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Psychedelics And Psychosis: An Interdisciplinary Re-Examination, Haley Maria Dourron

All ETDs from UAB

Psychedelics have long been described as potential drug models of psychosis. There is also concern that psychedelics might worsen psychotic symptoms in individuals with a history of psychotic disorders. This dissertation examines the overlap between psychedelic-induced states and non-affective psychotic disorders (NAPD) from both subjective and neurological perspectives, as well as the perceived impact of psychedelic use in people with a history of NAPD. Nineteen people with a history of NAPD who had used psychedelics were interviewed about their experiences. Participants generally described psychedelic and psychotic experiences as distinct, though both affected similar experiential domains, such as sensory alterations. Altered …

Gardens As Pathways To Environmental Education For All Ages, Lacey Anderson

The Cicadian

Gardens provide hands-on opportunities for environmental education that extend beyond food production, encompassing ecological literacy, sustainability practices, experiential learning, and community engagement. This article uses a creative nonfiction approach to examine the author’s personal journey from reluctant gardener to advocate for learning gardens. Through narrative reflection of her own family’s gardening experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, the author illustrates how gardening fosters intergenerational learning, socio-emotional development, and curiosity-driven exploration of ecological systems. The article highlights how gardens function as accessible entry points for lifelong learners of all ages, demonstrating that environmental literacy can emerge outside of traditional scientific expertise. Ultimately, …

“Grow Your Plants, But Most Importantly, Grow Yourself”: Women, Resilience, And Cultural Continuity In Jamaican And Diaspora Gardens, Giovanni Whyte

The Cicadian

This essay explores the cultural, personal, and transformative power of gardening through the stories of four women—Brenda, Linda, Keisha, and Janice—whose lives span Jamaica and its diaspora. Their narratives reveal gardening as more than food cultivation but the practice of resilience, healing, and cultural continuity. Brenda honors her ancestral legacy in St. Elizabeth; Linda finds solace after loss; Keisha fosters socioemotional growth among urban students; and Janice embraces sustainability in suburban America. Together, their experiences illustrate how gardening nurtures identity, strengthens communities, and connects people to land, memory, and future generations.

African Swine Fever In Indonesia: Insights From Southeast Asia’S Policy Response Through The One Health Approach, Niken Salindri, Wachyu Sulistiadi

Journal of Indonesian Health Policy and Administration

African Swine Fever (ASF) seriously threatens pig production systems, food security, and rural livelihoods across Southeast Asia. This study employs an analysis of secondary national data from Indonesia using a quantitative descriptive analysis approach, complemented by regional policy responses to ASF from 2019 to 2024. To contextualize regional findings, this study also integrates official statistics from Statistics Indonesia (BPS) covering provincial pork production trends (2021–2023), the number of ASF-affected pigs per province (2020–2024), and per capita pork consumption by district. Quantitative data show that ASF outbreaks have been disproportionately concentrated in specific provinces such as East Nusa Tenggara and North …

Coping Self-Efficacy, Acculturation, Gender, Socioeconomic Status, And Perceived Discrimination As Predictors Of Depression Among Nigerian Immigrants In The United States, Olatunde O. Osibote

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Nigerian immigrants represent one of the fastest-growing immigrant populations in the United States. Relocating to a new country can be a major source of stress, often increasing individuals’ vulnerability to mental health challenges. While considerable research has examined predictors of depression in the general population and among certain immigrant groups, limited attention has been given to these factors in the context of Nigerian immigrants in the U.S. This study aimed to address that gap by applying Berry’s acculturation theory to investigate predictors of depression within this population. A quantitative, cross-sectional, correlational survey design was used to examine whether acculturation, socioeconomic …

Sex-Specific Associations Between Early Life Unpredictability And Trajectories Of Body Mass Index From Infancy To Adolescence, Emily M. Melnick, Lilybelle K. Deer, Jenalee R. Doom, Hal S. Stern, Curt A. Sandman, Laura M. Glynn, Elysia P. Davis

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Objective:

Unpredictability in early life is an understudied aspect of early life adversity that provides important signals to the child about their environment. Recent work shows the predictability of patterns of parental signals on a moment-to-moment timescale sculpts the developing brain during sensitive windows, offering a potential pathway through which early life experiences shape child development. Both experimental non-human animal models and observational human research show sex-specific links between early life exposure to unpredictable patterns of parental sensory signals and aberrant offspring development. The impact of predictability of sensory signals on physical health outcomes, such as BMI, remains unknown. Here …

Lanthorn, Vol. 60, No. 03, September 8, 2025, Grand Valley State University

Volume 60, August 4, 2025 – April 20, 2026

Lanthorn is Grand Valley State's student newspaper, published from 1968 to the present.

