Digital Commons Network^™

American Girl(Hood): Gender Performance, Tween Media, And Social Media Content, Mary Carol Dassau

Honors Theses

The American Girl brand of eighteen-inch dolls presents narratives of young girls throughout historical and contemporary settings, as well as manufacturing a line of dolls designed to look “just like you.” Despite the company’s commitment to female empowerment, these narratives still fall into certain tropes of societal expectations for women and are not inclusive of all girls’ experiences. Young American Girl fans and teen collectors on YouTube then take these narratives to create their own original video content, often in stop-motion animated format. These animations typically consist of original stories and characters, which both reinforce the narratives presented by the …

The Voices Behind The Screen: Navigating The Politics Of Work-Time, Identity, Visibility, And Tokenism In The Workplace., John Douglas Broadus Jr.

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The COVID-19 pandemic has and continues to impact labor and work in numerous ways. As organizations began to adjust to the changes the COVID-19 pandemic brought on to how they operated, there arose a considerable amount of conflict regarding what work is and what work should be. Conflicts arose around issues of work/life balance, work-hour mismatch, health and wellbeing, self-autonomy, and individual vs. collective work, influencing how employee sees themselves, their work, and their role within the organization. This research study will focus on the culture of “work time” that is present within a public-sector organization and the various ways …

Environmental Influences Of Zero-Sum Thinking And Its Outcome, Edison Sora Tan

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Zero-sum thinking refers to a generalized mentality or a belief that one person’s gain can only come at the expense of another person’s loss. In this research, I argue that people’s zero-sum thinking is, at least in part, influenced by the interacting characteristics of the environment, namely, resource scarcity and population density. This is because resource scarcity highlights people’s resource insecurity, particularly when population density accentuates potential competition for finite resources. Consequently, zero-sum thinking reduces trust and cooperation as people reduce their commitment to potentially risky social investments. Analysis with data from a large-scale field study and ecological data provided …

What Makes An Experience Meaningful: A Process/Outcome Approach, Clement Yong Hao Lau

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Scant research has investigated how meaning judgement of an experience are derived; even fewer has examined how these judgements shift over time. To address these gaps, the present research introduced Process/Outcome Meaning Model (POMM)—which proposes that meaning can be derived from two distinct aspects of an experience: its process (i.e., the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that unfold during the experience) and its outcome (i.e., the results or consequences that follow). POMM further suggests that changes in perceived outcomes may lead to corresponding shifts in meaning judgements over time. Across three studies, participants wrote about and reflected on their personal (positive …

The Missing Void: Lack Of Pockets In Womenswear And Its Effect On Daily Life, Clare Bolon

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Pockets give power to people who possess them. Yet, an estimated half of the U.S. population —women— frequently wear garments lacking useful pockets. Why? Womenswear is molded by beauty standards. This study brings an anthropological perspective on gender inequality in the U.S. by examining modern clothing and the differences in pocket access by gender. 127 participants were recruited for a mixed methods survey, most from a medium-sized university in the Mountain West region. Survey questions explored the attitudes and experiences of people who wear women’s clothing regarding pockets (or the lack thereof) and its impact on their daily lives. Open-ended …

The Impact Of Waste Management On Green Spaces And Community Well-Being: A Case Study Of Wa Municipality, Upper West, Ghana, Al-Rauf Mahama

Sustainability and Social Justice

Urbanization in Low- and Middle-Income Countries such as Ghana has placed immense pressure on infrastructure, waste management systems, and urban green spaces. This study examines the impact of waste management practices on green spaces and community well-being in Wa Municipal, focusing on four communities: Dondoli, Mangu, Dokpong, and Bamahu. Using a participatory research approach, data collected from waste management authorities, sanitation agencies, and residents were used to examine waste composition, health impacts, and community engagement in environmental sustainability. The findings reveal that organic waste and plastics dominate waste composition, with inadequate disposal practices contributing to pollution and health issues, including …

How A College Course Benefits Under-Resourced High Schoolers Interested In Veterinary Medicine, Gwendolyn R. Svenson, Olivia Arnold, Patricia Vigil, Naomi Nishi, Christianne Magee

Journal of Youth Development

The Veterinary Perspectives Institute (VPI) was designed to address the challenges faced by underrepresented youth who are interested in veterinary medicine. This study examines the VPI, a tuition-free program that introduces students from under-resourced high schools to veterinary medicine and One Health through a hands-on, transdisciplinary approach. The VPI integrates One Health concepts by linking human, animal, and environmental health in the context of veterinary medicine. The program’s aim is to foster college readiness and career exploration in veterinary and biomedical fields, while also addressing barriers to diversity in veterinary medicine. Through hands-on learning and case studies in One Health, …

Women’S Participation In Homegrown And Domestic Terrorism Plots, Caroline Johnson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The 21^st century ushered in major social, political, and cultural changes in the United States, including a new era of homeland security and new forms of domestic terrorism. Little is known about how such shifts may have impacted women’s participation in terrorism plots. In response, data from the American Terrorism Study (ATS) are used to comparatively examine the involvement of women in homegrown and domestic terrorism plots before and after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Findings of similarities and differences in women’s involvement in terrorism across time periods are presented and contextualized.

