Digital Commons Network^™

Journeying With Kala: Exploring Interdependencies Of Material, Land, And Maker In Shaping Textile Practices, Mithila Amy Mohan

Nordes Conference Series

Accompanied by Kala, an indigenous cotton from Kutch, India, this study examines the interdependencies of land, material, and maker that are fostered in textile practices. It explores materials as companions in practice, shaping the trajectory of making through their processual entanglements with human and more-than-human environments. The research employs a practice-led methodology integrating historical review of cotton in India, ethnographic inquiry into practices related to Kala in Kutch, and hands-on weaving experiments. The weaving explorations with Kala, seen as a process of correspondence, detail the role of materials in making, where environmental conditions, material properties, and practitioner interactions shape the …

Revisiting The Post-Tsunami Aceh School: A Community-Based Evaluation Framework For Improving Build Back Better Projects, Muhammad Naufal Fadhil, Aji Sofiana Putri, Muhammad Fadli Muslimin

ASEAN Journal of Community Engagement

This study proposes a community-based evaluation framework to assess and improve the existing conditions of post-tsunami schools based on the occupants’ evaluations. Rapid, donor-driven reconstruction often defaults to ‘fit-for-all’ solutions that bypass community needs, resulting in facilities that are misaligned with local contexts. This project focused on Lampageu State Elementary School in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, which was reconstructed in 2009 by a German NGO after the 2004 tsunami. The project began by observing the school’s physical condition through the community engagement team, followed by a review and exploration of the school’s design needs with the school community. The community-based evaluation …

When Culture Becomes Law: Mayan Heritage And The New Constitutional Recognition Of Collective Rights In Mexico, José Israel Herrera, Victor Manuel Colli Ek

Journal of Maya Heritage

Abstract. The constitutional reform of September 30, 2024 to article 2 marks a substantive change in the recognition of indigenous peoples as subjects of public law, with their own patrimony, valid normative systems and express right to conserve, protect and develop their cultural, material and immaterial heritage. This article analyzes the legal implications of this reform in the context of the Maya people, especially with regard to collective intellectual property, the right to prior consultation and the constitutional recognition of bioculturality. A critical reading of the new normative framework is proposed, with emphasis on its transformative potential for the territorial …

Theorizing Graphic Embodiments: A Feminist Perspective, Lisa Detora, Jeannie Ludlow

All Faculty Scholarship

In response to the increasing politicization and polarization of discourses around gender, sexuality, and the body, feminist theorists like Judith Butler call for feminism to strive toward flexibility and responsivity. This essay lays out some of the theoretical considerations that inform studies of graphic embodiment—or studies of embodiment in graphic narratives—both generally and within feminist studies, then examines several graphic texts by Tillie Walden and Élodie Durand that exemplify feminist theories of embodiment, with particular attention to the creative co-construction of embodied narratives.

Crisis Communication On Facebook: Interaction Between Public Utility Companies And Their Consumers, Virna S. Villanueva, Xena Angela D. Baloloy

Journal of English and Applied Linguistics

This study analyzes the Facebook communication between public utility companies and their consumers in the Philippines during crises. Specifically, it investigates the public utility’s common issues or problems and communication strategies and their consumers’ tone and language. Using a mixed-methods approach, the qualitative content analysis examines language use, tone, and engagement strategies, while the quantitative analysis identifies the frequency of concerns, communication styles, and consumer reactions. The study uses the framework of Bies’s (2013) bad news management process, specifically the delivery phase. The dataset includes 23 Facebook posts, selected from an initial corpus of 41 posts, made by two public …

Living Heritage, Resilience And Ethically Informed Infrastructures In Malawi, Martha B. Lerski, Frank Puluputu Mwale

