Digital Commons Network^™

Rethinking Women, Peace And Security In Southern Africa: Patriarchy, Policies, And Perspectives, Kgomotso Komane

The Journal of Social Encounters

Southern Africa is a relatively peaceful region, however, it has witnessed a range of diverse, multiple and ongoing conflicts that have prompted various peace interventions from the Southern African Development Community (SADC), neighbouring countries and international actors. An astounding pattern is revealed when observing the involvements of all the actors in the peace interventions. What is revealed is that, till present day, women remain marginalised in peace processes despite existing structures and policies that reaffirm their rightful participation in these processes. Rethinking women’s role in peace and security is necessary because existing approaches to peace are shaped by patriarchal norms. …

Pax Christi International’S Representation Within International Governmental Organisations, Fr. Paul Lansu, Giulia Bordin

The Journal of Social Encounters

Pax Christi International (PCI) has used its consultative status at the United Nations since 1979 to connect grassroots peacebuilding with international policymaking. Initially focused on disarmament and human rights, PCI contributed to key international treaties and advocated against human rights violations worldwide. Over time, its advocacy expanded to include active nonviolence, ecological justice, sustainable development, and the accompaniment of local peacebuilders. By strengthening collaboration across its global network and enabling partners from conflict-affected regions to engage directly with international institutions, PCI continues to promote human dignity, international law, and a just and lasting peace through inclusive multilateral advocacy.

Genocide By Algorithm In Gaza: Artificial Intelligence, Countervailing Responsibility, And The Corruption Of Public Discourse, Branislav Radeljić

The Journal of Social Encounters

The accelerating integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into military systems[i] raises major concerns across fields such as security studies, international public law, and critical technology studies. As warned in 2023, “[t]he world’s major military powers have begun a race to wire AI into warfare. […] No one is inviting AI to formulate a grand strategy, or join a meeting of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. But the same seductive logic that accelerated the nuclear arms race could over a period of years, propel AI up the chain of command.”[ii] In the military domain, algorithmic systems function as epistemic …

The Erosion Of International Norms And The Crisis Of Global Leadership In The Era Of Selective Warfare, Farhia Abdi

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

Protection Without Power? The Successes And Failures Of Un Civilian Protection In South Sudan, Gatkuoth Lok Gatwich Diet

The Journal of Social Encounters

Since its establishment in 2011, the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) has been tasked with protecting civilians in the context of ongoing violent conflict and political instability. The mission has recorded some important achievements, especially through the creation of Protection of Civilians (PoC) sites that have provided shelter to hundreds of thousands of displaced people. However, these gains have been accompanied by major limitations. Repeated attacks on PoC sites, continued communal violence, and the inability to prevent large-scale atrocities highlight a persistent gap between mandate and real-world implementation. This essay examines UNMISS’s performance from 2013 to the present, …

Un-African Union Cooperation In Darfur: Multilevel Governance In Action And The Future Of International-Regional Peace Operations, Philip Mutio

The Journal of Social Encounters

This paper will explore the changing dynamics between global and regional governance frameworks using the example of the UN partnership with regional and sub-regional organizations in the management of intricate peace and security issues. The analysis is anchored on the case of African Union–United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID), an example of layered governance, to examine the effect of coordination problems, operational difficulties, and joint mission performance in the areas of peace talks, post-conflict reconstruction, and civilian protection. Along with persistent issues including scarce resources, political instability, and disjointed command structures, the report acknowledges significant advancements such as increased …

United Nations Reform: Opportunity For Small And Medium States, Joseph Preston Baratta

The Journal of Social Encounters

The Pact for the Future of 2024, which had been in preparation for years out of general concern for the decline of the United Nations and specifically for the decline of the Sustainable Development Goals, proved a lost opportunity.  The small and medium sized states did not respond officially to proposals for UN reform offered by civil society.  Hence the Pact reaffirmed principles of the existing UN, which at least was not a withdrawal, and the ideas circulated might yet serve some future reform effort.  Proposals considered here include those of the Stimson Center and more radical and systematic ones …

