Digital Commons Network^™

Vestigial Choreographies: Climate Consciousness In The Long Nineteenth Century, Alexandra A. Rego

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The aims of this project are twofold: (a) to develop a method of theoretical analysis and (b) to put this method into pointed use. In service of (a), I propose a method of choreographic analysis. This method operates relationally, highlighting the production of movement and stillness among and between bodies, objects, and encounters. Choreographic analysis draws from methods typically sequestered to dance studies. Towards aim (b), this project demonstrates the relevance and breadth of choreographic analysis by connecting it to ecocriticism. Throughout this project, I apply choreographic analysis to a diverse set of case studies. I use choreographic analysis to …

The Abcs Of Community: A Primer For Civility, Citizenship, And Civic Discourse, Sharon K. Ferrett

Trade & Scholarly Monographs

In a world that often seems divided and polarized, we long for trust, communication and respect. Many of us are concerned about the rancor, discourse and fragmentation that we see in our families, workplaces and neighborhoods. We have lost a sense of community. We will explore simple ways to increase the sense of belonging, encourage dialogue and promote kindness, tolerance and understanding. Simple techniques, rituals and habits will help us create connections, form bonds of fellowship and truly see and hear other people. This little book will look at ways to build community, civility and common good.

“Hip-Hop Permeates Everything I Do:” The Intersections Of Global Politics, Hip-Hop, And Education, Mecedes Lindsay

Black Educology Mixtape "Journal"

This qualitative study examines how the absence of Critical Hip-Hop Pedagogy (CHHP) within academic institutions shapes students’ sense of belonging, motivation, and engagement by regulating which forms of cultural capital are deemed legitimate. Drawing on semi-structured interviews and focus groups with students, educators, scholars, and members of the hip-hop generation, this research adopts an interpretivist framework to center participants’ lived experiences within educational spaces. Informed by Freirean critical pedagogy and Yosso’s theory of community cultural wealth, the study situates schooling as a site where America’s soft power operates through curriculum design, disciplinary norms, and definitions of deviance. Findings reveal that …

Purposefully Black Interactional Systems: Disrupting Punitive School Discipline Models Through Banter, The Funk, And The Black Aesthetic, S. M. Wilson

Black Educology Mixtape "Journal"

This empirical study seeks to understand the narratives of four Black men teachers and two Black women teachers about how they implement school discipline and classroom management in their K–12 contexts. This track draws on interdisciplinary perspectives from education, linguistic anthropology, and African American studies to understand how banter and ritual insults function as alternatives to traditional discipline. Phenomenology and thematic analysis of six semistructured interviews demonstrated Black teachers’ beliefs that outdated and punitive orientations should be challenged. These teachers enacted discipline through talk—particularly banter, ritual insults, and what I call “purposefully Black interactional systems,” which embed discipline within them, …

Uplifting Black Pedagogical Rituals Of Purpose Through Portraits Of Toni Morrison’S Humanistic Education, Darion A. Wallace, Natalie Hibdon, Gabriela Lopez

Black Educology Mixtape "Journal"

No abstract provided.

We Buried The Curriculum And Called It Holy, Charles E. Becknell Jr., Johnna Rocker-Clinton

Black Educology Mixtape "Journal"

This track develops the concept of apocalyptic pedagogy by situating it within Africana studies and classroom rituals, illustrating how curriculum itself can be examined, buried, and reimagined through practices rooted in Black educology. Drawing on ancestral knowledge and collective memory, the track envisions ritual as curriculum, where libation and remembrance become practices of mourning and reclamation. Rather than centering institutional reform, the track frames education as a ritual circle enacting pedagogy as remembrance, mourning, and rebirth, honoring Black life as sacred.

