Digital Commons Network^™

Draagmoederschap: Surrogacy In The Netherlands, Olivia Murray

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In this paper, I investigated surrogacy in the Netherlands by interviewing four surrogates and one intended parent about their experiences. I found that the participants shared several common experiences and opinions, especially related to why they chose to be surrogates, how surrogates and intended parents negotiate their relationship during and after pregnancy, the tensions of passing on parenthood and merging families, the (non-binding) contracts that surrogates and parents create, Dutch law, and commercial surrogacy. I argue that much of the discourse around surrogacy relitigates many of the arguments made in favor and against sex work, in that it sets surrogacy …

Taking The Waste Out Of Wastewater: Evaluation And Implementation Of Sustainability Measures At Base Aérea N.°5’S Wastewater Treatment Plant, Abigail Monahan

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Wastewater treatment is a critical process by which the concentration of pollutants in wastewater are reduced to minimize the resulting effluent’s impact on human health and the environment. Base Aérea N.°5, an airbase located in Monte Real, Portugal, is striving to enhance their wastewater treatment methods to decrease the impact of the treated effluent on the environment. They can reduce the effluent’s impact by implementing more advanced wastewater treatment to decrease the concentration of micropollutants and pathogens in the effluent, and they can reuse the treated effluent to decrease the volume of freshwater they extract. This work seeks to evaluate …

Ex Libris, Fall 2021, West Virginia University Libraries

Ex Libris: The WVU Libraries Magazine

"DON'T THROW IT OUT!" The West Virginia Feminist Activist Collection brings together the records of people and institutions that worked to advance women's rights.; AMPLIFYING APPALACHIA A Wikipedia Edit-a-Thon is helping to bring attention to influential Appalachians and key historical events.; THE ROAD TO BLAIR MOUNTAIN A century has passed since the Battle of Blair Mountain; read how the WVU Libraries commemorated the West Virginia Mine Wars.

Ansible: Messages From Beyond: The Writer's Block Literary Magazine, Fall 2021, The Writer's Block

The Writer's Block Literary Magazine

No abstract provided.

The Tarheel Victorian: H.H. Brimley And The North Carolina State Museum In Raleigh (1880-1946), Robert Alexander Stroud

Masters Theses

Following North Carolina's experience during the American Civil War and Reconstruction, the museum was born out of a desire to bring greater economic investment into the North Carolina economy. Its first director H.H. Brimley (1861-1946) transformed the museum into a thriving institution that attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors annually by the 1940s. The museum helped Raleigh's transformation from a backwater of the Old South into a thriving metropolis of Post-Reconstruction by kick-starting a wave of tourism and popular education with its exhibits on state history and science. This thesis argues that this museum played a critical role not only …

Placing Social Emotional Learning At The Forefront Of Public Education, Amy Joy Pedroza

Masters Theses

In order to fully prepare students in the public-school system for a successful, healthy future the public-school system needs to place a trauma-informed, social emotional learning program at the forefront of our education system. This thesis examines the short-term and long-term effects that childhood trauma has on a person’s body and mind. Additionally, it examines the history of social emotional learning and why the skills it emphasizes are so important for students to learn alongside academics. In this discussion, strong data facts are addressed to support the implementation of SEL across the public-school system. However, it also explores some challenges …

Deism Defined And Defended, Carlo Alvaro

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

A Biblical, Culturally Relevant, And Contextually Applicable Financial Literacy Curriculum, Wallace Kanyuira

Doctor of Leadership

Poverty in Kenya is high, and the church should respond by economically empowering the people to be self-reliant. People are in poverty, not for lack of opportunities and resources, but because they lack the knowledge and skills to exploit these opportunities, make decisions they are ill-equipped to make, and lack financial literacy. Many people who are financially struggling tend to seek solace in churches. Consequently, pastors need to master and teach biblical financial literacy and reshape the church culture to be responsive. In Hosea 4:6 God says: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. . . .” Biblical financial …

