Digital Commons Network^™

Just War Theory And Coercive Non-Proliferation: Ethically Evaluating Nuclear Prevention Efforts, P. Walker Jacklin

Honors Theses

This thesis examines the ethics of coercively addressing non-nuclear states who are attempting to acquire nuclear weapons. Nuclear weapons pose a serious danger on a global scale, so ethical analysis should balance these consequences with the coerciveness of state intervention. Just War Theory provides a useful framework that balances these considerations.  Using the criteria of Just War Theory, this thesis examines two 21st century non-proliferation operations: Operation Orchard and Operation Midnight Hammer. I find that Operation Orchard fails the criteria of Just War Theory, while Operation Midnight Hammer satisfies the criteria. Making this determination is ethically risky, however, because our …

Gendered Politics Of Pictures: How Images In A Pakistani English Textbook Homogenize Female Identities, Liaquat Ali Channa

The Qualitative Report

This qualitative multimodal analytical study draws upon Kress and van Leeuwen’s ideas about pictures and problematizes textbooks of English that supposedly teach only English in Pakistan. It aims to understand the identities of an adult female as shown in the images of an English textbook. It uses Foucault’s theories of discourse and discursive formation, and a Vygotskian sociocultural view of the development of consciousness. By following Braun and Clarke (2006, 2019), all the pictures of the My English Book 4 are first analyzed thematically. Later, O’Toole’s (1994) method of analyzing pictures is employed for a detailed examination of a representative …

Exploring Grounded Theory In Educational Research: Literature Review, Reflexivity, And Conceptual Development In Doctoral Research, Huidan Niu

The Qualitative Report

My article explores the application of grounded theory in educational research, focusing on the literature review process, reflexivity, and conceptual development. I address common misconceptions about grounded theory, especially for novice researchers, and advocate for its use as a comprehensive methodology rather than solely as a data analysis tool. Drawing on my doctoral research experience, I argue that grounded theory offers a valuable framework for fostering theoretical sensitivity and independence, making it particularly suitable for educational research. Through detailed examination, I offer novice researchers practical strategies for navigating the methodological complexities of grounded theory and for contributing conceptually robust and …

Tensions, Characteristics, And Methods Surrounding Critical Autoethnographic Narrative: A Dialogic Review Of Bedrettin Yazan’S Autoethnography In Language Education, Meryem Büşra Ünsal, Ufuk Keleş

The Qualitative Report

In this book review, the authors critically explore Bedrettin Yazan’s Autoethnography in Language Education, which addresses theoretical, methodological, and ethical dimensions of autoethnography in applied linguistics and teacher education. Organized as a reconstructed scholarly dialogue between a doctoral advisor - Ufuk, and a doctoral researcher - Meryem, the review systematically outlines the book’s central arguments, chapter structure, and contributions to qualitative research. Attention is given to Yazan’s positioning of autoethnography as an onto-ethico-epistemological stance, his engagement with debates surrounding legitimacy and rigor, and his discussion of reflexivity, identity, and emotional labor in research. The review also highlights the book’s practical …

Analyzing Best Practices In Large-Scale Digital Archaeological Databases, Chloe M. Vizier

Honors Theses

Archaeological databases, the foundation of archaeological analyses, have changed drastically alongside the rise of new digital tools in the twenty-first century. Digital databases, alongside other digital tools, must therefore be evaluated for their efficiency and effectiveness within the field. This thesis seeks to determine a set of best practices within large-scale digital archaeological databases through analyzing an existing example: The Paleoindian Database of the Americas (PIDBA). PIDBA is composed of multiple state-level datasets, a trait that both invited collaboration and creates discrepancies in data entry. Though examining both PIDBA's user-facing website and one of its most robust state-level datasets, the …

Values-Based Clinical Ethics: A New Model Of Health And Ethics Consultation For Patients Suffering In Extremis, Adam Trainer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation argues that contemporary clinical ethics is inadequately equipped to support patients suffering in extremis because it relies on an insufficiently discriminating account of health and a constrained model of moral reasoning. Drawing on Bernard Lonergan, it reconceives health as an emergent, multi-layered, heuristic notion shaped by biological, psychological, social, and existential goods. On that basis, it critiques principlism’s global applicability thesis and the undergirding claim that its principles form part of the common morality, arguing that this justificatory structure is philosophically insufficient and practically limited for clinical ethics in cases marked by profound suffering, moral plurality, and normative …

Beyond Religious Narcissistic Identification: Agnostic And Atheistic Narcissism, Magdalena Żemojtel-Piotrowska, Jarosław Piotrowski, Bartłomiej Nowak, Vassilis Saroglou, John Maltby, Constantine Sedikides, Mladen Adamovic, Nur Amali Aminnuddin, Seth Christopher Yaw Appiah, Rahkman Ardi, Zana Hasan Babakr, Einar Baldvin Baldursson, Sergiu Bălțătescu, Muhammed Bilgehan Aytaç, Aidos Bolatov, Bruno Bonfá-Araujo, Matthias Burghart, Phatthanakit Chobthamkit, Marilyn Clark, Magali Clobert, Richard G. Cowden, Jesus Alonso Datu, Sandesh Dhakal, Sonya Dragova-Koleva, Begoña Espejo, Dmitry Grigoryev, Emanuela Gritti, Katherine Gundolf