Kong Koch: An Autoethnography On Jieng Indigenous Wisdom And Ethos Of Leadership, Dau D. Jok

Black Educology Mixtape "Journal"

In this track, I argue that Jieng (Dinka) epistemology reshapes leadership by foregrounding restraint (achin te lui ye), emotional regulation (kong koch), and social harmony (wel tuc). These Indigenous approaches challenge dominant trait-based leadership models by exposing their limits in confronting social and contextual diversity. To illustrate these ideas, I draw on personal accounts and member checks with my grandmother (Aboba) to show how Jieng wisdom reframes concepts of leadership, disposition, and practice. Building on this, the track advances Afrocentric leadership literature by defining leadership as communal accountability. Furthermore, it stresses the urgent need for scholars and practitioners to engage …

From The Hood To The Pwi: A Self-Reflective Journey As Learner And Educator, Tatiana C. Height

Black Educology Mixtape "Journal"

This track explores the concept of organic sustainability within the context of Black educational experiences, drawing from my personal journey as student, scholar, mother, and educator. Using action research and autoethnography, I examine how anti-Black schooling shaped my academic trajectory across K–12 schools, predominantly white institutions, graduate studies, and faculty life. The narrative highlights tensions between education as a promise of liberation and its simultaneous perpetuation of systemic oppression. Strategies of resilience and resistance—such as ungrading, culturally relevant pedagogy, Apocalyptic Education, and unschooling—are positioned as tools to reimagine liberatory education. The work underscores the necessity of rejecting white supremacist norms …

Harriet Tubman’S Underground Railroad As Ancestral Technology For Black Futures, Julia Lynch

Black Educology Mixtape "Journal"

This track draws on BlackMothering to frame Harriet Tubman not only as a conductor of freedom but as an architect of ancestral technology, designing strategies of survival that continue to instruct contemporary struggles. Tubman’s praxis—relational, anticipatory, and collective—illuminates the enduring power of Black knowledge systems to chart pathways through systems of violence and oppression. In conversation with Tiffani Marie and Kenjus Watson’s theorization of Apocalyptic Education and what Django Paris and H. Samy Alim describe as culturally sustaining pedagogy, this track explores how Tubman’s Underground Railroad praxis offers a blueprint for Black sustainability using (a) health and survival, (b) spatial …

Black Boys And The New Media Mixtape: Ownership, Aspiration, And Hustle In A Digital Age, Kareem Edouard, Taquan S. Stewart

Black Educology Mixtape "Journal"

In this track, we explore how “new media” platforms become modern “mixtape” tools for Black boys to remix identity and cultural narratives in the digital age. As Audre Lorde reminded us, “The master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house.” Still, we aim to interrogate whether these tools can be repurposed for empowerment. This framework unfolds in three parts: examining ownership and the gatekeeping of cultural narratives, exploring how new media platforms shape aspirations and identities for Black boys, and identifying the tools and pathways for Black boys to both see themselves as creators and access content that reflects them. …

Embodied Archives: The Body As Technology Of Black Sustainability, Felicia Rutledge

Black Educology Mixtape "Journal"

This track develops the concept of embodied archives as technologies of Black sustainability in apocalyptic times. Building from Diana Taylor’s distinction between the archive and the repertoire, and in conversation with Hortense Spillers, Saidiya Hartman, Christina Sharpe, Sami Schalk, Tiffani Marie and Kenjus Watson, and Ruha Benjamin, I argue that Black bodies function as living repositories of knowledge. Long before schools claimed authority over learning, communities preserved memory in movement, rhythm, oral and signed languages, tactile practices, and everyday rituals of care. Disabled Black bodyminds, through practices such as braille literacy and augmentative and alternative communication, further illustrate how assistive …

The Cypher: Freedom Dreaming And Black Sustainability Beyond The Ruins, Tiffani Marie, Kenjus Watson, David Stovall, Dre Carter, Simple Ant, Eghosa Obaizamomwan-Hamilton

Black Educology Mixtape "Journal"

In confronting the structural collapse of modernity and the dehumanization inherent in public institutions, this cypher serves as a site of radical imagination and sonic medicine. By centering freedom dreaming and Black sustainability, we argue for the necessary pedagogical movements of Black Educology. Ultimately, we invite a collective reimagining of death, not as an end but as a communal transition toward life beyond the trap of modernity.

