Digital Commons Network^™

Expert Perceptions Of Needs Of Pregnant Individuals With Substance Use Disorder In Kentucky: A Qualitative Multiple Case Study, Emma Foret Latham

Theses and Dissertations--Music

Substance misuse is a pandemic with far reaching effects on those personally affected, their families, and their communities. Kentucky has one of the highest rates of substance use disorder (SUD) in the country, and most research has focused on how to help men in recovery. There is very little research regarding how to support pregnant individuals with SUD. The purpose of this qualitative thesis was to identify the perceived needs of pregnant individuals with SUD, define characteristics of effective care, and learn how music therapists can support this population in substance use rehabilitation settings from the perspectives of experienced professionals. …

Breathing Nietzsche’S Atmospheres, Gary Shapiro

Philosophy Faculty Publications

This essay contextualizes the themes of breath and atmosphere in Nietzsche’s thinking, reading them in relation to certain contemporary crises and theories. Climate change and airborne pandemic challenge the tendency to position breath and atmosphere as life’s unthought background. Luce Irigaray’s phenomenological-feminist claim that Western philosophy has forgotten breath and James Nestor’s comprehensive investigation of medical, scientific, and disciplinary respiratory research programs provide contrasting frameworks for clarifying Nietzsche’s emphasis on breath as crucial to embodied human life. Atmospheric surround – taken in a spectrum of interrelated senses, meteorological to affective – is breath’s correlative. Nietzsche’s insistence on life’s irreducible atmospheric …

Applying The Principles Of Periodisation To Supplementary Training For Dance To Reduce Risks Of Overtraining, Sophie Molony

Theses : Honours

This research investigated the necessity of individualised training adaptations in dance, informed by physiological and psychological factors to nurture dancer physical and emotional wellbeing. Periodisation is a well known framework used, by professional athletes, as a way of dividing the training plan into smaller training cycles to develop skills and biomotor abilities to allow the athlete to perform optimally (physically, technically and mentally) and ensure peak performance at a specific time (Wyon & Allard, 2023). However, it is not yet well studied and implemented in dance (Wyon, 2010). Preparing the dancer with a periodisation model could potentially assist in supporting …

Power Dynamics And Oppression: Analyzing Structural Control In Suzanne Collins’S The Hunger Games, Hannah Micciolo

Capstone Showcase

The Hunger Games is a popular novel universe that describes a totalitarian dictatorship through the lens of the oppressed. Through the book, the viewer is given insight into how Panem operates the way it does even though the majority of its citizens are oppressed by the minority in a much more obvious manner. However, within modern society, the tactics used by the oppressors are much more ambiguous and distorted. This essay will explore the structures put in place by the Capitol in tandem with modern examples to mirror each other and increase awareness of the the tactics governments use both …

Living In A Land East Of Eden: Non-Teleological Thinking And Steinbeck's Last Theory Of Man, Erika Schwerdfeger

Scripps Senior Theses

This essay undertakes a critical reevaluation of John Steinbeck’s 1952 novel East of Eden, the author’s longest, most ambitious and potentially most misunderstood work of fiction. Drawing on excerpts from the eclectic nonfiction volume The Log from the Sea of Cortez, as well as the writer’s personal correspondence and journal entries, this thesis traces the influence of what Steinbeck called “non-teleological thinking” on this novel and on its peculiar brand of humanism, natural philosophy, religiosity and morality. East of Eden is best understood in light of Steinbeck’s abiding interest in and commitment to the natural sciences, particularly marine biology, and …

“Even The Hardest Stone Can Fracture:” Racialization, Reproductive Control, And The Wake Of Slavery In N.K. Jemisin’S The Fifth Season, Elsbeth Sanders

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

When the science fiction and fantasy novel The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin won the Hugo Award in 2016, Jemisin became the first Black author to win the prestigious literary science fiction award. A departure from similar novels at the time, The Fifth Season has a strong understanding of systems of oppression and how they are built and upheld. This thesis argues that The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin follows the conventions of the neo-slave/meta-slave narrative to explore themes of racialization and reproductive control under enslavement and oppression. I conduct a feminist literary of the novel, focusing on these themes, …

Bibliography, Charles H. Smith

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

Bibliography of publications by Charles H. Smith.

