Digital Commons Network^™

A Rarer Earth: The Many States Of Peat In Central Kalimantan, Layna Chen Ms.

Masters of Environmental Design Theses

Peat currently occupies a central place within climate discourse, with Indonesia’s peatlands as a key site of concern since the late twentieth century. Yet this contemporary understanding is historically unstable. Over the last two centuries, what we commonly consider peat has been repeatedly redefined by scientific and bureaucratic institutions. Within popular media, peat has circulated as a low-grade fuel, an infertile swampland, an agricultural soil awaiting rehabilitation, and a hydrological body requiring remediation. Tropical peatland fires, once treated as a scientific improbability, have become a recurring environmental crisis. This history of shifting definitions suggests that ‘peat’ is not a stable …

Improving Amber Alerts: Results From A National Experimental Study Of Wireless Emergency Alerts, Lauren B. Cain, Jeannette Sutton, Hugh Walpole, Micki Olson

Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security, and Cybersecurity Faculty Scholarship

In the United States, Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEAs) are used to notify the public of abducted children. However, there is no established guidance for writing AMBER Alert WEAs, and the vast majority have been incomplete. Using three randomly assigned groups recruited via a Qualtrics survey panel, we test an incomplete message containing a link to additional information, which reflects baseline messaging practices, against complete ‘plain language’ messages written using the MEP Message Framework with and without links. We find that plain language messages outperformed the baseline message when participants did not click the link for outcomes including message understanding, belief, …

Electoral Threshold: Pros-Cons And Political Party Consensus In Indonesia, Azka Abdi Amrurobbi, Donis Daviska, Alam Mahadika

Jurnal Wacana Politik

The debates surrounding the parliamentary threshold and presidential threshold have become a recurring phenomenon, particularly in the period leading up to general elections in Indonesia. This paper aims to examine the pros and cons of the implementation and determination processes of both thresholds. Employing a qualitative research method and library research as the primary data collection technique, to validate the data then this research used data triangulation technique. In the Indonesian context, the thresholds applied constitute a form of formal threshold, namely thresholds determined through political and legislative processes in parliament. Consequently, threshold policies are heavily influenced by the configuration …

Exploring Intimate Partner Relationship Satisfaction Among Women Who Have Experienced Discrimination And Childhood Trauma, Rachel L. Gaglio

Dissertations

Objective: Connections may exist between intimate partner relationship satisfaction outcomes and experiences of childhood trauma and discrimination among women. The majority of existing research highlights individual trauma impacting relationship satisfaction that includes military experience, childhood trauma, domestic violence, and sexual assault, yet there is a gap in research which expands on both childhood trauma and discrimination endured among women in relation to intimate partner relationship satisfaction outcomes, as they relate to intimacy and closeness and resolving conflict and arguments. The present study explored the links between childhood trauma and discrimination experienced by women and their connection in intimate partner relationship …

Mapping Unmanned Warfare: Analyzing Drone Usage In The Russo-Ukrainian War Using Open-Source Social Media Data, Kayla Barral, Carter Pedersen, Elise Stevens

Arts & Sciences Undergraduate Showcase

The use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, has expanded significantly in modern warfare, reshaping operational dynamics by enabling precision strikes while reducing personnel risk. At the same time, the growth of open-source and social media–based reporting has created new opportunities to analyze military activity through publicly available information. This study examines whether patterns in social media–reported drone strikes can provide meaningful insights into operational behavior in the Russia–Ukraine war.

