Digital Commons Network^™

Editorial Note: Genai For Academic Writing – Friend Or Foe?, Corina D. Riantoputra, Turro S. Wongkaren, Edo S. Jaya, Laras Sekarasih, Muhammad Abdan Shadiqi

Makara Human Behavior Studies in Asia

In an article published in Nature titled “ChatGPT listed as author in research papers” Stone-Walker (2023) shocks the academic community with the fact that GenAI tools such as ChatGPT and Gemini have gained a substantive role in the production of knowledge and academic writing. He reports that one research company has published 80 articles produced by GenAI in academic journals.  In the wake of Stone-Walker’s article, many publishers and journal editors set guidelines in relations to the role of GenAI in academic writings. All of them disagree to allow GenAI as an author.  Further, the Stanford University Artificial Intelligence Index …

Adaptive Multi-Agent Intelligence: A Dynamic Data Management System For Enhanced Data Quality And Reconciliation, Anthony Taeyang Vigil

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Organizations struggle with data quality problems that cost them millions of dollars annually. Manual data cleanup and standardizing, also known as reconciliation, can take skilled analysts days to complete and can still contain human errors. This dissertation addresses this challenge by developing and validating the Origin Data Management System, which automates processes that traditionally require days of manual work. The system achieved up to 100% accuracy in standardizing vendor names and identifying CEO information across real-world test datasets from Jefferson County Public Schools, Forbes, and Fortune Magazines. Processing time dropped from days to minutes—a 96-fold improvement over manual methods. These …

The Trek With Telos: A Rememberance Ofpaul Piccone (January 19, 1940—July 12,2004), Timothy W. Luke

Fast Capitalism

No abstract provided.

Salvaging Democracy After Election 2004, Douglas Kellner

Fast Capitalism

No abstract provided.

Why Were There So Many Jews In Sds? Or, The Ordeal Of Civility, Mark Rudd

Fast Capitalism

No abstract provided.

Killing The Field Of Dreams: George W. Bush, Empire And Politics Of Misrecognition, Jeremy Varon

Fast Capitalism

No abstract provided.

The Antinomies Of Brexit, Paul Smith

Fast Capitalism

Author Biography

Paul Smith, George Mason University

Paul Smith was educated at Cambridge and at the University of Kent in the UK and has a PhD in American Studies. Most of his working life has been spent in the US, including posts at Miami University OH, and Carnegie Mellon before his appointment to George Mason University in 1996. Between 1999 and 2002 he was chaired Professor and department head of Media and Cultural Studies at the University of Sussex in the UK. At Mason he has been director of the Center for the Study of the Americas and currently teaches …

Neoliberal Fascism As The Endpoint Of Casino Capitalism, Henry Giroux

Fast Capitalism

This article explores neoliberal fascism as a distinctive political formation within the current historical moment. In doing so, it first analyzes neoliberalism as a project that has since the 1970s destroyed all the commanding institutions of democracy while consolidating power in the hands of a financial elite. In addition, it analyzes neoliberalism as a movement, that produces and legitimates massive economic inequality and suffering, privatizes public goods, dismantles essential government agencies, and individualizes all social problems. Under such circumstances, neoliberalism creates the conditions for right wing extremists to mobilize the anger of white disenfranchised working class populations by both appealing …

Effectiveness Of A Health Literacy Program For Enhancing Self-Care Behavior And Diabetes Prevention Among Pre-Diabetic Buddhist Monks In Upper Northeastern Thailand, Supattra Noo-In, Thidarat Somdee, Chitkamon Srichomphoo, Jirarat Ruetrakul, Chaloemporn Namyota, Le Ke Nghiep, Santisith Khiewkhern

Journal of Health Research

Background: Buddhist monks in Thailand experience distinctive lifestyle constraints—such as dependence on alms-based diets and restrictions on strenuous physical activity—that heighten their vulnerability to type 2 diabetes. This study examined the effectiveness of a structured health literacy program in improving diabetes-preventive self-care behaviors among pre-diabetic Buddhist monks in upper northeastern Thailand.