Agents Of Place: Negotiations Between Artist And Government In Philippine Public Art, Pristine L. De Leon

Fine Arts Department Faculty Publications

The paper inquires into public art produced by artists and government authorities. It interprets collaboration as a site of negotiating various interests; holding possibilities for both disruption and complicity; antagonism and amelioration. The research considers two art projects in the Philippine context: first; the Paoay sand dunes sculpture park made between 2012 and 2015 in the Northern Ilocos region; and second; the ongoing Pasig River Art for Urban Change; beginning with Bakawan in 2015 in the Philippine capital Metro Manila. As both involve the artist Leeroy New (b. 1986) working with different government agencies; the paper tracks inconspicuous shifts not …

Blindspotting And Covid: The Gentrification Of Racism, Ashley Starr-Morris

Journal of Religion & Film

The novel Coronavirus is not only exposing old patterns of racism and systemic inequalities, but deepening them as well. The notion of blindspotting, as described in the film by the same name, is used to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic impacts the “spiritual emergency” or crisis of racism in America. "Blindspotting" is an image or situation that can be interpreted in two ways but is understood by some in only one way, thereby producing a blind spot. In 2020 and 2021, we see segments of American society, from politics to white Christian nationalism, upholding a sacred canopy of exceptionalism by …

Understanding Instructional Spelling Practices Of Third And Fourth Grade Teachers: An Embedded Multiple Case Study, Krista Rae Tennefoss

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this embedded, explanatory multiple case study was to explain how internal and external factors shape the instructional spelling practices of third and fourth grade educators in Delaware. Internal factors were personal characteristics, such as content knowledge and pedagogy, that have been developed by past experiences and trainings. External factors were environmental and behavioral elements that vary between schools. The theory guiding this study was the social cognitive theory as it provided a theoretical framework that helped to explain influencers behind teacher choices. As an embedded case study, the main units of analysis were the schools (N = …

Confirmation Bias Susceptibility: Social Domains, Metacognitive Self, And Gender, Emily N. Roush

Student Publications

Confirmation bias is a daily and commonly under-recognized cognitive bias, one in which requires more research. More specifically, confirmation bias is when individuals seek out information to confirm beliefs and reject opposing views. This phenomenon is readily studied in economics and psychology to name a few. However, confirmation bias is often neglected in an empirical setting. Thus, with a gap in the literature, this study tested the susceptibility of confirmation bias in college students, and utilized social domains, Metacognitive Self Score (MCS), and gender to predict the level of confirmation bias. Using a between-subjects design, participants were randomly assigned to …

The Constructing Of “Chinese-Ness”: The Culinary Identity Of Chinese Restaurants In Gettysburg, Pa., Lureann A. Semple

Student Publications

General Tso’s Chicken. Egg Rolls. Fried Rice. Fortune Cookies. Since the creation of Chop Suey in 1849, Chinese restaurants have not only displayed one of the most fascinating ethnic cuisines in the US but also become a commonly recognizable cultural symbol for Chinese-ness in the American “melting pot." Then what kind of “Chinese-ness” is presented and how is it constructed by these restaurants? Does its Otherness prevent it from fitting into mainstream American society or does its Americanization make this identity less ‘authentic’? By taking the Chinese restaurants in Gettysburg, PA, as a case study, this research studies the construction …

The King With The Vīṇā Flag – Perspectives Of Rāvaṇa In Film, Achintya Prahlad

Journal of Religion & Film

Rāvaṇa, the ten-headed Rākṣasa (‘demon’) king of the epic the Rāmāyaṇa, is the most fascinating of all the antagonists in films based on Hindu mythology, so powerful that even the Sun cannot rise without his orders, and celebrated as an unparalleled musician-scholar and great devotee of the god Śiva. His passion for the vīṇā, a string instrument with divine associations, is so great that this instrument adorns his royal flag as its emblem. His consciousness of his supreme powers and great knowledge soon gives way to ahaṅkāra (hubris) and lust, which leads to his eventual downfall and death at the …

