Digital Commons Network^™

Anonymous 2, Lily Weston

Bronx Jewish History Project

This interviewee looks back very fondly on his childhood growing up in the Bronx. His parents came to America from Poland in the early 1950s after being in a displaced persons camp in Germany, and settled in a one bedroom apartment on University Avenue off of Kingsbridge road. He recounts a diverse neighborhood, growing up not just around other Jewish people but people from Ireland, Italy, Poland, and of many religious backgrounds as well.

He remembers playing stickball, baseball, and other games on the concrete sidewalk, stating how he and his friends were happy, as “when you're a child and …

Review Of: Documents Of Brotherly Love, Dutch Mennonite Aid To Swiss Anabaptists, Volumes I, Ii, Iii—James M. Lowry, Sheldon Raber

Journal of Amish and Plain Anabaptist Studies

This set of three volumes of documents adds greatly to the accessibility of important historical documents by and about the Anabaptists in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Many original documents and correspondence from this time period were preserved, primarily in Amsterdam. However, since the original documents were written in German, Swiss, and Dutch, they were not easily consulted by English-speaking historians and specifically by American Mennonite historians. And even though most of the documents were inventoried in the late nineteenth century, they were only selectively consulted by historians of the twentieth century. Since this reviewer is not schooled in languages, …

Historian David “Titus” Luthy (1941–2025): A Principled Convert, The Personification Of Academia Among The Amish, Cory Anderson

Journal of Amish and Plain Anabaptist Studies

David Richard Luthy—Amish historian, bibliographer, editor, and the founding steward of the Heritage Historical Library at Aylmer, Ontario—died on Oct 21, 2025, in North Carolina, where he had gone two weeks earlier to be near his children after spending a last summer at his home in Aylmer. He was 84. Worthy of a New York Times obituary, his passing drew little notice beyond Amish and Plain Anabaptist circles, yet few figures of the past half-century did more to shape how the Old Order Amish remember themselves or what primary materials scholars have been able to access. By any reckoning, he …

Charting Queer Visibility: A Content Analysis Of Queer Picture Books, 2000-2024, Amanda Melilli, James W. Rosenzweig, Alicia G. Vaandering

Library Faculty Research

This poster session presents findings from a content analysis of queer picture books published from 2000 to 2024. In an initial review of more than 650 books, the authors analyzed narrative themes and the identities, orientations, and BIPOC and/or disability intersectionality of queer characters in each book. This research built a final book sample of more than 430 unique titles with identifiably queer characters. The findings map queer representation and narratives in picture books published in the U.S. and Canada during the twenty-first century.

"Does The Penis Lie?": Truth, Sexuality, And Psychocarceral Power, Erin Mcqueary

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis critically examines the use of penile plethysmography (PPG), or phallometry, in the treatment and management of sex offenders in the late-twentieth century. Using the Florida Mental Health Institute’s 1986-1989 sex offender treatment program as a case study, it asks how phallometry came to be understood as an objective method for uncovering otherwise hidden sexual truths. Instead of focusing only on its appearance and development throughout the second half of the twentieth century, this thesis draws on the work of Michel Foucault to situate phallometric science within a broader history of sexuality and biopower. In doing so, it argues …

Why Not Pachucos? Mexican Americans, Hollywood, And The Impact Of Sleepy Lagoon In The 1940s And 1950s, Krystal Catalina Ledesma

Journal of 20th Century Media History

The unsolved murder of a young Mexican American on the outskirts of Los Angeles in 1942—commonly known as the Sleepy Lagoon Murder—came at a pivotal time in Mexican American history. The consequent arrests, unjust trial, and imprisonment of over one dozen young Mexican American men caused such a stir that Sleepy Lagoon is considered a precursor to the infamous Zoot Suit Riots of 1943. During the Sleepy Lagoon trial, impassioned leftists in Los Angeles created the Sleepy Lagoon Defense Committee (SLDC) to raise awareness about the crime and trial and to collect funds from supporters across the U.S., who ranged …

Toward Professionalization: Insights From Sign Language Interpreters In Vietnam, Anh P. Doan

