Digital Commons Network^™

The Mediating Role Of Remote Communication On The Relationship Between Electronic Human Resource Management Practices And Organizational Performance In Iraqi Commercial Banks, Shuhub Basel Ahmad Taqa

Middle East Journal of Communication Studies

This study aimed to measure the impact of remote communication as a mediating variable on the relationship between electronic human resources (e-HRM) and organizational performance in Iraqi commercial banks. The study adopted a descriptive-analytical approach, with the study population consisting of managers, their deputies, and department heads in Iraqi commercial banks, totaling 242 individuals distributed across 24 commercial banks by the end of 2023. A total of 234 questionnaires were analyzed, achieving a response rate of 96.7%. The study employed Smart PLS software for data analysis and result extraction. The study revealed several key findings, the most significant of which …

Neuroarts And Neuroaesthetics, James Hutson, Piper Hutson

Faculty Scholarship

Recent advancements in neuroarts and neuroaesthetics have elucidated the relationship between artistic engagement and neural processes, emphasizing the impact of aesthetic experiences on cognitive and emotional well-being. Central to this exploration is the NeuroArts Blueprint initiative, which consolidates interdisciplinary research to better understand the impactful role of the arts on brain function and health outcomes. Empirical studies highlight how exposure to art, such as music or visual stimuli, activates neural circuits involved in emotion regulation, memory, and reward processing, particularly engaging the medial orbitofrontal cortex. Innovations such as haptic and electro-tactile devices have introduced novel sensory modalities that not only …

A Scholar At The Round Table: The Academic Influence Of Professor Raluca L. Radulescu, Brenda L. Schurrer

Honors Capstones

This research biography explores the academic contributions of Professor Raluca L. Radulescu, a leading scholar in medieval and Arthurian literature. The project examines her role in connecting traditional and contemporary literary analysis, focusing on her scholarship's influence on political, gender, and manuscript studies. Using a literary-historical methodology, I analyzed Radulescu’s major works, including The Gentry Context for Malory’s Morte Darthur and her chapter in The Routledge Companion to Medieval English Literature, supplemented by secondary sources such as reviews and dissertations citing her research. The study emphasizes her interdisciplinary approach and her impact on reinterpreting medieval texts for modern audiences. Findings …

Bridging The Gap: Overcoming Medical Arabic Language Challenges In The Healthcare Setting, Deena Sukhon, Maya Jaradi, Abdullah Jalal, Marwa Saad, Joud Obri, Wesam Almasri, Matthew Helou, Mazen Zamzam, Inaya Hajj Hussein

Posters

No abstract provided.

Artificial Intelligence And Its Impact On Achieving Professional Competence: An Applied Study On Social Workers In Social Institutions, Manal Mushabab Alqahtani

Journal of Arts and Social Sciences

This research aims to identify the level of application of artificial intelligence among social workers in social institutions, and to identify the presence of statistically significant differences at the significance level (0.05) between the averages of the response of a sample of social workers regarding the level of application of artificial intelligence due to the variable (gender, years of experience, and educational level), as well as identifying the impact of applying artificial intelligence on achieving professional efficiency in social institutions. To achieve these goals; Both the descriptive analytical approach and the comparative descriptive approach were used by applying a questionnaire …

Ficción De Campus Hoy: La Representación De La Comunidad Hispana En Las Novelas De Campus (Iván Brave, Pp. 25-38), Iván Brave

Intersecciones Hispánicas: Revista de Cultura, Literatura y Lingüística

Americans take pride in having popularized the campus novel. Too bad it hap- pened like their demonym, American, which presumes one thing and ignores the rest. In this research, I demonstrate that the campus novel is a limited genre. I also explore why critics and readers alike consider it an American genre, that is one that makes visible only certain kinds of Americans. My focus is on the lack of Hispanic authors and protagonists. Millions of Hispanics teach, study, and work in American (US) universities, yet fiction does not reflect this reality. Having traced its limitations and analyzed the survey …

Kazembe Balagun Part 2, Mark Naison

Oral Histories

Abstract

Interviewer: Mark Naison, Ryan Purcell, Shellae Versey

Interviewee: Kazambe Balagun

In this second part of an interview with Kazembe Balagun, he discusses Co-Op City’s neighborly qualities in depth, specifically in regards to the community it fosters for all ages. Kazambe’s knowledge is direct evidence that defies the stigmatized viewpoints and negative stereotypes on public housing. This viewpoint is transcended through Balagun’s passionate dialogue on the importance of children and the development of the youth in Co-Op City, his engagement with community-based activities, as well as his extensive knowledge on local politics. As Balagun stresses the importance of political involvement …

Detangling Beauty, Curly Hair, And Race: (Re)Interpreting Beauty And Latinx Racial Identities Through Natural Hair Narratives, Katie Duarte

