Digital Commons Network^™

Enhancing Access And Social Mobility: Metro State University's Liberal Arts Mission In Action, Kristen Lillvis, Kate Ries

Critical Humanities

This article examines how a liberal arts framework has guided Metropolitan State University’s responses to political, financial, and social pressures on higher education. Drawing on the university’s history as an access-oriented, urban institution, the authors present two case studies—the North Star Promise scholarship and emergency grant funding—to demonstrate how mission-driven investments in students’ basic needs advance social mobility and strengthen institutional sustainability. The authors argue that prioritizing student supports, including those available through short-term or contingent opportunities, yields long-term benefits for learners, their communities, and the university.

Submitted: April 13, 2026

Accepted: May 21, 2026

Welsh, British, And Argentine: Identities Of Convenience In The Welsh Colonies Of Patagonia, Benjamin Welch

Undergraduate Theses, Capstones, and Recitals

In this thesis, I examine the Welsh colonies in Patagonia (in Welsh, Y Wladfa) and how the Welsh negotiated their complex identity. Founded in 1865 as a nationalist project intended to preserve Welsh language, culture, and religion, the colony faced extreme hardships and was forced to ask for help. Drawing on British, Welsh and Argentine sources, I argue that Welsh colonists adopted a pragmatic approach to identity, emphasizing their Welshness, Britishness, or Argentinity as needed. While this flexibility was necessary for the colony to survive, it undermined the original goal of a Welsh homeland free of outside influence. Ultimately, the …

Industrial Democracy: Unionization, Power, And Control In Rockefeller’S Southern Colorado, Ava Welty

Undergraduate Theses, Capstones, and Recitals

By 1914, democracy was clearly connected to America’s political ethos, and Wilson and Frank Walsh only amplified the term. Against this backdrop, labor and CF&I sought to define their movement as aligned with the national project of industrial democracy, despite having divergent understandings of the term. CF&I and Rockefeller built upon decades of social betterment, in addition to new ideas of company unionism to create their definition of industrial democracy, while workers returned to union recognition as a tool of power to construct their definition of industrial democracy. This paper argues that conflicting definitions of industrial democracy after the Ludlow …

The Republican Party And The Creation Of The Bipartisan Foreign Policy, 1945-1953, Alexander Gellos

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis provides a historical and structural reexamination of the Republican Party’s role in shaping American foreign policy from 1945 to 1953. Defying the historiography of a frictionless postwar consensus and an executive branch-centered narrative, this historical chronological study demonstrates that the Republican Party’s role in formulating the bipartisan foreign policy was a contingent and debated legislative construction. Far from representing passive submission or a surrender of partisan identity, the GOP’s role was an indispensable exercise in creating it, and due to politics being what it is, straining it. Through historical chronology spanning from 1945 to 1953, the party's center …

Reseeding Relations: Comparing Museum And Indigenous Seed Sharing & Rematriation Protocols In The Midwestern United States, Madeline G. Anderson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

While the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) paved the way for the repatriation of ancestors and certain cultural objects to Indigenous communities, museums still struggle to address other forms of cultural returns. Heritage seeds, those which hold cultural significance to Indigenous peoples, held within museum collections perpetuates the colonization of Indigenous lifeways. This research examines rematriation as an Indigenous form of cultural return better suited to address these needs than limited repatriation models. I analyze how museums are working to create rematriation processes for their collections which reflect diverse Indigenous epistemologies and ontologies through a three-tiered approach: …

The Welfare System To Prison Pipeline In America: How Media, Policy, And Surveillance Extend The Reach Of Mass Incarceration Through Child Welfare Practices, Delaney A. Painter

Binghamton University Undergraduate Journal

Scholarship across youth social policy, child welfare, media studies, and criminology has documented media driven moral panic, racial disproportionality in child welfare involvement, and foster-care-to-prison pathways as related but individual, distinct phenomena. Similarly, critical frameworks by Alexander and Ritchie trace how mass incarceration unfolds across marginalized communities, yet often begin analysis at points of formal criminal legal contact.

This paper builds on an integrated framework that identifies child welfare as a distinct and underrecognized branch of mass incarceration operating at an earlier stage of the life course. Drawing on interdisciplinary literature, this analysis demonstrates how fear based media narratives shape …

Forced Dependency: The Subjugation Of Women Through Medicine In Ancient Greece And Rome, Evelyn J. Polovich

Binghamton University Undergraduate Journal

In the ancient Mediterranean men were in charge of every facet of life, including women’s medicine. They forced women out of the oversight of gynecology and reformed it into a method of control that they could assert in order to force women into a position of submission. This paper aims to bring the ways in which ancient medicine was influenced by cultural ideas and worked to subjugate women and allow men to gain further control over their autonomy. This research was inspired by the works of ancient physicians like Hippocrates, Soranus, and Galen, as well as contemporary sources that critique …

Pretty Much From Scratch: A Braided Essay On Autistic Diagnosis, Creativity, Identity, And Community, Jenée Stanfield

Ought: The Journal of Autistic Culture

This braided essay uses memoir and research to explore autistic diagnosis, creativity, identity, and community. It examines how the misinformation around these topics harm and “other” autistics: the fallacy of diagnostic objectivity/neutrality, the dual myths of autistic hyper- and hypo-creativity, and autism as an identity defined solely by medical professionals. The memoir sections play with point of view and genre.