Publications and Research

Rooted in a rural community’s needs, this paper explores how historically, and ethically informed infrastructures can support community engagement towards identification, documentation, and dissemination of local, traditional, and indigenous knowledge relating to climate change. The paper examines climate adaptation and sustainability issues through the lenses of community organizing and Library & Information Science best practices. It draws on a growing body of literature identifying a role for expanded epistemological and subject discipline perspectives. While the impacts of climate on material culture are increasingly recognized, intangible, and biocultural heritage have not received as much attention. Living heritage traditions and knowledge systems …

Sustainable Tourism Behaviour Through Walking Tour: A Qualitative Study To Walking Tour Participants In Jakarta, Melisa Bunga Altamira, Khairunnisa Devani Aqtus Permana Putri

Journal of Indonesian Tourism and Policy Studies

As urban tourism continues to rise, walking tours have emerged as a low-impact, environmentally friendly, and culturally immersive form of tourism. This study explores the relationship between walking tours and the development of sustainable tourism behaviour among participants in Jakarta, Indonesia. Using a qualitative research approach, this study elaborates the motivations, perceptions, and behavioural changes of individuals who have participated in walking tours across Jakarta’s historical and cultural sites. Data were collected through in-depth interviews and participant observations, focusing on themes such as environmental awareness, appreciation of local culture, and reduced dependency on motorized transport. The findings suggest that walking …

The Craft Of Tally: Tracing Marketability And Economic Sustainability Of Crafts, Mariam Mabrouk

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the marketability and economic sustainability of the Tally craft in Gezeirit

Shandaweel, Sohag, Egypt, with a focus on how the craft navigates the tension between cultural

preservation and economic adaptation. Tally, a traditional form of embroidery, has deep cultural

roots in Egypt but faces significant challenges due to global market dynamics, shifting consumer

preferences, and systemic institutional neglect. Through an ethnographic case study, this research

investigates how artisans, institutions, and market forces interact to shape the craft's future. The

study examines the role of cultural perceptions, innovation, and institutional support in fostering

or hindering Tally's economic viability. …

Where's The Dim Sum? Art, Oral History, And The Chinese American Diaspora In Portland, Or, Rayli Dornan

University Honors Theses

This thesis examines the history, transformation, and contemporary significance of Portland's Chinatown through an oral history framework, emphasizing the voices of Chinese American artists. Beginning with a comprehensive historical overview from the mid-nineteenth-century Gold Rush migrations and railroad labor to twentieth-century exclusion, dispossession under urban renewal, and the late-twentieth-century dispersal into suburbs, the thesis traces how structural racism and policy shaped both the physical landscape and communal life of Oregon's Chinese diaspora. Through in-depth interviews with local artists, this research aims to illuminate how individual experiences of identity, belonging, and creative expression navigate the tensions between heritage and adaptation.

Drawing …

Culture And Environment: The Calling Lakes Ecomuseum As A Community Sustainability Initiative, Kace N. Anders

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Located in Saskatchewan, Canada, the Calling Lakes Ecomuseum, CLEM, is a community-based organization focused on water management and sustainability. Ecomuseums are holistic organizations that occupy landscapes, are responsive to community needs, conserve in situ heritage, and incorporate sustainability along with community development. The ecomuseum movement came from a need for holistic heritage management that disengaged with conventional museology and created space for communities to engage with their heritage in ways that promote community identity. This thesis analyzes the Calling Lakes Ecomuseum and how it utilizes the ecomuseum concept alongside environmental sustainability. Both semi-structured interviews and place-based field observations were used …

Podcast: One To Grow On – Why Black Studies Matter When Working And Living In Black Communities, Celia E. Ceballos

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This paper examines the transformative potential of Black Studies in enhancing community work within Black and Brown communities in New York City. The research is driven by the author's firsthand experiences and the realization of the importance of Black Studies, which was largely absent from earlier education. Through the interdisciplinary approach of the Graduate Center’s MALS program, the author has gained a deeper understanding of key topics such as the legacy of slavery, the Civil Rights Movement, the Harlem Renaissance, the Black Arts Movements, and the ongoing struggle for racial justice. This journey inspired the creation of a capstone project, …

