) Black women. Also, the longer FB Black women live in the US, the more their perinatal health advantage diminishes. Racial discrimination has been hypothesized as a potential reason for this decline. This dissertation investigates the relationship between nativity and adverse birth outcomes while also exploring how the reporting of racial discrimination impacts birth outcomes among FB and USB Black mothers …

Uncovering Testimonios Of Traditional Healing Practices Among Latinx College Students In El Nuevo Sur., Sarah Nuñez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Latinx college students in el Nuevo Sur face many barriers to their educational success. Latinx students in el Nuevo Sur live in a part of the country where few opportunities to embrace their cultures are present or centered in educational settings. Reclaiming and remembering their cultures within the higher education setting could act as a catalyst for their success and is the motivation for this dissertation. Through testimonios, photo/image-elicitation, and journal writing with ten participants, I listened to and witnessed the students’ stories. Through unfolding the students’ testimonios, I uncovered and supported students to rediscover healing practices as a tool …

The Association Of Long Working Hours And The Use Of Prescription Sedatives Among U.S. Workers., Emmanuel Ezekekwu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

BACKGROUND: Meeting the needs of a round-the-clock and globalized society has led to an increase in long working hours. This trend has been accompanied by a corresponding rise in sleep disorders and subsequent use of sedating medications. Overtime hours have been associated with adverse health outcomes such as cardiovascular diseases, symptoms of psychological distress, and health behaviors, including risky intake of alcohol and smoking. Hence, the main objectives of this three-paper dissertation were to examine the multi-faceted relationship between working hours, the use of prescription sleep aids, the onset of psychological distress, and the use of health care services. METHODS: …

Social Ecological Resilience, Social Capital, Anomie And The Impact Of Covid-19., Kevin Pacifico Gonzaga

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

From climate change to racial tension and income inequality, many difficulties face the United States and those who live within its borders. The extreme and increasing political polarization in the United States as well as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic have only made these challenges more difficult to address. In this complex web of adversity, the concept of resilience is important to study. Resilience may be broadly defined as the ability to “bounce back” or return to adaptive functioning after experiencing significant adversity or challenges (Smith et al., 2008). Better understanding how resilience functions and the general state of …

Best Practices In Counseling The Balkan Population: Training For Mental Health Counselors, Arnela Karic

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

Balkan refugees in the United States have been shown to develop symptoms of anxiety, depression, PTSD, and low subjective quality of life after the Balkan wars and the stressors of immigration (Priebe et. al., 2009). Along with these potential mental health disorders, many of these refugees suffer with their mental health in other ways such as loneliness, low self-esteem, financial stressors, lack of understanding of the new cultural norms, language barriers, chronic fatigue, and more that all lead to developing maladaptive coping mechanisms (Keyes & Kane, 2004). Furthermore, most of these refugees do not seek mental health care and suffer …

The Impact Of Positive Behavior Interventions And Supports On Students With Disabilities, Anthony Christopher Jones

Dissertations (2016-Present)

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of positive behavior interventions and supports for students with disabilities on school campuses compared to campuses that do not utilize PBIS. Specifically, the researcher sought to determine if campuses implementing PBIS impact students with disabilities academic performance on STAAR Reading, ENG I, ENG II EOC, attendance rates, and discipline outcomes compared to campuses that do not utilize PBIS. A causal-comparative research design was used in this investigation in an attempt to identify a cause-effect relationship between two groups. Data was provided by the urban school district to the researcher and …

The Anchor: May 2023, Hope College

The Anchor: 2023

The Anchor began in 1887 and was first issued weekly in 1914. Covering national and campus news alike, Hope College’s student-run newspaper has grown over the years to encompass over two-dozen editors, reporters, and staff. For much of The Anchor's history, the latest issue was distributed across campus each Wednesday throughout the academic school year (with few exceptions). As of Fall 2019 The Anchor has moved to monthly print issues and a more frequently updated website. Occasionally, the volume and/or issue numbering is irregular.