Jenée is a late-realized autistic with ADHD and OCD, who identifies as neurodivergent and neuroqueer. She lives in Washington state with her spouse and dog. She has a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing and is currently a Master …

From Peril To Perseverance: Dr. Arthur C. Parker And The Seneca Arts Project, Brennan Ciccolone

Binghamton University Undergraduate Journal

Like many Native people, the Haudenosaunee were subjected to culturcide and assimilation using residential schools like the Thomas Indian School in the late 19th and early 20th century. During this time, in 1925, the Seneca archaeologist Dr. Arthur C. Parker was hired as the director of the Rochester Museum and Science Center. Parker used his museum position to uplift and preserve Haudenosaunee arts and culture. This paper focuses on his Seneca Arts Project (1935-1941), which gathered art and artifacts from both ancient and contemporary Haudenosaunee members. This project explores how Parker’s work was used to help revitalize and honor Native …

[2026 Honorable Mention] Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary, Daylyn R. Reese

Ethnic Studies Research Paper Award

This research offers unique insights into the creation and development of the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary (N.M.S.) with a focus on indigenous populations’ roles (primarily Chumash and Costanoan). In this episode, I analyze what makes this NMS different from every NMS precluding it, how it recognizes a new goal in conservation (thrivability), and the areas in which improvements still must be made to authentically include and honor indigenous voices.

Gramsci’S ‘Democratic Philosopher’ And The Concept’S Foundations In Marxian Social Ontology, Eli Recht-Appel

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis deals with the term ‘democratic philosopher’ from Antonio Gramsci’s Prison Notebooks. In order to lay the groundwork for my distinct interpretation of the ‘democratic philosopher,’ I begin by providing an overview of Gramsci’s theory of the role of intellectuals in civil and political society. I then argue that the ‘democratic philosopher’ emerges from Gramsci’s typology of intellectuals but is a category which is both temporally and ontologically distinct from his more well-known concept of ‘organic intellectuals.’ ‘Organic intellectuals,’ intellectuals who co-develop alongside their fundamental social group or class, occupy a variety of cultural and political roles in …

Reexamining The Croton Aqueduct: A Ward-Level Microhistorical Analysis Of Infrastructure And Cholera Mortality In 1849 New York City, Alexandria R. Toothman

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This work reexamines the Croton Aqueduct’s role in public health by shifting analysis from the citywide level to the ward level, revealing that infrastructure expansion did not produce uniform benefits across New York City. When the Croton Aqueduct opened in 1842, it was celebrated as an achievement that would deliver pure water and eliminate disease. However, only seven years after its opening, in 1849, cholera returned with greater force in the Sixth Ward. This work shows that the uneven distribution of Croton infrastructure corresponded with uneven cholera mortality rates, challenging narratives that present Croton as a singular triumph of urban …

A History Of The Underground Comix Scene: The Seriousness Of An Unserious Genre, Harris Darcie Shugart

Master's Theses

The Underground Comix Scene of the 1960s and 1970s was born out of an age of censorship. The Comics Code Authority, a regulatory body created by the Comics Magazine Association of America in 1954, established guidelines requiring publishing houses to self-regulate following a recommendation from the United States Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency in 1953. Comix with an X, for their X-rated nature, represent an emerging counter-culture in the latter half of the 1960s and the 1970s, with an epicenter of San Francisco. These comix and their artists were not interested in obtaining the looming ‘Seal of Approval’ from the …

Gathering Knowledge, Sustaining Science: The Female Forager And American Mushroom Culture, 1880–1930, Madeline S. Dede-Panken

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Unearthing origins of modern mycophilia, this dissertation explores the mushroom mania which reverberated through American society at the turn of the twentieth century, empowering Anglo-American women in new ways. America’s largely forgotten first mushroom fad illuminates gendered negotiations of foraging culture and public science. Beginning in the 1880s, a remarkable cohort of women helped turn mushrooms from shunned, mysterious organisms into wholesome delicacies for culinary and intellectual enrichment. Female enthusiasts fostered a vibrant mushroom culture and nationwide network of mycophiles. Culinary applications and poisoning fears legitimized women’s presence in scientific endeavors, positioning mycology as vital female knowledge for public safety …