Land Access As Liberation: A Qualitative Study On Faith, Food, And Farming Of Urban And Rural Black Land Stewards In The United States, Dominique Edwards

Dissertations

Since 1920, Black farmers in the United States have held less than 2% of the nation's farmland, a direct result of race-based discriminatory policies embedded within federal, state, local, and county-level institutions (Daniel, 2013). Structural barriers—ranging from exclusionary lending practices by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to the systematic dispossession of land through legal loopholes, heirs’ property laws, and violent racial terror—have contributed to this staggering decline in Black land ownership (Gilbert et al., 2002). The erosion of Black agrarian landholdings intensified in the latter half of the 20th century, as government programs, civil rights legislation, and technological advancements, …

Cinema As Praxis: An Integrated Theoretical Framework For Philippine Social Advocacy Cinema, Herwin Benedictos Cabasal

Social Transformations Journal of the Global South

This theoretical paper examines social advocacy cinema in the Philippines as a form of counter-hegemonic cultural practice. Drawing on Third Cinema Theory (Fernando Solanas and Octavio Getino), critical theory (Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer), and participatory communication for social change (Paulo Freire and Thomas Tufte), this paper proposes Cinema as Praxis as an integrated theoretical framework for understanding how politically driven advocacy films operate through the convergence of cultural and political production, ideological representation and critique, and participatory communication. It argues that social advocacy cinema functions through interconnected dimensions: (1) production as praxis, in which collective and grassroots filmmaking constitutes …

Becoming A Beloved Community: A Restorative Reckoning For A Radical Conversion To Transform Discourse In Higher Education, Latasha Tomay Varlack-Butler

Dissertations

This dissertation critically examines the misappropriation of Restorative Justice Discourse (RJD) within three predominantly white institutions (PWIs), analyzing 59 institutional documents through Critical Discourse Analysis, Relational Critical Discourse Analysis, and Rhetorical Criticism (Fairclough, 1995; Vaandering, 2021; van Dijk, 2008). Tribal Colleges and Universities and South African institutions have emerged as exemplars of authentic RJD, countering co-optation within PWIs. The findings demonstrate that RJD as applied in PWIs is framed in ways that attenuate its transformative potential, perpetuating color-evasiveness (Bonilla-Silva, 2017) and obscuring the intersectional experiences of Black, Indigenous, and disabled communities (Crenshaw, 1991; Million, 2009).

Grounded in decolonial praxis (Smith, …

Mindful Symbiotic Ecosystems. Designing For Women In Remote Workspaces, Andrea Guevara Araujo

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Women represent 61% of designers in the workforce but hold only 29% of leadership roles. This disparity highlights a critical need for an ecosystem that removes barriers and cultivates mentorship, community, and leadership among women (Bolt, 2020). Even though women have proven their ability to succeed in male-dominated corporate cultures, the real question is not about capability but sustainability. Driven by overwork, competition, and burnout, the workplace does not just push women out; it leads to long-term instability for the entire organization (Krivkovich et al., 2024). In the workplace, a culture of masculinity reinforces harmful, outdated mindsets and glorifies aggressive, …

A Home In Both Places: Gender, Afro-Caribbean Migration, And Transnational Home-Making In Central Brooklyn, 1920–1980, Ruth Edwards

ELIN Graduate Theses

No abstract provided.

Community Media Coalitions: Best Practices To Support Healthy Local News Ecosystems, Stepfanie E. Alfonso

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Local U.S. journalism is in crisis. Communities across the country are suffering from a loss of local outlets, journalists, and a shortage of original coverage that addresses critical information needs. Yet, community media coalitions (CMCs) offer a promising solution. These coalitions bring together media outlets, educational institutions, and civic organizations to collaboratively support local news ecosystems. However, little is known about these coalitions or how to effectively build and operate them from the perspective of their creators.

