Digital Commons Network^™

What Do We Owe A Drowning Coast? Examining Louisiana's Coastal Crisis Through The Lens Of Environmental Justice, Owen M. Plaisance

Honors Theses

This thesis argues that human contributions to Louisiana’s coastal land loss constitute a form of environmental injustice that cannot be adequately addressed through frameworks focused solely on aggregate welfare or distributive fairness. While utilitarian and Rawlsian approaches offer important insights, both are limited in capturing the full scope of harm caused by environmental degradation. In coastal Louisiana, land loss undermines not only economic resources and physical security but also the substantive freedoms required for individuals and communities to live meaningful and culturally rooted lives, while disrupting ecological systems and non-human flourishing. To address these limitations, the thesis develops the Capabilities …

Foreword

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs (2012 - Present)

No abstract provided.

A Set Of Best Practices For Administering Zoom Debate Competitions, John F. Patrick Ii

Studies in Debate and Oratory

Running a debate competition over Zoom is not just a technical exercise. It’s an educational event that asks organizers to balance fairness, logistics, and civic purpose in a medium that was never designed with debate in mind. The Civic Debate Consortium has used Zoom extensively to host competitions since 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic forced much of higher education into online environments. Over the past several years we’ve developed a set of practices for administering competitions over Zoom that make the difference between a chaotic video call and a polished, professional experience. This article outlines those practices, not as abstract …

Spatial Analysis Of Heavy Metal Leaching Threats From North Dakota Landfills To Drinking Water Aquifers, Leila Campbell

Arts & Sciences Undergraduate Showcase

Groundwater is a primary fresh water source for most rural communities in North Dakota. The EPA acknowledges that landfill leakage is not a matter of if but when, and early detection can be extremely difficult. This project identifies which counties and aquifers face the greatest threat from landfill heavy-metal leaching based on proximity, waste types, and groundwater vulnerability, thereby indicating which landfills warrant the closest monitoring and regulatory compliance.   The methodology combines two indexes. The DRASTIC index identifies aquifer vulnerability to surface pollution based on hydrogeologic factors. These factors are weighted by their significance to produce a score that reflects …

Party, Place, And Pocketbooks: What Shapes Americans’ Trust In Political Institutions, Hwayong Shin

Weidenbaum Center Survey (WCS) Reports

Evidence from the Weidenbaum Center Surveys (Waves 6–8) suggests that trust in institutions has not simply evaporated. Instead, it is being sorted along several cleavages, such as partisanship, geography, and personal economic security. While trust in the federal government remains relatively low yet stable from May 2025 to March 2026, trust in specific institutions varies across partisan, geographic, and economic cleavages. This fragmentation of trust points to a potential challenge to the stability of American democracy.

Hotspot Analysis Of Nitrate And Arsenic Concentrations In Minnesota Well Water, Jadyn Keeler

Arts & Sciences Undergraduate Showcase

Water contamination is one of the biggest threats to water supply and can have long term human health consequences. It is key to identify vulnerable regions to develop better management strategies. This project utilizes hotspot and outlier geospatial analysis to locate areas across Minnesota with elevated levels of nitrate and arsenic in well water and better understand potential factors that might be influencing this. Statistically significant hotspots and cold spots were identified with up to 99% confidence. Hotspots of nitrate were located mainly in the south-central region while hotspots of arsenic were located primarily in the western and south-central portions …

Hospitalidad Sin Barreras: A Place-Based Approach To Resource Accessibility For Immigrant Communities In North Mississippi, Jackelyn Facio

Honors Theses

This project examines barriers to resource access for Spanish-speaking immigrant communities in Lafayette County, Mississippi. Using a place-based community engagement approach, the project incorporates mixed methods to produce a resource guide for Spanish- speaking immigrants in Lafayette County. Findings showed that access is shaped not only by available services, but also by interconnected barriers such as language, fragmented information systems, and concerns related to trust and safety. These barriers discourage individuals from interacting with formal institutions, resulting in a reliance on informal information networks. In response to the data collected from area residents, the project sought to centralize community input …

