Digital Commons Network^™

Information Literacy In Charter Schools: An Institutional Ethnography, Katherine Klein

Theses and Dissertations

A strength of US charter schools is their opportunity to carve out an educational niche. Without the same regulation and district control present in traditional public schools, a charter school’s approach can seriously impact how the school addresses information literacy. In our current culture, we are saturated with media and technology, and students learn about navigating, evaluating, and using information responsibly and creatively at school. However, there is currently no published research on how charters do this critical work with their students, particularly with fewer libraries and librarians in the sector. This study uses institutional ethnography to map ruling relations …

Clusters In The Storm: Regional Economic Specialization Before And After Hurricane Harvey, Gwyneth King Waddington

Theses and Dissertations

In recent years, large-scale disaster events have dominated headlines. As the world faces an increasing number of such disasters, it is crucial to understand their impacts beyond immediate monetary losses. Disasters not only directly impact individuals and businesses but may also reshape the spatial patterns of the regional economy. Through a case study of Hurricane Harvey in Texas and Louisiana, this study examines how disaster events influence regional economic specialization patterns and contribute to uneven impacts across economic supersectors and geographies. Expanding on previous methodologies, this study incorporates temporal analysis tools to identify and investigate case studies of economic change. …

Calibrated Structures Of Feeling: Cultural Citizenship And The Reproduction Of The Military In Singapore, John Lowe, George Wong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This article discusses the nexus between Raymond Williams’ structure of feelings and the reproduction of military masculinity as cultural citizenship. By placing the gaze upon National Service in the Singapore Armed Forces as a rite of passage into manhood, this work uses representations of the military in popular culture and souvenirs/ephemera to elucidate how structures of feeling are calibrated as masculinity the state wants its citizenry to internalize. These render military masculinity emergent for Singaporean male bodies. With the male body functioning as an important edifice of the military, emotions toward military service are the connective tissue between enactments of …

Singapore At 60: Home Truly Is An Idea That Never Stands Still, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

There are many new stories to embrace but also quiet distances between us that we must bridge.

In a National Day op-ed published in The Straits Times, SMU President Professor Lily Kong reflects on what ‘home’ means as Singapore marks its 60th year of independence — and how that meaning continues to evolve across generations. Prompted by a walk through a familiar playground now transformed, Prof Kong considers how Singapore’s changing physical and social landscape mirrors shifts in national identity. While progress and policy evolution signal a society in transition, she also notes the emergence of quieter divides – between …

Governing Migration, Producing Skills: Emigration And Education In The Philippines, Yasmin Y. Ortiga, Roderick. Galam

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This article examines skill as an integral yet understudied aspect of emigration governance. To date, migration studies have mainly focused on how the demand for migrant skills drive people's movements across borders, shaping the conditions for entry into popular destinations in the West. In contrast, less is known as to how skills also shape the way governments manage emigration, pushing would-be migrants to acquire certain capacities well before they leave their countries of origin. Drawing from the case of the Philippines, this article discusses how state agencies have used skills training to dominate specific markets for migrant professionals and demand …

Dynamicpatch: Method And Software For Spatially Explicit Dynamic Patch Transition Characterization, Aiyin Zhang, Robert Gilmore Pontius, Thomas Mumuni Bilintoh, Florencia Sangermano, John Rogan

Geography

Context: Decades of research have used spatial pattern metrics at time points, such as those in FRAGSTATS, to measure the net change of landscape configuration and composition during time intervals. However, metrics at time points fail to quantify a time interval’s gross change, which can be substantially larger than net change between two time points. The field of landscape ecology has lacked a conceptual framework and accompanying software to characterize patterns of gross change during time intervals in terms of patches that are spatially explicit with a typology that is mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive.

Objectives: We present a new …

Analyzing Google Maps As A Data Source For Urban Research In Dhaka, Xinyi Du

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

This paper investigates how mass transit infrastructure shapes urban economic activity by examining the impact of Dhaka's first metro line using novel Google Maps data. Leveraging the opening of Metro Line 6 on December 2022, we employ a difference-in-differences framework to analyze changes in business establishment density around metro stations. Our estimates show that every 1% reduction in distance to the nearest metro station adds, on average, about 0.092–0.111 establishments per 40 m × 40 m grid cell—that is, roughly 57 – 69 additional businesses per square kilometer. The effect is even more pronounced for dining: about 1 – 4 …