To address this information gap, a guidebook was created titled A Best Practices Guide for Community Media Coalition Building: How to Wrangle All …

A Texas-Sized Problem: Abortion Policy And Public Perception On The Border, Sabrina Bustillos

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The present study is an examination of the impacts Texas' abortion restrictions have had on residents of El Paso, Texas. As of 2022, virtually all instances of abortion are illegal in the state of Texas. Despite the complete overturn of Roe V. Wade, in addition to Texas' passage of the "Texas Heartbeat Act", lawmakers have continued to propose and enact laws that encourage the intimidation, investigation, and punishment of anyone suspected of aiding and abetting an abortion, regardless of whether it occurred outside of state lines. These policies are ever-changing and impact millions of Texans, whether they know it or …

Cultivating A New Agricultural Ethos: An Environmentalist Reading Of John Steinbeck And Barbara Kingsolver, Will Fletcher

English Honors Theses

This thesis examines the agricultural criticisms of John Steinbeck in conversation with those of Barbara Kingsolver. It argues that Kingsolver answers Steinbeck’s agricultural criticisms in her own works with a vision of an improved food system that benefits farmers, consumers, and the environment. The first chapter looks at the 1939 classic The Grapes of Wrath, arguing that Steinbeck levels four main criticisms against industrial agriculture, all of which point towards a social movement aimed at protesting against the exploitation of the natural world. The second chapter opens with a dialogue between Steinbeck (informed by The Grapes of Wrath and Travels …

“I’Ll Walk Out If You Walk Out”: A Comic On How Students Of Color Utilize Racial Micropolitical Literacy In Their Everyday Lives, Josephine Pham, Talitha Angelica Acaylar Trazo

Occasional Paper Series

Advocating for an expansive view of Youth Participatory Action Research that considers everyday practices in mundane life as essential for building just and thriving futures, the authors co-created a comic to illustrate the inventive ways youth of color co-create educational possibilities for racially just futures in everyday classroom life. Framed through a racial micropolitical literacy framework and based on a real-life narrative, their scholarship in comic form invites youth, practitioners, and scholars to re-frame and re-present learning, teaching, studying, and living educational justice in renewed ways. Specifically, the authors highlight the ingenious practices of youth of color who are already …

Bryant University Research And Engagement Day Program

Bryant REDay (Research and Engagement Day)

No abstract provided.

Designing For Mental Health: Introducing A Student Wellness Center, Gabrielle Figueroa

Student Research Symposium

This research highlights the critical role of the built environment in shaping mental health outcomes, emphasizing the need for more thoughtful, collaborative design practices. While previous studies have recognized the importance of therapeutic spaces, they often lack a focus on specific mental health conditions like anxiety & depression. This study brings together insights from mental health and design professionals, advocating for environments that prioritize comfort, flexibility, and emotional safety. By bridging gaps between disciplines and emphasizing user-centered, sustainable design, it offers a more comprehensive approach to creating spaces that truly support mental health and well-being.

A Message From The Editors, Vicki L. Reitenauer, Rhiannon M. Cates

Amplify: A Journal of Writing-as-Activism

An introduction from the founding co-editors to the third issue of Amplify: A Journal of Writing-as-Activism: Volume 3, Issue 1: Writing-as-Activism in a Time of Destruction.

Creativity In Arts Organizations: Waterfire Providence Unites And Inspires, Tiana Degrace

Honors Projects in History, Literature, and the Arts

Community arts organizations serve as vibrant cultural hubs, uniting diverse networks and fostering creative expression through their dynamic administrative planning and management. This study examines the creative processes at WaterFire Providence, focusing on how administrative teams integrate creativity into their decision-making, and volunteer practices. Drawing from existing literature on arts organizations and music festivals, the research highlights the importance of spaces, audience engagement, and collaborative community involvement in event organizations. By analyzing the decision-making strategies that administrators employ across various stages of event planning and execution, this study sheds light on the interplay between creativity and organizational practices. Through qualitative …

Building Better Communities, Abby Simandl

Interior Design Capstones

This project explores how innovative design strategies can build better communities by enhancing mental health, physical well-being, and social engagement, ultimately creating a sense of belonging and growth in cities.

