Digital Commons Network^™

Fabrication At The Tactical Edge, Aubry J. Eaton, Dustin T. Thomas

Joint Force Quarterly

This research reviews empirical evidence of rapid battlefield fabrication efforts and proposes potential new uses of this technology. It recommends that the joint force must undergo a paradigm shift to view battlefield manufacturing as an inherent component of force projection with potentially decisive impact across the spectrum of conflict. It proposes a doctrinal concept for Fabrication At The Tactical Edge (FATE), defining the technologies that enable this concept. FATE offsets adversary capabilities by imposing asymmetric costs while making U.S. forces difficult to predict. Unlike prior studies on military innovation, this research focuses on manufacturing itself as a weapon system. If …

From Courtrooms To Classrooms: Experiments In Survival, Justin Surdyka

Journal of Prison Education Research

The transformative powers of college-in-prison programs are known, but students get the grave of continued incarceration—even if we are fully rehabilitated. For the college-in-prison student who spends years in classes, degrees and parole denials are synonymous, especially for those of us who have committed violent off enses. We are educated but not redeemed in the eyes of the system. My classmates and I are the degrees behind the denials, the students behind the degrees, the prisoners behind the students, the human beings behind the prisoners who are the reason higher education in prison is praised for being transformative. Yet we …

The Effects Of Declining U.S. Immigration On Local Labor Markets In Mexico, Gonzalo Ares De Parga-Regalado, Marta Prato

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

This paper examines how declining migration opportunities to the United States affect local labor markets in Mexico. Using novel micro-level data from consular identification cards and deportations, we link individuals’ Mexican municipalities of origin to their U.S. destination states. We implement a shift-share design based on historical migration networks and exploit regional variation in exposure to changes in U.S. migration flows between 2017 and 2022 to identify the local labor market effects of reduced emigration while controlling for involuntary repatriations. While we find no impact on overall employment rates, regions more exposed to the decline in migration experience an increase …

Strategic Theory And Clausewitz’S Trinitarian Test, Lukas Milevski

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

Carl von Clausewitz’s trinity represents a qualitative test for strategy in both theory and practice. With the trinity, Clausewitz transforms competing influences into a mark of theoretical quality. Synthesizing several translations of Clausewitz’s On War and interpretations by experts such as Hew Strachan, Antulio J. Echevarria II, and Frank G. Hoffman, this article suggests that Clausewitz believed that good theory encompasses and accounts for all fundamental forces of war, whereas bad theory emphasizes the extremes of one force. The trinity compels mandatory considerations for students of theory, war planners, and practitioners.

Immigration Enforcement And Origin Country Labor Markets, Thomas Pearson

Center for Policy Research

This paper studies how increased immigration enforcement in the destination country impacts labor markets in the origin country. Using variation in Mexican migrant networks and Secure Communities (SC), a policy which expanded local immigration enforcement, I show that the deportation of Mexican migrants from the U.S. increases return migration to Mexico and decreases monthly earnings for workers in Mexico. The negative earnings effects are largest for workers most similar to return migrants in terms of their demographics, occupations, and employment types, and are consistent with increased labor market competition.

Mapping Child Care And Early Education Capacity To Needs In Massachusetts, Alan Clayton-Matthews, Christa M. Kelleher, Randy Albelda, Anne Douglass, Laurie Nsiah-Jefferson

Publications from the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy

Massachusetts has made notable strides in expanding access to affordable, quality, licensed child care and early education in recent years. Ongoing robust state investment in the Commonwealth Cares for Children Grant Program, activities of the Healey-Driscoll Inter Agency Early Education and Child Care Task Force, and increased income eligibility for child care financial assistance to families with moderate incomes, among other initiatives, all help address persistent barriers to quality education and care at a price families can afford.

