Digital Commons Network^™

Listening Suppers At The Landing Place: Talking With Rockland-Area Youth About School, Work, & Life, Jillian Foley Mppm, Swathi Sivasubramanian, Timothy Atkinson, Olivia Eckert, Emma Schwartz

Justice Policy

This piece (June 2025) is a collaboration with our partners at The Landing Place to amplify youth voices and ideas for systems change that came out of a series of conversations with youth in Rockland, called Listening Suppers which aimed to inspire conversations about school, work, family, community supports, relationships, and more. This short brief highlights the themes that came out of these conversations including community strengths and assets, gaps and youth needs, and youth informed recommendations for change. While much of the conversations were specific to the local Rockland community, the challenges and solutions highlighted are similar to what …

Culturally Responsive Intimate Partner Violence (Ipv) Service Needs Among African Immigrant Women: Examining The Impact Of Cultural Norms And Psychosocial Barriers On Safety Perceptions And Help-Seeking Behaviors, Titilayo Ogunbambi

Dissertations

Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) remains a pervasive public health and social justice issue globally, with African immigrant women in the United States facing compounded challenges as they navigate cultural, structural, and systemic barriers, including migration-related vulnerabilities and attachment to cultural values that shape their decisions and experiences. Although formal IPV services exist, they often fail to address the lived realities and culturally specific needs of this population, leading to underutilization and barriers in seeking help. This qualitative study examines how cultural norms, psychosocial barriers, and systemic inequities influence safety perceptions and help-seeking behaviors among African immigrant women survivors of IPV. …

Aging In Harwich: A Community Needs Assessment, Claire E. Wickersham, Caitlin E. Coyle

Center for Social and Demographic Research on Aging Publications

At a time of such significant population aging, the Harwich Council on Aging commissioned a community-wide needs assessment with support from the Friends of the Harwich Council on Aging. The specific goal of this report is to support the strategic planning of the Harwich Council on Aging. An additional goal is to present information useful to other Harwich departments and organizations interacting with older residents planning for the future of Harwich. This report presents the results of a comprehensive examination of issues relating to aging in Harwich. Results presented here focus on the characteristics and needs of Harwich residents aged …

Solving Global Problems Requires Global Cohesion, Harvey Whitehouse, John, Lord Alderdice, Carlos Alvarado Quesada, Peter Gluckman, Hakima El Haité, Lukas Reinhardt

New England Journal of Public Policy

A growing body of evidence from evolutionary anthropology and social psychology suggests that group cohesion can be scaled up beyond the level of nations and even regional blocs and transnational religions to encompass humanity at large. This article brings together insights from globally renowned political leaders, activists, and academics by arguing that this scaling up is not only possible but necessary to address the most pressing collective action problems facing our planet today. Drawing on evidence from experiments, longitudinal studies, and multi-country surveys, along with extensive practical experience—from serving as a head of state to playing leading roles in climate …

Cuny In The News: A History Of Reporting On The Humanities At The City University Of New York, Jacqueline R. Cahill

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This project compiles newspaper articles concerning humanities at the City University of New York, placing them on a timeline to establish patterns and changes within media reporting and public perception. The archival research of this project explores four distinct eras, grouped around major events in the history of the university: 1961-1971, for the founding of the university and open admissions struggle; 1980-1990, for the response to the ‘70s fiscal crisis and introduction of the Board of Trustees; 2000-2010 for the post-open admissions era and the centralization of CUNY; and 2020-present, for COVID and a new fight for racial equity. Examining …

Path Dependency And The Politics Of U.S. Health Reform, Sophia Spadafore

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study examines the impact of path dependency on health reform efforts in the United States, specifically analyzing how past policy decisions constrain subsequent reform possibilities. Utilizing the theoretical framework of historical institutionalism, the study investigates two significant cases—the passage of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965 and the The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010—to illustrate how successful healthcare reforms embed institutional arrangements that limit future policy innovation. Through a comparative case study approach grounded in legislative records, historical texts, and scholarly analyses, the research highlights that major healthcare reforms in the U.S. have consistently been structured …

Global Constructions Of Gender, Sexuality, And Migration: An Analysis Of Five Immigrant Memoirs, Grace Halvorson