For Just Business, It’S Pretty Personal: The Impact Of Money On The Early Republic’S Economically Elite Families, Abigail L. Adam

Student Publications

This essay examines the Adam Family Papers as a case study representing the Early American Republic’s economic elite. It argues that individual business practices affected the relationships between relatives—sometimes positively, other times negatively. The first section concerns other historians’ work on the family and on the Salisbury Iron District. The second section discusses women’s roles within their male relatives’ businesses. The third section relates to gift exchanges, while the fourth concerns business transactions between family members. The fifth section regards the economic hierarchy that emerged within the Forbes & Adam family. Letters concerning Samuel Forbes, John Adam Jr., Abigail Adam, …

[Book Review] Female Monarchs And Merchant Queens In Africa By Nwando Achebe, Bright Alozie

Black Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

Book review excerpt:

Have you ever heard of small but mighty? Female Monarchs aptly fits that description. Traveling through time and across the African continent in a roughly chronological order, Nwando Achebe uses a slew of case studies to (re)frame and (re)tell the African-gendered narrative in solidly African-centered and gendered terms. Breaking from Western perspectives and relying on distinctly African-derived sources and methods, she weaves together the worlds and experiences of African females who occupied positions of power, authority, and influence. In Female Monarchs, the author not only restores voice and dignity to a people but also places elite …

Ursinus Magazine, Fall 2021, Jill Leauber Marsteller, Ed Moorhouse, Jennifer Meininger Wolfe, Abigail Peabody, Ann Karreth

Ursinus Magazine, 1995–Present

Search for our 19th President • Dedicating the Commons • Partnership honors Lenape people • COVID-19 and inequity • Ursinus selected for passport program • Getting to know: Alan Morrison • Keeper of Atlanta's great apes • Leading with grace • Unfinished business • Ursinus College's leading lady • Welcome Week 2021 • Family Weekend 2021 • In memoriam • Class notes • Marriages • Births • Burning question: What keeps women from running for public office?

Edge Of A Dream, Lauren Schild

Honors Thesis

“Edge of a Dream” is a photographic series using both film and digital mediums to explore the moments right as a dream is ending and before you wake up. I chose this theme for my series after waking up one morning in the middle of a dream. I was awake and aware, but I could not remove myself from the dream. I decided to use this project as an opportunity to explore that state and attempt to understand how our minds create dreams in the first place. Each image uses a different set of surreal methods to recreate photographic representations …

The Household Of God: Building Communities Of Shalom, Jodi Gatlin

Doctor of Ministry

This paper explores the problem of anxiety, loneliness, and division within the United States. Research shows that while anxiety, loneliness, and division are on the rise, church participation is on the decline. In light of this reality, this paper asks the question, “How can the church be a community so that lonely and anxious people can be seen, known, and belong?”

From Genesis through Revelation, Scripture witnesses to God’s presence in creation, uniting with humanity to expand God’s heaven and earth temple into the rest of creation. Within God’s temple, God’s people are called to love God first, then self …

Sino, ‘Ilo, Moe Ongo: Body, Knowing, And Feeling, Pā‘Utu-‘O-Vava‘U-Lahi, Adriana M. Lear, Kolokesa U. Māhina-Tuai, Sione L. Vaka, Maui-Tāvā-He-Akó, Tēvita O. KaʻIli, Hūfanga-He-Ako-Moe-Lotu, ‘Ōkusitino Māhina

Pacific Studies

This essay critically examines the intersection of sino body, ‘ilo knowing, and ongo feeling. The latter two are considered indivisible tendencies situated in the former, which is, in turn, taken merely as a vaka/hala medium/vessel/vehicle. The authors address examples from Tongan faiva performance arts of ta‘anga poetry, hiva/fasi music, and lea oratory, in which this topic is highly developed and refined, in contrast to academia, where it is largely, if not, entirely unexplored. By drawing on the Indigenous Tongan Tā-Vā Time-Space Philosophy of Reality, the critique is placed in the Indigenous Tongan thinking and practice of ‘atamai mind and mafu/fatu …

Volume 5, Nova Southeastern University

be Still

No abstract provided.