Voter Id Laws And Gendered Impacts On Voter Turnout, Jacqueline D. Franolich

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Since well before the U.S. presidential election of 2020, voter identification laws have been a topic of discussion amongst politicians, voters, the news media, and scholars. Many have questioned the focus and true reason for their creation, their implementation, their effects and potential unintended consequences. Specifically, many have argued that voter identification laws pose too great a barrier to potential voters to be worth the benefits gained in election security. Since the election of 2020, those discussions seemed to magnify. For example, in a May 2021 speech, President Biden repeated similar assertions made in the past by scholars and activists …

Not About You: A Novel, Hillary Colton

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

This novel-in-progress explores the complexities of single parenting and coming of age in a misogynistic society. Through the perspectives of a recently divided family, we are drawn into the coping mechanisms of characters who have been impacted by the cyclical nature of sexism, alcoholism, and abuse. Told through multiple points of view, the novel aims to explore questions of how internalized misogyny and generational trauma force a person to look at their complicity in the rippling effect of societal expectations, and whether it is possible to break free after a lifetime of trying to survive in a society rooted against …

Unheard Victims Of Covid-19: The Impact Of Mask Use On Communication For D/Deaf And Hard Of Hearing People, Kym Couch

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Masks are effective at preventing the spread of COVID-19, but they also impact communication for d/Deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) people. This research is a mixed methods approach to analyzing the impact that the widespread use of masks in response to COVID-19 has had on DHH people. Building on the allowance for nuance and paradox presented by Deborah Stone in her book Policy Paradox: The Art of Political Decision Making (2012) and holding to the Social Model of Disability, this research involves the qualitative and quantitative analysis of a survey of one-hundred and ninety-eight (198) DHH people, interviews with …

Owed Work Ahead: Public Service Motivation, Corporate Social Responsibility, And The Deconstruction Of Davis-Bacon Noncompliance In Transportation Contracting, Jasmine Platt

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Noncompliance with the Davis-Bacon Act (1931)—the accidental or intentional disregard of a federal prevailing wage law—is among the most unethical crimes committed against a business’s own workforce. With the threat of sanctions unpersuasive to preventing fraud, a more forbearing eye may be required to understand the understudied construction companies pressed to ‘serve two masters’ in public-private partnerships. This dissertation uses nested data from 26,903 highway and bridge construction- and construction-adjacent firms, funded by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and contracted by 28 state Departments of Transportation between 2010-2019, to answer the overall question: do firms that feel like government comply …

The Impact Of Free Tuition On Course-Level Student Outcomes, Thomas Sharpe

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The United States has experienced a substantial increase in tuition rates for higher education. At the national level free tuition at two-year public institutions has been one solution proposed by various leaders. The College of Southern Idaho (CSI) is a two-year public institution with an emphasis on serving the eight county South Central Idaho region. In the Summer of 2021, a year into the COVID pandemic, CSI leveraged federal COVID support funds to implement “First Eight on Us”. This first-dollar program provided students with up to eight credits for free, with minimal requirements. Then, in Summer 2022, a revised “First …

Authoritarian Tendencies In The American Presidency, Erica Serros

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

This thesis attempts to determine if authoritarian tendencies are becoming more or less prevalent in the modern American presidency. Presidential and authoritarian scholars agree that authoritarianism is trending in a more insidious manner in the modern world and that most democracies today are being subverted more inconspicuously by elected officials. The most powerful checks on the power of the president are Congress and the judicial branch, two institutions that do exercise their constitutionally granted powers in some cases, but do not always exert their power in solidarity, leading to discrepancies in the constraint of the president. The presence of conflict …

The Effect Of Group Interactions And Group Structure On Achievement In Elementary School Robotics Classrooms, Jonathan Kimei Yogi