Yet the supply of licensed child care for infants, toddlers, and preschool children remains a formidable challenge to meeting the child care …

Evolving U.S. And Chinese International Development Policy: Institutions, Strategies, And Global Impact, Julian Kai Lehto

Social Sciences

This paper is inspired by, and meant to understand, recent changes in global policy towards foreign aid and international development. 2025 saw one of the biggest changes to international development in decades, when President Donald Trump’s new administration made the decision to effectively shut down the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). At the same time, China has been taking on a growing role in foreign aid and development over the last decade. Chinese projects like the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) have become globally significant. This paper will explore the changing impacts and influence of both the U.S. …

Philanthropic Archives And Legacy, Katherine Badertscher, Huitan Xu

The Foundation Review

This article details an environmental scan of publicly available sources and interviews to explore the landscape of archival work in philanthropy.

There is no single guidance appropriate across the spectrum of foundations and family philanthropies. Given foundation heterogeneity, records management and archiving require tailored approaches rather than a “one-size-fits-all” solution.

The authors theorize legacy as a form of capital, embodied in records, stories, and knowledge, and present a continuum of five strategies for archiving infrastructure.

Tfr 18.1 Full Issue

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

Using Ai To Redirect Donor Support To Smaller Organizations, Madeleine Alegria, Brandolon Barnett

The Foundation Review

Despite rising interest in supporting local causes, many donors continue to give to large, nationally recognized nonprofits. This reflects ongoing structural barriers such as limited nonprofit visibility, decision fatigue, and search environments that prioritize brand familiarity.

At the same time, small-dollar giving has declined for three consecutive years, highlighting the need for more transparent, accessible, and trustworthy tools to support donor decision-making (Childress, 2024; Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, 2023).

In a 2024 evaluation study, 291 U.S. donors were randomly assigned to use either the Giving Compass Guide to Good platform or general internet tools to select a new nonprofit …

Simulating Cyber-Resilience: The Strategic Role Of The Locked Shields Exercise In Enhancing International Cyber Preparedness, Christopher A. Ramezan, Ludwig Christian Schaupp, Elizabeth A. Vitullo, William J. Walker

Journal of Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice

As cyberthreats to critical infrastructure remain prevalent, national response mechanisms must evolve beyond the technical domain to incorporate legal, communicative, strategic, and cross-sector coordination. This work explores Locked Shields, an annual exercise conducted by NATO's Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence, as a pedagogical and conceptual framework for simulating whole-of-government responses to cyber incidents. Unlike traditional cyber exercises, Locked Shields engages legal advisors, media strategists, and civil-military roles in realistic, scenario-driven simulations that portray the political and operational conditions of a real international-scale cyber crisis. We detail the exercise architecture, contrast with other cyber exercises, and assess its pedagogical and …

When Disaster Strikes Y’All Street: A Study On Cross-Sector Collaboration In Protecting U.S. Financial Critical Infrastructure, Rachael A. Zerr, John Friedlander

Publications and Research

This exploratory research examines public-private collaboration between corporate security leaders and local emergency responders in the North Texas financial corridor known as “Y’all Street.” Using perception-based survey data from senior representatives in the private and public sectors, the paper evaluates partnership strength, preparedness activities, information sharing, and operational coordination. Findings indicate that collaborative practices such as facility tours, joint exercises, and emergency planning are present, but that partnership maturity remains uneven and is not yet fully standardized across the corridor. The research concludes that more formalized and institutionalized coordination will be necessary to strengthen resilience as the region’s financial significance …

The Disproportionate Impact Of Hiv On Young Women In Durban: Exploring Gendered Vulnerabilities And Socioeconomic Barriers, Adrian A. Nolasco

Capstone Collection

South Africa has a high rate of HIV, with young women in Durban especially affected due to social, economic, and cultural challenges. This study looks at the experiences of young women living with HIV and the views of healthcare professionals caring for them in KwaZulu-Natal. Using a qualitative, phenomenological approach, semi-structured interviews were conducted with five women and three medical professionals to explore how HIV affects their lives, the challenges they face, and how they cope.