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This capstone analyzes five memoirs by LGBTQ+ migrants—Jose Antonio Vargas, Edafe Okporo, Staceyann Chin, Danny Ramadan, and Samra Habib—to explore how governments weaponize gender and sexual orientation to construct national identity and exert control over both citizens and migrants. Their diverse migration experiences highlight how “gender border control” operates across families, communities, and national government systems, reinforcing heteronormative structures that regulate queer identities. My analysis of their memoirs reveals how both formal tools, such as immigration policies, and informal tools, such as social exclusion, make individuals outside heteronormative identity categories susceptible to state and societal violence. These personal narratives shed …

Gerald Templer's Leadership In The Malayan Emergency (1948-1960): Its Enduring Relevance, Kumar Ramakrishna

New England Journal of Public Policy

This article explores the leadership contributions of General Sir Gerald Templer, who was both High Commissioner and Director of Operations, during the counterinsurgency campaign waged by the British colonial authorities in Malaya against the Malayan Communist Party, between 1948 and 1960. This campaign has become known as the Malayan Emergency. The article explores how Templer’s leadership—marked by a combination of high intellect, sound practical nous, and the ability to galvanize governmental action and ultimately inspire the population to eventual victory—was instrumental in transforming the nature of the problematic initial British response to the Communist insurgency. The article suggests that Templer’s …

Addressing Emergency Situations Among The Unhoused In Paterson, Nj, Fanny Lauby

Department of Political Science and Law Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Earlier this year, the Paterson City Council proposed an ordinance to criminalize homelessness. Many residents were unhappy with the proposed ordinance, feeling that it was unjust to treat the homeless in Paterson that way, and that it wouldn’t effectively address the root causes. The ordinance was withdrawn, but homelessness in Paterson still needs to be addressed. This paper proposes alternate solutions to homelessness; through increasing shelter capacity, affordable housing, modifying the ordinance, increasing in voluntary commitment, measures, and alternatives to involuntary commitment.

Exploring Systems Of Discrimination And Violence Against Wayuu Indigenous Women/E’Rrajawaa Sucuaypaa Jutumaa Tu’U Muju’Ulaca Err’Uin Wayumuin Sumuin Tu’U Wayuu Jiertkaa Sumuin Tu Muilian Jain, Dayanna Palmar Uriana

Kroc IPJ Research and Resources

From the moment an Indigenous girl is born, her identity is shaped by two intersecting categories: gender and ethnic belonging. These identity categories influence various aspects of her environment, upbringing, education, work and life.

As a member of the Wayuu people, I understand the challenges of being an Indigenous woman. The Wayuu Indigenous people are the largest Indigenous group in both Colombia and Venezuela. They inhabit the desert and coastal territory of La Guajira, a region shared between the two countries. However, for the Wayuu, it is a single, unique territory, encompassing the physical, biocultural and spiritual dynamics rooted in …

Bridging The Gap: Exploring The Intersection Of Formal Mental Health Services And Informal Social Supports In Bipoc Communities, Patrice D. Patton-Campbell

Dissertations

Despite growing awareness of mental health disparities, BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) communities continue to face significant barriers in accessing culturally responsive mental health care. This dissertation explores the intersection between formal mental health services and informal social supports such as family, religious institutions, and community networks to understand which systems are more trusted, accessible, and effective for BIPOC individuals. Grounded in Urban Liberation Psychology and guided by decolonial and culturally responsive care frameworks, this qualitative study draws from focus groups and interviews with 33 participants, including both community members and service providers from the Chicagoland area and …

Comparing Campaigns To End The Subminimum Wage With A Multiple Streams Approach, Chris Peraino

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Labor organizations do not significantly represent the interests of restaurant workers in the United States. In the absence of labor representation, nonprofits have become the main advocates for restaurant workers in politics. Among the most active is OneFairWage (OFW), a nonprofit focused on eliminating the subminimum wage for tipped restaurant workers. OFW’s legislative efforts have had mixed outcomes. Two of its campaigns - D.C. and Chicago - were successful. All other campaigns, like those in New York state and Michigan, have struggled to achieve their goal. Why has nearly identical legislation with the same target population of restaurant workers passed …

Moving The Needle: The Policy Of Change On Syringe Access, New York City And State, 1988–2023, Joyce Rivera

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

By the mid-1980s, the HIV/AIDS epidemic breached a longstanding consensus between the political class and its bureaucratic alliances that had relied for decades on attitudes and orientations that championed punitive prohibition toward drugs as a bedrock principle of policy making. This ‘focusing event’ created an opening for HIV/AIDS activists to build a movement that offered an alternative, a more effective and just approach to how government policies and practices can manage illegal drugs and the persons who use drugs.