The Climate Crisis And The Class System: An Ethical Analysis, Alia Baig

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Climate change is a concerning subject that more and more people are beginning to care about. The climate crisis is continuing to affect populations across the globe and shows no signs of slowing. While everyone has been affected by climate change in some capacity, the climate crisis disproportionately affects low-income communities around the world and, specifically, within the United States. I plan to research the ethics of the relationship between climate change and the class system and the goal o f this project is to prove the claim that the class system is the reason for climate change's disproportionate effect …

Conjuring The Moon, Ariella Berkowitz

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Conjuring The Moon wrestles with the question of why we as women still submit to norms created by men who can't possibly understand our reality. Why should we support ideologies that claim to represent us while actively working against us? Why should we conform to a system that positions us as inessential Other? The speaker of this book aspires to liberate herself from such burdens. Conjuring the Moon encapsulates one woman's search for the feminine divine within herself, her religion, and her environment; but as empowering as this search may be, it remains inextricably connected to her social and historical …

Animal Personality And Sentience As Distinct Concepts, Mark Briffa

Animal Sentience

Owens et al (2024) discuss how knowledge of both animal personality and sentience in target populations can be leveraged to enhance wildlife conservation programmes. In this commentary I expand on the distinction between these two concepts. Behavioural differences should be considered broadly across conservation programmes, not just those involving species deemed sentient.

Three Stories On Urban Wildlife, Kevin J. Moriarty

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

From Victorian Doubt To American Deconstruction: Exploring Faith Crises Across Time And Geography, Bailey Anne Melton

Theses and Dissertations

This research consists of a comparative analysis of faith crises in two distinct historical periods: the Victorian era (1830s-1914) and modern America. Through examining the Victorian crisis of faith and the contemporary American deconstruction movement within Protestant Evangelicalism, this study explores the common themes, diverse responses, and enduring relevance of faith doubt within Christianity. The Victorian crisis emerged amidst scientific advancements, theological debates, and shifting societal norms, prompting intellectuals to grapple with doubts about traditional Christian beliefs. Prominent figures publicly challenged religious orthodoxy, while evolving scientific theories, particularly evolution, further fueled skepticism. In contrast, the American crisis of Evangelicalism is …

The Oswald Review Of Undergraduate Research And Criticism In The Discipline Of English: Volume 26, 2024, Douglas Higbee

The Oswald Review: An International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Criticism in the Discipline of English

No abstract provided.

Colonial Body-Logic In George Orwell's Burnese Days: A Contrapuntal Critique, Riley Mays

The Oswald Review: An International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Criticism in the Discipline of English

No abstract provided.

How Age And Vocal Health Affect The Voice, Emily Barron

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Our vocal tract ages just like our body does. This research paper hopes to bring attention to the changes that happen within the cartilages and the vocal folds located in the larynx caused by aging. There will be four age groups that will be discussed: newborn and toddlers, adolescents and young adults, adults, and senior singers. Inspired by Karen Brunssen’s book The Evolving Singing Voice, each section will go into detail discussing the biological changes that happen to the cartilages and the vocal folds during these time in our lives. A few changes that will be mentioned throughout these stages …

Disability Untheorized: Critiques Of Eugenics, Then And Now, Maren Linett

Department of English Faculty Publications

Critiques of Anglo-American eugenics from the turn of the twentieth century through today demonstrate that the people swept up by the colossal eugenic broom were not biologically “unfit” without questioning either the notion of biological inferiority itself or the “menace” eugenicists saw in disability. They therefore imply that what was wrong with eugenics was its inaccuracy—that it was only ethically problematic because it did not correctly identify “unfit” people. Such critiques, while offering social models of race, poverty, criminality, and/or gender, leave disability untheorized and neglect the rights of disabled people.

The Ethics Of Brain-Machine Interfaces, Devon J. Lynn

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Brain Machine Interfaces (BMI) are a rapidly developing technology that raise unique ethical issues that demand review. They have demonstrated impressive restorative potential, particularly for individuals living with epilepsy, and those who are locked in. Although BMIs have the potential to provide significant benefit to millions of users, further advancement of the technology should proceed cautiously, according to the guidelines outlined in this paper. Failure to adhere to ethical guidelines could lead to severe privacy concerns, and would violate moral principles of beneficence, virtue ethics, care ethics, and utilitarianism. Despite the moral risks, BMIs hold promise for reshaping future healthcare …

De Aquí, Y De Allá: Education, Culture, And Identity Development Of Transnational Latinas, Elizabeth Harris-Medina