Methods: A quasi-experimental study was conducted with 72 pre-diabetic monks, evenly allocated to intervention and comparison groups. The intervention group completed a 24-week structured health literacy program. Health literacy and self-care behaviors were assessed using validated questionnaires before and after the intervention, and the data were analyzed using descriptive …

Understanding Mobility Limitations And Public Transportation Accessibility For People With Disabilities, Jada Meria Stringer

ETDs from 2020-2029

Mobility for people with disabilities (PWDs) depends on both the availability of transportation and public services and the accessibility of these systems. The presence of public transportation systems does not ensure usability. Vehicles, infrastructure, and the built environment must be designed to accommodate diverse physical, sensory, cognitive, and other needs. PWDs must also be able to navigate public buildings and surrounding spaces safely and comfortably. This thesis examines mobility limitations for PWDs in India and the United States, focusing on accessibility along the full mobility chain. A review of existing literature provides context on accessibility policies, design standards, and the …

How To Finalize Pdfs To Correspond To American Disabilities Act (Ada) Tagging: The Basics, Kimberly Holling

ScholarWorks Publications

This document is a basic step-by-step outline for tagging a PDF file in accordance with the American Disabilities Act (ADA).  ADA tagging allows a digital document to work well with screen readers in order to assist those with visual impairments to more fully engage with a document's content.  This is not a comprehensive guide, as it will not cover forms or complex tables.  This specific workflow shows how to use Adobe Acrobat Pro to work with, finalize, and verify accessibility in PDFs created from simple Word documents.  Such documents should already use Word heading and list features and very simple …

Hard Hats And Second Chances: A Phenomenological Study Of Employer Support In Construction-Based Reintegration, Christofer M. Pacheco

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative phenomenological study examines how formerly incarcerated individuals perceive and experience employer support during workplace reintegration in the construction industry. Although employment is widely recognized as a protective factor against recidivism, post-hire experiences from the perspective of justice-involved employees remain underexplored. Grounded in an interpretivist paradigm and informed by Social Support, Social Learning, and Identity perspectives, the study investigated how structure, self, and environment interact to influence retention, growth, and desistance.

Nineteen interviews were completed with six construction workers in New Mexico who had maintained employment for at least one year following incarceration. Through the use of Seidman’s three-interview …

Advanced Experimental Learning And Behavior Analysis Lab Manual, Holly R. Weisberg, Sally Izquierdo

Open Educational Resources

Classroom and online lab exercises for a learning and applied behavior analysis course.

Examining Pain- Related Stigma And Sources Of Resilience In Children With Disorders Of Gut-Brain Interaction, Tolulope Adetayo

ETDs from 2020-2029

Background. Painful disorders of gut-brain interaction (DGBI) affect approximately one in five children. In addition to functional impairments, DGBI increase risk for felt stigma (FS) from providers, school personnel, family members, and peers. Children with DGBI may also belong to other minoritized groups that intersect with pain-related FS. However, little is known about how intersectionality impacts the stigma and pain experiences of youth. Further, little is known about the protective capabilities of psychosocial resources (e.g., social support and hope) against FS. Thus, the current study aimed to investigate the impact of FS and its potential moderators in a sample of …

Posterior Cerebellar Lobe Deviations And Social Cognition In Individuals With Psychosis And Their Unaffected Relatives, Andreea Maria Stanica

ETDs from 2020-2029

Social cognition deficits observed in psychotic disorders contribute to functional impairments. The cerebellum has been identified as a critical brain region involved in social cognitive processes, but the relationship between cerebellar structural deviations and social cognition in individuals with psychosis (probands) and their unaffected relatives remains unclear. Using normative modeling, this study examined cerebellar volume deviations in probands and their unaffected first-degree relatives and investigated associations with social cognitive and motor performance. Probands exhibited significant theory of mind deficits compared to relatives. Probands showed negative deviations in anterior cerebellar lobe relative to the norm, whereas relatives did not. Deviations in …

The Effectiveness Of A Web-Based, Edutainment Intervention On Hiv-Related Stigma, Hiv Knowledge, And Condom Use Self-Efficacy Among Black/African American Emerging Adults, Shirlacia Gray

ETDs from 2020-2029

The Effectiveness of a Web-Based, Edutainment Intervention on HIV-Related Stigma, HIV Knowledge, and Condom Use Self-Efficacy among Black/African American Emerging Adults SHIRLACIA S. GRAY APPLIED DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY ABSTRACT Background: Edutainment interventions were developed to increase knowledge, to influence people’s attitudes and behaviors toward sexual, social and public health issues, and to promote behavior change. This current study implemented an edutainment intervention to examine its effectiveness on increasing HIV knowledge, reducing HIV-related stigma, and increasing condom use self-efficacy among Black/African American Emerging Adults in Birmingham, AL. Methods: This current study used longitudinal data from the City Health-II intervention for secondary data …