Vestigial Choreographies: Climate Consciousness In The Long Nineteenth Century, Alexandra A. Rego

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The aims of this project are twofold: (a) to develop a method of theoretical analysis and (b) to put this method into pointed use. In service of (a), I propose a method of choreographic analysis. This method operates relationally, highlighting the production of movement and stillness among and between bodies, objects, and encounters. Choreographic analysis draws from methods typically sequestered to dance studies. Towards aim (b), this project demonstrates the relevance and breadth of choreographic analysis by connecting it to ecocriticism. Throughout this project, I apply choreographic analysis to a diverse set of case studies. I use choreographic analysis to …

The History Of The Constitution Is Our Future., Maggie Blackhawk

Michigan Law Review

The Constitution of the United States establishes a government; it also stands as the fundamental law of a people. It shapes daily life, distributes power, and sets a direction for the future. And yet when we ask about the reach and meaning of the Constitution, we are increasingly told to look backward. The answers to our future are said to lie in the past.

The Historical Persistence Of Working-Class Culture: How Laborers Created The Ethical Foundation Of Western Civilization, Kenneth Atkinson

Faculty Publications

This article highlights four historical events that shape our present: the world’s first industrial strike in ancient Egypt to protest workers’ health and safety; working-class efforts to improve labor conditions during the Roman Republic and Middle Ages through strikes and the creation of guilds; the social justice activism of the prophets of Western religions (all working-class folks!); and the creation of the selfie and the transition from a culture of character to our present obsession with celebrities and individualism that began during the Renaissance. Each case highlights unique features of working-class culture, working class reactions to societal changes, and the …

Legends, Lies, & Rewritten Lives: After The Little Bighorn: Forgotten Struggles Of Those Who Walked Away, 2nd Edition, Thomas B. Davidson

DU Textbooks

This Story surrounds an event that occurred one summer on June 25, 1876, along the banks of the Little Bighorn River in what is now the state of Montana. Seen from a 21st century perch, it is a story of a collision between two very different civilizations or empires. Both empire’s military fought in the manner of their society. This narrative will attempt to balance the believable truth of what happened in that contest between the military representatives of both societies while also trying to tell an engaging story, without drifting into naked partisanship, purple prose, or sensationalism. The narrative …

The Dolor: How A Generation Of Women Quietly Lost Their Children, Alexis Mclean

University Honors Theses

This thesis is an exploration of the phenomenon of increased adoption rates between the years of 1945 and 1973 and attempts to establish a cohesive explanation for and image of the experience of these birth mothers. My research found that adoptions during this time period are generally characterized by the utilization of maternity homes, coercion, and secrecy. The typical birth mother during this time was white and middle class, emblematic of the motivations of their adoptions: to maintain an idealist image of their motherhood and maintain socioeconomic status. Despite this position framed by privilege, these women too often report having …

A Northwest Perspective: A Comprehensive Survey Of Sally Haley's Life And Career, Mary Timbrook

University Honors Theses

Sally Haley is a successful artist who built a long career in the second half of the 20th century as a painter in Portland, Oregon. Her work has been part of several solo and group exhibitions within museums and galleries across the country and she was awarded the Oregon Governor's Award for the Arts in 1989. She is best remembered for her unique still life paintings, frequently painted in egg tempera, which sold immensely well during her lifetime and after. Haley trained at the Yale School of Art in the late 1920s and early 30s, where she learned to paint …

“Ese Dia Que Se Va El Patron An Hecho Fiesta”.* Historicities Of Successful Resistance Against Hacienda Bosses Among The Kukama (Peru, 1933-1945), Arno R. Holl

Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America

This paper analyzes two cases of resistance by Kukama workers within the debt slavery system of habilitación in the Peruvian Amazon during the first half of the twentieth century. It discusses the similarities and differences between the two cases, and positions the workers and their accounts of events and agency within the historical, social and cosmological framework of the time and region. Through the examples studied here, the hierarchies, power dynamics, spirituality, lifestyles, traditions, and cultural changes that shaped Kukama communities at the time become visible from an emic perspective. The paper places special emphasis on how historical events are …

Christianity’S Champion In The Early United States: An Analyzation Of Benjamin Rush’S Theological Beliefs And Their Impact On The Ideals For Which He Advocated, Micah Velarde

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

Benjamin Rush, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and champion of the fusion of evangelical Christianity in America’s founding. Though somewhat unknown to most, he helped profoundly shape the formation of the United States of America in a variety of ways. His life was greatly influenced by his Christian beliefs and upbringing, having grown up in a devoutly God-fearing family. During his adolescent and young adult years, particularly his time spent studying at Princeton, his biblical worldview was greatly shaped and began to take hold of his life’s work. He subscribed to several ideals and dreams of independence. Through …

New Netherland In Relation To The English Colonies Of Mainland America, Dane D. Urban

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

While Holland is often overlooked in colonial power politics, she greatly impacted English developments in mainland America through trade and the Anglo-Dutch Wars. The Dutch Republic’s foothold in North America was far from unimportant, as it influenced its neighbors through its sheer economic power. The various continental settlements undeniably saw positive alteration due to direct trade with the Dutch. Without trade, the English may never have thrived or even survived in the New World. An example of this was how the Dutch would exchange food with the English settlers during dire times, possibly saving the early colonies from destruction.

