Digital Commons Network^™

Natural Behavior Vs. Subjective Experience In Fish Welfare Assessments, Ronald G. Oldfield

Animal Sentience

Several commentaries on the Oldfield & Bonano (2024) target article proposed that natural behavior should play a larger role in assessing the welfare of fishes in zoos and aquariums. However, the natural-behavior concept of animal welfare has been widely criticized because natural behaviors do not necessarily improve welfare, and unnatural behaviors do not necessarily reduce it. I review the three major concepts of animal welfare — physical health, natural behavior, and affect/feelings — and argue that behavior patterns, whether natural or otherwise, should be evaluated according to their effects on health and subjective experience. Using the affect/feelings concept and the …

Darkstar: A Memoir In Essays, Sophie Hawke Isham

ETDs from 2020-2029

Darkstar: A Memoir in Essays is an essay collection that follows the last four years of my life. These essays vary in length, format, and material. The themes these essays tackle range from heavy subjects like deteriorating mental health from bipolar disorder and grief over the loss of pets and family members, to lighter subjects such as gender expression and identity, and the love surrounding me from friends, family, and relationships. While each essay can stand alone, they are more fleshed out and connected in the context and structure of this thesis. This body of work explores the various ways …

Nazi Propaganda In The United States Prior To American Entry Into The Second World War, Trenton Alexander Bowen

ETDs from 2020-2029

This thesis examines the multifaceted nature of Nazi propaganda in the United States during the interwar years. I argue that these publications were not just a parade of familiar cliches about Jews or the wisdom of American neutrality. Rather, they and the organizations that disseminated them presented a jumbled patchwork of lies, hypocritical claims, contradictions, and distortions. In other words, I argue that Nazi propaganda was so dangerous in the United States because it relied on mixed and confusing messaging, and in turn, on the ignorance of Americans about the nature of the “new Germany.”

Bringing Clarity To Tutors' Work: Designing An Effective Writing Center Staff Handbook, Maria Bunting

ETDs from 2020-2029

Writing center literature often focuses on the documents used to justify a center’s role in the larger institution while largely ignoring internal documents that aid in training. By also answering Babcock & Thonus (2012) and Driscoll & Perdue (2014)’s call for more replicable, aggregable, and data-based (RAD) research in writing centers, this study addresses this literature gap by conducting a qualitative study about a newly-implemented handbook at a public R1 university. The author first includes a description of the collaborative document creation process before describing the empirical methods used to assess the handbook’s effectiveness. The findings illustrate how effective handbooks …

Affect And Identification In Hereditary And Huesera: A Critique Of Neoliberal Motherhood In Post-Horror, Jared M. Lamanati

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the implications of affect and identification in post-horror and the consequences they present for motherhood. Specifically, I argue Hereditary (Ari Aster, 2018) and Huesera (Michelle Garza Cervera, 2023) make use of their maternal protagonists to complicate spectatorial identification and critique the cruel attachments of neoliberalism which idealize a heteronormative, homogenous vision of mothering. Following David Church’s postulation of affect, neoliberalism, and the maternal melodrama as central to “post-horror,” I look towards Linda Williams’s and Lauren Berlant’s paradigms of pathos and sentimental politics. While Williams addresses the complicated pains and pleasures of pathetic identification in the maternal melodrama, …

Beyond Commemoration To Reparations: A Media Representation Analysis Of The Elaine Massacre Of 1919, Oyeronke Oyindamola Afolabi

Student Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the evolving public memory of the Elaine Massacre of 1919 through a critical analysis of media representation, commemorative practices, and descendant-led advocacy. Situating the massacre within the broader history of racial violence in the United States, the study argues that its significance extends beyond the events of 1919 to include the long-term processes of historical silencing, narrative distortion, and contested remembrance that have shaped its afterlife. Drawing on interdisciplinary frameworks from memory studies, critical heritage studies, and media discourse analysis, the research employs a qualitative thematic analysis of contemporary media publications from 2018 to 2024. Guided by …

Post-Machine | You Vs. The Algorithm: A Creative Act Of Rebellion, Matthew Schultz

Masters Theses

Algorithms have become intertwined with everyday life, infiltrating both personal and social environments. They have transformed from influenceable tools useful for customizing information to machines of influence that are now dictating standards. These machines have begun morphing individuals idea of the self. This has become an epidemic of lost identity and fragmented self in order to conform to algorithmic acceptance. Emerging professionals in creative fields in the last decade have become particularly susceptible to this influence. If not addressed, young creatives will soon lose any autonomy of self and have a homogenized identity that matches the demands of the algorithm …

