Digital Commons Network^™

Level Of Cognitive Load Among Students With Learning Disabilities In The Middle Stage In Riyadh Region, Khalid Munahi Hudaib Alqahtani

University of Tabuk Journal for Humanities and Social Sciences

The study aimed to investigate the level of cognitive load among middle school students with learning disabilities in Riyadh and to identify differences in cognitive load levels according to gender (male-female) and grade level (first, second, third). The study adopted a descriptive approach and was conducted on a sample of (80) students with learning disabilities, whose ages ranged from 14 to 16 years. To achieve the study objectives, a Cognitive Load Scale consisting of (30) items distributed across three dimensions was developed: intrinsic load, extraneous load, and germane load. The results revealed that the overall level of cognitive load among …

The Factorial Structure Of The Positive Thinking Scale Among Graduate Students (A Case Study Of Tabuk University), Mohammed Abdullah Asiri, Hissah Suliman Albalawi

University of Tabuk Journal for Humanities and Social Sciences

The aim of the research was to identify the factorial structure of the Positive Thinking Scale among graduate students, using confirmatory factor analysis, the level of positive thinking among graduate students, and the differences in the dimensions of positive thinking among graduate students, according to two variables: (gender and specialization). To achieve the research objectives, a descriptive analytical approach was used, and a scale was designed consisting of 36 items distributed across five dimensions (optimism and positive expectation, self-discipline and control of higher-level mental processes, mindfulness, critical thinking, and unconditional self-acceptance). The scale was applied to a stratified random sample …

Maslow’S Hammer: The Problem Of Scientism And The Philosophy Of Science In Maslow’S Later Work, Richard Grego

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies Advance Publication Archive

This paper examines how Abraham Maslow’s concern with the pervasive intellectual and cultural influence of scientism shaped his philosophy of science and anticipated contemporary discourse on the nature of scientism. Although he never articulated a thorough, formal, or systematic philosophy of science, Maslow’s conception of science’s nature and scope is evident through the course of his work, and it was shaped by his concern with the emerging influence of scientism. The prominent intellectual status science has enjoyed since the Enlightenment has made scientism a powerful influence on postmodern intellectual and popular culture that is currently the subject of a wide …

Pillpetz: A Smarter Way To Encourage Medication Adherence In Children, John H. Begley

CMC Senior Theses

Medication adherence is usually framed as a problem of patient behavior, but this thesis argues that it is equally a problem of design. Children who take daily medication face barriers that adults often do not: developing executive function, dependence on caregivers, shifting school and home routines, privacy concerns, and stigma around being perceived as different. The standard prescription bottle, by contrast, was designed primarily for dispensing efficiency, safety, and accidental ingestion prevention—not for sustained daily use by a developing child.

This thesis proposes PillPetz, a smart pill case and digital companion that uses routine, play, dose confirmation, and caregiver-connected support …

Goods, Practices, Excellence, And The Law: Steps To An Internal Theory Of Value, Rowan Gray

CMC Senior Theses

Practices are the coherent and complex social activities we spend much of our lives engaging in. This category encompasses everything from figure skating to wine-tasting to friend relationships. We gain immense value from participating in practices, and philosophers have articulated a number of accounts for where the value emerges from and how we can best experience it. Many of these theories are ‘externalist’, because they posit that value is incidental to practices and emerges from outside of them.

In contrast, this thesis will argue that the value in practices is internal to each practice. The value comes from each practice’s …

Revisionist Political Coalitions, Queering, And The Transmission Of Violence, Tom Y. Inouye

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis examines the ways in which violent non-state actors (VNSAs), specifically revisionist political coalitions (RPCs), emerge from a state-centric international system that denies them access to formal avenues of political advocacy, legitimacy, and recognition. Challenging dominant portraits in international security that cast non-state-perpetrated violence as irrational or deviant, I argue that RPCs turn to brutality as a strategic response to exclusion produced by the Westphalian paradigm. Queer theory, particularly the concepts of legibility and strategic disidentification, is central to the reconceptualization of RPCs as “queered” political objects whose existence falls outside the normative boundaries of sovereignty and legitimacy.