Staying Alive: Negotiating Life With The Contamination Of Kitchener Drain., Zein Hassib

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores how rural communities in Kafr El Sheikh governorate, Egypt, negotiate everyday life with the contamination of Kitchener Drain, the largest agricultural drain in the central Nile Delta. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in three villages at the tail-end end of the drain, the study explores how water contamination shapes social and ecological, social life for farmers living in the catchment of the drain. The thesis situates the farmer’s present experience within the broader history of colonial and modernist national irrigation reforms and developments highlighting how systemic neglect and uneven governance reproduce conditions of vulnerability. At the same time, …

Encountering The Sublime: Early Hermit Lifeways, Visual-Spatial Worlds, And The Global Recluse, James Brown

The Ozark Historical Review

This paper will assess the degree to which reclusion in the early period can be labeled a global phenomenon and will examine three key areas, the institutional ambits of reclusion, the visual-spatial world of the eremite, and the enduring cultural canon associated with eremitisms across both geographical and temporal distances. In addition, the author will perform an epistemological and phenomenological exercise in deriving humanistic insight from the experiences of recluses, as gleaned through deep consideration of their environments and cultural products.

"The One Bright Spot Where All Else Is Dark And Hopeless." Images Of Class, Race And Culture In Britain's Imperial Education System During The Nineteenth Century, Jeff Grooms

The Ozark Historical Review

This paper outlines the ideologies that underpin the language of education, and the relationship between this language and educational policy in Britain and abroad. These topics illustrate that the abstraction of ‘civilization,’ and the themes of ‘darkness’ and ‘light’ that surround it, are an essential part of how nineteenth century sociocultural relations should be studied.

Images Of Sacrifice: Religion, Power, And Colonial Ambition In The Americas, Louise Hancox

The Ozark Historical Review

The article addresses images of sacrifice from Mesoamerica and the adoption of this imagery during Protestant colonization as a way to limit the Spanish power. The author posits that while initially serving the purpose of demonizing the Spanish Catholic presence in the Americas, the use of this imagery led Protestant powers to assert claims of religious and political superiority over both the Spanish and the indigenous peoples.

Strategies For Addressing The School Vaping Problem In The United States, Shanika Cole

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Vaping has become a pressing health concern among students, providing easy access to nicotine and other harmful chemicals. In schools, this issue threatened student well-being, discipline, and policy enforcement, underscoring the need for effective prevention. The purpose of this mixed-method study was to examine of the U.S. school practices and policies addressing vaping and (b) the development of a strategic prevention and intervention plan informed by the American Stop Smoking Intervention Study Framework (ASSIST Model). The study focused on one public school system and sought to answer practice-based research questions: How can the Board of Education effectively decrease vaping incidence …

Dynamical Regulation Of Blood Pressure And Cognitive Function, Joshua Sweigert, Tara Gruenewald, Margie Lachman, Teresa Seeman, Maxine Weinstein, Tse-Hwei Choo, Martina Pavlicova, Ramakrishna Mukkamala, Richard P. Sloan

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

BACKGROUND

Blood pressure (BP) is not steady. It varies over intervals from months to consecutive cardiac cycles, and this variation contains meaningful information beyond mean BP. Variability over multiple clinic visits (VVV-BP) and during 24-h ambulatory monitoring (ABPV) is positively related to risk of stroke and coronary artery disease and negatively associated with cognitive performance. Beat-to-beat BP variation, often quantified as low frequency variability (0.04–0.15 Hz, LF-BPV), is less well-studied. Here, we examine the relationship between LF-BPV and cognitive outcomes in 1953 participants from the Midlife in the US study.

METHODS

Participants completed the Brief Test of Adult Cognition by …

Youth And Parent Knowledge And Perceptions Of Spina Bifida: Associations With Neurocognitive Factors, Self-Management, And Quality Of Life, Olivia Emery Clark

Dissertations

Spina bifida (SB) is a common congenital birth defect with multiple and varied medical, physical, and psychological impacts. The objective of these studies is to examine youth and parent condition-related knowledge in the context of SB and associations with executive function, quality of life, and medical self-management. Collectively, these studies examine both qualitative and quantitative multi-informant data from youth with SB, their parents, and their teachers. The first study used growth analyses to examine changes in condition-related knowledge over time, predicted by executive dysfunction and inattention, and predictive of medical self-management skills. The second study used qualitative coding methods to …

The Métis And The Manifest Destiny Of The Canadian Northwest, Donald Holler

The Ozark Historical Review

As the United States, hoping to pursue “Manifest Destiny,” attempted to expand until North America truly was the “American” continent, the newly formed Dominion of Canada, ever fearful of its expanding neighbor to the south, tried to cobble together a trans-continental nation and forge its own unique identity and destiny. These two competing impulses came to a head in the long neglected Métis Red River Rebellion of 1869–1870 which sealed the future of the North American continent.