Using open-source intelligence (OSINT) collected from Telegram posts between September and October 2025, this research compiles documented drone strike events conducted by both Ukrainian and Russian forces. Much of …

Stablecoins, Geopolitical Shocks, And Imperfect Arbitrage: A Case Study Of Türkiye, Vincient Arnold

Master in Public Policy Theses

On March 19, 2025, a key Turkish opposition political figure was unexpectedly arrested on what were presumed to be politically motivated charges. In response, the lira depreciated sharply. Meanwhile, Türkiye has a large and active dollar stablecoin market. Using a time series dataset of trade-frequency Tether vs. lira trading, I exploit this natural exogenous geopolitical risk-off event to investigate the response function of stablecoin traders active in Türkiye to this shock. I find that the shock is associated with a large (5.33% ) abnormal depreciation of the lira. Further, I show that the shock is associated with an abnormal widening …

Uneven Ranks: Geographic Deepening Of The All-Volunteer Force, Christine Hogestyn

Master in Public Policy Theses

Who is enlisting in Fiscal Year 2025, and what state-level characteristics are associated with military enlistment rates, service selection, and recruit quality? This study documents the geographic landscape of U.S. military accessions during a period of recruiting recovery, filling a gap in the literature by providing a current, empirical description of who enlists and from where in today’s All-Volunteer Force. Drawing on personnel data from the Department of War, the U.S. Census and Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates, and a federal dataset of military installations, I analyze 203,987 new accessions across the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps from …

Silicon Rivalry: Understanding The U.S.-China Ai Competition In Southeast Asia, Daniel Christopher Kent

Master in Public Policy Theses

In the rising global strategic competition between China and the United States, artificial intelligence (AI) has taken on a special significance given its potentially transformative impact upon economics and security. Yet while the dialogue around the “AI race” is typically centered on foundational model capability enhancement, application in security contexts, and chip design and manufacturing, there is much less attention paid to its impact on geopolitics. In particular, AI diplomacy—the work of a state to spread its model of AI governance, evangelize its AI companies, and develop critical AI interdependencies and linkages around the world—is far less studied. Nowhere is …

Global Health Financing Of Diagonal Interventions: Building Resilient And Sustainable Health Systems In Sub-Saharan Africa, Lucy Kim

Master in Public Policy Theses

Background: Global health financing has historically prioritized disease-specific “vertical” programs over broader “horizontal” strengthening of general health systems. Vertical programs in HIV have led to unprecedented reductions in mortality worldwide, but HIV remains a significant public health threat in sub-Saharan Africa, where vertical strategies have long been criticized for creating fragmented health systems. In response, global health strategies have shifted towards combining vertical investments with broader horizontal activities, commonly referred to as “diagonal” programming. While evidence suggests that diagonal programming has the potential to create more resilient and sustainable health systems, evaluating its value for money is challenging due to …

The Digital Rentier State: Saudi Arabia, George Ngoh

Master in Public Policy Theses

As artificial intelligence reshapes Great Power Competition, control over digital infrastructure has become a key measure of global hegemony. In this context, Saudi Arabia is using its Vision 2030 strategy to pivot from traditional hydrocarbon reliance toward diversification into the AI and emerging technology sector, seeking to secure a position of power in an increasingly multipolar world.

This thesis analyzes whether Saudi Arabia’s AI investments signal a transition away from traditional resource rentierism or the creation of a new digital rentier model. Through primary and secondary research, this study argues that the Kingdom is establishing a sustainable pathway toward a …

Beyond The Ban: Chhaupadi Abolition And The Governance Of Menstrual Autonomy In Western Nepal, Nikita Paudel

Master in Public Policy Theses

This thesis examines how two decades of efforts to abolish chhaupadi have shaped the everyday conditions under which women and girls experience menstruation in western Nepal. Chhaupadi, commonly understood as menstrual seclusion, has been addressed through Supreme Court directives, national policy, criminal law, municipal implementation instruments, hut demolition campaigns, public health programming, and rights-based advocacy. Yet the practice has persisted, adapted, and in some cases moved into less visible spaces. Rather than treating this as a simple gap between law and practice, this thesis asks how abolition efforts themselves have become part of the regulatory regime through which menstruation is …

Nfts And The Value Of Provenance On Digital Art, Jessica Scheld, Pamila Dembla, Stef Nicovich

Atlantic Marketing Association Proceedings

No abstract provided.