To …

The Vestiges Of The German Democratic Republic: Memory Politics And Xenophobia In Former East Germany, Diana Zhou

CMC Senior Theses

From the 2015 migration influx onward, xenophobic and nationalist sentiments permeated Germany’s national political discourse. The former socialist territories in eastern Germany have proven particularly susceptible to far-right, anti-immigration, and anti-integration rhetoric. This thesis explores the mnemonic foundations of xenophobic sentiments in former East German states, tracing the development of an antifascist yet ethnically nationalist mnemonic framework to the state-sanctioned myths and invented traditions of the German Democratic Republic (GDR). As the loss of a collective GDR identity produced a reactionary rehabilitation of this framework post-unification, the racial and ethnic “other” — migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees — became constructed …

"When I Think Of The Public Library, I Think Of White": Black Families Counter-Narratives Of Library Irrelevance And Community Repair, Amber Matthews

STEMPS Faculty Publications

While public libraries espouse equitable access, few studies examine Black community disengagement. Drawing on Critical Race Theory and the theme "Information in Repair," this paper analyzes semi-structured interviews with seven Black parents of youth aged 13-24 in London, Ontario. Findings reveal that their lack of library engagement stems not from access barriers but from libraries functioning as racialized spaces irrelevant to Black lived experiences in Canada. Where libraries fall short, Black-led organizations perform continuous, invisible reparative labour through culturally responsive programming and trusted information networks. Meaningful repair requires confronting institutional whiteness, redistributing resources to Black-led organizations, and sustaining authentic relationship-building …

Framing The War On Terror: Media Narratives And U.S. Foreign Policy After 9/11, Neva Essex

History and Political Science | Senior Theses

The media plays an essential role in developing an informed public and the shaping of information. Foreign policy and the coverage of the U.S. movements abroad drastically changed with the 9/11 terrorist attacks. This paper seeks to examine the ways in which media coverage of presidential rhetoric in regard to the U.S. response to terrorism changed over the course of the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations. With the use of qualitative narrative analysis of print news media sources and official statements made from the White House, this paper will identify the patterns and changes which occurred over the …

Supporting Comparative Studies Of Judicial Behavior: Introducing The Australian High Court Database, Patrick Leslie, Zoë Robinson, Russell Smyth, Tonja Jacobi

Faculty Articles

Comparative research on law and legal institutions depends on high-quality data infrastructure. This article introduces the Australian High Court Database—a new resource that encodes structured information on all full judgments of the High Court of Australia between 1995 and 2020, and all leave applications (Australia’s equivalent to petitions for certiorari) from 2003 to 2018. The database is built in accordance with core principles that support comparative research: it is adaptable, and comparable. By attending to jurisdictional specificity while adhering to general standards, the database supports both within-country analysis and cross-national comparison. We illustrate how the Australian High Court Database can …

Beauty Isn't Always Better: How Salesperson Attractiveness Affects Consumers' Approach Behaviors, Veronica L. Thomas, Stephanie M. Mangus, Dora E. Bock

Marketing Faculty Publications

This research examines how a consumer's committed romantic relationship influences their decision to approach an attractive salesperson in a retail environment. To date, the majority of research espouses the benefits of salesperson attractiveness in enhancing consumers' perceptions of the salesperson and the represented retailer. This is problematic because it creates a managerial bias toward attractive salespeople and, as we propose, provides an incomplete view of the effect of salesperson attractiveness on consumers' behavior. Drawing on the interpersonal relationship literature on commitment, we propose that consumers in committed relationships activate relationship-maintenance motives that override the beauty bias when a salesperson's attractiveness …

Hidden In The Heartland: Lgbtq+ Activism At Emu, 1977-2025, Jade D. Traska

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

Through an analysis of historical editions of the Eastern Michigan University student newspaper, The Eastern Echo, I explore the history of queer student activism on EMU’s campus. Contextualized by broader LGBTQ+ history, I assess changes over time and common themes that defined LGBT student activism, revealing a rich history going back nearly six decades. The research was done in an effort to better understand how Eastern came to be known as one of the most diverse and accepting college campuses in Michigan.