Journal of Interpretation

This study examines how sign language interpreters in Vietnam perceive the professionalization of their field and the strategies they propose for establishing it as a recognized profession. Despite growing demand for communication access, sign language interpreting in Vietnam remains an emerging field with limited institutional infrastructure and no formal interpreter education programs. Data were collected through an online qualitative survey of 28 hearing interpreters working in sign language interpreting across Vietnam. Responses were analyzed using thematic analysis to identify key themes in interpreters’ experiences and perspectives. Findings show that many interpreters enter the field through informal pathways such as community …

Sign Language Interpreting In Legal Settings: A Survey Of The Field, Lynsey H. Lawrence, Lori Whynot

Journal of Interpretation

This study is the first to investigate the prevalence and variety of legal contexts where ASL-English interpreters work in the United States. Effective interpreting service ensures that deaf individuals’ civic and constitutional rights are protected when they engage in the U.S. legal system. It sought to understand the current landscape of legal interpreting practice by ASL-English interpreters to better inform professional training and allocation of resources. There is a severe, national shortage of legally qualified sign language interpreters and a need for regular educational pathways and professional development to train generalist interpreters in specialized legal settings. An online survey was …

Lights, Camera… Interpretation: Navigating The Challenges Of Irish Sign Language Interpreting In Broadcast Settings, Kristina Cregan, Sarah Sheridan

Journal of Interpretation

Sign language interpreters working in broadcasted settings face added pressures due to its public nature. This research sets out to explore what the effects of being video recorded during assignments are on interpreters, and to examine how interpreters adapt to the challenges of broadcast assignments. To achieve this, an anonymous questionnaire was sent to Irish Sign Language (ISL) interpreters who have experience working in broadcasted environments or being video recorded for public contexts. The questionnaire used a combination of open and closed questions to discover what the challenges are for these environments and how interpreters cope. A thematic analysis was …

The Problem With People: Signed Language Interpreter Disposition Match And Attrition, Dawn M. Wessling

Journal of Interpretation

In the United States, communication access is a legislated right for Deaf people in many settings; however, recent data suggest that the number of signed language interpreters does not meet current service demand. This multiple‑case study contributes to understanding interpreter attrition by examining how disposition mismatches between novice interpreters and more experienced co‑interpreters influence early exit from the field. Attrition among novice interpreters may exacerbate demand–supply imbalances and contribute to persistent shortages in interpreting services.

This study draws on applied and organizational psychology frameworks, specifically attraction, selection, and attrition (ASA) theory and person–organization fit (P–O fit). Using these theoretical lenses, …

Teachers’ Awareness Of Family Engagement In Multilingual Education, Sedighe Zamani Roodsari

Journal of Multicultural Affairs

This study investigated public school teachers’ awareness of family engagement as a linguistic and cultural resource for multilingual students. Multilinguals are typically described as individuals who can communicate in more than one language, with English not being their native language, and their linguistic choices are influenced by societal norms and systems (Šifrar Kalan et al., 2024; Wei, 2008). Preparing pre-service teachers to enhance opportunities for multilingual students remains a critical need in teacher education programs, as they strive to move beyond monolingual ideologies in their teaching practices (Cárdenas Curiel et al., 2024; Kim & Choi, 2020; Williams & Ewing, 2019). …

Sustainable Product Design Powered By Artificial Intelligence In Light Of The Future Thinking-Oriented Design Methodology "Triple-I", Mai Mohamed Abou Elyazed

Journal of Art, Design and Music

This research examines the integrative relationship between sustainable product design and generative artificial intelligence (AI), with particular emphasis on the “Triple- I” methodology as an innovative framework for combining sustainability principles with intelligent technologies. The study is grounded in the concept of sustainable design guided by the Triple Bottom Line approach and aligned with selected Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), aiming to explore how generative AI can contribute to environmentally, socially, and economically responsible product development. The research problem stems from the observation that, despite the significant potential of generative AI to enhance innovation, its integration with sustainable design remains methodologically …

Yardie Epistemologies: Queer Survival, Respectability, And Political Economy In Contemporary Jamaica, Nicole Hylton