Celtic Catharsis: A Look Into The Emotional Appeal Of Irish Music In The United States, Coralyn M. Kutzner

Masters Theses

This research study investigates the emotional connection and interest in Irish music within the Irish musician community in America. The background for this study includes an in-depth look at the history of Irish and Irish music culture in America, as well as a brief overview of the connection between music and emotions. The study itself was conducted in various locations where there was live Irish music playing. Through the use of personal interviews and an emotional evaluation scale, participants were asked to recount their first encounters with Irish music and the emotional connection they feel because of and while playing …

Gertrude, A Woman Set Apart: Chosen Beyond Expectation In Polarized Womanhood, Jessica Lorriane Weatherford Mattison

Masters Theses

This thesis introduces the artistic vision and research that guide Forever Skies. The text examines the political and personal landscapes that shape Gertrude, the historical realities of the WASP program, and the feminist frameworks that illuminate how women navigated gender, war, and expectation. In weaving these elements together, the goal is not merely to resurrect one woman’s incredible story, but to honor the nearly forgotten history of a generation of pilots. Through creative interpretation and scholarly inquiry, this project seeks to reclaim a legacy still suspended in the wide, forever sky that once held her, the WASP, and her forever …

Missional Hermeneutics And The Lukan Version Of The Great Commission (Luke 24:44-49): The Dual Hermeneutical Key, Israel Martin Lemos

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This dissertation examines the relationship between Christological fulfillment and the mission of God within the framework of biblical interpretation, with special emphasis on Luke 24:44-49. In recent decades, missional hermeneutics has moved from the margins of theological discussion to a more visible place within biblical studies, although the field remains conceptually diverse and methodologically underdefined. On one hand, a growing body of scholarship has argued that Scripture must be read within the horizons of the missio Dei, understood as God's redemptive purpose for creation and the nations. On the other hand, mainstream biblical scholarship has often continued to privilege either …

Freedom In The Press: Black Print Culture And Antislavery Activism In The United States, 1772-1857, Bernard T. Baze

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Nineteenth century African American journalists employed the press as a political, legal, and moral instrument to challenge the legitimacy of the institution of American slavery and advocate for universal emancipation. Through an analysis of the Black press, including Freedom’s Journal, Colored American, North Star, Frederick Douglass’ Paper, Provincial Freeman, and the Christian Recorder, the study highlights the agency of Black abolitionists in shaping antislavery public discourse. It contends that these writers advanced a multifaceted antislavery strategy rooted in moral suasion, constitutional argumentation, legal denunciations, and religious advocacy. Through these efforts, they revealed the contradictions between slaveholding and the nation’s professed …

Recommendations For Advancing Elementary Music Education For Students With Disabilities In Skyline Ridge School District, Dawn Marie Schafer

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this applied research study was to provide recommendations to advance music instruction to students with disabilities at sixteen elementary schools in the Skyline Ridge School District (SRSD). The problem was that there was evidence of low musicianship and music participation in students with disabilities in the middle schools in SRSD. The rationale for this study was that students with disabilities may be capable of achieving musicianship as well as any other student. For this reason, music educators must be prepared to set them up for success. The central research question was: How can the elementary music teachers …

The Lived Experience Of Black Women With Depression In New Jersey, Ngozi Grace Igwe

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No abstract provided.

The Lived Experiences Of African American Male Baby Boomers Who Engaged In Teletherapy Post-Covid-19, Amber L. Dixon

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No abstract provided.

"An Unusual Experiment:" The Women Of The Oss, Adaline Mae Brenning

Masters Theses

As the United States entered World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established America's first centralized intelligence organization under the leadership of Major General William J. Donovan in June 1942. The Office of Strategic Services marked the beginning of an established American intelligence community, but it also served as an entryway for women to join the war effort through intelligence work. Through the study of the recruitment, assessment, and training processes and women serving both domestically and abroad, it is possible to establish a more comprehensive view of the true scope of OSS operations during the war. Additionally, the stories …

Just Hillbillies: State Power, Private Militarism, Coal, And Constitutional Crisis In The West Virginia Treason Trials, 1919-1937, Ryan Gregory Fix

Masters Theses

In August 1921, roughly ten thousand armed coal miners marched toward Logan County, West Virginia, in the largest armed labor uprising in American history. When the fighting at Blair Mountain ended, the state prosecuted union leaders for treason against the state of West Virginia. This thesis examines that legal campaign of 1921–1923 and its long aftermath, arguing that the treason trials functioned less as a search for individual guilt than as an instrument for fixing the meaning of Blair Mountain before the miners could define it themselves. Where decades of gubernatorial proclamations and martial law had exposed the limits of …