Oligarchy And Democratic Decline: A Platonic Framework For Analyzing The Contemporary American Political System, Jonah Huskey-Wright

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

This paper explores the idea that there is a meaningful philosophical connection between Plato’s account of oligarchy and the development of the modern American political order. Rather than approaching American politics only through constitutional design, electoral procedures, or institutional mechanics, the paper argues that political systems must also be understood as reflections of the values and motivations of the people who inhabit them. Drawing on Plato’s framework that links the ordering of the human soul to the ordering of political regimes, the project examines how the priorities a society places on certain goods—particularly wealth, economic achievement, and material success—can shape …

The Early Slasher Villain And Depraved Sexuality, Teagan Fuller

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

Early American slasher films (1979-1989) narrativize sexual deviance through the figure of the slasher. While the genre is realized through the trope of teenage sexual violence, my research shifts the focus onto the villain, analyzing how the monster often interacts with a form of sexual deviancy, either at a younger age or within sexual development, before submitting to their role as a slasher. In these films, the slasher monster encounters a form of sexual deviancy tied to their origin and behavioral development. These encounters can be realized through three categories: inappropriate sexual education, abnormal birth histories, or disturbed psychosocial development.

The Development Of Wordercord, Rylee J. Curley

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

This paper delves into the ongoing development of the series, WONDERCORD, providing documentation of the progress, evolution, and future direction of the series. WONDERCORD is an indie animated series about 10 characters who get stuck in a new world and must explore games to collect batteries to return home. Motivated by the desire to innovate within the field of animation, Pokito Productions, our production studio, seeks to use a unique approach to storytelling through dynamic style changes in various media forms. Additionally, the paper delves into the marketing campaigns used to garner attention, and it will serve to offer a …

Nonbinary Gender Performance And Self-Identification In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Lillian R. Durr

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel Frankenstein, a text informed by a rich Romantic era philosophical tradition, has produced an expansive contemporary body of transgender studies scholarship. Building on transgender literary studies of Frankenstein, my thesis analyzes the difference between the monster’s internalized self-perceived identity and their externally performed and perceived identity. I interpret the difference between the monster’s internal and external identity as an analogy through which to understand contemporary nonbinary experiences. The “performance” of gender that Judith Butler describes is a limited expression of an internal, inescapable, ontological experience of self-identification. The monster’s own social experience illustrates the …

The Confidence-Man Goes To The Moving Panorama: Herman Melville’S Confidence Narrator And United States Imperialism, Bradley J. Lee

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

This thesis argues that Herman Melville fashioned his novel The Confidence-Man; His Masquerade (1857) after the moving panorama, a popular entertainment technology contemporary with the novel. More specifically, the thesis argues that the novel recalls Banvard’s Mississippi Panorama (1846). Using Jay Leyda’s The Melville Log and John Hanners’ record of Banvard’s performances, I establish beyond reasonable doubt the possibility that Melville saw this painting, or, at the very least, was aware of it, its content, and its social position. Tracing the novel’s engagement with this panorama reveals what seems at first to be its imperialist, Manifest Destinarian undertones. The novel’s …

The Ones Who Watched: Technology, Proxy Warfare, And The Testing Ground Hypothesis, Sean J. Oliver

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Great powers need laboratories for war. This thesis argues that great powers find these laboratories in proxy forces. Proxy warfare is not just a tool for strategic influence. It is a machine for experimentation. This study posits a central testing-ground hypothesis. It contends that great powers deliberately use surrogates to vet emerging technologies, doctrines, and mobilization schemes under the pressure of real combat. The analytical methodology is historical. It traces patterns from the ancient world's proxy forces and the innovations of the Crusades to the Cold War and the digital age. The thesis examines enduring patterns, including the tension between …