Sexual And Gender Minority Individuals In Our Community: Policy Recommendations To Address Discrimination-Related Stresses, Emylia N. Terry

Lincy Institute Events

Sexual and gender minority (SGM) individuals face a wide range of mental and physical health challenges, which contribute to higher rates of suicide. SGM individuals encounter distress, discrimination, and in some cases, harmful anti-LGBTQIA+ laws and policies that contribute to additional mental and physical health stress. A web-based survey of 1,034 SGM participants in the United States measured the types and frequency of discrimination occurrences and related distress. The survey considers the variety of interactions between individuals and their relationships, while also measuring the community and societal factors that affect health outcomes for SGM individuals. This research evaluates many variables …

Penggunaan Peraga Visual Pada Program Pengabdian Masyarakat Di Wilayah Pesisir Dan Kepulauan Rawan Bencana, Abellia Anggi Wardani Dr., Anin N. Kumala, Caroline A. Windah, Shintya Shintya

Bhakti: Jurnal Pengabdian Masyarakat

Indonesia’s coastal and archipelagic regions are vulnerable to disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, and floods. In this context, community service activities require participatory and educational approaches that are easily understood by people of various ages and backgrounds. This article discusses the use of visual aids—such as infographics, leaflets, animated videos, illustrations, and x-banners—as tools for disaster education. Through a literature review of four articles on community service programs, this study finds that visual aids are effective in increasing disaster risk awareness, reinforcing visual memory of mitigation procedures, and engaging vulnerable groups such as children and indigenous communities. This approach also …

Author Biographical Notes

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

Comics And Photography: The New Frontiers Of The "Reverse Translation", Emanuela Abbatecola, Mariella Popolla

The Qualitative Report

Anyone who was trained in Italy in the last decades of the 20th century will recall how central the debate around "quali(tative)" and "quanti(tative)" was at that time, when quantitative methods seemed to offer reassurance regarding the scientific credentials of a discipline still young and insecure in terms of its identity. The supremacy of the quantitative even though it is already from the 1970s that we witness a slow, and often contested, "revival of qualitative research linked to profound epistemological changes [...], to the crisis of the objectivist paradigm [...] and the recognition of the centrality of language [...] (Frisina, …

Mobilizing Discord On The United States’ Many Borders: Critical Social Science And Geopolitical Complexity, Margath Walker

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

Attention to the political landscape connecting the United States, Mexico, and Central America has returned with glaring intensity, highlighting the visibly geostrategic elements of bordering practice. Scholars have focused on how state power materializes at multiple scales while at the same time being attentive to the contestable and mutable nature of myriad agentic forces. This talk operates similarly by considering prospects for a frictional and at times ambiguous spatial politics. I extend the notion of discord as a productive lens through which to consider securitization, mobility, and migration. I use two short examples—the border-industrial complex and migrant caravans—to illustrate my …

Learning To Think Like A River Rat: Understanding Place And Identity Beyond The Nature/Society Divide, Nicholas Baxter

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

Place has been an important sociological concept in urban and rural sociology. Sociological scholarship has recognized the place as a physical setting, a location for social action, and full of social meanings. Sociology has historically focused most of its attention on place’s social dimensions, including its cultural meanings and purposes (Bell, 1994; Gieryn, 2000; Lofland, 1998). Environmental sociology, specifically the co-constructionist posture (Rice, 2013), calls us to consider how place’s physical and social dimensions are conjointly constituted (Freudenburg et al., 1995). In this paper, I draw upon the co-constructionist posture to bridge the gap between environmental sociology and other sociological …

Insights Into Cortical Organization And Executive Dysfunction In Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury, Madeleine Reading

Theses and Dissertations

Cortical gyrification is essential for cognitive development, yet its relationship with executive functioning (EF) in pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI) remains unclear. This study examined whether children with TBI exhibit atypical cortical folding in EF-related regions and whether these differences relate to EF performance. Using FreeSurfer 7.1.1, we analyzed local gyrification index (LGI) in 206 participants (ages 5-18) from 14 sites within the ENIGMA Pediatric msTBI Working Group. Vertex-wise regression revealed that longer time since injury (TSI) was associated with increased gyrification in the right fusiform gyrus and multiple left-hemisphere regions, suggesting region-specific neuroplasticity. Contrary to expectations, higher GCS scores …

The Success Of The Clinton, Bush, And Trump Administrations In Securitizing Mexican And Central American Immigration Through Border Policies, Madeline Lynch

