Digital Commons Network^™

Four Year Reflection: Scaling Transformative Advanced Manufacturing Pathways (Stamp), Benjamin Boer, Rouzbeh Rahai

Reports, Analyses, and other Publications

This data brief presents a four-year cumulative reflection on the Scaling Transformative Advanced Manufacturing Pathways (STAMP) initiative, tracking student participation, industry credential attainment, and projected long-term economic impacts across 19 participating Illinois school districts. Authored by Rouzbeh Rahai and Benjamin Boer of the Education Systems Center at Northern Illinois University (EdSystems) in partnership with the Illinois Manufacturers' Association (IMA) Foundation, the report examines student-level data from 10,424 unique participants. Findings highlight that students with high economic needs out-attain their peers—representing 69% of credential earners—and that earned credentials account for $57.8 million in potential additional lifetime earnings.

The Current - Volume 37 Issue 02, Nova Southeastern University

Student Newspapers

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Multidomain Operations: The Pursuit Of Battlefield Dominance In The 21st Century, Chase Metcalf

Parameters Bookshelf – Online Book Reviews

Author: Edited by Amos Fox and Franz-Stefan Gady

Reviewed by: Colonel Chase Metcalf, director of campaign planning, Department of Military Strategy, Planning, and Operations, US Army War College

This critical assessment challenges assumptions behind one of the US military’s most prominent operational concepts. Its arguments raise important questions about doctrine, strategy, and future warfare.

©2026 Chase Metcalf

Book Review: “Review Essay On Three Works About The Ukraine War”, John A. Nagl

Parameters Bookshelf – Online Book Reviews

• The Russian Invasion of Ukraine: February–December 2022: Destroying the Myth of Russian Invincibility, by John S. Harrel

• Black Sea Battleground: The Road to Ukraine, edited by Glen E. Howard

• Beyond Ukraine: Debating the Future of War, edited by Tim Sweijs and Jeffrey H. Michaels

Reviewed by: John A. Nagl, General John J. Pershing Professor of Warfighting Studies, Department of Military Strategy, Planning, and Operations, US Army War College

A sweeping review of contemporary conflict, this review essay shows how the war in Ukraine is reshaping global security thinking and forcing strategists to confront hard …

Book Review: The Eurasian Century: Hot Wars, Cold Wars, And The Making Of The Modern World, Hal Brands

Parameters Bookshelf – Online Book Reviews

Author: Hal Brands

Reviewed by: John Erickson, senior engineer, Axiom Technologies, and Dr. John A. Nagl, General John J. Pershing Professor of Warfighting Studies, Department of Military Strategy, Planning, and Operations, US Army War College

In The Eurasian Century, Hal Brands explores how the geopolitical center of gravity has shifted to Eurasia, where autocratic powers challenge the liberal international order. Drawing on history, strategy, and geography, Brands argues that America must remain engaged to prevent a global descent into instability. This timely and provocative book reveals why the twenty-first century’s defining struggles will be fought across the world’s most …

Book Review: Covert Action: National Approaches To Unacknowledged Intervention, Michael Elieson

Parameters Bookshelf – Online Book Reviews

Author: Magda Long, Rory Cormac, Genevieve Lester, Mark Stout, and Damien Van Puyvelde (editors)

Reviewed by: Michael Elieson, General Walter Bedell Smith Chair of National Intelligence Studies, Department of National Security and Strategy, US Army War College

How do states shape events abroad while denying involvement? Looking beyond the US experience, this analysis uncovers the diverse ways states pursue influence in the shadows and why those efforts matter for understanding international relations.

©2026 Michael Elieson

Book Review: Nostalgic Virility As A Cause Of War: How Leaders Of Great Powers Cope With Status Decline, Christine C. Cook

Parameters Bookshelf – Online Book Reviews

Author: Matthieu Grandpierron

Reviewed by: Dr. Christine C. Cook, (colonel, US Army Reserve, retired), adjunct professor, US Naval War College

What happens when powerful nations feel their global status slipping away? In Nostalgic Virility as a Cause of War, Matthieu Grandpierron explores how emotional responses—rooted in pride, identity, and historical memory—can drive leaders of great powers toward conflict. This provocative study blends psychology, international relations, and strategic leadership to reveal how nostalgia can become a dangerous force in global politics.

©2026 Christine C. Cook

Book Review: Security In The 21st Century Europe, Ionut Popescu

Parameters Bookshelf – Online Book Reviews

Author: Andrew Cottey

Reviewed by: Ionut Popescu, associate professor of political science, Texas State University

Europe’s security landscape has shifted dramatically, shaped by new threats like terrorism, energy dependence, and climate change. Security in the 21st Century Europe by Andrew Cottey offers a comprehensive analysis of how traditional interstate conflict has given way to complex policy dilemmas on the continent’s periphery. With a blend of theory and real-world case studies, this essential text explores how NATO, the EU, and national governments are adapting to a transformed strategic environment.