Unequal Paths: Experiences Navigating The U.S. Naturalization Process And The Role Of Education, Cecilia Rayburn

Honors Theses

This study examines how educational attainment shapes immigrants’ experiences with the U.S. naturalization process, with a focus on how education influences confidence, access to resources, and the ability to manage bureaucratic demands. While the legal requirements for naturalization are standardized, the ability to navigate them varies widely across individuals. Applicants’ experiences reveal that the U.S. naturalization process is often more complex and unequal than it may appear. This research was conducted through five semi-structured interviews with naturalized citizens of varying levels of higher education. These interviews explored participants’ experiences with the application process, including their preparedness, access to support systems, …

Exploring North Carolina’S Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative In Rural Communities, Annie Belle Perry

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No abstract provided.

Inconsistencies Emerge Between Regional And Local-Scale Water Security Metrics At Military Installations, Abigail Birnbaum, Michael L. Berg, Caitlin Grady, Daniel J. Weeks, Christopher M. Chini

Faculty Publications

Recent United States federal policy for military installations has emphasized the importance of developing a standardized approach for water security assessment to monitor changes in water resources and the ability for an installation to meet both its civilian and mission needs. For military installations in the United States, these assessments must consider demands both inside and outside the installation’s fence line, as regional resources are required to meet mission readiness. Focusing on physical water scarcity, this study compares four water security metrics with unique formulations and spatial resolutions, including an installation-scale metric and multiple regional metrics defined for either baseline …

Change Of Accessibility In The Izu Islands Before And After Tourism Development In The Pre-World War Ⅱ Period, Kantaro Takahashi

International Journal of Islands Research

This study compares accessibility on the Izu Islands, an inhabited archipelago. part of Tokyo Prefecture, from around the 1910s to the 1930s, during the early years of tourism development. Most islands in the archipelago started attracting tourists during the economically prosperous 1960s and 1970s; uniquely, Izu Oshima, the largest island, had been a tourist destination since before World War II. Tourism research on this region and period has predominantly employed a descriptive approach; quantitative studies have been rare owing to the dearth of data. Addressing this gap, this study conducts a network analysis of data acquired from the books of …

Becoming Mandan: The Collaborative Life History Of Robert O’Brien, Douglas D. Meigs

Sociology and Anthropology Theses, Dissertations, and Student Creative Activity

This thesis examines how separation from—and later discovery of—an Indigenous family and culture shapes ethnic identity formation. Grounded in Charles Horton Cooley’s theory of the looking-glass self, it uses collaborative life history methodology to analyze the process of Indigenous identity formation experienced by Robert O’Brien, a Native American orphan who discovered his Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara (MHA) heritage as an adult. Drawing on two decades of reflexive research, unstructured interviews, participant observation, and archival documents, the case study shows how O’Brien’s sense of identity developed in response to shifting and often contradictory social mirrors.

What’S In A Map?: Evaluating Mapping Techniques And Measures Of Culture To Inform Equitable Cultural Planning In Dallas, Texas, Kena Nicol

Planning Masters Professional Reports

The City of Dallas developed a neighborhood typology map to assess cultural resource distribution as part of its 2018 Cultural Plan, representing a relatively new approach that remains underexplored in academic literature. In the same plan, stakeholders identified equity as a central value, highlighting the need for tools that better support equitable cultural planning. This study evaluates the outcomes of two mapping techniques–cultural asset mapping and opportunity mapping – to examine how each represents cultural resource distribution across Dallas and supports equity-oriented analysis. Cultural asset mapping, the standard approach in cultural planning, identifies the spatial distribution of physical cultural infrastructure. …