The findings show that both structural and personal barriers make it hard for young women to stick to treatment. Long waits at clinics, limited …

Watching The Watchers: Redefining Privacy And Human Rights In Correctional Surveillance, Ianna H. Choi

Binghamton University Undergraduate Journal

Incarcerated individuals exist in a space where security and privacy constantly clash. This study examines how surveillance technologies—biometric monitoring, video surveillance, and electronic tracking—in correctional settings impact the privacy rights of those incarcerated. Through a review of peer-reviewed literature, and insights from informal conversations with incarcerated individuals at Broome County Jail, this research examines the ethical, legal, and social implications of surveillance in carceral facilities, focusing on how constant monitoring impacts privacy, relationships, and mental well-being. Expanding beyond jails, the study considers surveillance in state and federal prisons, evaluating its implications under the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and …

More Hours, More Work: Head Start Expansions Boost Maternal Employment, Chloe R. Gibbs, Esra Kose, Maria Rosales Rueda

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

Women’s employment remains highly sensitive to childcare constraints, making childcare availability a critical lever for supporting mothers’ labor force attachment. We study the effects of expanded full-day programming in Head Start, using the 2016 federal funding initiative that targeted grantees with low full-day enrollment. Linking administrative program data, geo-coded center locations, and household data on employment, we estimate a difference-in-differences design by comparing mothers of young children in treated and untreated areas. The policy increased full-day enrollment by 19 percent and raised single mothers’ employment (1.9%), hours (2.5%), and earnings (6.5%). Results show that extending program duration meaningfully improves maternal …

On Education-Occupation And Skill-Occupation Mismatches Among Generation Z In Egypt, Hamsa Mohamed Ebrahim Yousef Ebrahim

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the impact of education-occupation and skill-occupation mismatches, specifically with regard to Generation Z in Egypt, with a focus on prevalence, socioeconomic factors, and their impact on youth employability and human capital utilization. The research examines education and skill mismatches through a quantitative approach, relying primarily on quantitative analysis of the Egypt Labor Market Panel Survey (ELMPS) 2023 data using multinomial logistic regression for education mismatches and probit regression for skill mismatches. The results indicate that education and skill mismatches are common among employed Gen Z, with a considerable percentage of 38-45%. This is despite the fact that …

Encouraging Naturalization: The Broader Effects Of Daca On U.S. Immigration, Emily Battaglia, Thomas Pearson

Center for Policy Research

This paper examines how protection from deportation and work authorization affect immigration outcomes, focusing on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). Using a difference-in-differences design exploiting geographic variation in exposure to DACA-eligible immigrants, we find that DACA significantly increased the number of naturalized citizens without increasing the number of noncitizens. This increase is driven by higher naturalization among prior noncitizens, most of whom are likely not DACA beneficiaries. We provide evidence consistent with DACA increasing incentives for, and reducing barriers to, naturalization by protecting undocumented DACA-eligible contacts, suggesting temporary protections can encourage longer-term commitments and permanent residence among existing immigrants.

Early Learning Across Decades: Advances In Measuring Head Start Effectiveness, Chloe R. Gibbs

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

The Head Start program, launched in 1965 and targeted to children from disadvantaged backgrounds, remains the largest early childhood care and education (ECE) program in the United States and the only one deployed at the federal level. As such, the Head Start literature spans several decades and now allows for synthesis of findings from different contexts, time periods, and research designs. This paper provides a comprehensive assessment of the rigorous evidence measuring Head Start’s effects on children, their families, and society. The focus is on how (1) the contrast between program and counterfactual conditions, (2) takeup of the program among …

Leading Where You Live: A Qualitative Multi-Case Study Of Public High School Principals Who Reside In Their School Communities, Joseph Held

Doctorate in Education

Despite extensive scholarship on relational trust, social capital, place-based leadership, and culturally responsive practice, little is known about how a principal’s residency within the school community shapes leadership demands. This qualitative, multi-case study employed semi-structured interviews, reflexive memoing, and cross-case thematic analysis to examine how nine Minnesota high school principals who lived in the urban, suburban, and rural communities they served experienced leadership practice, equity work, and emotional labor. Findings revealed that residency functions as a consequential leadership condition that reorganizes how principals build trust, exercise judgment, engage families, navigate boundaries, and interpret equity-related tensions. Six themes illuminated residency as: …