The dissertation uses several theoretical and methodological tools to address the central research objective that highlights the critical role played by …

Black Incarcerated Veterans And Va Service Access, Kimona S. Spencer

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study investigates racial disparities in access to U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) services among incarcerated Veterans, with a specific focus on Black incarcerated Veterans. Drawing from critical race theory and the minority stress model, the study explores how race, discharge status, military experiences, and mental health conditions intersect to affect potential eligibility for and receipt of VA healthcare and benefits. Utilizing a secondary analysis of data from the Survey of Prison Inmates (SPI), the research employs quantitative methods to examine whether disparities exist in discharge characterizations, potential eligibility for VA care, and service utilization by race. Findings highlight …

Single Mother Poverty In A Global City, Gregory Cala

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The thesis explores how New York City's emergence as a "Global City" and welfare reform uniquely impacted single mothers’ lives on the matter of labor, housing, cost of living and more. New York City’s recovery from near bankruptcy in the 1970s began after cutting social programs and luring corporate firms with financial incentives. As firms moved to the city, so did their workforce of employees with skills in specialized service roles. Concurrently, the need for cheap, part-time, and temporary services emerged. By the 1990s, the growth of these less specialized service jobs outpaced all others, all while calls for work …

Examining Shifts In Group-Based Motivations For Civil Conflicts In Libya, Michael D. Buhrmester, William B. Swann Jr., Brian Mcquinn, Alexis Everington, Layal Hafid, Harvey Whitehouse

New England Journal of Public Policy

This study examines shifting group alignments in Libya from 2011 to 2019, exploring their impact on continued conflict. Following up on our original research into group bonding among insurgents during the 2011 revolution, we conducted two surveys in Benghazi: first in 2015, during the aftermath of Operation Dignity, and again in 2019, as General Khalifa Haftar’s forces waged war against Tripoli. Our results show that the previously very strong group bonds with 2011 revolutionary fighters had dissipated by 2015, replaced by allegiance to Haftar’s militias. By 2019, this alignment extended to Haftar himself, reinforcing an “us versus them” mentality that …

Political And Psychological Effects Of Political Public Art In Conflict Zones, Leora Sotto, Caryl Sibbett

New England Journal of Public Policy

This article will explore the topic of conflict-related visual-political media displayed in public in Israel and Northern Ireland, such as posters, banners, and murals. We will discuss examples of such political public art, looking at graphic characteristics as well as several multi-faceted topics that tend to appear: first, the topic of victim / victimizer, art expressing feelings of aggression, blaming, injustice, or pain; second, cross-cultural similarities and differences in the art expression; third, art promoting peace. We will reflect on these from a psychotherapy perspective, noting themes of trauma and dis/empowerment. We will discuss visual art and war, their interaction, …

Land Access As Liberation: A Qualitative Study On Faith, Food, And Farming Of Urban And Rural Black Land Stewards In The United States, Dominique Edwards

Dissertations

Since 1920, Black farmers in the United States have held less than 2% of the nation's farmland, a direct result of race-based discriminatory policies embedded within federal, state, local, and county-level institutions (Daniel, 2013). Structural barriers—ranging from exclusionary lending practices by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to the systematic dispossession of land through legal loopholes, heirs’ property laws, and violent racial terror—have contributed to this staggering decline in Black land ownership (Gilbert et al., 2002). The erosion of Black agrarian landholdings intensified in the latter half of the 20th century, as government programs, civil rights legislation, and technological advancements, …

The Benefits And Pitfalls Of Public Private Partnerships: Case Study Of The Suez Canal Container Terminal, Egypt, Magda Elswesy

Theses and Dissertations

The study explores the public-private partnerships (PPPs) in constructing, managing, and operating container terminals in Egypt. It examines the benefits the public sector gains from such collaborations and the pitfalls that can be mitigated to foster more effective institutional cooperation. The study specifically focuses on enhancing Egypt's marine container terminals through these partnerships, emphasizing the potential use of growing technology to enable equipment automation. It also highlights concerns regarding the risk of mismanagement of Egyptian terminals, arising from insufficient expected volume to ensure appropriate profitability, especially with the opening of new terminals. The study adopts a qualitative methodology and presents …