Motivated by the challenges of affordability, accessibility, social isolation, and environmental degradation, this project emphasizes the transformative power of design. By integrating community-centered design (CCD) and human-centered design (HCD) principles, the project aims to learn about resilient, inclusive, and sustainable communities. These approaches involve active community participation, ensuring that solutions are culturally relevant, inclusive, and responsive to local needs.

Key strategies include promoting social connectedness, improving public access to health …

2025- The Twenty-Ninth Annual Symposium Of Student Scholars

Symposium of Student Scholars Program Books

The full program book from the 29th Annual Symposium of Student Scholars, held on April 16-18, 2025. Includes abstracts from the presentations and posters.

Malled To Death: Surviving Sprawl And Redreaming The American Mall, Gioia Calabretta

Senior Honors Theses

America underwent a shift in city planning post-WWII, a change which still shapes America today. In contrast with Sprawl’s failures in mobility, community, and beauty, New Urbanism, a return to traditional city planning, is presented as the solution to these shortcomings. New Urbanism lacks adequate marketing to advocate these successes, thus more competitive media, such as video, must be pursued. Using the local mall, River Ridge, as a case study to show Sprawl’s short-sighted pseudo-solutions and New Urbanism’s time-tested true solutions, a testimonial-style script is put forth to catalyze the Lynchburg community in promoting traditional city planning.

Joyful Accompaniment: Student And Alumni Spiritual Leadership Development Within An Immersive Service Trip, Michelle Grace Martin

Theses & Dissertations

This ethnographic action research case study illustrates how undergraduate student and alum participants in a week-long service trip describe their development of spiritual leadership skills. From a mission-focused spiritual leadership perspective, there are inherent problems with the current definition of student leadership in higher education. Currently, student leadership emphasizes positional authority and action-oriented goals, neglecting deeper dimensions of leadership which include service, humility, and moral integrity. For this study, I will be redefining leadership as justice-oriented accompaniment and adapting the Spiritual Leadership theory to better suit a Catholic Dominican mission-focused leadership model. This adaptation creates a shift from productivity-focused behaviors …

Correlation Of Socioeconomic Characteristics And Maintenance Level Of Houses In Mass Housing Scheme In Ilorin, Nigeria, Oladimeji Samuel Bolaji, Abubakar-Kamar Tayo Aishat, Adeyemi Olabanji Lukman, Arosanyin Mofeoluwa Victor

Architecture and Planning Journal (APJ)

It is a common belief that certain behaviors are influenced by a person's social level. This claim is taken to apply to housing maintenance in any society, whether it is owned or rented. The aim of this study is to identify the socioeconomic indicators that are most predictive of the maintenance level of houses in mass housing schemes in the metropolis of Ilorin, Nigeria. Both primary and secondary data were used in this investigation. Qualitative and quantitative data through structured questionnaires administered on 1125 household heads constituting 27% of the sample frame were collected from sixteen (16) mass housing schemes …

Working Paper: The Role Of Nafeer And Social Networks In Sudan’S Humanitarian Response And The Challenges For International Aid, Mazin Sharfi

The Journal of Social Encounters

This paper explores the integral role of Nafeer, a traditional Sudanese communal practice, and social networks in addressing humanitarian crises, focusing on the ongoing 2023 conflict. Nafeer, rooted in rural agricultural settings, has evolved to mobilise urban communities for emergency responses, while social networks extend social support beyond family ties, providing a complementary layer of resource-sharing. Both systems, decentralised and grassroots in nature, contrast sharply with formal international aid structures. The research highlights how Nafeer and social networks mobilise resources through traditional means, such as mobilising social capital and economic resources including remittances, and modern mechanisms, like crowdfunding. It underscores …