Nineteenth Century Deaf Education In The United States: A Survey Of The Schools, Styles Of Instruction, And The Events That Led To The Dark Ages Of Deaf Education, Christopher Arra

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

The present study reviewed 19th-century deaf education in the United States and investigated controversial curriculum changes that led to the Dark Ages of Deaf Education. Two pedological approaches to deaf education were discussed: oralism and manualism, and a brief review of the 19th-century deaf education schools in the United States was also conducted. Readers are also made aware of the specific events that led to the Dark Ages of Deaf Education, and implications for Instructors are also discussed.

Living Narrative, Logan W. Cody

Critical and Creative Thinking Capstones Collection

This unconventional synthesis project uses the frameworks of communication studies and critical theory to explore questions of subjectification and identity. This paper uses a research-based approach to discussing my original piece of art known as autofiction. Simultaneously, this paper tries to use the techniques of art to communicate its meanings to you. I have chosen this style of writing for my research paper precisely because my research (and creative work) deals with narrative, identity, and ideas which cannot be said in words; ideas which have been made impossible to communicate through the official, traditional channels. To that end, in order …

Narrative Roots - What We Inherit, What We Tell, What We Become: Intergenerational Storytelling, Meaning-Making, And Mental Health, Adam Sholder

Critical and Creative Thinking Capstones Collection

This capstone synthesis explores how the family stories we inherit and the stories we tell across generations shape who we become, with particular attention to their impact on identity and mental health. Drawing on narrative identity theory, reflective practice, and relational understandings of family life, it introduces the Recursive Narrative Integration Model, which positions intergenerational storytelling as both a method of inquiry and a mechanism of meaning-making. Informed by a recursive process of creative and reflective writing, this synthesis approaches storytelling not only as an object of study, but as a lived and generative practice through which experience and narrative …

Haydn’S Creation Challenge: A New Hypothesis About The Genesis Of Beethoven’S Ninth Symphony, Stefan Romanó

HAYDN: Online Journal of the Haydn Society of North America

The article hypothesizes that Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony was the product of his decision to take up the challenge that Haydn’s Creation had confronted him with since his youth.  Haydn’s oratorio was immensely popular in Vienna and Germany during Beethoven’s time, more popular than Beethoven’s own music.  It represented the golden standard of musical perfection for Beethoven himself, who strove to equal it, but repeatedly felt that he had not yet jumped over the Creation hurdle.  He took up the challenge in the years 1816-18, when he began designing the first movement of his Ninth, as a replica to the …

Petals And Pride: A Botanical History Of Queer Expression, Sarah O. Kowal

Graduate Masters Theses

“Petals and Pride” examines the historical use of flowers as enduring symbols of queer expression and persecution across diverse cultures and time periods, paying particular attention to violets, green carnations, roses, lilies, pansies, and lavender. This study begins with the appearance of violets in the works of the Ancient Greek poet Sappho and traces their adoption by the lesbian community of Paris at the turn of the twentieth century. Around this same time, another floral symbol emerged across the English Channel: the green carnation. Popularized by Oscar Wilde, the green carnation functioned in Victorian Britain as an emblem of sexuality …

Racism, Coping, And In-Race Heterosexism Among Asian American Sexually Expansive People: A Moderated Moderation Analysis, Miah Theresse A. Sabas

Graduate Masters Theses

Asian American sexually expansive people (AA SEP) are at elevated risk of psychological distress at the intersection of racism and heterosexism (Takeda et al., 2021). Less is known about how AA SEP cope with intersectional oppression, including experiences of in-race heterosexism. With a sample of 105 AA SEP, correlations indicated a positive link between psychological distress (PD; DASS-21, Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995) and racism-related stress (RRS; Brief PEDQ-CV, Brondolo et al., 2005), but not in-race heterosexism (Perceived Racism in Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Communities Scale, Sarno et al., 2015). Moderation analyses indicated only active coping buffered the relation between RRS …

Talk To Me: Exploring The Sociocultural Ecology Of Home Language And Literacy Practices Of Families In India, Surbhi Puri

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Existing research highlights the role of home language and literacy environments (HLLE) in shaping early language and literacy development, yet few studies have examined the practices of multilingual families in India. While home environments offer rich learning opportunities, broader sociocultural and policy contexts influence how families support literacy and language development. Families’ insights into home language use, literacy routines, and cultural practices remain underexplored in early childhood education research.