England’s …

To Be Not Idle In The Chain Of Union: Establishing The Georgia Continental Line, Christopher Long

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

By the summer of 1776, Georgia was committed to the idea of separation from Great Britain and the formation of a union with twelve other rebelling colonies. Due to its relative youth as a colony and the presence of a popular and dynamic governor, Georgia was slow to embrace the revolutionary enthusiasm which gripped the other colonies. However, once the decision was made to rebel against British authorities, Georgia’s revolutionary leaders were eager to demonstrate their enthusiasm for the self-described cause of liberty. One method of displaying revolutionary enthusiasm was the establishment, at the request of congress, of regular, or …

“We Will Soon Have Both”: Charles Lynch And Virginia’S Forgotten Struggle For Gunpowder In The American Revolution, Wyatt Golden

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

This paper examines the overlooked but decisive role of gunpowder in Virginia’s entry into the American Revolution, arguing that material scarcity helped to shape the colony’s revolutionary trajectory between 1775 and 1778. Beginning with the Gunpowder Incident in Williamsburg just days after Lexington and Concord, this paper argues that the contest for control over Virginia’s gunpowder supply irreparably damaged relations between Virginians and royal authority and marked the effective beginning of revolutionary conflict in the colony. Situating the incident within the broader imperial struggle for military resources, the paper highlights Britain’s mercantilist policies and the colonies’ dependence on imported gunpowder. …

In Touch With The Lord: U.S. Army Chaplains Of The Christian Faith In World War Ii, Timothy W. Brophy

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

This paper argues that the Christian chaplains of the U.S. Army during World War II greatly impacted the soldiers that they served by caring for their spiritual, physical, mental, and emotional well-being. The paper begins with a reference to the “Four Chaplains” who gave their lives to save others in 1943 and a brief look at the history of the U.S. military chaplaincy. It also examines the leadership and training of U.S. Army chaplains during World War II under William R. Arnold, who was the Army Chief of Chaplains from 1937 to 1945. Then, the paper demonstrates that Christian Army …

History Of Midwifery In Arkansas: The Attrition Of Midwifery, Koria Torshia Robinson

Theses and Dissertations

Over the past few years, Arkansas has gained a spotlight due to an increase in maternal and infant mortality. This increase has been so massive that Arkansas has ranked within the top five in the nation for maternal and infant mortality rates for several years. A large percentage of the maternal and infant deaths in Arkansas are prevalent in the Black and rural community. This is an issue that has plagued the state of Arkansas for over a hundred years, with mortality rates highly affecting the same demographic of people. How did the practice of midwifery become a remedy for …

Intersectionality And Insurgent Citizenship: Women Of Color Feminism In 1970s New York City, Genevieve Bonner Davis

Dissertations and Theses

Not since the phrase "Ain't I a Woman" has African American women's intellectual leadership and insight been as visible and influential as the contemporary concept of intersectionality. Like Sojourner Truth's iconic intellectual intervention in the anti-slavery movement, intersectionality has experienced a similar trajectory of dissolution, distortion, appropriation, and popularization. Since its articulation by Black legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw in 1989, intersectionality theory has had a bumpy road to its buzzy, if controversial, status in the firmament of twenty-first-century political thought.

This thesis traces the origins of intersectionality theory through three distinct but intertwined phases. Phase one is the genealogy of …

Kicau Kericau: The Chirps And Warbles Of A Bird-Human Story, Airien Ludin

Masters Theses

This thesis tells the tale of bird-human relationships and what it means to live alongside one another, subverting the hierarchical view of humans as above birds inherited from colonial history. It asks how the practice of illustration can function as a site of Two-Eyed Seeing, where scientific and local knowledge are held together as an entangled narrative. It also examines how mendongeng (storytelling), as I have experienced it within Indonesian culture and everyday contexts, can help us understand birds as a companion species with their own agency.

This project takes two forms: first, a picture book titled Sun Bird …

"The Appearance Of The Confederate Flag In These Seas:" The Css Sumter, Neutrality, And The International Dimensions Of The American Civil War, John Macisaac Coleman

History Undergraduate Senior Theses

No abstract provided.