Theses - ALL

This thesis examines how queer Jamaicans navigate, survive, and theorize life within a social order structured by colonial legacies, racialized class hierarchy, nationalist masculinity, Christian moral authority, and neoliberal austerity. Drawing on qualitative, narrative-centered research conducted between 2012 and 2014, with consistent return visits in subsequent years, the study employs grounded theory, critical ethnography, and Black feminist political economy to analyze how sexual citizenship is unevenly distributed across lines of color, class, gender expression, and access to resources. Participants include LGBTQ individuals, activists, academics, state actors, and community members whose narratives are treated not as illustrative data but as sites …

Online Rights Defense Among Chinese Americans Against Racial Aggression In The U.S. During The Covid-19, Fangzhu Lu, Wenshan Jia

Communication Faculty Articles and Research

Purpose

This study investigates how Chinese American communities responded to heightened racial discrimination during the COVID-19 pandemic by utilizing social media platforms to safeguard their civil rights, articulate collective concerns, and mobilize resistance against racial aggression.

Methodology

Through qualitative case study analysis, the research examines the social media activities of six advocacy organizations, including three X accounts (WashTheHate, Chinese for Affirmative Action, Asian Americans Advancing Justice) and three Instagram accounts (Stop AAPI Hate, Stop Asian Hate, Advancing Justice: AAJC). The analysis focuses on the content strategies and communication mechanisms employed to counteract racial hostility.

Findings

The selected organizations used social …

How Esl/Efl Textbooks Are Created: A Description Of The Publishing Processes For Elt Coursebooks, Timothy P. Arnold

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to describe the current ELT textbook publishing processes and evaluate a descriptive model of the publishing processes. While criticisms of ELT textbooks abound (Akbari, 2008; Bell & Gower, 2011; Jordan & Gray, 2019; Tomlinson & Masuhara, 2008; Long, 2016; etc.), little previous research has focused on describing the ELT textbook publishing. This is despite most criticisms appearing to focus on aspects of ELT textbooks that come about during the publishing processes. The work of Littlejohn (1992), McGrath (2013), and Yildiz and Harwood (2023) are exceptions to this. To provide additional descriptive information on the …

Impure Evidentialism: Essays On The Sources & Structure Of Doxastic Normativity, Felipe Oliveira

Dissertations - ALL

The four papers of my dissertation provide a new defense of Impure Evidentialism. The combination of evidentialism about normative reasons for belief with pragmatic encroachment (i.e. impurism) about epistemic justification is a familiar and intuitive view. However, many of the combo view’s finer points, unique advantages, and objections have not been addressed. My dissertation fills this gap by offering a new defense and in-depth look of what I take to be the most plausible version of the combo view. My version of Impure Evidentialism offers an improved and comprehensive account of the norms that govern our beliefs, explains why these …

Visions Of Paradise - Leslie Hiatt Catalogue, Nova Southeastern University

Visions of Paradise

Leslie Hiatt: Visions of Paradise

Step into a world where memory, nature, and imagination dissolve into luminous color and rich textures. Curated by Antonio Permuy, this solo exhibition of artist Leslie Hiatt invites viewers into her signature Impressionistic landscapes where ethereal florals drift through suspended dreamlike, atmospheric spaces and connect you with realms just out of reach of the senses. Alongside these beloved works,

Visions of Paradise unveils a selection of her recent mythology-inspired pieces and other rarely seen creations, offering a deeper glimpse into the evolving language of her practice.

Hiatt’s work is rooted in a reverence for nature, …

Tomboys In Dystopia: An Analysis Of Gendered Traits In Ya Dystopian Literature, Bethany H. Jenkins

English Theses, Dissertations, and Student Creative Activity

This thesis explores the world of young adult dystopian literature. Katniss (Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games), Tris (Veronica Roth’s Divergent) and Tierney (Kim Liggett’s The Grace Year) are all tomboy protagonists living in a dystopian society. Apart from the expected challenges of living in a dystopia, being a tomboy means facing conflicts that are a result of their gender non-conformity. Drawing heavily from the Bem Sex-Role Inventory, each protagonist is analyzed within the context of their own story to identify feminine and masculine traits that they express. These traits’ impact on the events of the story is …