All Works

Agnosticism and atheism are often grouped simply as nonreligious identities, yet emerging research highlights their distinct psychological profiles and social implications. Among these distinctions, collective narcissism–characterized by strong attachment to one’s group, exceptionalism, and grievance for recognition–offers a framework for understanding identity processes in both nonreligious groups. We examined whether agnostics and atheists exhibit collective narcissism and its forms (agentic–focused on exceptional effectiveness; communal–focused on exceptional morality) similarly to believers. We explored cross-denominational variance in agentic and communal collective narcissism levels relying on data from 77 countries (N = 3,570; 1227 agnostics, 2343 atheists). Agnostics and atheists from secular countries …

Arkansas Educators' Views On Corporal Punishment: Demographic Influences And Social Work Implications, Phillip Hill, Esaa Samarrah

Research and Creative Works Expo

Corporal punishment (CP) in U.S. public schools, defined as "the use of physical force with the intention of causing a child to experience pain so as to correct their misbehavior" (Gershoff & Font, 2016), remains legal in 17 states despite mounting evidence of its ineffectiveness and disproportionate harm to marginalized students. This study presents survey data from 94 Arkansas public school educators, examining their knowledge of legality, personal and indirect experiences with CP, perceptions of its effectiveness, and attitudes toward its continued use. Analyses were conducted using IBM SPSS Statistics, with reverse coding applied to the negative-impact Likert items so …

Hidden In Plain Sight: A Critical Examination Of The Sec’S Climate Disclosure Rule And Shortcomings In Addressing Multinational Instances Of Industrial Pollution, Charity Christina Williams

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

No abstract provided.

As Pillar Two Reshapes Cross-Border Investment, Canada Should Recognize U.S. Llcs As Fiscally Transparent Entities, Matthew Sciamanna

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

No abstract provided.

Smash And Grab: How Cultural Property Theft And Destruction Erase Civilizations, Katie-Ann Miller

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

No abstract provided.

Ending The Stigma: Abolishing India’S Marital Rape Exception And Post Abolition Practices, Hibah Hasan

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

No abstract provided.

The Conceptual Architecture Of America First—Ideological Transactionalism And The Case Of Cuba, Larry Catá Backer

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

No abstract provided.

Are There Gender Disparities In Chinese Legal Education? – An Empirical Enquiry, Peter C.H. Chan, Haojin Duan

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

No abstract provided.

Foreword

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

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents

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

No abstract provided.

Dedication

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 …

Monitored Natural Attenuation Evaluation And Additional Characterization Of A Ccr Unit Lithium Groundwater Plume, Matt Barickman, Adam Piestrzeniewicz Pg

World of Coal Ash Proceedings

Monitored Natural Attenuation (MNA) refers to the reliance on natural attenuation processes (within the context of a carefully controlled and monitored site cleanup approach) to meet groundwater protection standards (GPS) for a CCR unit within a reasonable time frame (USEPA, 1999). MNA is being evaluated as an adaptive management strategy for a CCR unit groundwater plume with statistically significant lithium concentrations above GPS, though with little risk of offsite migration. A previous MNA evaluation was performed for the lithium plume following the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) “tiered lines of evidence approach” (USEPA, 2015), which determined that there were …

Challenges And Innovations In Tennis Coach Development: International Insights From Practitioners Across Continents, Miguel Crespo, Rafael Martinez-Gallego, Christine Nash

Journal of Coach Development

Tennis is a global sport with effective coaches being essential to the continued appeal, therefore the work of the coach developers within the International Tennis Federation (ITF) is crucial. This research examined the work and aspirations of coach developers in tennis using in-depth interviews with 10 ITF coach developers. Subsequently, we developed detailed pen portraits of two ITF coach developers at different levels of experience and engagement in order to highlight any differences in work, objectives or ambition. Findings from coach developers revealed three themes: support from ITF; barriers to learning; making learning less traditional. The pen portraits added further …

Physical, Environmental, And Psychological Determinants Of Sleep Among Long-Distance South Asian Caregivers Of Older Adults: A Mixed-Methods Approach, Srujana Chekuri

Gerontology Theses, Dissertations, and Student Creative Activity

Long-distance caregiving is an increasingly common yet understudied form of family care, particularly among immigrant communities whose cultural expectations of flial responsibility remain strong despite geographic separation. Among South Asian caregivers of older adults, caregiving across borders is shaped by powerful norms of duty, emotional endurance, and family obligation, creating distinctive patterns of stress that may profoundly afect health. One of the most consequential but underexamined outcomes of this caregiving context is sleep. This mixed-methods dissertation examined the physical, environmental, and psychological determinants of sleep among long-distance South Asian caregivers of older adults living in the United States. Guided by …

Exploring Male U.S. Veterans’ Experiences After Becoming Estranged From Their Children Following Divorce, Christy Lynn Amacker

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No abstract provided.