Redefining Rural Representation In Short Story Anthologies: Using Short Stories To Highlight Rural Counterstories, Brittany Gargano-Smith, Jenna Spiering

The Rural Educator

This article explores the importance of incorporating diverse rural short stories into English language arts (ELA) curricula to foster empathy, understanding, and connection among students. It addresses underrepresentation and lack of variety in rural stories within publishing and traditional curricula, which affects rural students’ sense of identity and belonging. Through exploration of rural short story anthologies, the authors highlight the significance of counterstories that depict the intersectional dimensions of rural life, including geography, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic background, and abilities. By amplifying contemporary rural voices and complicating stereotypes, educators can create more inclusive learning environments that validate diverse experiences.

Wild Hogs In The Water: Contested Infrastructural Ecologies Of Reservoir Storage In Texas, Sayd Randle

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

Reservoirs are developed to store water in reserve for future use. But once built, reservoir sites inevitably hold more than just water, often serving as a key habitat for a range of species. This paper examines how one such animal has transformed water storage facilities and nearby landscapes into contested ground in urbanising areas of Texas, USA. Living around the reservoirs, feral hogs complicate the process of urbanisation by degrading the stockpiled water and infrastructure at the storage sites themselves and by damaging private property throughout the surrounding landscape. Tracking local efforts to manage the hogs, the case study illustrates …

Political Ecologies Of Storage For The 21st Century, Sayd Randle, Matthew Archer

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

New resource storage arrangements are proliferating rapidly both in terms of physical infrastructures-for the storage of things like "clean" energy, nuclear waste, carbon dioxide, fresh water, and data-and as part of a set of discursive moves that reinforce a vision of a near future world in which problems of climate change mitigation and adaptation in particular (but also issues like energy security, water security, industry growth, etc.) are solved through eco-modernist techno-fixes. This Symposium sketches the contours of a framework we term political ecologies of storage. In doing so, we treat storage as both a potent imaginary and a concrete …

The Miseducation Of Model Minorities: The Gospel Of ‘Schoolvation’ And The Myth Of The Schooled Society, Justin Kh Tse

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

The ‘model minority’, the phenomenon of some ‘minority’ communities (or some members within them) achieving social and economic advancement despite encountering the difficulties of assimilating into a mainstream society, is often described as a myth, especially as one of the central problematics in Asian American studies. Usually, the modern use of the word myth is pejorative: the model minority in this sense refers to a false empirical description of some minorities and should be quantitatively disaggregated and qualitatively debunked. In this article, I want to explore the model minority as another kind of myth, in the classical sense of mythos, …

A New City For A New Era: Xiong'an As Showcase Of China's Evolving Urban Ideology, Andrew Stokols

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

Cities have long been expressions of political ideology in China and elsewhere. During China’s rapid urbanization over the past few decades, “new areas” became popular strategies to promote urban growth, following the success of Shenzhen, widely regarded as China’s first special economic zone. Today under Xi, Xiong’an New Area has become the latest “new area of national significance.” But unlike previous new areas in China, Xiong’an has become wedded to a distinct vision of the urban in Xi Jinping’s China, one in which the excesses of reform-era urbanization are controlled through new forms of affordable housing and finance, new ecological …

Assessment Of Spatial Autocorrelation And Scalability In Fine-Scale Wildfire Random Forest Prediction Models, Madeleine Pascolini-Campbell, Joshua B. Fisher, Kerry Cawse-Nicholson, Christine M. Lee, Natasha Stavros

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Wildfire prediction models that can be applied across diverse regions at fine scales (<  100 m) are critical for wildfire management. Remote sensing offers a path forward by providing heterogeneous and dynamic measurements of fuel load, type, and flammability. Machine learning methods such as random forests provide an empirical framework that are high-accuracy, computationally efficient, interpretable and able to model complex ecological relationships. Here we use high resolution (70 m, every 3–5 days) remote sensing observations of evapotranspiration and evaporative stress index, which represent plant water stress, from Ecosystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer on Space Station (ECOSTRESS), as well as topography and weather data, to predict burn severity and occurrence for 8 large wildfires that burned 3715 km² from 2021 and 2022 in New Mexico, USA. These fires ranged from low to high burn intensity, and covered a diverse range of ecoregions (deserts, grasslands, forests), plant species, and topographies. We used a single model to predict the burn severity of all wildfires one week before occurrence. The prediction accuracy was greatest when using all predictors (ECOSTRESS, weather, topography) (R² = 0.77). We assessed the role of spatial autocorrelation in driving model performance by: (1) increasing the sample spacing of our dataset, (2) …