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Jung and Won's (2018) review of elementary school ER found a lack of understanding of instructional practices for ER with young children. Other researchers have called for further studies into what effective classroom orchestration and interaction look like within ER classrooms (Ioannou & Makridou, 2018; Xia & Zhong, 2019). This study was conducted to understand the effect of group interactions and group structure in terms of gender on achievement in elementary school robotics classes. Knowing the effect that interactions have on students' achievement can help inform instructional practices and pedagogies in educational robotics activities (Kucuk & Sisman, 2017). The study …

Rhetorics Of Cancer In America, Christopher J. Wernecke

Communication Dissertations

This dissertation examines the constitutive functions of multimodal cancer rhetoric in America and critiques the resulting ideological consequences. This study locates the multimodal manifestations of American cancer rhetoric within three realms – textual/oral, visual/material, and bodily/performative. Beginning in the discursive realm, it traces the metaphoric evolution of the “War on Cancer” and the “Cancer Moonshot Initiative” in presidential rhetoric before then moving to an analysis of artifacts from American cancer rhetoric’s nondiscursive formations. For the visual/material modality, this study analyzes the pink breast cancer “awareness” ribbon and the yellow Livestrong cancer “support” bracelet; for the bodily/performative modality, it then considers …

Addressing Rural America’S Suicide Disparity Among Men: How Mental Health Stigma Is Communicated Through Storytelling Networks, Lindsey Hand

Communication Dissertations

The suicide rate disparity of men in rural America has continued to increase year after year. While this is a complex public health problem with many contributing factors, this study examines the stigma of mental illness in men, a recognized contributing factor to increased suicide rates among rural men. Grounded in communication infrastructure theory and the model of stigma communication, this study sought to collect data for the first phase in the development of a stigma communication intervention program for Rabun County, GA, a rural Appalachian community in north Georgia. Twenty-four in-depth interviews were conducted with Rabun County residents to …

Black Genealogies Matter In U.S. Genealogy Tourism: A Content Analysis Of Family Heritage Books And Plan For The Hbcuheritagehome.Com, Pamela E. Foster

Communication Dissertations

The U.S. heritage tourism industry only minimally exhibits stories crafted by African-ancestored families about African-ancestored people. Instead, historians and other academicians typically provide site stories about people of African descent. These providers focus on the horrors of slavery and its negative aftermath to boost racial social justice activism, not on ancestral hero stories to foster descendants’ positive ancestral self-identity. By focusing on images of Black carnage, the U.S. heritage tourism industry does not reflect African-ancestored people’s chosen ancestral self-identities. African-ancestored families choose our ancestral self-identities in the stories we select for our published genealogies and in these books as they …

Effect Of Black- Or White-Sounding Name And Impact Of Intergroup Contact With Black Individuals On Auditor Judgments, Vanessa J. Tijerina

Doctor of Business Administration (DBA)

The accounting profession in the United States continues to reflect a gap in racial diversity, with the majority of accountants being white. Implicit racial bias results in discrimination in the U.S. today, specifically against Black individuals. Within accounting, the auditing specialty requires exercising professional judgment that could present opportunities for implicit racial bias to affect the financial statements. This study aims to fill gaps in the existing research by answering the following questions: 1) How does the race of the CFO affect the accounting judgments of auditors? 2) How does intergroup contact with Black individuals impact auditors’ accounting judgments when …

Liberalism And Orthodoxy: A Search For Mutual Apprehension, Brandon Paradise, Fr. Sergey Trostyanskiy

Notre Dame Law Review

This Article seeks to evaluate and contextualize recently intensifying Christian critiques of liberalism’s intellectual and moral claims. Much of this recent critique has been from Catholic and Protestant quarters. Christianity’s third major branch—Orthodox Christianity—has not played a prominent role in current critiques of liberalism. This Article seeks to help fill this void in the literature. In helping to fill this void, it contributes to understanding how liberalism fits with one of the world’s most ancient Christian traditions.

The Article begins by disambiguating the terms Orthodoxy and liberalism. After identifying each body of thought’s foundational commitments, it notes that Orthodoxy endorses …