Digital Commons Network^™

A Vernon Lee Notebook, 1898-1934, Vernon Lee (Violet Paget)

Vernon Lee: Manuscripts, Published Works, and Typescripts

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Artificial Intelligence And Translation: Exploring Current Applications, Limitations And Future Potential Of Language Models Through Japanese-English Translation, Loklin Elias Nord

Undergraduate Theses, Capstones, and Recitals

This thesis highlights the recent improvements and capabilities of Large Language Models (LLMs), specifically their ability to produce translations between different languages. The continued up-scaling of model sizes has led to breakthroughs in the level of their observed intelligence, allowing them to produce translations that are similar in quality to highly skilled human translators. However, to facilitate the reasoning processes that LLMs now possess, their demand for computational power and the supporting hardware and resources has increased proportionally. Considering the impacts of this technology on the environment, energy resources, and its accessibility, my research explores the possibilities of smaller, highly …

Between The Lens And The Gaze: Reflections Of Femininity In Film, Noureen Sakr

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the male gaze’s construction of femininity through the use of glass and reflective surfaces, particularly mirrors, windows, glasses, and cameras in film. Reflections and depictions of women are recurring motifs in cinema, often symbolizing dynamics of perception and power. This thesis mobilizes related psychoanalytic and feminist conceptions to examine and compare the recurring visual motifs in the following films: Alfred Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train (1951) and Rear Window (1954), Paul Verhoeven’s Basic Instinct (1992), & Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan (2010). This thesis employs a qualitative, interdisciplinary methodology that integrates psychoanalytic theory, feminist film theory, literary criticism …

Hell Reimagined: Dante’S Inferno And The Secular Afterlives Of Divine Punishment, Yara Mohamed El Hashimi

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines contrapasso and how it changes across different media and different sources of moral authority. In Chapter One, I examine four different cantos of Dante’s Inferno and rely on Teodolinda Barolini’s work to examine textual contrapasso. Chapter One also discusses how Dante’s work shows the sinner’s moral condition and makes it visible through the punishment inflicted. Additionally, Dante’s Inferno presents punishment as part of a divinely authorized moral order, which becomes important in Chapter Two when I examine how William Blake visually interprets and questions that system. In Chapter Two, I examine the works of Blake that correspond …

“The Light Of Certain Belief” – Orthodoxy Versus Innovation According To Abū Ḥāmid Al-Ghazālī’S Al-Risāla Al-Qudsiyyah, Thomas Robinson

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the question of Islamic orthodoxy in the thought of Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī, with particular attention to his Risāla al-Qudsiyya and its place within his wider intellectual and reformative project. It begins by exploring concepts of orthodoxy and heterodoxy across the Christian and Islamic traditions, arguing that orthodoxy emerges through processes of interpretation, doctrinal conflict, boundary formation, and communal consensus. Islamic orthodoxy is understood as the historically consolidated mainstream of belief rooted in the Qurʾān, the Sunnah, the authority of the early community, and the scholarly tradition.

The central argument of the thesis is that al-Ghazālī conceives of …

Here Comes The Sun: A Diachronic Study Of The Role Of Music In The Amarna Period, Waleed Hawatky

Theses and Dissertations

Music has and continues to play a prominent role in the lives of individuals and in society, hardwired into the human experience and integral to our understanding of the world in both its tangible and intangible manifestations. This was no different in dynastic Egypt, where abundant iconographic and physical evidence from the Old Kingdom onward shows music performed in many diverse contexts at every social level.

