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Impact Of Traditional (Non-Affirming) Black Church Affiliation On Exploration Of Sexual Identity For Black Assigned Female At Birth Lgbq+ Individuals And The Associated Mental Health Risk, Aurielle J. Sutton

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation explored the impact of Black traditional church upbringing on the sexual and religious identity development, including the subsequent mental health risk, for Black assigned female at birth (AFAB) LGBQ+ individuals. Studies conducted on Black AFAB LGBQ+ individuals are limited, especially in terms of  assessing their experiences in sexual identity development based on religious upbringings. Studies have overlooked the experience of LGBQ+ Black AFAB individuals navigating sexual orientation development and religious and racial identities. Studies have greatly favored Black gay men and supported health risks such as HIV. In the present study, twelve Black AFAB Queer individuals participated in …

Artificial Intelligence And Translation: Exploring Current Applications, Limitations And Future Potential Of Language Models Through Japanese-English Translation, Loklin Elias Nord

Undergraduate Theses, Capstones, and Recitals

This thesis highlights the recent improvements and capabilities of Large Language Models (LLMs), specifically their ability to produce translations between different languages. The continued up-scaling of model sizes has led to breakthroughs in the level of their observed intelligence, allowing them to produce translations that are similar in quality to highly skilled human translators. However, to facilitate the reasoning processes that LLMs now possess, their demand for computational power and the supporting hardware and resources has increased proportionally. Considering the impacts of this technology on the environment, energy resources, and its accessibility, my research explores the possibilities of smaller, highly …

Hell Reimagined: Dante’S Inferno And The Secular Afterlives Of Divine Punishment, Yara Mohamed El Hashimi

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines contrapasso and how it changes across different media and different sources of moral authority. In Chapter One, I examine four different cantos of Dante’s Inferno and rely on Teodolinda Barolini’s work to examine textual contrapasso. Chapter One also discusses how Dante’s work shows the sinner’s moral condition and makes it visible through the punishment inflicted. Additionally, Dante’s Inferno presents punishment as part of a divinely authorized moral order, which becomes important in Chapter Two when I examine how William Blake visually interprets and questions that system. In Chapter Two, I examine the works of Blake that correspond …

Topographies Of Being: World-Making And Ontological Formation In Modern Saint Catherine, South Sinai, Ahmad Mahana

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is an exploration of the ecological and sociological processes involved in the production of the socionatural space of the contemporary town and natural protectorate of Saint Catherine, South Sinai. Revered by all Abrahamic religions as the site of the Great Theophany, the town has perpetually been considered an area of immense spiritual and natural significance. In recent decades, however, the town has undergone a series of modernizing campaigns that have not only threatened the region’s natural environment and indigenous lifeways but have also jeopardized the plurality of its extant lifeworlds. By relying on a variety of ethnographic methods, …

Here Comes The Sun: A Diachronic Study Of The Role Of Music In The Amarna Period, Waleed Hawatky

Theses and Dissertations

Music has and continues to play a prominent role in the lives of individuals and in society, hardwired into the human experience and integral to our understanding of the world in both its tangible and intangible manifestations. This was no different in dynastic Egypt, where abundant iconographic and physical evidence from the Old Kingdom onward shows music performed in many diverse contexts at every social level.

Music appears not only to gain prominence during the reign of Amenhotep IV/Akhenaten (c. 1353–1335), also known as the Amarna Period, but also to develop innovations, including new kinds of instruments and musical ensembles, …

Between The Lens And The Gaze: Reflections Of Femininity In Film, Noureen Sakr

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the male gaze’s construction of femininity through the use of glass and reflective surfaces, particularly mirrors, windows, glasses, and cameras in film. Reflections and depictions of women are recurring motifs in cinema, often symbolizing dynamics of perception and power. This thesis mobilizes related psychoanalytic and feminist conceptions to examine and compare the recurring visual motifs in the following films: Alfred Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train (1951) and Rear Window (1954), Paul Verhoeven’s Basic Instinct (1992), & Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan (2010). This thesis employs a qualitative, interdisciplinary methodology that integrates psychoanalytic theory, feminist film theory, literary criticism …

Adjudicating Technology Facilitated Violence Against Women In Egypt: Between The Text And The Application, Eman E. Zidan