Latin American and Latino/a Studies: Faculty Publications

The natural hair movement aims to encourage people from the Black diaspora to embrace their natural afro-textured hair, which has facilitated a cultural change in the United States. This article asks how Dominican and Dominican-American women in New York City interpret the racialized and gendered discourse through narratives about their hair. Dominican racial identity has historically relied on a rhetoric of Indo-Hispanicity (“brownness”) for its simultaneous proximity to whiteness and distance from Blackness. However, afro-textured hair is becoming more popular among Dominicans in the Dominican Republic and the United States. This article utilizes hair as a cultural tool to trace …

Empowering Underserved Mandarin-Speaking Communities Through Medical Student-Led Culinary Education, Amy Lin, Qihua Sun, Nathan Huang, Virginia Uhley, Misa Mi

Posters

No abstract provided.

Netflix : D’Une Digitalisation Cinématographique Vers Une Déconstruction Du 7èMe Art, Karim El Mahjoubi

Dirassat

According to a study conducted by GroupM1, 76% of French people have gone to the cinema less since the 2018 health crisis. The first reason given is "the fear of being contaminated by Covid-19". This is how the streaming platform "Netflix" saw, here, a godsend to seize this market and innovate in cinematographic digitalization. It therefore decided to rent via a monthly subscription, through a Smartphone or Smart TV application, films and series to watch "without moderation" (unlike the old video clubs). The cinema then becomes "Smart or pocket" and accessible, at a low price, for any film buff because …

Vers Une Pédagogie Immersive : Exploration Du Métavers En Éducation Towards Immersive Pedagogy: Exploring Metavers In Education, Adil El Madhi, Issam Laamri, Jamaleddine Khouna

Dirassat

Incorporating the framework of immersive pedagogical innovation, this article explores the growing importance of the metaverse in creating innovative and relevant learning experiences. Emerging as a crucial component of contemporary educational innovations, immersive pedagogy aims to fully engage learners in the process of acquiring knowledge and skills. Historically linked to participatory methods, such as project-based learning, this pedagogy has flourished with the advent of digital technologies, notably the metaverse. The latter, defined as a convergence of online virtual environments, offers revolutionary potential for education by transcending physical boundaries and enabling immersive and collaborative experiences. This study, focusing on the exploration …

You Are What You Eat: Religion, Meat, And The Moral Dilemma, Hazel M. Sims Ms.

Young Historians Conference

In the last twenty-five years, the Muslim population of Canada has tripled. The value of the Canadian halal food market is now estimated to exceed one billion dollars. In 2021, eight in ten Indian adults reported that they restrict their meat eating in some way for a cultural reason. The same year, 34% of Americans surveyed—Jewish and non-Jewish—said they bought kosher meat out of a concern for food safety. At first glance, the world’s meat market is far from religious. But upon closer inspection, one can see that the history of meat eating is not only about survival but also …

Entheogens: The Hallucinogenic Plants That Shaped Religion, Nicolas A. Michaud

Young Historians Conference

Entheogens have played a pivotal role in religious and spiritual practices across diverse cultures, aiding in the pursuit of divine connection and higher consciousness. Evidence suggests that dating as far as back as a million years ago, early human species such as Homo erectus and Homo habilis experimented with hallucinogenic plants like psilocybin mushrooms, introducing the earliest forms of shamanic practices. As societies became more structured, the use of entheogens expanded throughout various parts of society. In ancient Greece, oracles utilized plants like henbane to communicate with the divine, molding military and political policy. During the Middle Ages, Tibetan Buddhism …

Exposing The Truth Behind The Stanford Prison Experiment, Leo Novack

Young Historians Conference

In 1971 Philiip Zimbardo, a Stanford University professor, designed an experiment to study human behaviors in the prison system. He sought to understand the effectiveness of the prison system, however, the experiment ended early due to the ethical concerns toward participants. It is considered one of the most important psychological experiments, not for what it helped reform, but for what it pointed out about the importance of safety for research participants. Calling upon primary sources from participants and the researchers’ findings, as well as secondary sources primarily from psychologists and research ethics, the research reveals that this study was unreliable …

A Crucial Western Foothold: Uyghur-Americans In The Fairfax-D.C. Metro Area, Jake C. Mccauley

Young Historians Conference

Since the 1980s, the Uyghur people of East Turkestan, now known as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, have migrated from their ancestral homeland in China in search of a better life. As an ethnically, linguistically, and religiously distinct group, the Uyghurs face severe oppression, with the Chinese state targeting them economically, socially, and physically. Since 2017, mass internment efforts have escalated, leading to the establishment of labor camps that claim to transition Uyghur labor from agricultural to industrial sectors but also serve as sites of ideological indoctrination, torture, and death. As a result of these human rights violations and other …