An Assessment Of Transformations In American And Canadian Women Homesteaders In The Mid-Nineteenth To Early Twentieth Century Wests, Rachel Albinson

The Ozark Historical Review

Every woman’s western experience was not the same, regardless of whether they were from the United States or Canada. Therefore, the various physical, social and psychological transformations of each woman who made the journey west cannot be grouped into one generalization. Yet a great deal can be said for the amount of women who did and did not experience such significant changes during the rough journey westward, changes that are determined by the differences in each woman’s attitude and behavior prior to and after their arrival in the western regions of North America.

Controlling The Curriculum: A Content Analysis Of Prageru's Children's Educational Material, Heather Katherine Costa

Dissertations and Theses

PragerU is a conservative media outlet founded by Dennis Prager in 2009 that aims to insert new conservative content into existing U.S. public school curricula. While conservative activist groups have attempted for decades to alter educational content and policy, PragerU is attempting to directly influence public school curricula by having their materials authorized for use in public schools.

This study utilizes qualitative content analysis to understand the meaning behind PragerU's content, using a sample of 39 videos, targeted at students in grades 6 and higher. The transcript data were analyzed to address two research questions: 1) What are the key …

An Investigation Of Sex-Specific Effects Of Nucleus Accumbens Dopamine Receptor Signaling In Persistent Reward Seeking Under Punishment, Anna Caroline Toburen

Theses and Dissertations

Addiction involves persistent reward-seeking behavior despite adverse outcomes, with the nucleus accumbens (NAc) critically mediating motivation and cost-benefit decision-making. Dopamine (DA)-responsive neurons in the NAc, specifically D1 and D2 receptors within the NAc are crucial in encoding motivated behavior. However, the specific role of D1/D2 receptors in driving reward-seeking under punishment remains unclear. Preliminary findings suggest a sex-specific effect, with females exhibiting greater sensitivity to the suppressive effects of footshock on natural reward-seeking compared to males. We investigated the differential roles of NAc D1/D2 receptors in modulating reward-seeking behavior under punishment, with a focus on potential sex-specific effects. Using a …

Use Of Eagala Model–Based Psychotherapy For Youth Psychological Disorders, Kimberley D. Ryan, Tammy L.B. Mckenzie

People and Animals: The International Journal of Research and Practice

Global youth psychological disorder prevalence has increased exponentially. Therefore, a drastic increase in mental health care utilization is expected. Since traditional approaches to the treatment of adult psychological disorders are ineffective with youth, alternative approaches to treatment of youth psychological disorders must be considered. One such approach is equine assisted psychotherapy (EAP), a person-centered, experiential approach using horses during the treatment of psychological disorders and the basis of the Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association (Eagala) model–based programming. This article presents the quantitative research findings of a study investigating the effectiveness of the Eagala model–based EAP programming in the treatment …

The Italian Colony Of São Paulo: Race, Class, And Cultural Capital In Brazil, Giulia Riccò

Race & Ethnic Studies

WINNER, 2024 ALDO AND JEANNE SCAGLIONE PUBLICATION AWARD FOR A MANUSCRIPT IN ITALIAN LITERARY STUDIES, MODERN LANGUAGES ASSOCIATION

Introduces a way to study migration that privileges literary analysis over and against sociological data and insists on the importance of culture in the production of political identities

This book argues that Italians first became racialized as white in São Paulo, Brazil, at the turn of the twentieth century. Whereas Italians in the United States struggled with xenophobia and were often not fully acknowledged as white, in São Paulo, due to a series of social, economic, and cultural fac­tors, Italians became closely …

The Malditas, The Filipinas, And The Azkals: A Socio-Onomastic Examination Of Nicknames Used For The Philippine Women’S And Men’S National Football Teams, Satwinder Rehal, Inez Z. Ponce De Leon

Department of Communication Faculty Publications

Nicknames in sports can serve a wide range of social and semantic functions. Assigning nicknames to athletes and teams can allow fans to identify with them. Such names can also become symbolic resources that fans and teams turn to when asserting their identity. Nicknames in sports come to convey varied meanings and interpretations understood within a set of contextual properties. This paper fills an empirical gap and investigates nicknames of national sports teams used in Southeast Asia. The investigative focus is on the nicknames of the Philippines men’s and women’s national football teams. Employing Leslie and Skipper’s socio-onomastic framework, this …