©2026 Ionut Popescu

Book Review: The Coming Storm: Power, Conflict, And Warnings From History, Jadwiga Biskupska

Parameters Bookshelf – Online Book Reviews

Author: Odd Arne Westad

Reviewed by: Jadwiga Biskupska, Harold K. Johnson Chair of Military History, US Army War College

A historian’s warning on how great powers stumble into war, this study draws sharp lessons from the past for today’s fragile global order. As rival powers rise and tensions mount, it reveals how missteps and misperceptions can turn regional crises into global catastrophe—and how leaders might navigate a shifting balance of power without repeating the failures that once reshaped the world.

©2026 Jadwiga Biskupska

"Celts In The Valley", William Lindsey Mcdonald

Research Articles

The Tennessee Valley of North Alabama retains linguistic and cultural influences from the languages of its inhabitants. Scot Irish inhabitants of Celtic origin produced a dialect that McDonald claims as a "Celtic character" through tracing common regional expressions back to their roots in the original Gaelic.

Archives As Activism: Using Cuny Archives To Examine And Analyze Social Change, Marci Littlefield

Open Educational Resources

Archives as Activism uses CUNY archival materials to help students examine the relationship between activism, social issues and social change. Students will analyze primary sources such as flyers, newsletters, photographs, student newspapers, and institutional documents and connect them to contemporary social issues. CUNY’s history of activism around, race, gender, educational access, women’s organizing and institutional power provides students with an opportunity to investigate questions about power, collective action, intersectionality and social change.

Click, Listen, Reflect: Implementing Discord In Critical Listening Courses, Kenny Shania Lestari R, Metaria Metaria, Siti Nurhalimah

Bahasa dan Seni: Jurnal Bahasa, Sastra, Seni, dan Pengajarannya

Critical listening requires learners not only to comprehend spoken information but also to interpret and evaluate its meaning. Digital learning environments may support these processes by providing opportunities for repeated access to spoken input, interaction, and collaborative discussion. This study explored how Discord was implemented in a Critical Listening course and how students perceived and experienced its use in supporting their critical listening learning. The study employed a qualitative descriptive design involving 20 students from the International Class Program at Maulana Malik Ibrahim State Islamic University of Malang. Data were collected through classroom observation checklists, field notes, and focus group …

Uae Audiences' Reliance On Social Media As A Source Of Information On Complementary And Alternative Medicine: A Study Of Al Ain City Residents Based On Media System Dependency Theory, Abdul Rahman Al-Toum, Mohammed Al-Kaabi, Najoud Al-Mansouri, Ahmed Bin Ishaq, Amer Khaled Ahmad, Maram Manajrah

Middle East Journal of Communication Studies

This study examined the extent to which UAE audiences rely on social media as a source of information on complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) and the resulting effects of this reliance. Grounded in Media System Dependency Theory, the study employed an audience survey using a questionnaire administered to a sample of (132) Emirati citizens in Al Ain. The findings revealed that the combined medium and high reliance reached (53%). Regarding the effects, cognitive effects recorded the highest arithmetic means, followed by affective and behavioral effects at comparable levels. Hypothesis testing showed no statistically significant differences in the degree of reliance …

Understanding The Political Profile Of Long Island’S Central American Electorate: A Case Study Of Long Island’S Majority-Latino Towns, Brett J. Patrick

Binghamton University Undergraduate Journal

As Salvadoran and Guatemalan migrants settled en masse across Long Island from the 1980s to the 2010s, seven Latino-majority towns emerged, each with distinct voting patterns that diverge from broader national Latino trends and from one another. This study examines how and why these Central American communities vote by integrating precinct-level election returns with the U.S. Census’ American Community Survey data. Using variables such as income, population density, education, citizenship status, and language, it identifies correlations between demographic conditions and partisan vote share. This approach reveals how socioeconomic factors shape political behavior within Salvadoran-American and Guatemalan-American enclaves in Nassau and …

Book Review: The Weight Of Sand: My 450 Days Held Hostage In The Sahara, Michael Margolius

Parameters Bookshelf – Online Book Reviews

Author: Edith Blais

Reviewed by Commander Michael Margolius, US Navy, professor, US Army War College, and former J3 of the Joint Personnel Recovery Agency

In his review of The Weight of Sand: My 450 Days Held Hostage in the Sahara, Michael Margolius views the ordeal faced by author Edith Blais through the lens of a personnel recovery agent. Blais and her boyfriend were kidnapped and held for 15 months by Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin gunmen. Margolius points out the many small and practical things that helped Blais survive and how her story can help agencies learn from her experience to …