Corporate Sociopolitical Activism On Instagram: Brand Responses To Covid-19 And Black Lives Matter, Cynthia B. Hanson

Atlantic Marketing Association Proceedings

No abstract provided.

From Chennai To Texas: Major League Cricket, Glocalization, And The Uber-Sport Assemblage, Glenn Houlihan

Journal of Global South Sport Studies

This article examines Major League Cricket (MLC), an American professional Twenty20 (T20) cricket franchise league which began in July 2023 with a sold-out match at Grand Prairie Stadium in Grand Prairie, Texas. The fans in attendance were predominantly immigrants from South Asia, a region where cricket is the dominant sport. MLC’s connection to South Asia, however, extends beyond domestic U.S. fandom, as four of the league’s six franchises are operated by Indian Premier League (IPL) teams. Here, the IPL is expanding operations into the U.S. market, leveraging the recognizable branding of the league’s teams to offer the nascent MLC a …

The Environmental Cost Of Artificial Intelligence, Ava G. O'Connor

Student Theses 2015-Present

This paper addresses the increasingly innovative and evolving world of artificial intelligence. As artificial intelligence becomes more integrated within global economies and infrastructures, its  environmental and economic impact has grown significantly, but still remains understudied in the conversation surrounding societal advancement and growth. This thesis delves into the history and development of artificial intelligence, AI's integration into modern life, Big Tech jumping to get ahead of AI development through investment, the cost of artificial intelligence, and the ethical and environmental implications of increasing artificial intelligence usage. Using multiple case studies, this thesis deeply explores the emergence of artificial intelligence as …

Examining Associations Between Socioecological Factors And Addiction Cycle Domains In Separate Community And Treatment- Seeking Samples, Kara Link

Psychology ETDs

The Addictions Neuroclinical Assessment (ANA) is a multimodal clinical assessment framework designed to capture the heterogeneity of addictive disorders and inform personalized treatment. The ANA is grounded in three neurofunctional domains aligned with the Koob and LeMoal addiction cycle stages: incentive salience (IS; binge/intoxication), negative emotionality (NE; withdrawal/negative affect), and executive function (EF; preoccupation/anticipation). In addition to these primary domains, the ANA also proposes ancillary assessment domains thought to be related to these neurofunctional domains. However, the ANA developers do not provide a rationale for including these ancillary measures in the framework nor hypothesize about their relevance to the ANA …

A Characterization Of Fat Acceptance Across Identities In A College Sample, Brynn Liabraaten

Psychology ETDs

Weight stigma is a class of discrimination in which those who are of higher weight face biases and discrimination. This can lead to worse outcomes ranging from poor mental health to societal barriers. Fat acceptance is the idea that all people, regardless of weight, deserve respect and equal treatment. The study of fat acceptance is in its infancy in the field of psychology, and there is little research addressing what kinds of people may be more or less fat accepting. The present study utilized a college sample to create a characterization of which intersecting identities and characteristics may correlate with …

Predictors Of Opposite-Sex Antipathy, Mikayla R. Poe

Psychology ETDs

Evolutionary pressures have shaped men’s and women’s motivations to cooperate and compete with one another. Sexual conflict is generated in natural conditions but may be exacerbated by features of the modern world. The current study recruited participants from Prolific to respond to a Qualtrics survey (n = 812) to investigate the correlates of opposite-sex distrust/antipathy using the newly developed Opposite Sex Antipathy (OSA) scale, which is the first of its kind to allow cross-sex comparisons. Men and women’s antipathy for each other was predicted by perceptions that the opposite sex was of lower value to society, more harmful experiences …

Tiktok And The Brain: Neuropsychological Correlates Of Short-Form Video Consumption, Caty Enders