Theses and Dissertations

Technology-facilitated violence against women (TFVAW) has surged on digital platforms, leading to a sharp rise in victimization rates among girls and women globally. Egypt’s pioneering cybercrime legislation, though comprehensive, remains gender-neutral and inadequate in judicial application. Community perceptions reveal systemic gaps that erode public trust and fuel demands for specialized protections. This study analyzes Egyptian judicial responses to TFVAW cases through comparative jurisprudence with jurisdictions that feature gender-specific norms. Findings demonstrate that textual provisions alone fail to arrest this escalating phenomenon, underscoring the need for integrated reforms: tailored legislation, heightened awareness campaigns, and collaborative education on rights, duties, and societal …

Art As Activism: Emotional Expression And Collective Empowerment Among Muslim Participants Creating Protest Posters, Menhal Sheikh

Art Therapy | Master's Theses

Muslim Americans are among the most underserved populations in mental health care in the United States. In the wake of the ongoing genocide in Gaza, many Muslim Americans have experienced intensified psychological distress, including anxiety, grief, and a heightened sense of helplessness, while continuing to show up in the streets in protest. This mixed-methods study examined whether the collective process of protest poster-making leads to emotional expression among Muslim American participants. Eleven Muslim American participants across two groups in the San Francisco Bay Area completed a pre and post Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) to measure changes in affect, …

Shadow Garments: Costume Creation For Integrating Alienated Parts Of The Self, Mega M. Galvin

Art Therapy | Master's Theses

This study explores costume creation as a narrative-based intervention for integrating "shadow" parts, or aspects of the self that are repressed or alienated due to shame, trauma, or social pressure. Grounded in Jungian analytic psychology, narrative therapy, and expressive arts theory, the research addresses the limitations of traditional talk therapy in accessing somatic memory and proposes costume making as a pathway for externalization and re-authorship. Using a qualitative, participatory study inspired by Pat B. Allen’s Open Studio Process, four adult participants engaged in a three-session workshop to design, construct, and wear costumes representing their identified shadow aspects. Data was collected …

A Journey To The Midwest For Migrant Farmwork: Women's Testimonies Examining Their Lived Experiences Using Autoethnography And Plática Research Methodologies, Yesenia G. Alcalá

Theses & Dissertations

A JOURNEY TO THE MIDWEST FOR MIGRANT FARMWORK: WOMEN’S TESTIMONIES EXAMINING THEIR LIVED EXPERIENCES USING AUTOETHNOGRAPHY AND PLÁTICA

RESEARCH METHODOLOGIES

Yesenia Garza Alcalá, Master of Business Administration

University of the Incarnate Word 2026

The purpose of my research was to share the stories of five women who experienced a yearly migratory routine from Del Rio, Texas, to work in farms and factories in the Midwest, and how that annual journey shaped and educated us. The women are four of my older sisters and me, all of whom traveled and worked in the Princeville, Illinois, migrant camp, where we experienced the …

Arithmetic And Necessity: A Quasi-Concrete Modal Structuralist Account, Benjamin Faltesek

Mathematics, Philosophy and Physics (D.Sc.) Dissertations

This dissertation addresses the necessity of arithmetic by distinguishing two tasks that are often run together: the derivation task, which seeks to prove that mathematical truths are necessary, and the characterization task, which asks what kind of necessity arithmetic has and what grounds it. Setting the former aside for now, I focus on the latter, arguing that an adequate explanation of arithmetical necessity requires two sources: logical necessity and the necessary possibility that the right kind of structure exists. The second source makes mathematical modality distinctively mathematical, and the dissertation’s positive contribution emerges chiefly in that area. I survey and …

Historical Piccolo Concerti And Works By Women Composers, Repertoire Catalogue, And A New Concerto For Piccolo And Orchestra, Mikaela Storm

Doctoral Scholarly Projects & Capstones

The following document is an overview of historical piccolo concerti with an emphasis on works by women, a repertoire catalogue of the piccolo concerti, and an analysis/performance guide for my own Concerto for Piccolo and Orchestra: The Dreamer. The primary goal of this document and subsequent score is to provide a resource for future composers, music theorists, conductors, and performers. The piccolo has limited repertoire in comparison to many of the standard instruments in our modern Western musical canon, and the number of piccolo concertos (particularly by women) is even smaller. The concerto that I have written, subtitled “The Dreamer,” …