Marble Bodies: Sculpture, Gender, Race, And Nineteenth-Century U.S. Literature, Madeline Olley

Dissertations - ALL

Marble Bodies reads across both literary texts and sculptures to ask how sculptural logic operates across forms to reveal what sculptors and sculpture offer the field of nineteenth-century U.S. literary studies—formally, theoretically, and methodologically. It argues that sculpture functions not merely as subject matter within nineteenth-century American literature but as an interpretive framework that reveals how bodies are objectified, valued, and assigned cultural meaning. With attention to the formal and material properties of sculpture—stillness, smoothness, and duration—and to the questions of ideality, valuation, and preservation that sculpture generates, this dissertation shows how nineteenth-century writers and artists found in those properties …

Framing Tragedy: Discourse And Influence In Us Media Coverage Of The 1994 Rwanda Genocide, Andrew P. Young

Journal of 20th Century Media History

There is little doubt as to the mark left by the 1994 Rwandan genocide on historical discourse and perhaps even the American cultural consciousness. U.S. evening news broadcasts carried images of suffering and death into homes across the US, and in the process made Rwanda the site of one of the most recognized traumas in human history. While cultural proximity in mass media coverage played a role, the characterization of media coverage of the genocide, often defined in the press as explicit and constant, requires analysis. This project analyzes US evening network news broadcasts to address the actualities and implications …

[De]Constructing Jimmy's Grin: Doing Cultural Studies Through The Lens Of Boston Globe Editorial Cartoonist Paul Szep's Showcase Of Carter's White House Campaign, Lori Amber Roessner

Journal of 20th Century Media History

Heeding journalism historians Hanno Hardt and Bonnie Brennan’s call for inquiries that provide a new understanding of historical working conditions, this study explored the production of a sample of Szep’s editorial cartoons that surrounded Jimmy Carter’s campaign and presidency from 1976 to 1980. In particular, the manuscript considered the historical conditions and personal circumstances that influenced the cultural production of Szep’s body of work surrounding Jimmy Carter’s presidency; representations of Carter and his White House campaign in the sample of 20 editorial cartoons produced by Szep; moments of consumption by active Boston Globe audiences; the practice of identity [de]construction related …

Language, Life, And Indigenous Knowledge: Cultural Contexts In Advanced Kaqchikel Maya Language Education Approaches To Indigenous Language Revitalization In Kik'aslemal Ri Kaqchikela': An Advanced Kaqchikel Maya Language Textbook, José Israel Herrera

Journal of Maya Heritage

Abstract. This article examines the relationship between Indigenous language revitalization and the continuity of socially embedded systems of knowledge through the case of advanced Kaqchikel Maya language education. Drawing upon scholarship on Indigenous pedagogies, linguistic anthropology, and Indigenous epistemologies, the article explores how culturally grounded approaches to language learning contribute not only to the development of linguistic competence but also to the reproduction of memories, values, and intellectual traditions. Particular attention is devoted to Kik'aslemal ri Kaqchikela': An Advanced Kaqchikel Maya Language Textbook, whose thematic organization and collaborative development illustrate broader processes of knowledge production and cultural continuity. Rather than …

‘It’S A Win-Win Situation’— Cultivating University & School Partnerships, Emily Wisniewski, Kelly Virgin, Pauline Skowron Schmidt

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

This qualitative case study examines Writing Zones, a fifteen-year university–high school partnership that embeds preservice English teachers in secondary classrooms as writing mentors. Drawing on surveys from 20 preservice teachers and eight high school teachers, along with follow-up interviews, the study explores perceptions of preparation, support, and program impact. Findings highlight Writing Zones as a mutually beneficial model that enhances student writing through individualized support while providing authentic, field-based learning for preservice teachers. However, effectiveness was conditional, shaped by mentor preparedness, clarity of roles, communication, and scheduling. The study underscores the importance of intentional training, sustained relationships, and institutional alignment …

Dismantling Future Writing Teachers’ English-Only Assumptions: Composing Videos To Learn The Value Of Linguistic And Cultural Inclusion, Ann N. Amicucci

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

This article presents the results of a study of 12 students’ video composing assignments and accompanying reflections in which students, all of whom were future writing teachers enrolled in an undergraduate TESOL course, examined how well public spaces acknowledged and included multilingual individuals. Students’ videos and reflections demonstrated that the assignment dismantled these future writing teachers’ assumptions that multilingual writers learn best in an English-only environment but perpetuated perceptions of languages as discrete rather than intertwined. Findings are discussed within the context of scholarship on writing teacher education and English-only policy and practice in the U.S.