Religious And Spiritual Struggles: The Stories Of Nigerian, Immigrant, Christian Women In Waterloo Region, Halima D. Fuller

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

ABSTRACT This research investigates religious and spiritual struggles among Nigerian, immigrant, Christian women in Waterloo Region. Twelve women settled in the region for six months to 11 years participated in the study. Qualitative methodology, narrative inquiry, and a storytelling paradigm informed the research. Semi-structured, in-depth interview questions were used to explore the experiences of religious and spiritual struggles. A meticulous review identifies a scarcity of literature on religious and spiritual struggles in the context of immigration. However, immigration challenges such as language barriers, precarious employment, and mental health issues are well-documented (Bauder, 2012; Beiser & Hou, 2016; Berry et al., …

Science Fiction Cinema And The Technological Sublime: Spectacle And The Infinite From Early Cinema To Digital, David Jackson Dr.

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This dissertation examines how science fiction cinema constructs and reimagines the technological sublime in the twentieth century: the experience of awe, terror, and admiration provoked by human-made power and scale. Drawing on the philosophical foundations of the sublime in Edmund Burke and Immanuel Kant and extending through Leo Marx’s and David E. Nye’s theorization of the technological sublime, I propose an aesthetic mode in which representation inflected with affect translates technological spectacle into examinations of humanity’s role and agency in the face of overwhelming technologized worlds and in some cases, even the universe itself.

Through three distinct historical periods …

The Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Journal Of Florida Literature, Volume Xxxiii (2026): Full Issue

The Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Journal of Florida Literature

No abstract provided.

Awakening The Mind: How Secure Attachment Impacts Language Acquisition In Charles Dickens's Literary Orphans, Alaina Gray

Master of Arts in Classical Studies

As a young child, Charles Dickens attached securely to his family. Through his strong literary relationship with his mother, Dickens learned to read well yet experienced a period of parental separation during his blacking factory employment, providing many opportunities to meet and interact with abandoned children, who pervade his novels. Baruch Hochman and Ilja Wachs describe the negative impacts of orphanhood in Dickens: The Orphan Condition. While Hochman and Wachs address the social and economic difficulties faced by Dickens’s literary orphans, they did not connect the orphan condition to impaired cognitive development. Experiencing an excellent literary relationship with his mother, …

Who We Are Together: Identity Negotiation In Different-Orientation Relationships, Justin Tackett

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

viii Abstract This qualitative study explored how partners in different-orientation (dif-orientation) relationships experienced and navigated identity across the five frames of the Communication Theory of Identity (CTI): personal, enacted, relational, communal, and material. Dif-orientation relationships, romantic partnerships where individuals identify with different sexual orientations, represent a form of intercultural communication involving partners from distinct sexual orientation communities who must negotiate different cultural frameworks regarding sexuality, relationships, and identity expression. Despite growing recognition of diverse relationship configurations, little research currently examines how partners in these relationships manage identity gaps, or misalignments between different frames of identity, and what communication strategies they …

Post-Boom(Er) Maximalism In The Americas: Valeria Luiselli's “Lost Children Archive”, Antonio Barrenechea

English & Linguistics Articles

This article poses an alternative non-Anglophone starting point for twenty-first century maximalism through the Latin American Boom and “la novela total” that is its crowning achievement. Among such works are Gabriel García Márquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude (1967) and Carlos Fuentes’s Terra Nostra (1975). The term’s 1960s conception by Peruvian author Mario Vargas Llosa predates Thomas Pynchon as figurehead for maximalist theorizing within First World academic environments that control the conversation. Furthermore, I examine Mexican author Valeria Luiselli’s Lost Children Archive (2019) as a case of post-Boom(er) maximalism that differs from the big novels of the Latin American luminaries. …

(R)Evolutionary Cultural Literacy: Pauli Murray’S Boundary-Crossing Tripartite Pedagogy, Lorise Ann Diamond