In Search Of Whitman's "Real War": Soldier Recreations During The American Civil War, Rebecca C. Felton

Masters Theses

When most people think of the American Civil War, they recall the agonies and ecstasies of combat, envisioning the bombardment of Fort Sumter, the glorious folly of Pickett’s Charge, or the ravages of Sherman’s March to the Sea. What gets left out of the history books is what the common soldier experienced more than anything else: camp life. This study sheds renewed light on what the soldiers of the Union and Confederacy did to pass the time between battles. It focuses specifically on what they did for fun, addressing three categories of recreational activities: sports, music, and literature. It finds …

Don't Force Me To Explain: Rethinking Access Outside Of Compulsory Transparency, Rhea Ienni

Dissertations

My dissertation is concerned with better understanding the barriers disabled people encounter while attempting to procure access both at the institutional level, and in their everyday lives. Within disability and accessibility literature, there are many discourses on what disability is and what access means. However, there are few people who explore the harmful consequences of disabled people being forced to “prove” they are disabled to an ableist world to get their basic needs met, and my dissertation intervenes in this gap. Within current US policy, if a disabled person requires access support at the institutional level, they must provide medical …

Ethically Implementing Ai To Maximize The Designer's Workflow, Victoria Lyons

Masters Theses

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a rapidly advancing technology that has impacted nearly every industry. Graphic design is certainly no exception. AI has provided designers with a multitude of exciting opportunities and new methods to improve their work. At the same time, AI has also created some complex ethical challenges for designers to navigate. AI has the potential to greatly increase workflow efficiency, bring in automation to repetitive tasks, and provide new creative potential, but it also introduces concerns about creative and artistic integrity, intellectual property laws, and transparency with the consumer.

The focus of this thesis research will explore how …

Seasons That Speak: The Power Of Storytelling In Memoir, Pamela Snead

Masters Theses

Memoir bridges literature and lived experience, transforming personal history into shared meaning through storytelling. This creative-critical thesis examines memoir as a reflective narrative practice through which identity, resilience, and faith are shaped over time. Grounded in narrative theory and selected memoir readings, the primary site of inquiry is the original braided memoir Seasons That Speak, which explores faith, endurance, generational healing, and provision. The project also draws on world literature traditions to show how storytelling across cultures uses voice, structure, imagery, testimony, and reflection to preserve memory, question authority, and shape meaning. Through alternating scenes and reflective passages, Seasons That …

The Relationship Between Musical Aptitude And Multiple Intelligences In High School Music Students, Rachel Connor

Masters Theses

This quantitative correlational study examines the relationship between musical aptitude, measured by Edwin Gordon’s GIA assessments, and students’ predominant multiple intelligences (MIs), as defined by Howard Gardner. Although MI has been widely researched, little is known about how intelligence strengths relate specifically to musically adept students. High school music students at Fayetteville Christian School in Fayetteville, NC, were first assessed using the GIA to identify those demonstrating musical aptitude. Eligible students then completed the AMI R/ARCH Profile to determine their strongest MI. A correlational analysis examined whether specific intelligence strengths are commonly associated with musical aptitude. Grounded in Gardner’s MI …

Creating Trust: Strengthening Visual Communication Systems For Small Nonprofits, Jennifer R. Wenz

Masters Theses

This study explores how small nonprofits often fail shortly after they are created because of weak design practices and limited access to professional design tools and skills. Large organizations and nonprofits survive because they invest in strong branding, clear messaging, and long-term design strategy. Small nonprofits rely on volunteers with little to no design training which leaves them with inconsistent branding, unclear visual communication, and materials that fail to build the trust they need to survive. This project will examine the gap through research in the nonprofit areas of communication, visual psychology, accessible design systems, and case studies of successful …

Designing Clarity: A Framework For Nonprofit Branding, K. Caitlyn Crissler

Masters Theses

Nonprofit founders and leaders regularly face the challenge of communicating their mission clearly while working with limited budgets, limited design knowledge, and limited access to professional creative support. As a result, many organizations unintentionally waste time, money, and resources on inconsistent visual materials, unclear branding, and inefficient design processes. This thesis investigates how an accessible, streamlined design framework can empower non-designers in the nonprofit sector to make informed visual decisions, collaborate more effectively with designers, and produce communication materials that support their mission rather than hinder it. Utilizing a mixed-method approach , including a literature review of foundational design principles, …