Exploring Criminality Through A Developmental Lens: Contextual Effects From Childhood To Emerging Adulthood, Abigail Jeanette Anderson

ETDs from 2020-2029

Adolescent delinquency is a key predictor of later criminal behaviors and is associated with negative outcomes across education, employment, and health. Despite extensive research, gaps remain regarding the interplay of individual- and context-level factors in the development of delinquency, as well as the reliance on cross-sectional or retrospective designs. Guided by a social-ecological framework, the present dissertation examines how family, school, and neighborhood contexts interact with individual behaviors to shape pathways toward delinquency and adult criminality across childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood. The first study investigated the cascading effects of paternal engagement, parental aggravation, and early child behavior problems in …

Challenging The Double-Negation Principle: An Analysis Of Strategic Theories Of Sun Zi, Carnot, And Clausewitz Through Intuitionist Logic, Antonino Drago

Comparative Philosophy

To study a subject similarly represented in Eastern and Western cultures, I examine some classical theories of war strategy according to a new analytical method. This method is based on the recognition that the most important strategic theories are organized as theories essentially not deduced from axioms according to classical logic. Such theories reason through doubly negated propositions (DNPs), whose meanings differ from those of their affirmative counterparts. This corresponds to the use of intuitionist logic instead of classical logic. An inspection of the works of the texts of Sun Zi, Lazare Carnot, and Clausewitz reveals many such propositions, and …

Minding Machines: A Note On Alienation, Sascha Engel

Fast Capitalism

This paper discusses an underrepresented dimension of contemporary alienation: that of machines, and particularly of computing machines. The term 'machine' is understood here in the broadest sense, spanning anything from agricultural harvesters to cars and planes. Likewise, 'computing machine' is understood broadly, from homeostatic machines, such as thermostats, to algorithmic universal machines, such as smartphones. I suggest that a form of alienation manifests in the functionalist use and description of machines in general; that is, in descriptions of machines as mere tools or testaments to human ingenuity. Such descriptions ignore the real and often capricious existence of machines as everyday …

Max Weber's Odyssey: The Wild West, The Frontier, And The Capitalist Spirit, David Norman Smith

Fast Capitalism

This article examines one aspect of Weber's thinking with respect to the United States: his view of frontier regions as new horizons for capitalism. This was not an incidental or side issue for Weber, whose famed analysis of The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism was only half-finished when he traveled through the United States in 1904. Nor is Weber's outlook on this topic immaterial for contemporary historians, many of whom now affirm quasi-Weberian views under such rubrics as "the New Western" history. A full account of Weber's notion of the frontier would exceed the limits of a journal …

Divining Domination: Steve Bannon As A Political Mystagogue, Tony Allen Feldmann

Fast Capitalism

Right-wing commentators (on tv, radio, newspapers, documentaries, or the internet) are often considered a source of misinformation and radicalization in American politics. Understanding the role of such commentators in the political sphere has taken on new significance since the election of Trump, who regularly takes talking points as well as political advice from prominent figures in right-wing media. The purpose of these political "shock jocks" also extends beyond mere political commentary: They offer their audience a framework for understanding the world. This framework contains certain reified perceptions of society and history. Durkheim and those working in his tradition have long …

Shakespeare's Plays Of Deranged Authority: The King's Three Bodies, Daniel Krier

Fast Capitalism

Shakespeare's plays are situated upon the threshold of two worlds: a declining traditional order torn apart by political rivalry and ascendant early-modern capitalism. The history plays dramatize infighting among warring factions of privileged aristocrats as well as revolutionary forces propelled by the rising commons and the politics of commodity. Legitimate authority is rarely secure among the kings perched upon Shakespearean thrones. In Shakespeare's Henriad and King John, crowns are contested from the moment they are placed upon royal heads, inspiring Kantorwicz's political theology: the corporeal body of short-lived kings is distinct from the sovereign's sublime body that reigns without cease. …

The Sorrows Of Modern Subjectivity: Capital, Infinity Disease, And Werther's Hysterical Neurois, Christopher Altamura

Fast Capitalism

In this article I analyze Werther, the protagonist of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's novel, The Sorrows of Young Werther. I argue that Werther and his sorrows must be understood within the context of the unique configuration of alienation(s) present in modern societies, characterized by the sui generis combination of capital, egoism and anomie, and asceticism. Further, I argue the sociologically alienating conditions of modern societies create neurotic subjects of repression who lack compensatory symbols of moral worth, which drives them to pursue equivalent signification via fantasy. Finally, I argue that Werther represents an extreme case of hysterical neurosis emanating from …