Psychology ETDs

Short-form video platforms like TikTok have quickly become the fastest growing segment of social media, thanks to powerful algorithms serving up personalized content driven by large quantities of user data. This study investigates the neuropsychological correlates of digital media use, with a particular focus on TikTok and smartphone screen time among young adults. Combining correlational analyses and an experimental design (n = 49; n = 44 included in final sample), we examined the relationship between digital media use and cognitive and emotional functioning across multiple domains. Objective measures of digital media consumption (daily average screen time and time on TikTok) …

Clarifying The Illusory Truth Effect: The Role Of Truth Status And Source Memory, Kamille Koger

Psychology ETDs

The present study investigated whether repetition increases perceived truth even for information explicitly known to be false and how repetition effects interact with source memory. Participants (N = 102) completed two sessions (exposure and test) one week apart. During exposure, they rated the truth of trivia statements presented three times each. Half were explicitly labeled as "true" or "false" (known condition) and half were unlabeled (ambiguous condition). In the test phase, participants judged the truth of all previously seen statements and an equal number of new statements, followed by source memory judgments. Results showed a classic illusory truth effect (ITE) …

Rural Minds In Modern Politics: Kinship Networks And Voting Patterns: A Comparative Analysis Of Appalachia And Rural Spain, 1986–2024, Alyce Sarah Blow

Senior Theses

This paper examines how rural identity, kinship networks, and community relationships shape voting behavior through a comparative analysis of rural regions in the United States and Spain. With a base structure on sociological and political research on rural development and the rural–urban political divide, this study explores how social trust, family reputation, and community ties influence electoral support in rural communities. Using electoral data from national archives and the Global Elections Database, the analysis focuses on voting patterns from 1986 to 2024 in two rural U.S. congressional districts, West Virginia’s 2nd and Pennsylvania’s 9th, and two rural regions in Spain: …

Migrant Mobility Across Necropolitical Territories Of Violence: Los Zetas/Cartel Del Noreste, Alondra Danixa Gonzalez

Senior Theses

This thesis examines migrant mobility across northeastern Mexico as a process shaped by organized crime and necropolitical violence, with a focus on the evolution of Los Zetas and their successor, Cartel del Noreste [CDN]. Based on Achille Mbembe's concept of necropolitics, along with Sayak Valencia's theory of gore capitalism and Melissa W. Wright's notion of disposable bodies, this paper identifies cartel-controlled border regions as necropolitical spaces where migrants are exposed to death and exploitation. Using a qualitative, testimony-based methodology, this paper incorporates three first-person family narratives of border crossing alongside documented cases of mass violence in Tamaulipas and Coahuila, including …

Imperial Continuities Beneath A Post-Colonial Pretense: Uncovering The Economic Foundations And Covert Objectives Of Operation Ajax, Fatimah Waqas

Senior Theses

Economic self-determination, that is, the right of a state to protect its national resources and direct its own growth, remains a topic of contention and struggle for numerous countries in the Global South. These nations’ attempts at advancing their economic self-determination are often exploited and sabotaged by industrial Western powers, notably the United States, which frequently employs covert operations and media propaganda to disguise its economic and imperial pursuits in developing, resource-rich nations. The case of Iran during the early 1950s is especially exemplary, as the nationalization of oil under Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh presented a direct conflict with U.S. …

Kenyan Foreign Policy In The Multipolar World, Maryclaire Mcadams

Senior Theses

In April 2025, in a speech to university students in Beijing, China, Kenyan President William Ruto announced, “Ladies and gentlemen, Kenya and China are not merely trade partners. We are co-architects of a new world order.” The speech was a bold departure from Ruto’s announcement just a year earlier that Kenya would officially achieve Major Non-NATO Ally status with the United States. The stark contrast in public statements from Kenya’s president within just a few months signals a shift in the international order. A system that once compelled states like Kenya to bandwagon with the United States now allows them …

The Rejection Of Ostpolitik: Was Germany’S Pragmatic Special Relationship With Russia A Missed Opportunity For European Stability?, Sebastian Friedrich Orth