Blue, Red, And Bordered, Estefania Morales Vilchis

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

The paper will explore the various social and individual variables that will impact how people perceive immigration as either beneficial to society or a societal threat. Some of the primary variables that will be examined in detail are one’s political affiliation, age, and geographical location; this will address the profound "why" behind our current beliefs on newcomers. The study will particularly address the "Contact Hypothesis" versus "Group Threat Theory" through the lens of how one's personal experiences with immigrants, or lack of, will shape public opinion. The study will focus on the rising psychological issue of "demographic anxiety", specifically, fears …

Queer Creativity In A State Of Surveillance: Community Art-Making As Embodied Resistance, Rachel "Frankie" Uhrig

Expressive Therapies Theses

This thesis explores the relationship between community art-making and queer resilience in response to state-sanctioned violence and surveillance. Furthermore, this paper focuses on the impact of visibility/invisibility on individuals within a community that is heavily policed and how less Eurocentric, medicalized approaches to support can serve these individuals. To better study and understand this approach, multiple sessions of community-based open studios were held from the writer’s home. Research was gathered from a group of individuals already in community together through the spectrum of queerness within a roller derby team. Participants were given a variety of materials to work with and …

“Overworked, Undernourished, And Weak In The Eyes”: The Portrayal Of Librarians In Comics, Alessandro Camarra

Staff publications

Librarians and library workers have frequently appeared as characters within the medium of comics, perhaps more so than people realize. While the discussion usually begins and ends with Barbara Gordon/Batgirl, the number of examples that can actually be found is astoundingly vast.

Whether they are fictional beings wholly created by the artists, or based on real-life individuals, librarians represent a standard archetype within popular culture that creators often reference in order to convey a specific image to their audience. Usually, but not always, this involves an emphasis on negative stereotypes associated with the profession: demanding silence from patrons, outdated modes …

'Here's What Bali Can Do For You': Social Media's Impact On Travel Writing, Carlisle Avalon Jarnigan

Senior Honors Theses

This thesis examines how social media has initiated a shift in the genre of travel writing from educational cultural observation to a form of engagement-driven, monetized travel content creation. Historically, the genre has functioned as a descriptive genre dedicated to educating readers who would never get to see the destinations they read about modern travel writing and content creation use emotional persuasion to market travel experience as a product, redefining the genre. Using methods like geotagging, user-generated content (UGC), and emotionally charged storytelling approaches, travel creators no longer just describe locations but instead promise readers that if they visit, they …

Trends In Trauma: Increasing Rates Of Sexual And Domestic Violence Among Female Latin American Asylum Seekers, Alfonso Mercado, Andy U. Torres, Francisco Banda, Amanda Venta, Luz M. Garcini, Alejandro Luis Vázquez, Aldo Barrita, Oswaldo Moreno

Psychological Science Faculty Publications

The last 10 years of scientific research analyzing asylum-seekers’ mental health has established high rates of trauma exposure throughout the migratory trajectory. However, limited studies have identified gender-based violence among Central American asylum-seeking women. The purpose of this study was to identify the frequencies of gendered-base violence among asylum-seeking women from Central and South America at a humanitarian respite center (USA) and a tent encampment (Mexico) on both sides of the United States–Mexico Border using data from three independent studies in 2016, 2019, and 2023, respectively. Visual trend analysis identified a peak in domestic violence in 2019, a stable frequency …

What In The Fukushima Should We Do? Analyzing The Costs Of The Fukushima Daiichi Disaster And Japan’S Reactions, Sara Deal, Mary Blair Dellinger

Caravel Undergraduate Research Journal

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, which resulted from the Tōhoku earthquake and subsequent tsunami on 11 March 2011, has caused much debate about the future of the nuclear power industry.  Japan has shut down all of its 54 nuclear reactors and increased power production through fossil fuel plants to make up the difference (Foster 2012).  This paper analyzes Japan’s decision to shut down its nuclear reactors and investigates the environmental, economic, and health costs of this decision. Nuclear power is compared with other forms of power in regards to life cycle cost, land use, CO₂ emissions, and deaths on …