“The Rubber Lung” - An Original Instrument Design, San Gonzalez

2026 Symposium

This project presents an experimental sensor-based instrument designed to produce unconventional sound textures for horror media. The device uses a flex sensor on a balloon that is then connected to an Arduino, which responds to bending and movement, sending data to a Max/MSP patch where the input controls sound processing such as filters and frequency. The physical motion of flexing the sensor on the balloon mimics the expansion and contraction of lungs, creating a breathing like interaction between performer and instrument. This design allows subtle gestures to alter the sound in real time. By using a bodily, breathing motion into …

Le Défi Mondial : Panorama Comparatif Des Soins Néonatals Au Maroc Et Aux États‑Unis, Manasi Joshi

NEXUS: The Liberty Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies

Cette étude comparative examine les soins néonatals au Maroc et aux États-Unis après un stage dans une clinique privée à Rabat. Bien que les pratiques médicales principales soient universelles, leur application varie dans différents pays selon les circonstances socio-économiques et culturelles. Basée sur des observations directes, des entretiens avec des professionnels de soins néonatals marocains et une analyse de la littérature sur ce sujet dans ces deux pays, cette recherche discute de quatre différences principales : la disponibilité des ressources, l’accès aux soins de qualité, l’influence culturelle et les obstacles financiers. Malgré la pénurie évidente de personnel dans les hôpitaux, …

Rickettsia Africae Discovered In A Short-Term Urban Traveller To South Africa: A Case Report, Zunairah Sikder

Binghamton University Undergraduate Journal

Rickettsia Africae is a pathogen that causes African tick-bite fever (ATBF). Transmission typically occurs from ticks within the Central and South African regions. Previous studies suggested that ATBF is not uncommon amongst travelers to rural sub-Saharan Africa, especially during the rainy months of November through April. However, this case report highlights a woman who contracted ATBF in novel conditions. The 70-year-old woman reported travelling strictly to and from the local church and hotel for her four-day stay in July. After returning to America, the patient experienced extreme irritation on her arm, as well as complaints of headaches. She presented to …

A Message From The Managing Editor, Carissa Bayack

Binghamton University Undergraduate Journal

A message from the 2025-2026 Managing Editor of the Binghamton University Undergraduate Journal, Carissa Bayack.

Performing Methods Of Beethoven’S Violin Concerto In D Major, Op. 61, Third Movement: “Rondo: Allegro”, Zike Qi

Dissertations, 2020-current

This document examines the third movement “Rondo: Allegro” of Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61 by Ludwig van Beethoven, focusing on how structural relationships in the score are transformed into auditory experience through performance methods. Rather than treating performance as a direct reproduction of the text, this research understands it as a process in which structure becomes perceptible in time.

Combining structural analysis, recording comparison, and self-recording practice, the study interprets the movement within a rondo–sonata framework (A–B–A–C–A–B–A). It demonstrates that the rondo theme assumes different functions—presentation, transition, and development—depending on its structural position.

Through comparison of recordings by …

African American Gold Star Mothers: Race, Black Motherhood, Loyalism And European Superiority In The First World War, Giovanni Nickolette Gibbs

Masters Theses, 2020-current

This thesis examines the US government’s pilgrimages for Gold Star Mothers of the First World War. It focuses on the Jim-Crowing of black Gold Star Mothers. Through the analysis of archival records, letters, telegrams, newspaper articles, poems, and secondary literature, the thesis explores how two domineering forces, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the federal government of the United States of America, captured dissension when seeking to send black Gold Star Mothers on segregated pilgrimages to Europe. The War Department’s announcement that the widows’ pilgrimages to Europe in the 1930s would be segregated caused a great …

A Case For Color: Reclaiming Beauty In Reformed Worship, Kyle J. Dieleman

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"For Reformed Christians, reclaiming color in our worship spaces and in our experiences with God reflects God’s own colorful revelation in the Bible and can awaken us to awe and wonder at the glorious works of our Creator God."