Senior Theses

Although the German government under Chancellors Gerhard Schroeder and Angela Merkel had success in improving relations with Russia in the 2000s through mutually beneficial trade initiatives, the leaders’ plans were foiled by the persistent pressure from the United States to support NATO expansion. In revisiting this period, one can discern the beginning of a phase of Germany’s attempts to take a more active role in European leadership, which has been fraught with difficulties due to the country’s own postwar traditions of restraint and promotion of peace. Twenty-five years later, as negotiations to end the war in Ukraine are ongoing, the …

Narrating Conflict And Producing Identity: The Institutional Roots Of Youth Division In Kosovo And Serbia, Adelina Makovic

Senior Theses

This thesis examines how education and media shape the ethnic and national identities of postwar youth in Kosovo and Serbia, and how these identities influence the narratives these youth form of the war and of each other. Although born after the war, youth in both countries inherit divergent narratives of the war through school, traditional media, and social media. Using a qualitative, multi-source methodology, this thesis conducts a comparative analysis of textbooks, reporting and regional survey data on institutional trust. The findings reveal that textbooks in Kosovo and Serbia present accounts of the war that are ethnically biased and selective, …

A Study Of Lifestyle Migration In Buenos, Aires Argentina, Sofia Inés Repetto

Senior Theses

Migration is a worldwide phenomenon driven largely by economic, political and social factors. A migrant’s personal aspirations and capabilities play a large role on his/her decision to migration. In my thesis, I aimed to find how the aforementioned fit into lifestyle migration, particularly in lifestyle migration to Argentina. In order to do this, I compared current lifestyle migration to Buenos Aires to the waves of immigration that the nation received during the Age of Mass Migration and in the post-World War II era. I also compared lifestyle migration to the immigration from other Global South nations to Argentina. In this …

From Body Positivity To Body Power: How Music Therapy And Body Liberation Intersect To Address Body Oppression In The Therapeutic Space–A Literature Review, Katherine M. Perkoski

Expressive Therapies Theses

With the rise of overt fascism, anti–fat bias, anti–intellectualism, anti–multiculturalism, anti–diversity, equity, and inclusion, and the persistence of white, capitalist, cisheteropatriarchy narratives around bodies, music therapists need to recognize how client and therapist bodies show up in practice. In this critical literature review, bodies will be sociopolitically and culturally contextualized, and the intersections of music therapy, body liberation, and body power will be discussed. Music therapists need to address the body oppression faced by sociopolitical identities such as race, gender, disability, age, body size, sexuality, neurodiversity, class, ethnicity, nationality, housing status, and immigration status. The music therapy field needs to …

Thoughts From The Pit: Can Raving Change The World? A Literature Review Exploring Rave Culture As Expressive Arts Healing, Marissa Rose Renella

Expressive Therapies Theses

This literature review examines the structural and philosophical commonalities between expressive arts therapy (EXA) and rave culture. Drawing on scholarship from anthropology, cultural studies, health sciences, transpersonal psychology, neuroscience, and expressive arts therapy, this review identifies five core principles shared between the two fields: transformational experiences, multimodality, entrainment and flow, containment and ritual, and community and social action values. Across each principle, the literature reveals not surface-level similarity but deep convergence — two fields that have, independently and through different lineages, arrived at the same understanding of what human beings need in order to heal, grow, and connect. To the …

How Can Dramatic Play Address Masking In Autistic Adolescents?: A Literature Review, Victoria Sebastian

Expressive Therapies Theses

This literature review investigated the current research available on autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in adolescents aged 13-18, and the prevalence of masking within this population. It examines the impact current interventions and social standards have on the stigma that leads to masking behaviors, and the significant effects this has on adolescents' mental health. This study uses an integrative review, as described by Torraco (2016), to draw on empirical studies, systematic reviews, and theoretical frameworks. Connecting the growing research in the dramatic play- one of the drama therapy core processes- with the current therapeutic frameworks. From this research, dramatic play was …