Restoring Balance, Daniel R. Villanueva Toby

be Still

As a medical student who has received half of their education during the COVID-19 pandemic, I wanted to portray the internal struggle of medical providers in trying to care for the sick and disabled. A great deal is expected of doctors in this day and age. That stress of expectations versus the innate desire to help others led me to write this poem.

Korean Transnational Adoption As An Act Of Violence, Isabelle Titcomb , '22

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

Building on an emergent  eld of critical adoption studies, this paper traces the transformation of the Korean orphan into adoptee through the army camp, orphanage, women’s magazine, and family. In doing so, it demonstrates how Korean transnational adoption stood at the nexus of discourses concerning U.S. militarism, American consumerism, Cold War Orientalism, and white heternormative kinship formation. It concludes that adoption was not the radical act that its architects heralded it to be, rather it reproduced and rei ed pre-existing notions of race, gender, and sexuality founded in Orientalism.

Remembering “Der Noether”: The Gendered Image And Memory Of Women In Mathematics, Gwendolyn Rak , '22

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

German mathematician Emmy Noether (1882-1935) is known today for her contributions to abstract algebra and a 1918 theorem foundational to many theories of physics. She is also remembered as one of the most notable women mathematicians of the early 20th century and a significant figure in the history of women in science. Due to her position as an early female mathematician, her memory has been continually gendered in the decades since her death, reflecting the ways in which the image of the mathematician has frequently been constructed as heroic and masculine.

Reports And Commands: Deciphering A Health Exhibition Using The Speaking Mnemonic, David H. Lee

Publications and Research

The Amazing You exhibition at the Tampa Museum of Science and Industry had over 400 different multimedia health exhibits. Visitors walked through life stages, from conception through death, the exhibits at first showcasing developmental milestones, then diseases and chronic conditions associated with ageing. Museum executives described the exhibition as a public health intervention that stressed disease prevention, screening and behaviour change. This piece considers the question: What makes an exhibition be a health intervention? To describe complexities of the communication environment I use a mnemonic device called SPEAKING, an acronym for ‘Scene/Setting, Participants, Ends, Act Sequence, Key, Instrumentalites, Norms and …

Dancing With The Devil Revisited, Marlene Galván

Writing and Language Studies Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Biased In A World Of Bias: A Cognitive And Spiritual Approach To Knowing Racial Justice, Stephen Calme

Dissertations (1934 -)

Even whites who desire racial justice often fail to recognize systemic racism and their complicity in it. Antiracist scholars such as Charles W. Mills and Barbara Applebaum identify this white ignorance as an active ignorance that results from a desire to maintain power and a sense of moral innocence. Whites’ disagreement with antiracist ideas is therefore received as an act of resistance rather than an honest contribution to dialogue. One overlooked aspect of whites’ response is white epistemic disorientation, a felt inability to participate in the knowing process about issues of race. To help whites understand this identity-threatening disorientation, I …

The Empathetic Autistic: A Phenomenological Look At The Feminine Experience, Dana Fritz

Dissertations (1934 -)

Western philosophy has asserted that in order to be a person, one must be rational. This idea was not challenged until the nineteenth century. One school to challenge this notion was phenomenology, which asserted that what made one a person was their ability to empathize. While the founder of the school, Edmund Husserl, did not assert that the ability to decipher nonverbal cues was necessary in order to empathize, several of his followers did. This emphasis on deciphering nonverbal cues proved problematic for some populations, especially the Autistic. Autism is a neurological condition which makes it difficult to decipher nonverbal …

Full Issue

Journal of Adventist Mission Studies

No abstract provided.

Dualistic Worldviews: Implications For Discipleship, Temesgen B. Besha

Journal of Adventist Mission Studies

No abstract provided.