Posting about how color is God's design in In All Things, an online hub that offers insight into maintaining and faithful and orthodox Reformed Christian worldview while fearlessly engaging in every aspect of contemporary life – until all is made new.

A Case for Color: Reclaiming Beauty in Reformed Worship

It All Begins With A Dream, Eileen M. Riley

Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition

Eileen is an English major from a military family near Fort Devens in Ayer, Massachusetts. Her interest in vintage fashion led her to research representations of women in early 20th century advertisements for the Maidenform bra for her Composition II class. Impressed by the beautiful artwork she discovered in these depictions, Eileen was intrigued by the portrayals of women in roles that were traditionally held by men. Her essay explores how “these ads fed women’s desires for the gender norm dictates of that post-war time in America [and] went beyond these norms by depicting aspirational scenarios.” Eileen lives in Dorchester, …

A Close Look At The Function Of Slang, Ana Radonjic Sabbagh

Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition

Ana is an undecided major, born and raised in Boston to Serbian and Lebanese parents. Writing has always been a passion of Ana’s, and she created this research essay as a final project for her Composition II course. She notes that “it was a topic that became increasingly interesting the more I researched it. I was thoroughly surprised by the complex history and function of slang, and I gained a new perspective on the role of language in our daily lives.” Other than writing, Ana’s biggest passion is traveling, and she loves discovering new places, meeting people from all around …

Profanity And Perceptions, Elizabeth Lefrancois

Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition

Lizzie is an Exercise and Health Science major from Blackstone, Massachusetts. Assigned by her Composition II instructor to research an aspect of language that interested her, Lizzie chose to research swearing, which was never allowed in her home. Lizzie’s research enabled her to “open [her] eyes and see much more than a lack of vocabulary” when she heard others using profanity. She explains, “I felt as if I was programmed to think that swearing was this terrible thing that no one should do, and, because of that, I never thought about the positive side of this language.” Lizzie’s essay explores …

The Good Samaritan: The Role Of Religion In One's Morality, Kamla Javier

Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition

Kamla is an Economics major currently living in Boston, Massachusetts. Kamla’s essay, created for her Composition II course, began as an exploration of morality. She set out to examine the stereotypes against non-believers in order to better understand the development of the moral compass and the role religion plays in morality. She writes: “In this day and age where all kinds of people can freely express their opinion, both hurtful and helpful, I also wish to communicate my own beliefs through a logical presentation of information.” Kamla wanted to voice a position that is accepting of all people and “hopefully …

There And Back Again: A Writer's Tale, By A Repeat Student, Mark Ballou

Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition

Mark is an IT Major who lives in Boston, Massachusetts. Mark credits his parents for his life-long love of reading, and at a young age he loved writers, like J.R.R. Tolkien and R.A. Salvatore, who “in addition to having abbreviations for their first names, share an affinity for spending pages and pages describing the visuals in their books.” Mark is an Army veteran with nine years of service, and he has spent most of his adult life writing as a Counterintelligence Agent for the US Army, employing his meticulous style into his written work. In this essay for his Composition …

The Insights Of Literacy, Yasmim Alves Da Silva

Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition

No abstract provided.

The Everyday Monument: Architectural And Spatial Transformations Of Rome's Nasoni, 1874–Present, Sandra L. Santos

McNair Summer Research Program

Rome's nasoni are small public drinking fountains that have provided free water throughout the city since 1874. There are approximately 2,500–2,800 nasoni in Rome, actively supplying people with free drinking water. Although they are usually understood as ordinary and mundane hydraulic infrastructure, their persistence across different political periods makes them useful objects for examining the relationship between architecture, public service, and political meaning. This research asks how the forms, materials, and spatial contexts of late-nineteenth-century nasoni differed from fountains constructed or modified during the Fascist era.

Over my three weeks of fieldwork in Rome, I documented seventy-five public drinking fountains …

Conventions Employed In Dardosipcat Transcriptions, Enrique Rodríguez Sánchez, Robert E. Vann

DARDOSIPCAT Documentation

No abstract provided.