How Dance/Movement Therapy Can Cultivate Self-Compassion In Chinese Diaspora Adults: A Literature Review, Heng Hsiu Liu

Expressive Therapies Theses

Chinese diaspora adults navigate a psychological transition in mental health understanding, based on acculturation level; some are more somatically focused in their understanding, while others adopt Western mental health frameworks. While self-compassion can be a helpful transdiagnostic tool, Chinese diasporas still face barriers to current selfcompassion interventions such as the remaining stigma of "losing face" with their family and community, language barriers to emotional expression, and a cultural emphasis on self-criticism as a tool for moral improvement. Self-compassion cultivation is grounded in mindfulness, common humanity, and self-kindness, which collectively stimulate the soothing-affiliative affect regulation system. This review identifies Dance/Movement Therapy …

The Implementation Of Sel-Based Interactive E-Modules To Enhance Mental Health Literacy, Muhammad Arif Budiman Sucipto, Mulyani Mulyani

Jurnal Kajian Bimbingan dan Konseling

The mental health crisis among Generation Alpha students is concerning, marked by stagnating life purpose and digital academic pressure. This study aims to examine the effectiveness of an interactive SEL-based E-Module in enhancing students' mental health literacy, offering an innovative solution responsive to the digital era. Employing a Classroom Action Research design integrated with ADDIE. Thirty-two tenth-grade students with low initial literacy scores (mean pre-test = 42.3) participated through purposive sampling. The two-cycle intervention utilized a digital module featuring Private Mode (encrypted emotional journal) and Emergency Button (direct link to counselors). Data were collected through literacy scales, observations, interviews, and …

From The Archives: Rediscovering The John Preston Papers, Isabella Sumner

TMC Library Newsletter (2015-)

The John Preston, MD Papers, the newest collection at the McGovern Historical Center, contain letters and institutional records documenting life at the Austin State Lunatic Asylum—now Austin State Hospital—during Dr. Preston's 36 years as superintendent. Materials include correspondence from patient's families, physicians, judges, sheriffs, and attorneys, along with budgets, patient records, and even menus for staff and patients. Together, they offer a window into mental health care in Texas during the early 20th century.

Read the full story and explore highlights from the collection on the McGovern Historical Center blog. 

Book Review: Arming East Asia: Deterring China In The Early Cold War, Richard H. Immerman

Parameters Bookshelf – Online Book Reviews

Author: Eric Setzekorn

Reviewed by Richard H. Immerman, emeritus professor of history, Temple University

Covering American policy toward Asia in the Harry S. Truman and Dwight D. Eisenhower administrations, Arming East Asia: Deterring China in the Early Cold War looks to “enhance the historical sensibilities of contemporary policymakers, thereby enabling them to make informed—and by implication, better—decisions as the United States again confronts an aggressive China in the twenty-first century,” according to the reviewer. It focuses on the years 1952–60, though offers no “surprises for informed readers.”

Copyright: ©2026 Richard H. Immerman

Book Review: Warfare In Peacetime: Proxies And State Powers, Scott Heal

Parameters Bookshelf – Online Book Reviews

Author: Christopher C. Harmon

Reviewed by Scott Heal (US Army)

Warfare in Peacetime: Proxies and State Powers defines proxy, lists the advantages and disadvantages of using proxies, and offers seven case studies, including the USSR and East Germany, the United States and the Nicaraguan Contras, and Iran and Hezbollah. The reviewer notes, “those studying limited warfare or the challenges in understanding and addressing gray-zone activities will find Harmon’s framework and analysis practical and informative.”

Book Review: Nexus: A Brief History Of Information Networks From The Stone Age To Ai, David R. Leard

Parameters Bookshelf – Online Book Reviews

Author: Yuval Noah Harari

Reviewed by Colonel Daniel R. Leard, US Army War College Fellow at Princeton University

Built on the ideas that stories are important and bind civilizations, which results in human societies working as information networks, Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI, by Yuval Noah Harari, is the third book exploring the evolution of humanity. Harari unpacks the idea that the networks people create have flaws and people tend to exploit these flaws to misuse power. Though the topic is heavy, the reviewer notes, Harari “presents deeply complex issues in …

Book Review: Death, Dominance, And State-Building: The Us In Iraq And The Future Of American Military Intervention, Connor Halliday

Parameters Bookshelf – Online Book Reviews

Author: Roger D. Petersen

Reviewed by Major Connor Halliday (US Army), instructor of international affairs at the United States Military Academy

Death, Dominance, and State-Building: The US in Iraq and the Future of American Military Intervention, by Roger D. Petersen, analyzes America’s strategy in Iraq over the last 20 years and offers lessons learned for future US military interactions and state-building ventures. Reviewer Connor Halliday notes, “Military practitioners, strategists, and scholars of civil wars and state-building will all find Petersen’s work insightful and thought-provoking. The book’s value lies not just in its analysis of Iraq, but in its broader lessons …