Riding Through The Great Depression: The Impact Of Pack Horse Librarians, Madison G. Reed

Young Historians Conference

Supported by Eleanor Roosevelt and the Roosevelt Administration during the Great Depression, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) was part of Roosevelt’s “alphabet soup” agencies. It didn’t take long for the WPA, which sought to provide work, education, and culture to Americans who were struggling economically, to introduce the Pack Horse Library Project to rural Eastern Kentucky. The Pack Horse Librarians were local women hired by the federal government to bring reading material to isolated, unemployed people and children of all ages. Both secondary scholarship, focused on the role Pack Horse Librarians played in the development of community, as well as …

“Through Science To Justice” Magnus Hirschfeld’S Role In Queer Liberation, Katarina L. Stoll

Young Historians Conference

Magnus Hirschfeld was a scientist who researched sexuality and gender, as well as an activist for “sexual minorities.” He challenged previously held beliefs that homosexuality should be treated as an illness and is credited with being the first to view gender identity as separate from sexuality. Additionally, Hirschfeld argued that queer people simply act in accordance with their nature. Through the creation of various institutions, he worked to uplift the queer community through publishing his research, undertaking advocacy work, and creating safe spaces. Though not immune to the prejudices of his time, Hirschfeld was able to help improve the lives …

Face Value: Cosmetics As A Unit Of Historical Analysis, Sophie Durocher

Young Historians Conference

Cosmetics are a universal concept that have been inherent in society all throughout history. This paper explores four unique cultures from across the globe and their primary cosmetic of choice. A tube of lipstick from a Bronze Age Persian burial ground sheds light on the early uses and significance of lipstick in Ancient Persia. A compact of powdered pearls from China in the 11th century reveals the widespread importance of facial powder in China. The Maya applied paint and perfumes to denote social status and in ritual traditions, as evidenced by artwork and archaeological evidence. Ancient Egyptians famously painted their …

The Role Of Feline Goddesses In Advancing Women’S Rights In Ancient Egypt, Caitlin Moran

Young Historians Conference

The ancient Egyptians highly valued cats, worshipped female feline deities, and granted women more rights than other ancient civilizations. These three facts are widely acknowledged, but they have an intriguing link—and the key lies in the divine feline. This paper explores the extent to which ancient Egyptian feline goddesses, particularly Bastet, Sekhmet, and Mafdet, contributed to the treatment of women and their freedoms that surpassed those of women in other ancient civilizations. Examining historical records, religious artifacts, and scholarly journal articles, it illustrates how feline deities shaped gender dynamics in ancient Egypt. By analyzing the relationship between cats, feline deities, …

The Essentials Of Creative Writing, Mitchell James

Journal of Creative Writing Studies

Review of Stephanie Vanderslice. Teaching Creative Writing: The Essential Guide. Bloomsbury, 2024. 175 pages.

Informed Practices And Resources For Facilitating Community-Based Writing Groups, Cassandra M. Normand

Journal of Creative Writing Studies

Community-based writing groups have been found to positively impact attendees’ well-being; however, little research examines informed practices that beginning group facilitators can utilize to facilitate groups. This study interviewed 23 professionals from across the U.S. and compiled main themes for effectively facilitating writing groups. The four themes are as follows: 1). Creating a brave, caring atmosphere is key, 2). Networking is critical, 3). There are individual, group, and organizational challenges, 4). Understanding the facilitator’s role is essential. Through an in-depth discussion of themes, the researcher encourages others to start their own writing groups in their communities.

Deconstructing The Cradle Of Literature: An Application Of Pierre Bourdieu’S “Field” Theory To The Studies Of Literary Subjectivity And Local Creative Writing, Gabriel F. Y. Tsang

Journal of Creative Writing Studies

Different from Northrop Frye, who intends to terminate literary discussions by stressing archetypical analysis, Pierre Bourdieu attracts many interdisciplinary attempts upon his scientific methodology. Although he rarely centralizes the internal value of literature, as he did in an exceptional commentary on Guillaume’s poetry by adopting conventional judgments (descriptive, rhetoric, narrative, and stylistic), his sociological delineation of the objective and habitual mechanism of the literary field and the possibility of change oriented by personal dispositions strikingly reveals a new integrative way to understand the dynamic process of literary formation. Adding Merleau-Ponty phenomenology of perception and perspective of communicative externalization to Bourdieu’s …

"Integrating The Seven Stages Of Conocimiento With Nahuatl And Ralámuri Wisdom In Kosmic Feminism: My Creative Writer Identity.", Hilda Yaneth Sotelo Dr