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation

De Aquí, y De Allá: Education, Culture, and Identity Development of Transnational Latinas This ethnographic case study examines the experiences of three transnational Latina women, descendants of families from Degollado, Jalisco, Mexico, exploring how their migration history and educational backgrounds influence their life trajectories. Focusing on these three women, the study aims to better understand their challenges and inform the development of resources to support their success in the U.S. education system. Using ethnographic interviews and Ecological Systems Theory, the research highlights how places and social systems shape views and life paths, offering insights into how best to support these …

Black Girl Wisdom: A Black Feminist Analysis Of Success Strategies Of Professional African American Women At Predominately White Higher Education Institutions, Teasia Jordan

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation

This phenomenological study examines the success strategies employed by professional African American women (AAW) at predominately white higher education institutions (PWIs). Grounded in Black Feminist Thought (BFT), the “Outsider Within” framework (Collins, 1986), and the concept of “failed citizenship” (Banks, 2017), it explores how AAW navigate and redefine success within environments shaped by exclusionary white patriarchal norms. Through interviews with ten co-laborers, two themes emerged: liberation from unsupportive environments and negotiation strategies to define success.

Findings reveal that AAW’s success strategies center on identity, self-awareness, and rejecting institutional oppression. Co-laborers articulated their liberation by naming the environment as oppressed, fostering …

Interdisciplinary Learning: How Different Ways Of Thinking Can Fuel Passion And Expand Understanding., Allison Amy Peschek

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

This Capstone project was created to show the profound experience resulting from an extended range of interdisciplinary learning, and how different methods, when paired together, can enhance a learning experience. This was a personal project of exploration into those different angles, and primarily focused on avenues of logical and creating learning, respectively. These methods have been implemented by this author often in the past, but this capstone will explore this concept further, as there is a lot of potential in combining these different methods and biases in learning, to both further passion and understanding as a learner, but to also …

Madwomen In Attics, Madwomen In Tombs Feminist Counterparts In Jane Eyre And Dracula, Bethany Howard

Theses

Charlotte Brontë’s early Victorian novel Jane Eyre (1847) enjoys a steady history of feminist interpretations. Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar’s The Madwoman in the Attic (1979) is perhaps the best-known. Andrew Weiler sees Jane Eyre as a feminist Christian bildungsroman, and Micael Clarke finds the “feminist ethic” in the Grimms’ “Cinderella” tale in Jane Eyre (708).

However, Bram Stoker’s late Victorian novel Dracula (1897) has generated more varied responses, ranging from ambivalence, as noted by Carol Senf, to highly feminist, to highly anti-feminist. Feminist readings include that of Stephanie Demetrakopoulos, who remarks, “Stoker’s attempt at feminism in this novel is …

Queering The Future Through Speculative Drag: Posthumanism, Critique, And Queer Worldbuilding In The Art Of Devan Shimoyama, Maximiliano Mamani, And Sin Wai Kin, Finley Hayes Cowlishaw

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Contemporary queer artists enact futures that resist abjection and reevaluate the state of our hierarchical classifications of human beings by invoking posthuman drag - constructed assemblages of identities - and combining them with speculative fiction, mythologies, and folklore. Devan Shimoyama, a queer bi-racial Black-identified artist, drags images of parts of his body to present queer Black masculinity in multitudes of ways while simultaneously imbuing them with magical powers and crafting their mythological origins. Maximiliano Mamani, a queer Indigenous Argentinian artist and performer, invokes the historical and political figure of eighteenth-century rebel Bartolina Sisa in his drag persona, Bartolina Xixa, as …

Bacha Kab Karogi? A Qualitative Analysis Of The Reproductive Agency Exercised By Memon Women, Malaika Chokshi

SSLA Culminating Experience

This study explores how Memon women exercise their reproductive agency within the context of patriarchal family structures in the Memon community. The study investigates decision-making dynamics in Memon women’s everyday lives from their educational and professional choices to their interpersonal relationships with their husband and in-laws as well as discover the intricacies of how women arrive at their reproductive choices regarding children, contraceptives, child-rearing, and more. Using a qualitative research design, in-depth interviews were conducted with seven Memon women/mothers between the ages of 18 and 30, all living in joint families to gain a deeper look into these women’s lived …