Empowering Rural Voices Through Deliberative Mini-Publics, Elizabeth B. Hinchcliff

The Rural Educator

This conceptual paper explores the tension between valuing and listening to community voices, while also providing a space wherein rural advocates and community members can come together to address difficult issues prevalent within rural schooling, through deliberative mini-publics. A multiplicity of reasons supports deliberative mini-publics, but I explore three in particular, the first being that they provide a space wherein an intentionally diverse set of community voices and perspectives can be shared, listened to, and explored. Second, the goal of any democratically deliberative space is to explore multiple perspectives as part of the process to seek solutions that contribute to …

Calculated Risks: The Power Of Predictive Risk Models To Regulate Families Of Color, Ashleigh Washington

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation examines predictive risk modelling (PRM) in New York City Administration for Children's Services (ACS), specifically exploring AI-enabled design features, practices, and encoded and racialized assumptions about risk in child welfare prevention services. Guided by Critical Race Theory and the Algorithmic Ecology framework, this study traces how PRM in ACS evolved from a service termination tool into a broader, largely internal surveillance apparatus that leverages families’ personal information, including health information, to assess risk of future maltreatment and to evaluate contracted service providers. Drawing on analysis of public records and in-depth interviews with Black parents, the findings describe how …

Typeface: Machine-Viewing Gentrification On Storefront Imagery In Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, Alexander Mcquilkin

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Gentrification—broadly, the replacement of a less powerful group by a more powerful one in an urban context—is oft-discussed in the popular press, but its definition is much-debated in the urban planning literature. Furthermore, academic treatments of displacement understandably focus on measurable yet fairly abstract indicators like changes in rent or income, whereas neighborhood change is often registered by residents on the ground using visual, but difficult-to-quantify markers like retail turnover. This project uses image recognition technology on a set of storefront photos to index the visual streetscape of a neighborhood, as well as to track changes to that portrait over …

Border Perceptions: Security And Immigration In The South Texas Borderlands, Carla Angulo-Pasel, Mi-Son Kim, Adrien A. Halliez

School of Political Science, Public Affairs, Legal and Security Studies Faculty Publications

With the Trump administration, we witnessed a hardening of border security policy and practices. Trump used his leadership and celebrity to explicitly attack and criminalize “undocumented” migrants with a discourse of threat, danger, invasion, crisis. Policywise, he took steps to further securitize the borderlands. In this paper, we examine how public opinion has differed with regards to the support or opposition to these hard security policies, especially in borderland areas when compared to the overall national population. The aim of this paper is to examine this difference by directing our attention to the Rio Grande Valley (RGV), a borderlands region …

Alternative Project Delivery Methods In California: The Path Forward, Ghada M. Gad, Maria Calahorra Jimenez, Chaimae Nacir, Ronald Shrestha

Mineta Transportation Institute

Alternative Project Delivery Methods (APDMs) are increasingly being recognized as effective alternatives to the traditional Design-Bid-Build (DBB) approach for transportation projects. As APDMs gain traction among California’s transportation agencies, understanding the legislative frameworks that enable their use and the characteristics of each method is critical. This study benchmarks the existing use of APDMs in California transportation agencies of varying types and sizes, while considering the characteristics (advantages and barriers/challenges to implementation) of each APDM and the authorizations enabling its implementation. Based on these findings, it also provides recommendations for key factors to consider in APDM selection and implementation. The study …

Counter-Urbanization In China: A Systematic Review Toward A Comprehensive Typology, Chengxue Yang, Qian Forrest Zhang