Music appears not only to gain prominence during the reign of Amenhotep IV/Akhenaten (c. 1353–1335), also known as the Amarna Period, but also to develop innovations, including new kinds of instruments and musical ensembles, …

Art Inquiries, Vol. 21, Oct. 15, 2026 - Full Issue, Kris K. Belden-Adams

Art Inquiries

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Digital Transformation On The Performance Of Islamic Banks In The Gulf Cooperation Council Countries, Roukia Bouhider, Assma Guerfi

Journal of King Abdulaziz University: Islamic Economics

This research aims to examine the relationship between digital transformation and the performance of 25 Islamic banks in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries over the 2015-2023 period using the Panel-ARDL model and relying on the descriptive approach. The main independent variable is the Digital Transformation Index, in addition to the cost-toincome ratio, the total asset, the deposit-to-asset ratio, the real GDP, and the inflation rate. Return on equity (ROE) is the main performance measure. The study concludes that digital transformation in Islamic banks in the GCC countries is in its early stages, but it is increasing following the Corona pandemic …

Tolkien’S Glee: A Reading Of The Songs In The Hobbit And The Lord Of The Rings By John R. Holmes, Glenn R. Gray

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

This is a review of "Tolkien's Glee: A Reading of the Songs in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings" by John R. Holmes.

Science And Religion In The Imagination Of C.S. Lewis: The Quest For The Best Mental Model Of The Universe By Alister E. Mcgrath, Martina Juričková

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

This is a book review of Science and Religion in the Imagination of C. S. Lewis: The Quest for the Best Mental Model of the Universe by Alister E. McGrath

From Soldier To Storyteller: Essays On World War Veterans Who Became Famous Children’S Authors, Edited By Kathleen Broome Williams And Hal H. Friedman, Kris Swank

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Book review of From Soldier to Storyteller: Essays on World War Veterans Who Became Famous Children’s Authors, edited by Kathleen Broome Williams and Hal M. Friedman. Foreword by Michael S. Neiberg. McFarland, 2024.

J.R.R. Tolkien And G.B. Smith: With Wind In Our Ears, Edited By Guiseppe Pezzini, Mercury Natis

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

No abstract provided.

Barrel-Rides And She-Elves: Audience And Anticipation In Peter Jackson’S Hobbit Trilogy, Janet Croft

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Peter Jackson’s Hobbit trilogy, to the audience that loved the Lord of the Rings films, is an exciting opportunity to revisit Tolkien’s fantastic world and see favorite characters acting out their earlier adventures. The reader of the books, though, is often likely to find the difference in tone between the children’s book and the vastly expanded films jarring. This essay will explore audience expectations, the difficulties of filming a “prequel” after a “sequel,” and issues of “anticipation” in relation to character development.

Oxford At War: “Leaf By Niggle” As A Wartime Work, Part 1, Josh B. Long

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

J. R. R. Tolkien suggested that "Leaf by Niggle" was written around 1938-1939; however, Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull argue that it was actually composed in 1942. This corrected date changes how one reads the story: often viewed as an autobiographical allegory of art and faith, “Leaf by Niggle” falls into place as a wartime work, informed and transformed by the World War II pressures of Tolkien’s Oxford—the city and the University. This article situates the story within WWII and analyzes how that context influenced the imagery, characterization, symbols, and motifs of "Leaf."

“A Story Must Be Told”: Narrative Engagement In The Lord Of The Rings, Matthew Thompson-Handell

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Much has been written on the allusions to untold tales in The Lord of the Rings and on the effects generated by such allusions. Any judgment on the importance of these effects should be treated with caution, as little work has been done to explore just how these effects operate on a reader. Nor have these effects been placed in a wider context that considers them alongside other aspects of narrative engagement. Much work could be done on the engagement generated by narrative techniques such as suspense, curiosity, and surprise - one example is provided here with an analysis of …

Mrs Pam The Mermaid Princess: Tolkien’S Domesticated Water Monster, Jean E. Graham

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Tolkien’s Roverandom features a mermaid princess who is unnamed except in association with her magician husband and thus known as “Mrs Artaxerxes” or “Mrs A. Pam.” A possible influence on Goldberry in The Fellowship of the Ring, Mrs Pam combines the domestic with the royal, and the beautiful with the monstrous. Her tail, described as “regrettable,” represents the hybridity of a being that is undermines binaries.