Analysis Of Song Choice At An Anglican Church In The North West, Yvette Wong

Masters Theses

The rise of Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) in the last hundred years has gradually led to the so-called worship wars in the late twentieth century. While scholars (Lester Ruth, Ted Peter, and Vernon Whaley) note that the tension has several fronts, Ruth points out that the most obvious front line of combat in the wars was music on instrumentation, song repertoires between hymns and choruses, and the role of song in corporate worship. To keep the peace, many churches have settled for either one style of service, combined the two in the same service, commonly known as a blended service, …

Fight With What You Have: The Influence Of Pre-War Cruiser Doctrine On The Guadalcanal Campaign, Dawson Baber

Masters Theses

The Guadalcanal campaign was one of the most important campaigns of the Second World War. It was the first American offensive action and began the rolling back of Japanese forces. Guadalcanal would also be a watershed moment in American naval doctrine. The experiences suffered during the six-month campaign led to significant changes in how the Navy employed its surface forces. Since the outcome of the campaign leads to significant changes in how the Navy fights, it is important to understand what led to the battles and why they went poorly. To be more specific, how did the Navy prepare itself …

The 1778 Fort Pitt Treaty: U.S. Relations With The Lenni-Lenape Nation And The Unraveling Of Early Promises, Veronica E. Riddle

Masters Theses

This study examines the Treaty of Fort Pitt (1778), signed in present-day Pittsburgh, as the first formal diplomatic agreement between the United States and the Lenape (Delaware) Nation during the American Revolutionary War. Formed amid the military and political instability of the Revolution, the treaty promised mutual military assistance, recognition of Lenape sovereignty west of the Alleghenies, protection from settler encroachment, and the unprecedented possibility of Native representation within the emerging American confederation. However, following the deaths of key Lenape leaders, escalating frontier violence, and the failure of the Continental Congress to ratify or uphold critical provisions, the treaty rapidly …

The Cold War And Abba, Samantha Foster

Masters Theses

ABBA was a 1970s Swedish pop group. Spending approximately ten years together as a group, their output included hits such as "Dancing Queen," "Waterloo," and "The Winner Takes it All," among others. During ABBA's time together, though, the Cold War was a known fact in everyday life for people worldwide. The Cold War impacted ABBA in a number of ways, thus making the group an example of the Cold War struggle over popular culture. The band was acceptable to the Soviet Union because they hailed from neutral Sweden and their music was unlike Western rock music of the 1960s and …

Creation As Calling: The Intersection Of Faith And Craft, Alexandra J. Slyman

Masters Theses

This thesis, titled "Creation as Calling: The Intersection of Faith and Craft," explores the relationship between creative writing—specifically within the epic fantasy genre—and Christian belief. The work is divided into three distinct sections: an Artist Statement, a Craft Element Paper, and a Creative Manuscript. The Artist Statement establishes a creative philosophy grounded in the biblical doctrine of imago Dei, or being made in the image of God. It argues that the human impulse to create is a divine mandate to reflect God’s glory and a means of bearing witness to the "great story of salvation". The author contends that fiction …

A Critique Of Richard Carrier’S Jesus-Myth Theory: Examining Select References To The Historical Jesus In Paul’S Epistles, John P. Nichols

Masters Theses

Richard Carrier is arguably the contemporary voice promoting Jesus-mythicism, the idea that Jesus of Nazareth never existed. Though in the scholarly minority, Carrier has assembled numerous arguments for rejecting the Gospels and Acts as historically reliable, as well as all historical references to Jesus in Paul’s letters. He has proposed his own rules for historical inquiry to replace the traditional criteria of authenticity used by historical-Jesus scholars. In conjunction with his own criteria, Carrier has demonstrated the use of Bayes’ Theorem to assess the probability of Jesus’ existence. This thesis has considered certain portions of Carrier’s thesis against the historical …

Heirlooms, Jenna Ashby Macfarland

Masters Theses

The title of my creative manuscript is Heirlooms. It contains chapters of a fictional novel in the mystery genre. In the critical paper, I address Literary Tradition as it pertains to mystery writing. Specifically, I focus on the evolution of the mystery genre from the detached rationalism of Sherlock Holmes to the psychological realism of writers like Tana French and Liane Moriarty. Their styles reveal a shift from intellectual detection to moral introspection within the genre. Heirlooms continues this transformation by centering a female protagonist whose investigation becomes a search for spiritual and emotional truth. By integrating women’s voices and …