How Subversive Is Shipping Really? An Analysis Of Heteronormative Elements In Same-Sex Relationships Focused On German-Language Anime And Manga Fan Fiction, Saskia Dreßler

Proceedings from the Document Academy

This study investigates whether German-language fan fictions featuring lesbian and gay characters within the anime and manga domain can be regarded as genuinely queer. It situates these fan works within the specific traditions and practices of German fandom. Employing qualitative content analysis, the research examines two prominent fandoms, Naruto and Sailor Moon, focusing on the presence of heteronormative narrative patterns in fan fiction with queer protagonists. The study analyzes which aspects of the original media are adapted and how these adaptations shape the portrayal of queer identities. Furthermore, fan comments are examined to assess the extent to which readers …

Five Years Of Fanlis: Papers From The Fanlis 2025 Symposium, Lyn Robinson, Ludi Price

Proceedings from the Document Academy

We began the FanLIS project in 2020, as a basis from which to study, understand and progress information communication as it relates to fan works. Most of us are fans of something, and thus we all have the potential to appreciate and enjoy the fiction, artwork, music, poetry, plays, games and interactive experiences crafted by creative fans within our area of interest, in both analogue and digital formats. Fandom is perhaps the ultimate inclusive discipline.

Library and information science (LIS) theory and practice consider authorship, publication, distribution, indexing, access, storage, preservation, document and management related policies, use, reception and understanding …

Learning In Virtual Environments With Varying Levels Of Sensory Information, Maryam Derayati Far

Psychology Theses and Dissertations

The sensory environment plays a critical role in shaping learners’ attention, engagement, and retention. This thesis investigates how varying levels of sensory input in virtual reality (VR) classrooms influence learning for two age groups—children and young adults—and explores how individual differences in sensory processing moderate these effects. Using immersive VR technology to simulate classroom settings, two experimental studies were conducted. Study One involved 60 children aged 6–15 years, recruited primarily through a university-run summer camp. Study Two included 57 undergraduate students aged 18–36 years, recruited through a research participation pool. In both studies, participants were randomly assigned to either a …

Civilization: The Gaze Of Photography, William Alexander Ewing

Comparative Civilizations Review

If the lifetime of our species were imagined as a single 24-hour day, then civilization makes its appearance at the 23.02 mark. And photography? It comes on stage under a minute before midnight.

How marvelous it would have been to have had photography recording our lives throughout those millennia.

Library Instructions For Physician Assistant Students, Daniel Fidel Ferrer

Health Science Library Presentations

No abstract provided.

Himmelfarb Headlines - September/October 2025, The George Washington University, Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library

Himmelfarb Headlines (2009 - present)

News, information, and resources relating to Himmelfarb Library that is of interest to patrons.

Towards The Systematic Cross-Civilizational Comparison: How Civilizations Work - Case 1: The Monotheistic Civilization, Liah Greenfeld

Comparative Civilizations Review

The purpose of this essay is to offer several hypotheses based on the concept of civilization and the conceptual scaffolding for the study of the cultural reality, proposed in the Spring 2024 CCR paper, regarding the three civilizations coexisting in the world today: the monotheistic, the Sinic, and the Indic. It introduces the modal dimensions along which civilizations may differ on the level of the individual mind — cognitive (pertaining both to the structure and contents of thought), moral, and emotional; and that of the society (separate institutions and institutional systems) and history.

Reasoning From Injustice, Robert L. Tsai

Michigan Journal of Race and Law

In a series of lectures at Yale Law School, the Harvard political theorist Judith Shklar critiqued leading models of justice as overly abstract and lacking a realistic account of the social dynamics that perpetuate injustice. In this essay, Professor Tsai builds on Shklar’s account of injustice as a social phenomenon by offering a structural reading of key literary texts that explore the nature of legal injustice—from the Book of Job to Harriett Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Frederick Douglass’s The Heroic Slave. A close reading of these texts permits us to flesh out Shklar’s observations and “give injustice …

The Georgian Of Heritage Speaker Children, Cass Lowry

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation presents three research articles united in the goal of describing the Georgian language as it is spoken by heritage speakers in the Brooklyn diaspora. The Georgian heritage speaker subjects recruited for these studies were children due to immigration patterns at the time when experimental data was collected. Their production of morphosyntactic inflection and pronouns is compared to adult and child homeland speakers.

Heritage speakers of Georgian demonstrate the following divergences from homeland and standard language comparisons. Nominal case inflection is most affected in heritage production, as heritage speakers use a default case or collapse Georgian's split-ergative and inverse …