Medical Debt Among Low-Wage Workers In The United States: Reason To Worry And Reason To Hope, Mathieu Despard, Stephen Roll, Eva Stahl, Camila Salvagno

Center for Social Development Research

With one in five low-wage workers reporting medical or dental debt they cannot afford to pay, financial assistance programs (also known as charity care) are an important resource. Federal law requires nonprofit hospitals to offer such programs, but evidence suggests that workers experience administrative burdens in learning about and applying for the assistance. Drawing upon data from the Workforce Economic Inclusion and Mobility (WEIM) survey, this brief presents findings on associations between the characteristics of low-wage workers and their experiences with financial assistance programs. The brief also shares examples of how hospital policies and patients’ needs may not align, presenting …

Smart City Pula, Bj Fletcher, Saša Drezgić, Molly Schnoke

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

No abstract provided.

Effects Of A Filial Therapy Program On Gifted Children’S Self-Regulation And Academic Perseverance, Helin Yarcel, Fuat Tanhan

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of a 10-session filial therapy program delivered to mothers on gifted children’s self-regulation and academic perseverance. Participants were 45 gifted students attending a Science and Art Center (Bilim ve Sanat Merkezi [BİLSEM]) in Eastern Türkiye and their mothers, who were randomly assigned to an experimental, placebo, or control group. Self-regulation and academic perseverance scales were administered as pre-test, post-test, and 6-week follow-up measures. Given the sample size, data were analyzed with non-parametric tests, including the Kruskal–Wallis H, Friedman, Wilcoxon signed-rank, and Mann–Whitney U tests. Results showed improvements in self-regulation …

Leveraging A Model Of Intergroup Competencies: A Reflexive Tool For Developing Diversity Leadership In Higher Education, Arig Al Shaibah

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

Despite, or perhaps precisely because of, the current partisan pushback against equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) efforts in Western higher education institutions, universities may be well served to renovate their approaches to leadership diversity development to build greater capacity for advancing mission-critical inclusion excellence priorities. This article describes a promising educational intervention that has broad applicability to more meaningfully develop leadership proficiencies that better enable the advancement of EDI goals in higher education. While individual diversity leadership development programming is a micro-level intervention, it could prove beneficial—though insufficient on its own—as a prerequisite for macro-level equity and inclusion policymaking and …

Metro Monitor 2026: Las Vegas And Reno, Nevada, Kevin Yang, Lara Karaalp, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Economic Development & Workforce

This fact sheet presents economic growth performance indicators in the Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV and Reno, NV metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), using data provided by the Brookings Institution’s Metro Monitor 2023  and 2026. The Metro Monitor explores five indicators of economic performance over ten year periods: the 2023 report provides data measuring the period from 2011 to 2021, while the 2026 report provides data measuring the period from 2014 to 2024. The Metro Monitor reports data on growth, prosperity, economic inclusion, racial inclusion, and geographic inclusion across 196 MSAs in the U.S.

Shu World Review- September 14th 2026, Diplolab, Seton Hall University

SHU World Review

No abstract provided.

God's Not Neutral: Narrative Tropes, Spiritual Warfare, And The Construction Of Evangelical Political Identity In American Christian Fiction, Evelyn L. Mccullough

Dissertations and Theses

Evangelical Christian fiction has reached tens of millions of readers and viewers during the most sustained period of evangelical political mobilization in American history, yet its narrative construction remains largely unexamined. This study asks how recurrent tropes in this genre build the attitudinal and emotional preconditions for political engagement. Combining systematic qualitative content analysis of eight texts spanning four decades (1986–2024) with Critical Discourse Analysis grounded in van Dijk's sociocognitive framework, it traces how storytelling devices connect theological belief to political behavior. The analysis reveals a single organizing logic: the corpus holds one regressive heroic disposition constant while making it …

Identification Of At-Risk Rail Network Segments And Development Of Fragility-Based Resilience Metrics, Haizhong Wang, Brian M. Staes, Benyamin Ghoreishi

Mineta Transportation Institute

This report presents a multi-hazard risk and resilience assessment of the U.S. rail network. The research identifies at-risk rail segments exposed to flash flooding, riverine flooding, extreme heat, and landslides using historical hazard records, federal accident and incident data, and meteorological datasets spanning 2000–2024. Flood exposure is mapped nationally by linking storm records to rail alignments and estimating the frequency and intensity of events at the segment level. For extreme heat, a fragility analysis of 153 documented thermal buckling derailments reveals that a significant share of failures occurred under relatively mild environmental conditions, pointing to infrastructure and maintenance factors rather …