Evidence-Based Shared Agendas For Scholarship On Teaching With Primary Sources: Reflections On A Bibliometric Analysis, Jen Hoyer, Anne Bahde

Publications and Research

This article explores how scholarship about teaching with primary sources (TPS) has evolved over time and what future directions past work might suggests. Using bibliometric analysis and visualization tools, we examined how TPS work has grown; what fields and disciplines focus on this work; key themes and issues; and what scholarship has been influential to the field. These insights led to reflections on disconnects across the field, considerations for publishing about TPS, and the potential of pedagogical standards and guidelines. Finally, this article concludes with recommendations on how this analysis points to possibilities for shared education, space, conversation, and products.

An Exploration Of Students' Recollections After An Asynchronous, On-Site Academic Library Tour, Adrienne Warner

University Libraries & Learning Sciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Once an integral component to library instruction programs, tours of academic library spaces are less common despite students’ continued need for study spaces with various qualities. This study asks, "What do students remember after taking an asynchronous, on-site academic library tour?" Qualitative analysis finds that, while students value library study spaces, they also report predominantly positive feelings about the library and the tour itself. This research suggests that technical affordances can mitigate some historical drawbacks of tours while offering students a valuable library instruction experience.

Descending Asymmetry In Proximate, Mobile And Digital Care: Chinese Older People Grandparenting Across Distance Within China And Overseas, Catriona Stevens, Rachel Murphy, Yu Huang, Loretta Baldassar

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This article juxtaposes cases of grandparents who provide care for their grandchildren in two broad types of migrant families: (1) families where some members have migrated from the Chinese countryside to larger cities and (2) families where some members have migrated from China to Australia. By examining the proximate, mobile and digital forms of their grandparenting care labour, this article demonstrates the surprising durability and stability of care repertoires across distance and class. Despite the great differences of their migration geographies and family resources, these families nonetheless all demonstrate remarkably similar repertoires of caregiving articulated with reference to similar cultural …

Extractivism And Water Crisis In The Moroccan Draa Oasis: Global South Reflections On Responsibility And Resistance, Ahmed El Khatabi

Journal of Maya Heritage

Abstract. The Draa Oasis in southeastern Morocco is experiencing severe water scarcity, driven by climate change and intensified by the expansion of watermelon agribusiness and desert tourism. This article explores how external investors, empowered by national agricultural policies, have disrupted traditional water governance systems rooted in collective management. Through ethnographic fieldwork involving interviews, focus groups, and spatial mapping, the study examines the socio-environmental consequences of groundwater depletion and land commodification. It argues that investors fail to assume ethical accountability for the ecological degradation they cause, despite being aware of the oasis’s fragile ecosystem. Meanwhile, local communities and civil society actors …

Victimization In The Grain Tower: A Study Of The Effect Of Community Perceptions On Victimization Risk And Perceived Wellness In A Rural Environment, Morgan Steele, April Terry, Ziwei Qi, Troy Terry, Tamara Lynn

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Social science research has studied the role of neighborhood order in explaining perceptions of crime and official crime statistics for decades. When citizens perceive their neighborhood to be socially and/or physically disordered, community and interpersonal relationships diminish, mistrust increases, including negative perceptions of police legitimacy, and overall individual wellness decreases. However, little is known about these interactions within a college population—neighborhoods referred to as “studentification” and described as “student ghettos.” Using an online survey distributed to all students, faculty, and staff of a midwestern rural university, we sought to better understand the university population’s perceptions regarding social disorder, police legitimacy, …

No. 43: Migration, Food Insecurity And Angolan Migrants In Namibia, Lawrence N. Kazembe, Ndeyapo Nickanor, Godfrey Tawodzera

Migration and Food Security (MiFOOD) Network

This study examines the food security challenges faced by Angolan migrants in Namibia, focusing on the interplay between migration, livelihoods, and food insecurity. Drawing on survey data from households in Northern towns and the capital city of Namibia, the research reveals high levels of food insecurity among Angolan migrants, characterized by limited dietary diversity and a reliance on coping strategies such as consuming less preferred foods and reducing meal portions. The findings highlight the marginalization of migrants, who primarily work in the informal sector with low incomes, exacerbating their vulnerability. The COVID-19 pandemic further worsened food insecurity by disrupting livelihoods …