Lost In Chaos: The Battle Between Selfcare And Motherhood, Sarah Shahzad

MS Marketing Research Projects/Theses

Motherhood in collectivist societies such as Pakistan is deeply intertwined with caregiving, leaving limited space for women’s self-care or personal well-being. This study explores how young Pakistani mothers negotiate self-care within competing expectations of maternal sacrifice, cultural morality, and structural constraints. Guided by the Institutional Logics Perspective (ILP), it examines how familial norms, religious values, and market forces collectively shape women’s self-care practices, framing self-care not as an autonomous act but as a negotiated process embedded within social and institutional boundaries. This study adopts an interpretive phenomenological approach to explore how Pakistani mothers experience and negotiate self-care within cultural and …

The Two Fridas: How The Use Of Semiotics Reflects The Social History Of Mexico In Frida Kahlo’S Work, Raquel Maria Botteon Martins

SPARK Symposium Presentations

Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera are often credited as having played a crucial role in establishing a Mexican avant-garde. According to the Denver Art Museum’s statement for the exhibition Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, and Mexican Modernism, their body of work often incorporated portrayals of mexicanidad, an identity born of Mexico’s ancient cultures and its colonial past that projected a visionary future. The use of mexicanidad imagery started with the efforts to create a new national art, following the Mexican revolution, when the country used public and socially effective art to communicate new ideals of identity.  Through the analysis of …

Ministry With Children: Navigating An Expanding And Deepening River Of Thought And Practice, Ron Bruner

Discernment: Theology and the Practice of Ministry

Parents and church leaders live in a unique moment in the life of the church that creates a powerful opportunity: shaping ministry with children in ways that more faithfully serve God’s ongoing purposes. A convergence of several important ongoing conversations unique to our time connects scholars, practitioners, and parents interested in children's spiritual well-being. These tributaries in thought include (1) an emerging theological vision of children, (2) improved understanding of the physical, mental, and spiritual capabilities of children, (3) developing research into the relational ecologies of family, church, and generations, and (4) ongoing developments in children’s ministry leadership, practice, and …

“To A Cupped Hand’S Size”: Reading Poetics Of Scale In Edith Tiempo’S Poetry, Thomas Leonard D. Shaw

Akda: The Asian Journal of Literature, Culture, Performance

Edith Cutaran Lopez-Tiempo’s body of work, alongside her stature as Philippine National Artist for Literature, has generated substantial scholarship on the fertile imaginaries and intersections of formalist poetics, the institutionalization of the writing workshop, and Philippine poetry in English. Building on these contributions, I turn instead to Tiempo’s negotiation of self-fashioning, memory work, and imaginative practice as a way of articulating questions of scale in her oeuvre. By reading a selection of poems from several of her poetry collections, I argue that reading Tiempo’s sustained engagement with strategies of disclosure and scale, as well as her preoccupation with the intimacy …

The Irresolution Of Genre In Edith Tiempo’S The Builder, Kaisa R. Aquino

Akda: The Asian Journal of Literature, Culture, Performance

The tradition and history of detective fiction in the Philippines remain a slim and largely untheorized terrain, and Edith Tiempo’s contribution to the genre with her fifth and last novel, The Builder (2003), has yet to receive critical attention. This paper takes the novel as its primary text and argues that the quasi-detective and the criminal, both indigenous subjects, produce a critical tension that is illegible to the generic framework of Western detective fiction. While the novel succeeds in deploying genre conventions, such as the analysis of signs through textual and material evidence, the contract of resolution through the assertion …

Essentializing The Ifugao For The National Allegory In F. Sionil Jose’S “The God Stealer”, Lioba E. Piluden

Akda: The Asian Journal of Literature, Culture, Performance

Postcolonial writing in the Philippines turned towards the indigenous Filipino, “the tribal Filipino, or the poor Filipino least touched by colonial culture” (Roces 1994, 300) to become a vessel for an elusive national identity. One of the creatures to arise from this milieu of Philippine literature was F. Sionil Jose’s “The God Stealer” (1959), a short story often read as an allegory of Philippine-American relations or the Filipino native rejecting colonial power by returning to their roots. It is also Jose’s most anthologized short story. Despite readings of “The God Stealer” generally falling into the groove of postcolonial analysis, little …

“And Why Here?” Reading Hong Kong In Nick Joaquin’S The Woman Who Had Two Navels, Raymon D. Ritumban