The Master's Race: Phallic Whiteness In "The Young Savages", Graham Cassano

Fast Capitalism

This essay examines two parallel, historically contemporaneous, depictions of the Freudian master-slave dialectic. John Frankenheimer's first film, The Young Savages (1961), reconstructs Hank Bell's (Burt Lancaster) repressed transformation from Italian racial other into a white ethnic. In doing so, the film approaches the possibility that race itself may be a kind of social construction. To get at this notion, the film explores the meaning of race in an overtly psychoanalytic language. In fact, The Young Savages echoes the argument of Jacques Lacan's nearly contemporaneous essay, "The subversion of the subject and the dialectic of desire in the Freudian unconscious." Lacan's …

Ignoring Goethe's Faust: A Critical-Theoretical Perspective On American Ideology, Harry F. Dahms

Fast Capitalism

The neglect of Goethe, his work in general, and Faust in particular, in English-speaking countries, is notorious. While Shakespeare's plays have been prominent and widely performed in German-speaking countries, the same is not true for Goethe in the English-speaking world. Focusing non-exclusively on Faust, and cutting a link to Thomas Mann's Doctor Faustus, I will endeavor to delineate problematic aspects of American ideology, and what it would take, within U.S. sociology, to be cognizant of the latter.   Georg Lukacs wrote about Goethe and Faust, and so did Theodor W. Adorno and Leo Loewenthal, highlighting its importance to critical theory. The …

The Beatings Will Continue Until Morale Improves, Mark P. Worrell

Fast Capitalism

Introduction to the Symposium: "Cultural Reflections of Capital."

Author Biography

Mark P. Worrell, SUNY Cortland Professor, Retired

Educating Medical Trainees On Mental Healthcare And Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities, Andrea Palmieri, Joan B. Beasley, Micah Peace Urquilla, Jennifer Mclaren

Developmental Disabilities Network Journal

Many children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) experience mental health conditions and commonly receive treatment with psychotropic medications. Prescribers often overuse these medications in children with IDD, who are frequently treated with polypharmacy and antipsychotics, a trend that continues into adulthood. Medical trainees receive little training regarding the IDD patient population. This paper describes the development and evaluation of an evidence-informed, easy-to-use training curriculum. The 6-hour training establishes a foundation for medical trainees regarding the treatment of mental health conditions in people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD-MH) as part of an integrated health, interdisciplinary treatment approach. …

Lanthorn, Vol. 60, No. 10, January 26, 2026, 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.

Blockchain Adoption In Thailand’S Elections: Perspectives, Limitations, And The Proposed Tberm Model, Charm Peeraphirom, Waiwit Chanwimalueng

Jurnal Wacana Politik

This study assesses Thailand’s readiness for blockchain-based elections by utilizing qualitative methods and semi-structured interviews with five experts in law, technology, economics, and administration. The data were analyzed through the dimensions of privacy, accessibility, transparency, security, and scalability. Findings reveal that while blockchain enhances integrity, significant barriers exist including insufficient transaction throughput, high costs, voter coercion risks, and limited digital literacy. Legal gaps regarding the PDPA also hinder adoption. Consequently, the study proposes the Thailand Blockchain Election Readiness Model (TBERM) which is a hybrid framework integrating blockchain auditing with physical polling units to mitigate security and accessibility concerns. The results …

Disruptive Religion And Ethical Opposition: The Force Of Moral Authority In Indonesia’S Democratic Consolidation, Savran Billahi, Idris Thaha, Suryani Suryani, Mohammad Ezha Fachriza

Jurnal Wacana Politik

This article argues that democratic consolidation in Indonesia cannot be explained solely through the performance of formal institutions. By foregrounding ethical opposition as a missing variable in dominant consolidation theories, it shows that democracy has also been sustained by a normative infrastructure that legitimizes critique beyond institutional arenas. Based on qualitative historical analysis of Abdurrahman Wahid’s and Ahmad Syafii Maarif’s oppositional practices under the New Order and in the post-Reformasi period, the article finds that moral authority enabled non-institutional opposition to constrain state power, normalize dissent, and protect democratic quality. While both figures articulated a corrective and non-subversive mode of …