Who We Are, How We Teach: Writing Teacher Identity In The Secondary Ela Classroom, Danielle Alexander

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

The journal submission guidelines stated not to include an abstract.

Humor In Eighteenth-Century Dress: The Comic Form Of Beethoven’S Grosse Fuge, Op. 133., Stephen Husarik

HAYDN: Online Journal of the Haydn Society of North America

Beethoven’s Grosse Fuge (Op. 133), previously interpreted as a work shaped by comedic design, can also be understood as an “algorithmic fugue” in which the subject undergoes a systematic process from deformation to restoration. Rather than relying mainly on traditional contrapuntal devices such as inversion and augmentation, Beethoven reshapes the theme through syncopation and paired slurred pulses, then expands these alterations into increasingly exaggerated fugal textures. Drawing on sketches and manuscript sources, this paper argues that the process resembles the moves of a Rubik’s Cube, with each transformation contributing to an eventual solution. In the closing measures, Beethoven reverses the …

"Your Problem Is Not At All An Uncommon One": Visibility, Black Men, And Sexual Orientation In The Anti-Apartheid And Civil Rights Movements, Wren Addison Weddell

Dissertations and Theses

The South African Anti-Apartheid Movement and the American Civil Rights Movement are two of the most well-known examples of racial liberation movements, but there are few scholarly works that offer comparisons between the two. Furthermore, the experiences of people who fall outside the bounds of heteronormative society are often overlooked in historical research on both movements. Despite the dearth in research, there are several key factors that are revealed when comparing the lives of Black non-heterosexual men among the activists for both of these movements, including the role of the global community, unique local cultures, and how the state polices …

The 1920s And The Distortion Of Democracy: The Fourteenth Census, The Fight Over Reapportionment, And Its Consequences, William L. Paine

Department of History

Following the 1920 decennial census the United States Congress, for the first and only time in its history, failed to pass a reapportionment bill to redistribute representation in the House of Representative in a timely manner. Congress would debate and delay reapportionment for nearly a decade before finally passing the Permanent Apportionment Act of 1929, which provided for the next reapportionment after the 1930 census as well as for all future censuses. There were many factors that helped perpetuate the debate over reapportionment in the 1920s, some of which were unique to the decade and some of which weren’t. The …

Animal Ethics And The Lowest Common Denominator, John O. Adenitire

Animal Sentience

This commentary assesses the pragmatic framework proposed in Jonathan Birch’s The Edge of Sentience (2024). Celebrating the book's exceptional clarity, scientific rigor, and profound real-world impact on UK legislation, I nevertheless have some questions about the method by which Birch arrives at his policy recommendations for animal protection. In seeking an overlapping consensus between deeply divergent ethical and credal viewpoints, the framework risks defaulting to a minimalist, lowest-common-denominator standard of protection for animals. Birch also risks drawing the standard even lower by including serious academic positions in animal ethics that deny moral status for animals altogether. A rights-based approach offers …

Receiving Isaac Again: Joy And Return To The Finite In Fear And Trembling, Jeffrey M. Matheson

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis argues that joy is a constitutive but underexamined feature of faith in Søren Kierkegaard’s Fear and Trembling. While the text is often interpreted through sacrifice, silence, dread, paradox, and the teleological suspension of the ethical, these categories do not exhaust Johannes de Silentio’s account of Abraham. By foregrounding Abraham’s joy, this thesis shows that faith is not merely the willingness to surrender the finite, but the capacity to receive the finite again after it has been given up. Isaac is not only Abraham’s beloved son, but the child of promise, the visible form of God’s covenant, and the …