Healing Prayer, L. Ann Hamel

Journal of Adventist Mission Studies

A major theme of both the Old and New Testaments is that of healing and restoration. The Old Testament teaches that it is God who heals (Deut 32:39; Exod 15:26), while the New Testament presents Jesus’ ministry as one of healing and restoration (Luke 4:18-19). Healing was clearly a major theme in Christ’s earthly ministry with biblical scholars reporting that approximately one fifth of gospel texts relate stories of Christ’s healing miracles. The Bible teaches that not only did Jesus heal but he gave his disciples the power and authority to heal in his name, thus empowering the church to …

Masculinity And Political Discourse: A Critical Analysis Of European Leaders, Taylor R. Haycock

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This project examines how European leaders of autocratic and democratic nations engage with masculinity discourses in their public speeches. Do authoritarian leaders use masculinity in a different way than democratic leaders? I answer this question by completing a critical discourse analysis of speeches from Vladimir Putin, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Boris Johnson, and Emmanuel Macron, the leaders of Russia, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and France, respectively. The speeches were publicized from July 2019 to September 2022, when all four leaders were simultaneously in office. I found that a similar rhetorical strategy focusing on dominance and strength was used across regime types …

The Promise Of Graphic Medicine In Provider Training To Promote Mental Health, Prevent The Empathy Decline, And Improve Learning, Maeher Sukhija

Honors Undergraduate Theses

As medical students progress through their training, they experience a decline in empathy, mental health struggles, and difficulties in learning. The prevalence of depression, anxiety and burnout among medical students, along with the decline of empathy in medical students can impact their professionalism and quality of patient care as future physicians. This literature review shows how the integration of graphic medicine in provider training can address these problems, giving a new perspective on what medical education should look like. Thirty-three articles were found and reviewed by searching through the databases Academic Search Premier, PubMed, and Google Scholar, along with the …

Keeping You In Shape: The Integration Of Fractals In The Study Of Healthy Systems, Alexandria Miller

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This work discusses the application of fractals in studying the human body as a complex system. I argue that the human body falls under the classification of a complex system and can thus be studied by applying the universalities that complex systems possess. One of these universalities is fractality, which I find to have benefits in both research regarding the human body and in treatment of the human body, in relation to patient care practices. I begin by analyzing the definition of complex systems and fractals, and how these two concepts can fit together. I then discuss differing interpretations of …

Justice As Fairness Or As Inclusion: Putting Rawls In Conversation With The Bans On Transgender Athletes, Nicole Player

Pomona Senior Theses

The last decade has seen a flurry of anti-transgender bills introduced and passed in the United States, and the topic that has likely been the most hotly debated regards the dozens of state bans on transgender athletes. While most discussions of these bans go straight to a debate about physiology, this thesis centers instead on a question of justice. In the debate of whether to allow a transgender girl to compete in girls’ sports, is it more “just” to prioritize fairness in women’s sport, as these bans do, or is it more just to prioritize inclusion? This thesis, in finding …

Troubling Waters: Anthropocene Marine Gothic In The 19th-Century Anglo-American Fiction, Phoenix Guqing Wang

Comparative Literature M.A. Essays

The 19th century witnessed intensifying marine ecological disruptions by colonial, industrial, and imperial activities. Meanwhile, current scholarship acknowledges the significance of the 19th century in tracing the emergence of the “Anthropocene” – a loose shorthand for ecological damages that are planetary in scale. This thesis aims to analyze how gothic imagination of the marine space unravels the linkages between the two temporally intersecting phenomena. Drawing on ocean studies, ecocriticism, new materialism, and gothic studies, I theorize what I call “Anthropocene marine Gothic discourse” to understand how 19th-century Anglo-American writers attend to the marine space to grapple with planetary ecological concerns …

Stage And Discharge Prediction From Documentary Time-Lapse Imagery, Kenneth W. Chapman, Troy E. Gilmore, Mehrube Mehrubeoglu, Christian D. Chapman, Aaron R. Mittelstet, John E. Stranzl Jr.

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Imagery from fixed, ground-based cameras is rich in qualitative and quantitative information that can improve stream discharge monitoring. For instance, time-lapse imagery may be valuable for filling data gaps when sensors fail and/or during lapses in funding for monitoring programs. In this study, we used a large image archive (> 40,000 images from 2012 to 2019) from a fixed, ground-based camera that is part of a documentary watershed imaging project (https://plattebasintimelapse.com/). Scalar image features were extracted from daylight images taken at one-hour intervals. The image features were fused with United States Geological Survey stage and discharge data as …