Documenting The Language Documentation Process In Dardosipcat, Part Ii, Diana S. Ovalle Martinez, Robert E. Vann

DARDOSIPCAT Documentation

No abstract provided.

Documenting The Language Documentation Process In Dardosipcat, Part I, Enrique Rodríguez Sánchez, Robert Vann

DARDOSIPCAT Documentation

No abstract provided.

From Crisis To Reform: How The 1918 Influenza And Covid-19 Pandemics Redefined The Relationship Between Nurses And The American Healthcare System., Anh N V Le

Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Symposium

The 1918 Influenza and COVID- 19 pandemic have become two major public health crises that reshaped the role of nurses in the America healthcare system. Although a hundred years apart, both pandemics revealed how deeply the country depends on nurses during emergencies without proper and efficient strategies. This paper argues that these pandemics acted as turning points that redefined the social contract between nurses and the U.S. healthcare system. By examining historical context, nurses’ responsibilities, public perception, and long-term effects, this research show how pandemics expanded nurses’ authority while also exposing long-term weakness of the systems. In 1918, nurses were …

Bioethics As Seen On Stage: Can Theater Change The World?, Sarah J. Cavanaugh

Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Symposium

This research paper investigates the extent to which theatrical works can influence societal reform through the depiction of bioethical dilemmas through time, analyzing performative theater’s ability to change the world through great societal impact. By examining four plays from distinct historical periods—Philoctetes by Sophocles (409 BCE), Whose Life is it Anyway? by Brian Clark (1972), The Waiting Room by Lisa Loomer (1994), and Next to Normal by Brian Yorkey (2010)—this study analyzes how theater has consistently engaged with evolving issues of medical ethics and patient autonomy. Each play presents ethical conflicts reflective of the medical and social dilemmas of …

Lights, Camera, Acting! A Collaborative, Interdisciplinary Approach To Basic Filmmaking, Jessica Maloney, Chris Nelson

Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal

No film studio? No problem! This activity is designed to introduce basic concepts of filmmaking across disciplines such as theatre and communications, but could be used by either. It includes an emphasis on acting as well as the technical processes and procedures on set. We have geared this activity specifically towards use in a cross-listed class in Communication and Theatre Arts.

"The Climate Emotion Wheel" - An Exercise To Address Climate Anxiety Inspired By Boal's Forum Theatre, Talin Abadian

Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal

The goal of this exercise is to provide students a space to articulate these complex emotions, engage in collaborative problem-solving with their peers, reclaim a sense of agency and empowerment by exploring meaningful action collectively while also highlighting individual responsibilities towards the environment. This exercise can be used effectively to demonstrate the power of Boal’s Forum Theatre as a tool for collaborative problem-solving and communal rehearsing of solutions to real-world challenges.

Exploring The Seams Of Performance: Performance Studies & Theater Praxis, Sarah Kozinn

Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal

The exercise aims to use a taxonomy of performance, as theorized by Richard Schechner in his essay “Drama, Script, Theatre, and Performance,” to think analytically about what performance is. (Part of the goal is to “make strange” what students, most often, think they already know by giving then tools to better define and identify the spectrum of what is termed “performance.”)  Students will articulate the porously bounded areas of drama, script, theatre, and performance, teasing apart and developing a definition of what defines theatre as theatre in relation to how they define performance.  Through this, students will develop an analytic …

The Chameleon Experience: Queer Identity, Mental Health, And Transformation, Cameron Penny

Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal

In this autoethnographic piece, I examine the correlation between queer identity and mental health through reflective analysis of my own experiences within a Western socio-cultural setting. I expand external perspectives on the queer experience by highlighting the normalization of queer prejudice and its adverse impact on self-image. I share how the religious praxis of Catholicism enforces binary conformity by promoting dichotomous thinking that simultaneously constricts queer expression and subjugates implicit biases. In tandem, I utilize autoethnography as my medium because it provides a unique outlet to raise awareness for chronically stigmatized identities by centering marginalized voices (Atay, 2011; Chavez, 2013). …