Digital Commons Network^™

German Socialists And The War. A Criticism. An Opwen Letter To Mr. E. D. Morel; French Socialists And The War. In Answer To The Preceding Article By M. Paix Seailles., Vernon Lee (Violet Paget)

Vernon Lee: Manuscripts, Published Works, and Typescripts

No abstract provided.

Uncovering The Story Of Sally Maria Johnson: Revealing The History Of The Portrait Of A Painting, Yuanzhen Song

Art Conservation Master's Projects

Portrait of Sally Maria Johnson by the artist James Johnson is a 19^th century oval shaped portrait in the collection of the Buffalo History Museum.  It suffered from structural damages and paint loss resulting from surface alterations and previous restoration campaigns.  This study combines art historical research with scientific analysis to explore both the biography of the subject and the materiality of the painting.  Through local research including historical newspaper articles in Buffalo, the story of Sally Maria Johnson (the wife of Buffalo’s first mayor) was uncovered.  High-resolution imaging techniques were used to document the surface condition and identify …

Topographies Of Being: World-Making And Ontological Formation In Modern Saint Catherine, South Sinai, Ahmad Mahana

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is an exploration of the ecological and sociological processes involved in the production of the socionatural space of the contemporary town and natural protectorate of Saint Catherine, South Sinai. Revered by all Abrahamic religions as the site of the Great Theophany, the town has perpetually been considered an area of immense spiritual and natural significance. In recent decades, however, the town has undergone a series of modernizing campaigns that have not only threatened the region’s natural environment and indigenous lifeways but have also jeopardized the plurality of its extant lifeworlds. By relying on a variety of ethnographic methods, …

Sufism At The Service Of Ḥadīth Commentary: Re-Framing Al-Kalābādhī'S Baḥr Al-FawāʾId In Fourth-Tenth Century Transoxiana, Fadhil Yunus Alsagoff

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines Abū Bakr al-Kalābādhī’s (d. 380/990) understudied ḥadīth commentary, the Baḥr al-fawāʾid al-mashhūr bi-maʿānī al-akhbār. The first Anglophone study of the text as a whole, this thesis situates itself within the emergent literature on ḥadīth commentaries and challenges the prevailing scholarly tendency to reduce Sufi-authored commentarial texts to the ishārī method of interpretation and to treat them solely as repositories of Sufi themes. This thesis argues that, contrary to current perceptions of the text as primarily a work of Sufism, the Baḥr al-fawaʾid is first and foremost a work of ḥadīth commentary, its main intent being to …

The Two Fridas: How The Use Of Semiotics Reflects The Social History Of Mexico In Frida Kahlo’S Work, Raquel Maria Botteon Martins

SPARK Symposium Presentations

Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera are often credited as having played a crucial role in establishing a Mexican avant-garde. According to the Denver Art Museum’s statement for the exhibition Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, and Mexican Modernism, their body of work often incorporated portrayals of mexicanidad, an identity born of Mexico’s ancient cultures and its colonial past that projected a visionary future. The use of mexicanidad imagery started with the efforts to create a new national art, following the Mexican revolution, when the country used public and socially effective art to communicate new ideals of identity.  Through the analysis of …

Could 'Real Existing Ai' Be Sentient?, Tim Crane

Animal Sentience

Jonathan Birch is rightly sceptical about the idea that today’s AI machines (e.g. LLMs) are candidates for sentience. Nonetheless, he gives three reasons for taking the future possibility of AI sentience seriously. I dispute them all. Birch fails to distinguish the very idea of an artificial mind from computational AI (what I call ‘Real Existing AI’); he does not adequately distinguish a simulation from a replica or copy; and he fails to acknowledge that the appeal to computational functionalism in this context is straightforwardly question-begging.

Artificial Sentience: From Computational Functionalism To Behaviourism?, Wanja Wiese

Animal Sentience

I critically examine Jonathan Birch’s account of how brain emulations might create artificial sentience candidates, arguing that his account risks collapsing into a behaviourist account, unless the specific computational processes realised by such emulations are carefully considered. Drawing on examples from computational neuroscience, I show that similar behaviours can arise from vastly different computational processes, thereby undermining the suggestion to focus on behaviourial profiles to determine whether a brain emulation of a sentience candidate is itself a sentience candidate.