"I Have A Very Particular Set Of Skills": Special Cataloging Approaches For Special Collections., Sasha Frizzell, Erin Labove, Natasha Zaleski

Library Scholarship

Cataloging special collections materials requires specialized training that is not always readily available to catalogers. This presentation will explain the workflows and resources used by three different librarians to catalog materials with unique challenges: community cookbooks, government documents, and archival scrapbooks. Participants will gain the knowledge and confidence to catalog niche material types as this presentation introduces specialized MARC fields, databases, websites, controlled vocabularies, and descriptive standards to use as part of their cataloging toolkit.

Analysis Of The Development Potential And Strategy Of The Kauman Batik Village In Surakarta Using Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix (Qspm) Approach, Fauzi Syani Prananto, Edi Kurniawan, Satya Budi Nugraha

Jurnal Pendidikan Geografi: Kajian, Teori, dan Praktek dalam Bidang Pendidikan dan Ilmu Geografi

The increasing development of other leading destinations in Surakarta City, there are many challenges that must be faced by Kauman Surakarta Batik Village. The activation of tourism potential that has not been fully managed optimally shows that the existence of the village is starting to be threatened. The purpose of this research is to identify tourism potential that needs to be developed and to analyze the development strategy of Kampung Batik Kauman Surakarta tourist attraction by looking at the potential it has. The method used in this research is quantitative with data collection techniques, namely observation, interviews and questionnaires. Data …

Flash Flood Modelling In The Brantas Hulu Sub-Watershed, Batu City, Indonesia, Listyo Yudha Irawan, Vischawafiq Azizah, Siti Nur Farihah, Luisa Fernanda Medina, Puspita Indra Wardhani, Nanda Regita Cahyaning Putri, Mellinia Regina Heni Prastiwi, Mohammad Rendra Magandhi Arizal

Jurnal Pendidikan Geografi: Kajian, Teori, dan Praktek dalam Bidang Pendidikan dan Ilmu Geografi

Flash floods are especially hazardous hydrological phenomena, noted for their abrupt occurrence and capacity to inflict severe damage on infrastructure, farmlands, and residential zones, often leading to substantial socio-economic upheaval and fatalities. A flash flood struck the Upper Brantas watershed on November 4, 2021, at 14:00, precipitated by intense rainfall over a short duration, leading to significant hydrological impacts. The event manifested at six critical points within Batu City, with Sambong Hamlet and Beru Hamlet experiencing severe inundation. The flash floods disrupted residential areas and severely affected agricultural lands through debris flows. Preliminary assessments indicated that approximately 35 houses were …

Balat, Maskara, At Wika: Karanasan Ng Isang Dayuhan Sa Pilipinas, Jc Gaillard

Dalumat: Multikultural at Multidisiplinaryong E-Journal sa Araling Filipino

Ang punang ito ay tungkol sa karanasan ng may-akda na dayuhan at kung bakit naging abnormal siya dahil marunong siyang mag-Filipino at Kapampangan sa bansang Pilipinas. Samakatwid, ang pinakatanong ng artikulong ito ay ano ba talaga ang pamantayan at normal sa relasyon ng Pilipinx at dayuhang puti pag dating sa wika? Sa karanasan ng may-akda, naging sentido kumon na normal ang mag-Ingles at abnormal ang mag-Filipino at mag-iba pang katutubong wika. Ganito kalalim ang internalisasyon at normalisasyon ng Ingles bilang wika ng Pilipinx sa harapan ng dayuhang puti sa Pilipinas. Kaya pag dating sa wika, kayumanggi ang balat pero puti …

Who Bears The Burden? An Assessment Of Vulnerability And Resilience To Consecutive Disasters In The Portland Metro Region, Idowu Ajibade, Jason Sauer, Matthew Walter, James M. Done, Ming Ge, Elliot Gall, Aswatha Raghunathasami, Paul C. Loikith, Chris Lower, Heejun Chang, Arun Pallathadka, E Mae Sowards

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

Climate-related disasters threaten urban areas worldwide, yet gaps remain in understanding how multiple stressors interact to shape resilience. This study examines exposure, vulnerability, and resilience across three consecutive extreme events in the Portland metro area: the September 2020 wildfire-related air pollution, the February 2021 snowstorm, and the June 2021 heatwave. We used geographically weighted regression and Spearman rank correlation analysis to investigate relationships between hazard impacts, the social vulnerability index (SoVI), Baseline Resilience Indicators for Communities (BRIC), and proximity to community-based organizations (CBOs) in 416 census tracts. Our analysis reveals strong spatial correlations between wildfire-related air pollution, winter storm impacts, …