Analyzing Preparedness For Compliance With The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (Cbam) Across Member States Of The European Union, Vincent Pfattner

Politics Honors Papers

The European Union’s implementation of the CBAM is a climate change-driven initiative aimed at preventing carbon leakages. This thesis aims to investigate the underlying reasons for the variation in preparedness to comply with CBAM. Exposure to CBAM-covered Extra-EU imports serves as a proxy for preparedness, a measure of the economic constraints EU countries face. The research employs a mixed-methods approach, including Regression Analysis, Bayesian model averaging, and comparative case studies of EU countries. The results show a strong association between preparedness levels and institutional factors, particularly regulatory capacity. In contrast, political, financial, and geographical factors exhibit limited influence on a …

What Is Happening In Major League Baseball? A Structural Snapshot In An Evolving Economic Landscape: A Case Study, Max K. Shilstone

Business and Economics Honors Papers

This qualitative case study examines the most visible business and economic factors currently impacting Major League Baseball (MLB). Specifically, it analyzes how current labor and collective bargaining issues, the changing media and broadcasting landscape, and the league’s reliance on locally generated revenue are shaping the league’s current and future business environment. Using a multi-method qualitative approach, this case study draws from academic scholarship, contemporary industry reporting, league documents, existing interviews, and six semi-structured interviews with professionals working in or around MLB. The evidence was analyzed through thematic coding and triangulated across sources to identify recurring themes and validate emerging findings. …

Objects In The Sunset, Iskander Guetta

Masters of Environmental Design Theses

This research explores everyday design practices in the Maghreb shaped by economic, political, and ecological struggles amid transnational debates on decolonizing design. To do so, it looks at objects in, through and with the sunset. Taking المغرب — the place where the sun sets — as a conceptual lens, Objects in the Sunset illuminates the savoir-faire born from dispossession, scarcity, and epistemic violence. Working across different scales of the built environment — infrastructures, spaces, objects, and materials — it shifts design away from Eurocentric conceptions: from rationalization to resourcefulness, homogeneity to heterogeneity, optimization to adaptation, disposability to repair, and universal …

Learning Through Reading: Confronting Novel Linguistic Forms In Literature, Quinn Doyle

German Studies Honors Projects

How do readers learn to engage with novel forms of written language that fall outside of their established linguistic repertoire? And how do texts themselves facilitate this process? This thesis looks for answers to these questions in literary theory, multilingualism studies, applied linguistics, and a diverse corpus of literary works. I propose a comprehensive descriptive vocabulary of novel language use in literature, and then observe how these frameworks work in concert in an exemplary text by analyzing Christine Brooke-Rose’s multilingual novel Between. I conclude by discussing how the “exceptional” cases explored in this thesis can change our understanding of …

The Weaponization Of Transnational Crime: A Triangular Analytical Model For Hybrid Threat Development In U.S.–China–Russia Relations, 2000–2025, Michael J. Haak

Senior Honors Theses

This thesis examines the evolving strategic relationship between the United States, China, and Russia from 2000 to 2025 through a triangular model based on reactions to systemic pressures to core strategic interests. The study employs a thematic qualitative data analysis on U.S., Chinese, and Russian national security strategies to analyze strategic posturing between poles over time. This new model serves as the study’s basis for contextualizing hybrid threat development, specifically transnational crime as a proxy force of asymmetric power projection. The study found that the evolution of state-supported transnational crime serves as a by-product of reactions to systemic pressure. State …

Dividing To Survive, Fight, Or Ally: Understanding Terrorist Group Splintering, Makayla Wendland

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

The splintering of terrorist groups is extremely common, with members breaking from the ranks of an existing organization to establish a new, independent organization. At times, the process of splintering has produced some of the deadliest terrorist groups globally, significantly affecting the trajectory and intensity of conflict. Conversely, there are times when splintering can produce groups that quickly dissipate without having an impact. This variation in lethality frames the question at the center of this dissertation: how do splinter groups behave and operate in their conflict landscape?