Dreaming Of Bag End: The Hobbit And Medieval Dream-Poetry, Samuel A. Masters

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Medieval dream-poetry has had a profound impact upon the structure, character development and escapism effect in Tolkien's The Hobbit. As a professor of medieval literature, Tolkien was highly knowledgeable on such dream-poems and the late-antique dream theory of Macrobius. Imitating the structure behind the dream-poems of Chaucer, Dante and Langland, Tolkien presents Bilbo's adventure as comparable to a dream (although is careful not to present it as an actual dream). Within his journey, Bilbo also has several symbolic actual dreams. Through both the dream-like structure and the episodic actual dreams, Tolkien both foregrounds Bilbo's character change as his Tookish …

With Axe, Knife, Sting, And Tooth: The Enduring Wounds Of Gawain And Frodo, Roderick E. Pratt

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Among the possible Arthurian source texts for The Lord of the Rings, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight stands out as a likely inspiration. Tolkien engaged closely with the Gawain-poet for over 50 years, and as Cossio and Fimi recently demonstrated in their archival study of the W.P. Ker Memorial Lecture, he did so concurrently with his writing of The Lord of the Rings. Tom Shippey, John Fyler, Miriam Miller, and Roger Schlobin, among other scholars, have speculated on Sir Gawain’s influence for Tolkien’s work. Miller makes the case that Sir Gawain is a definitive source for …

The Rhetoric Of The Road: The Romantic Journey As A Map Of Myth, Memory, And Majesty, Joe R. Christopher

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Scholar Guest of Honor Address at Mythcon 54, Weatherford OK, July 2026.

Envelope 1 Transcript, John Coffee

Transcripts

The collection letters range from 1803-1817 and are concerned with the daily activities of Brigadier General John Coffee and the Tennessee Volunteer Cavalry and Mounted Gunmen during the War of 1812. The document is an indexed transcription of all letters in envelope one of the physical archival collection.

Transcription Note

All grammatical and spelling errors appeared in the original text and were retained to preserve the text’s original content. Illegible text from the original document is indicated by “[illegible]” or “[?].” Minor editorial clarifications not present in the original are placed in brackets. The text contains several dashes as …

Envelope 2 Transcript, John Coffee

Transcripts

The collection letters range from 1803-1817 and are concerned with the daily activities of Brigadier General John Coffee and the Tennessee Volunteer Cavalry and Mounted Gunmen during the War of 1812. The document is an indexed transcription of all letters in envelope two of the physical archival collection.

Transcription Note

All grammatical and spelling errors appeared in the original text and were retained to preserve the text’s original content. A dash typically indicates places where John Coffee wrote dashes within the original letters, while a string of successive dashes indicates illegible characters (the amount of dashes roughly corresponds to …

‘There Is No Continuity’: Assessment Of Pre-Service Teachers' Ability To Analyse Historical Sources In Two Ghanaian Public Universities, Anitha Oforiwah Adu-Boahen

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

The paper examined student-teachers’ understanding of change and continuity in History. Using a convergent parallel mixed method approach, one hundred and thirty-five (135) student-teachers from two public universities examined images depicting classroom settings in Ghana’s educational system from different periods. Respondents were expected to show and explain the continuities and changes in the different periods in Ghanaian history. They were to focus on the disparities in ‘change’ and ‘continuities’ in classroom settings in the Ghanaian educational system over time. Again, student-teachers were expected to transform their knowledge of these changes into historical understanding by writing an interpretation from the sources. …

Using The Past To Better Understand The Present: Contextualizing Today’S History Wars, For Ourselves And For Our Students, Bonnie Laughlin-Schultz

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

This essay considers our contemporary moment in the context of the long history of the so-called "history wars" in the United States. It identifies four historical moments with ties to the present, and makes use of primary documents to discuss each time period. It also considers the ways in which historical activists such as Frederick Douglass and W. E. B. Du Bois advocated for honest history in the past, and the ways in which we might argue for nuanced historical thinking in the present. Teachers may find the documents of use for their own classrooms, and a brief appendix at …

Research

Appalachia

Twice in Bloom: The Mystery of Diapensia’s Late-Season Flowers.