Tradwives: The Housewifization Of The Girl Boss, Gagan Kaur

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis examines the reemergence of a particular performance of domesticity in the post-pandemic era, focusing on the rise of the "tradwife" (traditional wife) movement alongside the normalization and spread of Alt-Right ideology through popular social media platforms. It argues that the tradwife is not a return to tradition, but a commodified performance of domesticity built on the erasure of social reproductive labor. Tracing the lineage of the “housewife” from the enclosure of the commons to imperial domesticity and from the “girl boss” to tradwife influencer culture, this project situates the tradwife within a longer history of "housewifization"—wherein women's labor …

Lessons Learned From Sandboxing, Piloting And Policy Experimentation With Ai And Other Digital Initiatives: Part 1, Summary Report, Steven M. Miller

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

This report, "Lessons Learned from Sandboxing, Piloting and Policy Experimentation with AI and Other Digital Initiatives," captures insights and experiences from project experts involved in recent digital innovation initiatives with the governments of Bangladesh, Maldives, and Kazakhstan, and from project experts actively involved with the use of AI for delivering government digital services in the EU, New Zealand, Rwanda, Singapore, United States, and Uzbekistan. The ten in-depth interview write-ups produced from these nine different country settings provide a small but highly informative sample of rich descriptions of some of the important realities, approaches, nuances, issues and challenges related to testing …

Addressing Urban Traffic Congestion: A Deep Reinforcement Learning-Based Approach, Tairan Liu

Mineta Transportation Institute

In an innovative venture, the research team embarked on a mission to redefine urban traffic flow by introducing an automated way to manage traffic light timings. This project integrates two critical technologies, Deep Q-Networks (DQN) and Auto-encoders, into reinforcement learning, with the goal of making traffic smoother and reducing the all-too-common road congestion in simulated city environments. Deep Q-Networks (DQN) are a form of reinforcement learning algorithms that learns the best actions to take in various situations through trial and error. Auto-encoders, on the other hand, are tools that help simplify complex data, making it easier for the DQN to …

The Equal Rights Amendment: The 28th Amendment To The U.S. Constitution, Twiss Butler, Patrick Butler

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

This article reviews how Supreme Court interpretations of the 14^th Amendment have allowed laws to discriminate against women. It aims to show that the Equal Rights Amendment, ratified as the 28^th Amendment in 2020, offers a constitutional basis for eliminating all forms of legal sex discrimination against women. These forms include discrimination based on pregnancy and abortion, commodifying women’s bodies, and allowing men to intrude into women’s protected spaces. The review starts with the denial of protection for women by America’s Declaration of Independence in 1776, denounces the Supreme Court’s precedent-setting 1974 Geduldig decision, which ruled—quite illogically—that discrimination …

2025 June, Morehead State University. Office Of Communications & Marketing.

Morehead State Press Release Archive, 1961 to the Present

Press releases for June of 2025.

Lessons Learned From Sandboxing, Piloting And Policy Experimentation With Ai And Other Digital Initiatives: Part 2, Ten In-Depth Interviews, Steven M. Miller

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

This report, "Lessons Learned from Sandboxing, Piloting and Policy Experimentation with AI and Other Digital Initiatives," captures insights and experiences from project experts involved in recent digital innovation initiatives with the governments of Bangladesh, Maldives, and Kazakhstan, and from project experts actively involved with the use of AI for delivering government digital services in the EU, New Zealand, Rwanda, Singapore, United States, and Uzbekistan. The ten in-depth interview write-ups produced from these nine different country settings provide a small but highly informative sample of rich descriptions of some of the important realities, approaches, nuances, issues and challenges related to testing …

A Meta-Analysis Of Diagnostic Yield And Clinical Utility Of Genome And Exome Sequencing In Pediatric Rare And Undiagnosed Genetic Diseases, Rajshree Pandey, Noemi Fluetsch Brennan, Kalliopi Trachana, Sarah Katsandres, Olaf Bodamer, John Belmont, David L Veenstra, Siyang Peng

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

Purpose: To systematically evaluate the diagnostic yield and clinical utility of genome sequencing (GS) and exome sequencing (ES; genome-wide sequencing [GWS]) in pediatric patients with rare and undiagnosed genetic diseases.