Elective Abortion, Moral Injury, And Maternal Bonding To The First Child, Jennifer Marie Lightner

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No abstract provided.

A Content Analysis Of Emotional Valence And Engagement In Youtube Comments, Lydia Britton '27

Student Research

This study investigated the relationship between YouTube comment participation and emotional valence. We hypothesized that highly negative-valenced comments would generate higher engagement (likes and replies), based on prior research showing that emotionally intense content drives interaction. Fifty comments from ten popular videos across five categories (shopping, music, gaming, news, and sports) were analyzed using linguistic indicators (language and emojis) and intensifiers (capitalization, exclamation points, profanity). Each comment was assigned a dominant valence and a Likert scale rating. Engagement was measured by likes per view and replies per view. Results showed a negative correlation between emotional valence and replies. Despite trending …

Assessing College Tuition And Wage Prospects For Careers In Archaeology, Angelina H. Gutierrez

Honors Capstones

The pressures of rising college tuition are raising questions about whether a degree in higher education is worth the return on investment in today's society and economy. This study aims to acknowledge the issues of affording college and the opportunities granted in the face of college wealth premiums from the perspective of the field of archaeology. The college wealth premium is understood as additionalopportunities and increased salaries offered to those with a degree in higher education compared to those without. Using the Midwestern United States as a case study, I discuss the gender/race wage gap, college debt, loan inequity, and …

Using Geospatial Analysis To Compare Metropolitan Greenspace And Adolescent Obesity, Rachel Schild, Denyelle Kenyon, Zachary Schild

Scholarship Pathways Program

Using Geospatial Analysis and Machine Learning to Compare Metropolitan Greenspace and Rates of Adolescents with Obesity

 Rachel Schild MD | DenYelle Kenyon PhD

 Introduction: Insufficient outdoor activity, influenced by limited access to exercise-friendly greenspaces, may contribute to increasing childhood obesity rates. However, rigorous evaluation of greenspace quality on a citywide scale is lacking. This study aims to characterize greenspace vegetation types and correlate them with adolescent obesity outcomes, identifying optimal characteristics for promoting health. This data could aid city planners in optimizing greenspace allocation and improving vegetation choices.

Methods: Satellite imagery and municipal data were used to map ten cities, …

On The Outside Looking In: A Reflection Of Self, Andrew J. Bates

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

As a musical theater enthusiast, song lyrics hold deeper meaning for me than poems or historical quotes. One line from Hamilton that is particularly meaningful to me is, “I am the one thing in life I can control. I am inimitable. I am an original.” (Lin-Manuel Miranda, 2015, 1:34). Through my exploration of self, I have found these three things to be true. By re-walking the path of my past, through my childhood, relationships, and growth, I have discovered just how original I truly am. This theme emerged again whilst examining my theoretical conceptualization. Many others may use the same …

Transformation Through Reflection: An Analysis Of Self In Counselor Development, Renata D. Mosaei

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

Abstract

This paper explores a self-analysis and a theoretical conceptualization through the lens of cognitive behavioral therapy, person-centered therapy, and attachment theory. These theories are used to examine themes and patterns related to interpersonal functioning, cognitive processes, and to interpret life experiences. CBT is used to examine thoughts, feelings, and behavior and their influence on each other. Person-centered therapy is used to examine themes of empathy, congruence, and unconditional positive regard. Attachment theory is used to examine how attachment developed in childhood influences interpersonal functioning across the lifespan. This process revealed that analyzing the self through theoretical frameworks provides deeper …

The Response Of Child Protection Services To Prenatal Substance Exposure, Cierra Hassel

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

Prenatal Substance Exposure (PSE) is a growing public health concern that requires Child Protection Services (CPS) involvement. CPS is a government agency that investigates child safety to determine whether child removal is necessary. Due to the increase of substance use during pregnancy, often linked to the opioid epidemic, more mandated reporters are submitting reports for positive drug tests at birth, which are screened in as neglect by the mother. PSE has significant implications for developing fetuses, potentially causing both short- and long-term behavioral, medical, and developmental challenges.  

Pregnant women with substance use disorder may often neglect prenatal care, as they …

Communication Through Connection And Identity: Songwriting With People Living With Dementia, Sean Connolly

Expressive Therapies Theses

Dementia is a progressive neurodegenerative condition associated with significant changes in communication, which can have profound effects on an individual’s autonomy, self-identity and quality of life. Rising global dementia rates underscore the urgent need to address these issues and expand approaches to care. This literature review examines current research on songwriting methods in music therapy for those living with dementia and investigates how songwriting might support communication for that population. The review explores a variety of music-based approaches, including both neurologic and music-centered frameworks, and highlights a range of songwriting techniques. The findings suggest that songwriting may facilitate communication beyond …