Blending Oral Tradition And New Media In Digital Storytelling In Francophone Africa, Moses Chibueze Opara Odogwu

Tête à Tête: Journal of Francophone Studies

This paper investigates the dynamic convergence of oral tradition and new media within the context of digital storytelling in Francophone Africa. Grounded in age-old practices of communal narratives and cultural transmission, oral storytelling has experienced a resurgence through digital platforms, including social media, Tiktok, podcasts, and multimedia productions. This integration facilitates the preservation, revitalisation, and worldwide dissemination of indigenous narratives while promoting vibrant cultural dialogues across different generations. The study analyses how digital storytelling incorporates traditional African oral forms with modern technologies to develop hybrid narratives that transcend local limitations. It also tackles important issues that influence the changing landscape, …

Strategies Of A Personal Nature, Georgia Kirkendall

The Mercury

No abstract provided.

On Grief, Chloe N. Colbaugh

The Mercury

No abstract provided.

A Dollar's Worth, Cassidy Haines

The Mercury

No abstract provided.

The Sound The Sea Makes, Jacob Feiner

The Mercury

No abstract provided.

Born Again, Kobe Kinney

The Mercury

No abstract provided.

Old Tree, Ellie Depeter

The Mercury

No abstract provided.

Kitty City, Ellie Depeter

The Mercury

No abstract provided.

Extraplanetary Studies 101: Life On Other Planets, Jason W. Whelan

The Mercury

No abstract provided.

Shoah: Bfi Film Classics, Matthew Page

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a book review of Sue Vice, Shoah: BFI Film Classics (BFI/Bloomsbury, 2026).

Between Icon And State: Sergei Eisenstein's Ivan The Terrible, Milja Radovic

Journal of Religion & Film

Remembering the 80th anniversary of Sergei Eisenstein’s film Иван Грозный (Ivan the Terrible, 1944/1945), it is crucial to re-examine Eisenstein’s work, including his last film that became an unintentional ‘testament’ to cinema. Eisenstein’s mastery has been pivotal for understanding cinema and film language, the way this language operates, constructs and deconstructs and communicates historical realities. This paper focuses on a film that was made in two parts, Part I in 1944 and part II in 1945, to investigate Eisenstein’s approach to the subject of history, nation and religion. The research considers how this master of cinema contemplated intricate ideas and …

Documenting The Ineffable: A Comparative Analysis Of Mystical Representation In Kimiavi’S The Garden Of Stones And Western Sufi Documentary, Hessam Abedini

Journal of Religion & Film

This article examines how documentary film attempts to represent mystical experience through comparative analysis of Parviz Kimiavi's The Garden of Stones (1976) and American documentaries featuring Samuel Lewis, particularly Sunseed (1973). Rather than assuming terms like "sacred" or "authentic," the study grounds its analysis in empirical definitions from William James, historical scholarship by Carl Ernst and Annemarie Schimmel, and literary theory from Fatemeh Keshavarz. Through detailed examination of specific scenes—Darvish Khan hanging stones from dead trees, Lewis leading ecstatic dances—the article demonstrates how different cinematic strategies approach documentary's epistemological limits when confronting ineffable experience.

The analysis corrects historical misunderstandings about …

On Monstrous Work & Radical Satisfaction: Black Women Writing Under Segregation, Courtney Thorsson

Criticism

Review of Monstrous Work & Radical Satisfaction: Black Women Writing Under Segregation by Eve Dunbar.

Volume 29, Issue 1 Full Contents

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

Eating Disorders & Meat Consumption: A Meta-Analytic Review, Urska Dobersek, Laurel Standiford-Reyes, Tyler Robinson, Alex Antony Edwin, Sarah Siebers

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

In this meta-analytic review, we examined the current evidence on eating disorders in relation to meat consumption and meat abstention. We systematically searched six online databases in December 2025 for primary research on eating disorder-related variables in meat consumers and meat abstainers. Fifty-one studies with 55,984 participants (n_{meat consumers} = 44,282, n_{meat abstainers} = 9,751) met the inclusion/exclusion criteria. The outcomes were eating disorders and orthorexia nervosa. Meat consumption was associated with lower eating disorder (g = 0.20, 95% CI [0.08, 0.32], p = .001) and orthorexia nervosa symptomology (g = 0.47, 95% CI [0.33, …