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Drawing on a systematic review of both international and Chinese-language scholarship on counter-urbanization in China, this article proposes a comprehensive typology of counter-urbanization migrations—consisting of eight types of new migrants—based on the diverse motivations driving such migration. We build a bilingual corpus of 273 research papers published between the 1970s and 2025. Integrating bibliometric mapping and qualitative synthesis, we conduct a systematic review to trace the temporal evolution and thematic diversification of counter-urbanization research. The review reveals persistent conceptual ambiguity surrounding counter-urbanization in the Chinese context, which this study addresses by conceptually distinguishing counter-urbanization from suburban expansion, population decentralization, and …

Rules Before Relief: International Organizations And The Administrative Burdens Of G5 Donor Counterterrorism And Sanctions Frameworks In The Mena Region, Khloud Awad

Theses and Dissertations

The international humanitarian system relies on a small group of powerful donor governments. The G5, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Japan, collectively provide the majority of bilateral humanitarian financing and attach extensive counterterrorism and sanctions compliance requirements to their funding. This study examines how these frameworks generate administrative burden for the international organizations that translate funding into assistance in conflict settings in the MENA region. The study draws on Administrative Burden Theory, adapted from its original citizen-state context to the donor-international organization relationship. Moreover, it adopts a qualitative design across four conflict-affected settings: Sudan, Palestine, Syria, …

Strategies For Enhancing China’S Energy Resilience: Trade-Offs Between Diversification And Localization, Zhongwei Song, Yu Zhao, Xiang Gao, Jiaofeng Pan

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

In recent years, intensified geopolitical conflicts worldwide have increasingly exposed the vulnerabilities of traditional energy security frameworks, necessitating a shift in perspective from “ensuring stable supply” to “building systemic resilience”. This study explores pathways to enhance China’s energy resilience, analyzes how diversification and localization strategies can strengthen national energy security, and reviews related policy practices. Building on this analysis and considering China’s current energy landscape, the study proposes that in the short term, emphasis should be placed on diversifying import sources and routes while strengthening domestic supply assurance. In the medium to long term, it is essential to accelerate the …

Research On China’S Economic Pulse Based On Etc Big Data: Operational Characteristics, Structural Challenges, And Paths To High-Quality Development, Junjie Hong, Geng Li, Jian Guo, Zhengjie Tian, Libin Hu

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Big data from highway ETC systems, characterized by full-domain coverage, high-frequency real-time updates, and precise granularity, provides a unique micro-observational window for perceiving the pulse of China’s economic operation. Based on the daily traffic data of national ETC users from Shandong Hi-Speed Xilian Science and Technology Co., Ltd. spanning the period 2023–2025, this study constructs a “China Economic Pulse Index” encompassing five core indicators: daily traffic volume, truck traffic volume, average truck load, inter-regional flow ratio, and travel efficiency. It systematically analyzes the economic operation logic reflected behind ETC big data. Research findings indicate that ETC data clearly reveals China’s …

Conflict And Community Building In Waste Water Management: The Case Of Azrou Morocco, Jack V. Kalpakian

Peace and Conflict Studies Journal Conference

Climate change is forcing Morocco to institute a wide program of wastewater treatment. Despite legal and bureaucratic problems, the water is being reused directly or indirectly. But the construction of water treatment plants is leading to conflicts with farmers that depended on the untreated water and the use of treated water for green spaces and parks is also often viewed with suspicion. Using the case of the Azrou water treatment plant, this paper argues that while the infrastructure and technical adjustments to climate change have been effective, a gap in understanding between the water managers and the public they serve …

From Warning To Action: Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Conflict Early Warning And Early Response Systems In Nigeria, Chukwudi G. Njoku

Peace and Conflict Studies Journal Conference

Violent conflicts continue to persist and escalate, with frequently changing dynamics in Nigeria. This is notwithstanding the existence of active conflict early warning and early response (CEWER) systems. While some of the CEWER systems have recorded some successes, gaps have been identified in their effectiveness, especially around how the early warning information are utilized for prompt response to prevent and mitigate conflicts. The study also identified a dearth of literature on the subject, highlighting the need for research on the effectiveness of CEWER systems in Nigeria. The study adopts a mixed research method which combines qualitative, quantitative and geospatial approaches. …