Journal of Creative Writing Studies

This paper explores the intersection of Kosmic Feminism and the seven stages of conocimiento as outlined by Gloria Anzaldúa, integrating Indigenous wisdom from Nahuatl and Ralámuri traditions. It examines how decolonial thought, feminist theory, and creative writing can be transformative tools for personal and communal healing. Drawing on personal experiences rooted in the borderlands of Ciudad Juárez-El Paso and Rarámuri heritage, the author blends Anzaldúa’s framework of conocimiento with Indigenous perspectives to offer a critique of patriarchal systems and a vision of holistic, cosmic resistance. The seven stages of conocimiento—awakening (El Arrebato), liminality (La Nepantla), commitment (El Compromiso), healing (La …

The Confluence Of Millenarianism And Sabbateanism In The Seventeenth-Century Netherlands, Madison J. Alexander

Young Historians Conference

The seventeenth century was a time of religious tension and a spike in apocalyptic rhetoric across not only the European continent, but also the Middle East and North Africa. Shabbatai Tzvi, a false Messiah based in the Ottoman Empire, promoted his own divine nature along with his subversive rewriting of Jewish law. Tzvi gained traction by capitalizing on the belief among persecuted Jewish communities worldwide that the Jews were soon to be redeemed; Protestants, facing their own predicted end-of-days in 1666, found commonalities in this theology. In a Netherlands newly free from Spain’s Catholic rule, Amsterdam boasted some of the …

Form Follows Function: An Analysis Of De Architectura And Its Influence, Weston Klein

Young Historians Conference

Over 2000 years ago, the Roman architect and engineer, Marcus Vitruvius Pollio, scribed De Architectura, a multi-volume work unearthed in the 15th century, in St. Gallen, Switzerland. As the only surviving architectural source from antiquity, the book has been indispensable in the study of Greco-Roman architecture, positioning Vitruvian and Greco-Roman architectural concepts in many ways as one in the same. Additionally, Vitruvian ideas, as expressed in De Architectura, regarding architectural form, materials, location, and process have been foundational to the evolution of Western architecture. This paper explores De Architectura’s impact on Western architectural theory and practice spanning the Early Middle …

“His Better Half”: Hindley And Heathcliff As Social Foils In Emily Brontë’S Wuthering Heights, Bethany Rozario Steinhagen

The Compass

Critical analyses of Emily Bronte’s Victorian classic Wuthering Heights often portray Hindley Earnshaw, Catherine’s older brother, as a mere analog to the Brontes’ own older brother Branwell. This paper claims that Hindley’s character is not only far more developed than commonly assumed, but that he is also integral to the development of Heathcliff becoming Heathcliff himself. Both men’s journeys can further be seen as parallel methods of navigating rigid Victorian social expectations. This analysis explores the foil relationship between these two men, who can both be described as each other’s ‘better half,’ shining a new light not only on the …

35th Annual Young Historians Conference Program, Portland State University History Department, Portland State University Challenge Program

Young Historians Conference

This is the 2025 Young Historians Conference schedule and abstracts.

Joining The Sapphic Tradition: A Contemporary Approach To Translating Sappho And Catullus, Rebekah Shively

Honors Projects

This project explores the accessibility and emotional resonance of ancient lyric poetry by creatively reimagining selected works of Sappho and Catullus through the integration of slang. Beginning with my personal discovery of Sappho in high school and later academic encounters with both poets, I trace the development of my interest from an informal, online fascination to formal research, while also recognizing how many existing resources felt outdated, inaccessible, or disconnected from a modern audience. After providing substantial background information on the two poets, I examine their popular culture presence before moving to similarities between their work, focusing primarily on Catullus' …

Javier Milei, Fenómeno Barrial: Political Slogans As Narrative, Sawyer J. Deshon

Senior Honors Theses

Javier Milei won Argentina’s 2023 presidential race to the surprise of many. His prolific use of political slogans on social media has continued into his presidency, contextualizing his agenda and the potential image he seeks to project when pursuing reelection in 2027. This investigation conducts a critical reading of Javier Milei’s political slogans through the lens of Walter R. Fisher’s narrative paradigm, identifying a clear narrative arc that portrays Milei as a populist political outsider, villainizes the political elite of Argentina, and promises a thriving Argentina rooted in libertarian fiscal policy. The subsequent rhetorical analysis integrates quantitative and qualitative assessments …

The Icarian Dilemma: The Battle Of Faith Versus Identity Addressed With Scenic Design, Allistar G. Barrett

Senior Honors Theses

American Christians and the LGBTQ+ community have long been in a cultural war with one another. However, queer Christians – individuals who are both LGBTQ+ and Christian – have rarely found solace in either community, instead being shunned and ostracized for their beliefs and identities. Using the transformative art of theatre to address cultural divides, a theatrical scenic design was developed for Joe Calarco’s Shakespeare’s R & J, a retelling of the traditional Romeo and Juliet script through the lives of four Catholic school girls. This design uses the Greek mythology of Icarus, Catholic culture, the original Romeo and Juliet, …