Scientists study why the tiny alpine flowers sometimes bloom again in the all.

Climbing As Healing: In War-Torn Ukraine, An American From Pennsylvania Leads A Climbing Program For War-Affected Children, Natalie Berry

Appalachia

A journalist gets to know young climbers and their families as they explore rock in Ukraine.

The Verney Family And Their Guitars In France And England, 1643–53, Christopher Page

Soundboard Scholar

The five-course guitar was a fundamental resource for the Verney family from 1643 to 1653 as they sheltered in France, avoiding their creditors and escaping the state of civil war at home in England. Their papers from that period, comprising many thousands of letters and financial accounts, show them hiring a guitar-master, ordering new guitars in Paris and debating the relative benefits of lessons for their eldest son on the guitar as opposed to the lute. This article reproduces the key documents and considers the music that the Verneys may have played. The papers particularly show how an instrument often …

Decreasing Barriers To Learning: Understanding Cognitive Load In The Modern Classroom, Rory Cantwell

Virginia English Journal

This article applies Cognitive Load Theory (CLT) to investigate current classroom uses of technology and how these may support or hinder student learning. First, the article explores the current understanding and application of CLT. Then, focusing on cell phone and laptop computer use, it examines how current evidence surrounding the most prevalent educational technologies may suggest strategies for classroom technology use. The article concludes by offering implications for current practitioners, including a decision tree educators can use to determine situational classroom technology usage.

Moving Forward In Education, Reese Whitlock, Hannah-Evette Burruss, Kiley Mccleary

Virginia English Journal

This article examines the growing presence of artificial intelligence in secondary English Language Arts classrooms and argues that educators must approach AI integration through a human-centered framework. While technological advancements continue to reshape literacy instruction, the role of teachers as guides and relationship-builders remains essential. Drawing on educational research and classroom examples, the article explores how tools such as generative AI and audiobooks can support student learning when used intentionally rather than as replacements for critical thinking or teacher involvement. The discussion highlights concerns surrounding overreliance on AI, including diminished writer’s voice, reduced cognitive engagement, and ethical issues such as …

Curating The Liberal Arts: High-Impact Approaches To Teaching Medical Humanities In The Archives, Alyssa Culp, Liz Bloodworth

Journal of Contemporary Archival Studies

This article emphasizes high-impact practices in the archives and encourages instructors and archivists to use prolonged collaboration as a way to teach digital learners analog thinking. The digital and physical exhibits we discuss were designed to model liberal arts thinking and curate experiential learning opportunities that led students to make connections between artifacts and lived experiences. Our case study focuses on one course developed with sustained archival interaction, which demonstrates an effective use of archives for promoting active learning through direct engagement with primary source materials in a liberal arts environment and thereby serves as an example of partnership for …

Indigenous Religion And Community Order: Crime Prevention Strategies Among Worshippers Of Igbe Orhe In Nigeria, Onoseme Fortune Afatakpa Dr

African Journal of Criminology and Justice Studies

This ethnographic study examines crime prevention strategies within Igbe Orhe, an indigenous African religious tradition practiced in Delta State, Nigeria. While existing security studies primarily emphasize formal and direct approaches to crime prevention, this research foregrounds the less explored structural mechanisms embedded in cultural spirituality. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with purposively selected participants, including the Uku Supreme (global leader), High Priests (Uku), High Priestess (Omote Uku), Chief Priests (Inori), Chief Priestesses (Ini Igbe), and Votary Singers (Akpine). Two focus group discussions were also conducted with female and youth members of selected …