Akda: The Asian Journal of Literature, Culture, Performance

Nick Joaquin (1917–2004) is a Filipino literary master and national artist whose numerous works include the prize-winning novel The Woman Who Had Two Navels (1961). Its plot revolves around the Manilan protagonist Connie Escobar’s flight into Hong Kong and her insistence that “she [has] two navels” (1). Her assertion is complicated by her request for Hong Kong-born-and-based Pepe Monson to perform “an operation” on them (1). While this curious premise has generated numerous analyses over time, the novel’s setting—that is, post-1945 Hong Kong—remains understudied. Addressing this gap, the paper offers a geocritical intervention examining the historical conditions and spatial production …

Collaging Stickers: Revealing Objects' Relational Interiority, Mochammad Mirza Yusuf Harahap

ARSNET

This paper proposes a methodological approach to learning about an object's interiority, embracing two schools of thought that largely revolve around the study of objects: one that concerns the object's substance, and the other that concerns the object's relationality. In particular, the study sees an opportunity to reveal object's relationality through a deep understanding of the object's substance. In achieving the objective, the presented study found a resonating notion in the concept of interiority, which is understood as an inward-outward dialectic. Thinking of object with interiority posits a process of disassembling object's substance for building inward awareness. This study further …

Catalogue Of The State Normal School, Florence, Ala (1873-1886), State Normal School

Documents

The physical item is a bound volume consisting of the first thirteen annual catalogues of State Normal School in Florence, Alabama from 1873-1886, and is the oldest bound university catalogue in the archives' collection. The document contains information on faculty and staff, course requirements and offerings, as well as students enrolled in the institution.

Birthing In A Foreign Land, Sadhiya Saleem

Journal of International Women's Studies

This narrative poem explores the embodied experience of childbirth in a foreign land. Set within the unfamiliar environment of a hospital far from the speaker’s linguistic roots, the poem traces the physical and emotional landscape of labor as one profoundly shaped by displacement and disconnection. Through sensory imagery and fragmented memory, it portrays how giving birth in an unfamiliar context amid the absence of familiar support systems and linguistic comfort creates a profound sense of bodily estrangement. The poem enters broader feminist conversations to reclaim the maternal body, marked by migration and displacement, as a definitive site of memory and …

Film Review: Ajmer 92, Investigative Journalism, And Justice For Rape Survivors, Amit Sharma, Amitabh Srivastava

Journal of International Women's Studies

No abstract provided.

Film Review: Education As A Legal Right, Yet A Socially Negotiated Privilege: A Feminist Review Of Sthal (A Match), Ankit Anand, Rajneesh Kumar

Journal of International Women's Studies

No abstract provided.

Film Review: Queer Happiness And Family Myth In My Therapist Said, I Am Full Of Sadness, Ni Luh Ayu Sukmawati

Journal of International Women's Studies

No abstract provided.

Gender-Based Violence, Legal Protection, And Intersecting Narratives: A Conversation With Flavia Agnes, Barnana Baidya, Partha Bhattacharjee

Journal of International Women's Studies

Flavia Agnes is a leading advocate for gender justice because of her legal expertise in marital law, divorce, and property law and her activism as an Indian women’s rights lawyer. Her scholarly work on systemic and legal gender-based oppression has appeared in the journals Subaltern Studies, Economic and Political Weekly, and Manushi. Her book, My Story...Our Story of Rebuilding Broken Lives, released by her non-profit organization named Majlis, depicts how Agnes battled domestic violence while addressing the law’s restrictive abilities to offer protection. We conducted an interview through Google Meet with Agnes to discuss her work as a legal activist …

Book Review Essay: The Keloid As Episteme—Corporeal Healing And Colonial Afterlives In Sarah Soanirina Ohmer’S The Keloids We Heal, Md Samiul Azim, Farida Parvin

Journal of International Women's Studies

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Reproductive Labor And Innovation: Against The Tech Fix In An Era Of Hype, Lipika Kankaria

Journal of International Women's Studies

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Artificial Women: Sex Dolls, Robot Caregivers, And More Facsimile Females, Evie Kendal

Journal of International Women's Studies

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Challenges For Chinese Women In The Early Twenty-First Century, Zakiyah Zakiyah

Journal of International Women's Studies

No abstract provided.