Failed Gay Rights Amendment To Mankato's Human Rights Ordinance In Mankato, Minnesota In 1987, Kellian Clink

Library Services Publications

In 1987, small but passionate people urged the city to pass an amendment to Mankato’s existing human rights ordinance to protect LGBTQ+ communities.   Advocates argued that gays were entitled to the same rights as straight people and were looking for protection in housing and employment, particularly. They demonstrated that people had lost jobs, housing, and access to dance venues. Some opponents equated gays with promiscuity, child molestation, solicitation, sin, and AIDS; some were convinced it was not needed; some pinned their arguments on the existence of laws already on the books.  This narrative is based on articles from the local …

Intermediate College Writing: Building And Practicing Mindful Writing Skills, Dawn Atkinson, Stacey Corbitt

Writing

No abstract provided.

Mindful Technical Writing: An Introduction To The Fundamentals, Dawn Atkinson, Stacey Corbitt

Writing

Welcome to Mindful Technical Writing: An Introduction to the Fundamentals, an open textbook designed for use in corequisite course pairings of developmental writing and introductory technical writing, or indeed in other lower-division college writing courses that focus on building study skills alongside effective workplace and academic writing skills. It offers a no-cost alternative to commercial products, combining practical guidance with interactive exercises and thoughtfully designed writing opportunities.

This textbook is organized into units, though its chapters are modular so that instructors can select and assign readings and exercises for their particular classes rather than be tied to a fixed route …

Advanced-Level Writing In The University Classroom And Beyond: Mindful Practices For Technical, Business, And Scientific Communication, Dawn Atkinson, Stacey Corbitt

Writing

No abstract provided.

Shabbat In The Orange Grove: Joseph Wittenstein's Early Orlando History, Deborah Gurt

University Faculty and Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

The Quest For Sacred Truth In A Secular Society What Is Fueling Gen Z’S Return To Faith And Church Attendance In America?, William W. Dornbush

Doctor of Ministry (DMin)

This dissertation investigated the Critical Research Question: What are the key external factors influencing Generation Z’s internal quest for spiritual renewal? The study examined biblical, historical, and contemporary revival movements, including the Exodus, Pentecost, the Great Awakenings, the Jesus Movement, Charismatic Renewal, Brownsville, Toronto, and Asbury, to identify recurring patterns linking external pressures to spiritual awakening. Using a qualitative design, the study conducted semi-structured interviews with twelve Generation Z participants who experienced spiritual searching, renewal, or a deepened faith between 2020 and 2025, exploring how contemporary external pressures influence spiritual openness and transformation. The findings revealed six major themes: (1) …

Maximizing The Use Of Interpreters In Shortterm Medical Missions, Barbara L. Loach

Great Commission Research Journal

In the debate over the effectiveness of short-term medical missions (STMM), the role of interpreters has received cursory attention. However, the perceived quality of care and the actual care that patients receive, and therefore their receptivity to the organization and the presentation of the gospel by faith-based STMMs, hinges greatly on employing trained interpreters who can reliably communicate on behalf of all parties involved. Each barrier to cross-cultural communication —verbal, non-verbal, and cultural—can and should be addressed to have a successful mission outreach; providing adequate training for all participants in STMM, especially for interpreters, is critical to mediate the communication …

Hear My Voice As Who I Am: Theorizing The Essence Of Poetry In Holistic Global Citizenship Education, Shue-Kei Joanna Mok

Journal of Contemplative and Holistic Education

Poetry as an imaginative language art has long been perceived as the core of humanity, the foundation of human advancement (Arnold,1880; Rorty, 2007). By composing, critiquing, and sharing/performing poems, not only does the process enrich and deepen one’s relationship to oneself, understanding and reflecting on the contextual, historical, cultural, social, and creative backgrounds of the poems and poets allows one to have greater connections with the broader environment across temporal, spatial, and social dimensions with human and non-human beings.

This paper first frames the core concepts and values of global citizenship from a Confucius perspective to emphasize the significance of …