I develop a new theory-based typology to explain variations in the behavior and …

The Queer Family Farm: Exploring Agrifood Justice And Management Philosophies Among Lgbtq+ And Family Farmers In Minnesota And Wisconsin, Julia I. Castellano

Geography Honors Projects

Agriculture in the US countryside has long been idolized as a symbol of traditional American values via the “family farm” while queerness has become associated with avant-gardism and urbanity. This study contributes to the nascent but growing scholarship at the convergence of these seemingly opposing propositions: queer farming. Specifically, I contextualize LGBTQ+ farmers in Minnesota and Wisconsin through historical and modern perspectives on the dominant heteronuclear family farm and industrial agricultural landscape to understand how they approach farming in the absence of traditional gender roles and as predominantly small, alternative farmers. The family farm as we imagine it today is …

Food Sovereignty In Post-Apartheid South Africa: A Case Study Among Gardeners And Non-Gardeners In Genadendal, Western Cape, Timothy P. Delventhal

Geography Honors Projects

In post-Apartheid South Africa, large-scale commercial farming is promoted by the state as the only viable agricultural development model, while small-scale agriculture is marginalized in development discourse and the national land reform program aimed at addressing historical wrongs. However, food sovereignty movements across the Global South, such as Via Campesina, have promoted small-scale gardening for communities to gain control over their food systems and prevent the distancing of food from the labor that produced it. The research question investigated is whether people in the Genadendal area who grow their own food from gardens have better dietary diversity outcomes and increased …

Losses And Labor: Experimental Insights Into Worker Effort Supply And Behavioral Biases, Maia Lemov

Economics Honors Projects

Worker effort supply is influenced not only by rational expectations but also biases such as framing and numerical presentation of incentives. Identifying these effects is essential for designing effective incentives. To study left-digit manipulation, loss aversion, and loss aversion prediction, I conducted an experiment in an online labor market. Participants completed a real-effort typing task, a willingness- to-pay (WTP) task, and a self-reported loss aversion survey. Loss framing and left-digit manipulation had no statistically significant effects on effort, with no interaction effect, suggesting their influence on effort-supply may be overstated or highly heterogeneous. Despite null treatment effects, behaviorally elicited loss …

Research On The Impact Mechanism Of Government Public Data Opening On Urban Innovation Resilience:A Quasi-Natural Experiment Based On Government Public Data Platform Launch, Jing Su, Yuxiao Zhou, Shengsheng Tu

Journal of Scientific Information Research

[Purpose/significance] Public data serves as a crucial resource for fostering and enhancing urban innovation resilience. Exploring the impact of government public data opening on urban innovation resilience is of great significance for advancing the high-quality economic development. [Method/process] This study treats the launch of government public data open platforms as a quasi-natural experiment, utilizing panel data from 246 cities between 2008 and 2023 to construct a multi-period difference-in-differences model. It investigates the impact mechanism of government public data opening on urban innovation resilience. [Result/conclusion] Research shows that government public data opening contributes to enhancing urban innovation resilience, primarily through two …

Shifting Livelihood Experiences Of Drought-Displaced Rendille Pastoralists In Kargi, Northern Kenya, Yohana Ogom

Capstone Collection

During the last decade, in the town of Kargi, Kenya, the severity and frequency of drought conditions have become a common trend. Consequently, pastoralist households have become displaced often to nearby town centers. This research investigates shifts in livelihood experiences of drought-displaced Rendille pastoralists in Kargi town, Marsabit County in Northern Kenya. The study employed Thematic Analysis to identify patterns and relationships in qualitative data from household and key informant interviews to investigate shifts in livelihood outcomes. Findings presented a downward trend in livelihood outcomes after displacement. However, key indicators of higher well-being outcomes included access to non-pastoral income-earning activities …