Methods: We conducted a meta-analysis of studies published between 2011 and 2023. To address study heterogeneity, comparative analyses included within-cohort studies using random-effects models.

Results: We identified 108 studies including 24,631 probands with diverse clinical indications. The pooled diagnostic yield among within-cohort studies (N = 13) for GWS was 34.2% (95% CI: 27.6-41.5; I2: 86%) vs 18.1% (95% CI: 13.1-24.6; I2: 89%) for non-GWS, with 2.4-times odds of diagnosis (95% …

International Society For Cell & Gene Therapy Expanded Access Working Group Position Paper: Key Considerations To Support Equitable And Ethical Expanded Access To Investigational Cell- And Gene-Based Interventions, Elena Maryamchik, Laertis Ikonomou, Beth E Roxland, Felix Grignon, Bruce L Levine, Bambi J Grilley

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

This position paper reviews the Expanded Access pathway for cell and gene therapies, examining its critical role at the nexus of patient need, regulatory frameworks, and scientific advancement. Spearheaded by the International Society for Cell & Gene Therapy's Expanded Access Working Group, it explores how investigational therapies are accessed outside of clinical trials for patients with serious or life-threatening conditions when no approved alternatives exist. Access to cell and gene therapy products are of specific interest to patients because many times the products are bespoke, being used to treat serious and/or incurable conditions, and are potentially curative. As the field …

Detection Of Enterovirus Rna In Pancreas And Lymphoid Tissues Of Organ Donors With Type 1 Diabetes, Jutta E Laiho, Sami Oikarinen, Sofia Morfopoulou, Maarit Oikarinen, Ashlie Renner, Daniel Depledge, Matthew C Ross, Ivan C Gerling, Judith Breuer, Joseph F Petrosino, Vincent Plagnol, Alberto Pugliese, Antonio Toniolo, Richard E Lloyd, Heikki Hyöty, Npod-Virus Group

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

Aims/hypothesis: The nPOD-Virus group collaboratively applied innovative technologies to detect and sequence viral RNA in pancreas and other tissues from organ donors with type 1 diabetes. These analyses involved the largest number of pancreas samples collected to date. The aim of the current work was to examine the presence of enterovirus RNA in pancreas and lymphoid tissues of organ donors with and without type 1 diabetes.

Methods: We analysed pancreas, spleen, pancreatic lymph nodes and duodenum samples from the following groups: (1) donors with type 1 diabetes (n=71) with (n=35) or without (n=36) insulin-containing islets; (2) donors with single or …

Post Soviet Russia: Challenges To Transition And Modernization, Chick Edmond

Political Science & Geography Faculty Publications

The dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 marked the beginning of a complex, often turbulent, period of transition and modernization for Russia. Unlike the anticipated linear path toward Western-style democracy and market economics, Russia’s post-Soviet experience has been defined by profound contradictions, reversals, and ongoing contestations over its political, economic, and social order (Minakov, 2016). The initial wave of reforms, particularly in the 1990s, brought about radical economic restructuring, privatization, and an attempted shift to a free-market system. Yet, these rapid changes led to significant economic dislocation, social inequality, and the rise of oligarchic power structures, which ultimately undermined …

Promises And Pitfalls Of Preimplantation Genetic Testing For Polygenic Disorders: A Narrative Review, Jaime A Roura-Monllor, Zachary Walker, Joel M Reynolds, Greysha Rivera-Cruz, Avner Hershlag, Gheona Altarescu, Sigal Klipstein, Stacey Pereira, Gabriel Lázaro-Muñoz, Shai Carmi, Todd Lencz, Ruth Bunker Lathi

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

Preimplantation genetic testing for polygenic disorders (PGT-P) has been commercially available since 2019. PGT-P makes use of polygenic risk scores for conditions which are multifactorial and are significantly influenced by environmental and lifestyle factors. If current predictions are accurate, then absolute risk reductions range from about 0.02% to 10.1%, meaning that between 10 and 5,000 in vitro fertilization patients would need to be tested with PGT-P to prevent one offspring from becoming affected in the future, depending on the condition and the number of embryos available. Survey and interview data reveal that patients and the public have largely favorable views …