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Civil rights lawyer, poet, activist, questioning, and Episcopal priest Pauli Murray spent seven decades generating legal doctrine, autobiography, poetry, and institutional redesign across some of the most hostile yet fecund terrain American public life produced. Scholarship across rhetoric and writing studies, cultural studies, Black feminism, and critical pedagogy has theorized literacy, movement, and commons-making as separate concerns. What the field of cultural literacy lacks is a framework that holds those concerns together, reads them through a focused body of texts, and translates them into a transferable pedagogy applicable across academic, civic, and institutional settings. This dissertation argues that cultural literacy …

Pastors In Crisis: A Proactive Prayer Life As A Measure Against Pastoral Burnout, Seth W. Hinrichs

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This Doctor of Ministry project examines the relationship between a proactive prayer life and pastoral burnout among senior pastors in Converge North Central churches. Addressing the increasing prevalence of burnout in vocational ministry, the study reframes burnout as a fundamentally theological issue rather than merely a psychological or organizational problem. Drawing on the work of Ray Anderson and others, the project argues that burnout reflects a misalignment between a pastor’s lived theology—particularly in identity, calling, and dependence on God—and the realities of ministry practice. The research integrates biblical-theological reflection, a review of contemporary literature, and quantitative field research through a …

A Ministry Manual For Supporting Pastoral Transitions: Addressing The Emotional And Spiritual Needs Of Clergy And Their Families, John Tucker

Dissertations

Pastoral transitions represent spiritually significant yet often under-supported moments in the life of clergy, congregations, and ministry networks. While leadership change is frequently framed in theological language emphasizing divine calling and institutional continuity, insufficient attention is given to the emotional, relational, and familial dimensions of these transitions. This Doctor of Ministry project examines the spiritual and emotional impact of pastoral transitions within African American church contexts, with particular attention to clergy wellbeing and systems of care.

This study employed a mixed-methods research design integrating quantitative survey data with qualitative semi-structured interviews. Survey instruments were distributed to pastors affiliated with The …

No One Told Their Story: Acculturation, Faith Formation, And Belonging In Multicultural Congregations Led By African American Pastors, Alicia L. Partee

Doctor of Ministry

The search for meaning, identity coherence, and belonging often intensifies when individuals cross cultural boundaries. Faith communities can serve as sanctuaries for identity renegotiation, but congregations may also reproduce the social distance and exclusion found in the broader society. This dissertation addresses a scholarly and pastoral gap at the intersection of acculturation and Christian faith formation, and more specifically how identity, belonging, and spiritual formation are negotiated within multicultural congregations led by African American pastors in San Jose, California, and similar contexts.

Drawing on acculturation research in psychology, sociology, and anthropology, this study examines how culturally diverse newcomers experience culture …

Cultivating Belonging In Church Communities: A Repeatable Model For Small Groups, Clancy Z. Kiener

Doctor of Ministry

NPO Statement for this project is as follows:

Many individuals experience a diminished sense of belonging within religious environments. This lack of belonging can lead to disengagement and limit opportunities for authentic spiritual and communal formation. Structured, repeatable, moderator-led small groups— guided by trained moderators—offer a practical approach for fostering connection and strengthening a sense of belonging within church communities.

A key insight from this project is that many people in church communities experience a persistent sense of not belonging, even when they attend, serve, and believe alongside others. The research shows that belonging is not automatically created by shared …

Silent Struggles: The Hidden Burden Of Depression Among Black Single Mothers In Ghana, Sonja Brown

Doctor of Ministry

Reflections Through the Single Mothers of the Bible examines depression among Black single mothers in Ghana as an overlooked yet urgent mental, physical, economic, social, and Spiritual concern, highlighting the need for integrated Faith-based and community-centered responses. While global attention to maternal mental health has increased, the lived experiences of Black single mothers, particularly within faith-shaped, patriarchal, and economically constrained Ghanaian contexts, remain underrepresented in scholarly research, theological discourse, and public policy. This gap presents a problem and an opportunity to develop holistic, culturally responsive, and faith-informed approaches to care and advocacy.

This dissertation argues that depression among Black single …