An Alternative To The Liberal World Order: China, Brics, And Middle East Diplomacy, Brice Tseen Fu Lee, Kotchaphop Kornphetcharat, Juan Pablo Sims

Journal of Middle East and Islamic Studies

This paper explores how China and BRICS are emerging as strategic alternatives to the liberal international order, particularly in the realm of diplomacy and mediation for periphery states in the Middle East. Drawing on a realist theoretical framework, the study argues that these platforms offer pragmatic, interest-based avenues for engagement that contrast sharply with the conditionalities and normative expectations of Western-led institutions. Through case studies such as China’s mediation in the Iran–Saudi Arabia normalization and the expansion of BRICS+ to include Middle Eastern actors, the paper demonstrates how sovereignty, non-interference, and multipolarity have become central organizing principles for a new …

Beyond The Books: Virtual Reality In Academic Libraries, Beryl White-Bing

Library Presentations & Publications

Explore how academic libraries are revolutionizing education with Virtual Reality (VR). This session showcases the integration of VR experiences at the University of North Florida's Virtual Learning Center, offering a hands-on approach to enhancing student engagement and learning outcomes. Discover how VR stations can transform traditional instruction, bringing abstract concepts to life and providing immersive learning experiences across disciplines. Attendees will gain insights into setting up a VR-enabled learning space, selecting educational VR content, and incorporating these technologies into curriculum design. Whether you're a library professional or an educator, this session will empower you to harness the power of VR …

K2) A Pilgrimage Site As A Votive Offering: The Cases Of The Giant Statues Of Mar Charbel In Faraya And Hammana (Lebanon), Nour Farra Haddad

International Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Conferences

Lebanon is located at the extreme east of the Mediterranean Sea and sandwiched between Syria and Israel/Palestine. What make this small country different from the others in the region are the close distances between the mountains, the sea and the green landscapes in the middle of deserted plains as well as its religious diversity with eighteen different communities.

The constant evolution of sacred geography in Lebanon testifies to the importance of Christian and Muslim religious markers in the landscape. The different communities have never stopped developing and building churches, monasteries, mosques, maqams and oratories. We have also seen that in …

J4) Regenerating Responsible Tourism - Conceptual Framework In Context Of Religious And Spiritual Destinations, Tomasz Duda, Anna Gardzinska

International Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Conferences

In the times of global challenges related to excessive tourist activity, environmental degradation, and the commercialization of sites of particular cultural and religious significance, the need for a regenerative approach to tourism is still growing. Responsible tourism, based on the principles of sustainable development and respect for local values, is an important element of this transformation. The aim of this presentation is to develop a conceptual framework for regenerating responsible tourism in the context of religious and spiritual destinations.

The study includes a literature review on responsible tourism, sustainable development, and regenerative management strategies for sacred sites. Based on qualitative …

“Dark” Narratives Of Venezuelan Migrants In Trinidad And Tobago: Voices Of Gratitude And Resilience In A Foreign Land, Susan Chand

Adventist Human-Subject Researchers Association

This study explored narratives of Venezuelan migrants in Trinidad during and post COVID-19 lockdown. Key themes of “gratitude” and “resilience” emerged despite exploitation and discrimination migrants faced in a foreign land. “Dark Ethnography” concept is applied to understand migrants’ lived experiences and the church’s role in integrating to new environment.

“Me Siento Como En Puerto Rico” : Puerto Rican Diaspora Communities’ Placemaking Through Urban Agri-Culture, Zuleima Esmeralda Vázquez-Carrillo

Theses - ALL

Puerto Ricans have a long history of migrating to the U.S., historically laboring as farmworkers, a result of colonial displacement and economic restructuring. Some Puerto Ricans who migrated to the U.S. engage in Urban Agriculture, helping them maintain ties to their cultural identity by growing Puerto Rican foods and creating gardening and farming spaces that resemble the Puerto Rican landscape. While critical food and UA scholars have vastly studied the connections between placemaking and food justice through the experiences of immigrants, the Puerto Rican diaspora has been largely overlooked. Drawing from interviews and landscape analysis from field visits in Puerto …