The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore the HLLE of preschool-aged children in India and examine how families support early language and literacy development within multilingual home …

Critical Geopolitics And The Reconstruction Of Meaning: A Discourse Analysis Of The 'Terrorism' Label Applied To Hamas By Western Hegemony, Cahaya Mulyani Sakti, M.Hamdan Basyar

Journal of Terrorism Studies

The emergence of Hamas in 1987 cannot be separated from the configuration of modern colonialism and the continuity of occupation that shaped the political reality. Hamas’s early phase was rooted in socio-religious activities through education and community empowerment programs, before evolving into armed resistance against the occupation. The labeling of Hamas as a “terrorist” organization began in the mid-1990s in U.S. legal documents, which subsequently generated debate and gave rise to counter-narratives. This study employs the frameworks of critical geopolitics (Ó Tuathail & Agnew) and the Discourse-Historical Approach (Wodak) to analyze the labeling of Hamas as “terrorist” by Western hegemony. …

Digital Communication And The Evolution Of Ideological Narratives In Indonesia: Insights From Social Media Platforms, Tia Mariatul Kibtiah, Muhammad Fikri Fawazi

Journal of Terrorism Studies

This study examines how pro-caliphate and anti-democratic narratives are articulated and normalised within YouTube comment spaces in Indonesia. As the world’s largest Muslim-majority country with high levels of digital engagement, Indonesia provides an important context for analysing how political-religious discourses circulate through everyday digital interaction. The research analyses 1,354 YouTube comments related to the caliphate, governance, and democracy. Data were collected using Google Apps Script, manually filtered for relevance, and examined through qualitative content analysis informed by Social Network Theory (SNT) and the Radicalisation Factor Model (RFM). The findings show that 34.49% of comments endorsed ideological pro-caliphate narratives, while 35.97% …

Arts On The Point: Boston's First Public Sculpture Park, Isabella Slonka

Honors College Theses

Led by the conviction that “a public campus needs public art,” Professor Paul Tucker founded UMass Boston’s Arts on the Point (AoP) sculpture park in 1997. Large-scale works by world-class contemporary artists including Sol LeWitt, Dennis Oppenheim, Luis Jiménez, Sheila Pepe, and Mark di Suvero were made accessible to students, served as teaching aids and attracted those outside of UMB to Columbia Point. AoP’s use of long term loans made the landscape itself a rotating gallery.

Consideration of the “personality” of the campus was essential in the selection of works. Site visits with artists were conducted to ensure that their …

Profil Kemampuan Awal Keterampilan Produktif Bahasa Jerman Mahasiswa Pemula Pada Level A1 Cefr, Femmy Angreany, Arlian Fachrul Syaputra

Journal of Language, Literature, and Arts

This study aims to describe the initial profile of German productive skills among first-year students of the German Language Education Study Program, Faculty of Languages and Literature, Universitas Negeri Makassar, based on the A1 level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). The study employed a quantitative approach with a descriptive design to systematically portray students’ abilities without applying any specific treatment. The participants consisted of 40 first-semester students from two classes. Data was collected through documentation of the Final Semester Examination results in speaking (Sprechen) and writing (Schreiben) skills, which were adapted from the Goethe-Zertifikat A1: …

Making Kinship With Plants And The Multiple Meanings Of Care In Amazonian Indigenous Gardens, Ana Gabriela Morim De Lima

Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America

This paper focuses on the bonds of kinship and care between humans, cultivated plants, and other-than-human beings in Indigenous gardens, myths, rituals, and shamanism, across Lowland South America. Drawing on Krahô ethnography and a review of ethnological literature, it highlights the contributions of Americanist ethnology to wider debates about multispecies relation, particularly with regard to vegetal agency. By exploring the ambivalent meanings of care- such as “caring,” “raising,” and “nurturing,” as well as “being careful,” “having respect,” and “taking precautions”- I examine how kinship relations between humans and their cultivated plants are made through care and unmade through its absence …

Making Noise Through Law: Indigenous Legal Mobilisation Against A Power Plant In “French” Guiana, Pierre Auzerau

Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America

In so-called “French” Guiana, or Guyane, the Kali’na village of Atopo Wipi has fought for years against a hydrogen power plant being built on their land. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork conducted between 2023 and 2024 in Guyane and Western Europe, where I collaborated with various stakeholders to support Atopo Wipi’s resistance to the power plant, my research focuses on the legal dimensions of the Kali’na’s struggle to protect their land. Specifically, this article examines how the Kali’na navigated different normative frameworks, including international human rights standards and French law, to fight the project. Through this analysis, I show how the …

“Ese Dia Que Se Va El Patron An Hecho Fiesta”.* Historicities Of Successful Resistance Against Hacienda Bosses Among The Kukama (Peru, 1933-1945), Arno R. Holl

Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America

This paper analyzes two cases of resistance by Kukama workers within the debt slavery system of habilitación in the Peruvian Amazon during the first half of the twentieth century. It discusses the similarities and differences between the two cases, and positions the workers and their accounts of events and agency within the historical, social and cosmological framework of the time and region. Through the examples studied here, the hierarchies, power dynamics, spirituality, lifestyles, traditions, and cultural changes that shaped Kukama communities at the time become visible from an emic perspective. The paper places special emphasis on how historical events are …

Out Of Scotland, America Arose, Angela Winters

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

Within the annals of history, the American Revolution and the subsequent Founding Era could rival any other historical time frame for the amount of academic analysis that has been conferred upon the people, the documents, and the overall trends that led up to the world-changing establishment of the United States of America. However, one area that has had comparatively little focus given to it is the contribution of Scottish political writings from centuries of unrest and continual attempts to maintain their sovereign rights as a free people. Often overlooked due to the celebrity-like status of French and English Enlightenment writers, …

Revival Song: The Significance Of Hymns In The First Great Awakening, Kaeley E. Whitacre

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

This paper highlights the transition in church music during the First Great Awakening in Colonial America. It argues that hymns and new psalmody had a mutually beneficial relationship in the Awakening, as they aided one another in emphasizing personal salvation experiences. Prior to the Awakening, English-speaking churches in Colonial America sung almost exclusively literal translations of Psalms in a more formalized call-and-response format. While current scholarship on the First Great Awakening broadly analyzes the primary tensions and debates within New England churches regarding changes in music, it does not provide a comprehensive overview of the introduction of hymns in Colonial …

America's Founding Theology, Michael Payne

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

Building off of Mark David Hall's thesis that America had a Christian founding, this paper seeks to explore the theology of this Christian founding. While acknowledging that Enlightenment and English Common Law also influenced American founding thought, the paper seeks to look specifically at America's theological outlook. It concludes that American founding theology was overwhelmingly Reformed but with some key influences from the Baptist, Quaker, and even Catholic traditions. These influences can be found in the writings of the founders as well as in America's founding documents such as the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. The point of the …

Shepherds In The Great War: The Evolution Of The U.S. Army Chaplaincy And The Service Of Malcolm Taylor In World War I, Sydney Gilbert

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

From its beginnings in 1775, the U.S. military chaplaincy has been a vital but often overlooked component of the American military experience. Though the specific duties, expectations, and regulations for U.S. chaplains have evolved over time, the heart of the chaplaincy is rooted in sacrificial service, a ministry of presence, spiritual leadership, and moral guidance. The American entrance into the Great War in 1917 marked a period of exponential growth for the military chaplaincy as it faced unprecedented demand and growing professionalization. To meet the needs of the modern era warfare, a major shift occurred within the chaplaincy as it …