The Compass

U.S. political discourse has framed immigration from Mexico and Central America as a security threat, driven by political, economic, and racial motivations. American presidential administrations are able to further racialize and criminalize immigrants coming from the Global South through rhetoric in legislation and executive orders that frame migration as a national security issue. Administrations focus on this narrative to indicate that the security threat is harmful to the interests of Americans. Although few migrants do present security threats to the US, the rhetoric used by various presidential administrations generalize these populations as a political tactic to further control and militarize …

Fremont Human Remains In Sevier County, Alexis Maughan

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines Fremont mortuary practices in Sevier County, Utah, through a systematic analysis of 50 individuals, recovered mainly from Late period sites. While Fremont burials are typically described as highly variable, the Sevier County sample reveals a striking pattern: approximately half of the individuals exhibit evidence of processing and were left scattered on structure floors rather than being intentionally buried. This pattern stands in contrast to the widely accepted description of Fremont burials as consisting mainly of individuals buried separately in expedient pits with minimal grave goods. The analysis draws on previously published reports, compiling the available data on …

Enhancing Skin Cancer Literacy Amongst Young Adults: A Digital Design, Katherine Stoll

Honors Projects

The skin plays a vital role in protection, regulation, and homeostasis of the human body. Skin cancer, despite being mostly preventable, is one of the most common cancers. Young adults, ages 18 to 25, are vulnerable targets due to risky behaviors and misinformation regarding skin cancer. This project was designed by using digital media and website design to enhance skin cancer health literacy among young adults. Using a systematic literature review and research methods, an interactive website was designed to improve skin cancer health literacy and eliminate common misconceptions. The topics addressed throughout the website were the biological factors of …

Bulls And Barrels: Gendered Identities In Contemporary American Rodeo, Ruby Feuerstein

Research Symposium

Rodeo sports are often thought of as a relic of American culture that has endured the passage of time. Despite rodeo’s reputation as one of the most authentic forms of American sport, little is known about contemporary rodeo culture from a sociological perspective. And although gender in sport has received extensive scholarly attention in recent years, even less is known about the gendered experiences of modern rodeo athletes. This paper investigates the meaning of gendered identities in rodeo culture, focusing specifically on the sport’s most popular men’s and women’s events: bull riding and barrel racing, respectively. In-depth interviews with nine …

Testing The Feasibility, Acceptability, And Preliminary Impact Of A Brief Behavioral Sleep Intervention To Improve School-Aged Childhood Sleep Behaviors, Isabella Delores Wright

Theses and Dissertations

Objectives: Parent knowledge of what healthy sleep looks like in their children has scarcely been evaluated, and little is known as to whether improving child sleep through a brief behavioral intervention that emphasizes mastery, personalization, motivation, and modeling will enhance sleep outcomes in children. As a result, we designed this study with the following aims in mind: 1) determine existing parental knowledge of healthy child sleep practices of parents; 2) test the impact of a personalized, brief parental sleep intervention aimed at increasing parental self-efficacy and parent behaviors; and 3) determine preliminary feasibility, acceptability, and impact of this personalized intervention …

Towards An Embodied And Graphic Based Qualitative Sociology: Methodological Reflections On Reflexivity And Pictorial Embodiment In The Field Of Health And Illness, Alice Scavarda, Barbara Grüning

The Qualitative Report

The aim of this paper is to discuss the comicisation of qualitative sociology, i.e., the use of comics as research methods and analytical tools in sociology, drawing from case studies related to illness and neurodivergence. In the first part, we will pinpoint how comics as qualitative research methods enhance the reflexivity of sociologists themselves in the various phases of their research projects: from the definition of a case study to the choice of research and analysis techniques up to the communication of research outputs. In line with El Refaie’s (2012) concept of pictorial embodiment, we will show how producing drawn …

Ua12/2/1 College Heights Herald, Vol. 100, No. 3, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

Magazine edition of the College Heights Herald for the period February 17 - April 20, 2025.

• Wilborn, Price. You Matter & You Are Not Alone
• Smith, Kane. Peggy Crowe Reflects on Counseling Center in Face of Staff Shortages
• Stafford, Hallie. Help with Horses – New Beginnings Therapeutic Horse Riding
• Hawkins, Kaylee. How a WKU Professor Helps Improve Student Mental Health – Jay Gabbard, National Alliance on Mental Illness Recovery Support Group
• McMahon, Jake. More Than a Coach – Brent Chumbley, Track & Field
• Simpson, Libby. WKU’s American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Brings Mental Health Into the Light
• Hardesty, Emma. Trans …

From Sketches To Stereotypes: Understanding Criminality Through Student Illustrations, Sandra Sicurella, Simone Tuzza

The Qualitative Report

This study investigates the use of comics to challenge stereotypes about criminals, acknowledging the partial and sensationalized nature of cultural production. It examines how TV series, films, and news influence students’ perceptions. Using Art-Based Research (ABR), a creative and uncommon approach in criminology, the research adopts comics as a pedagogical and investigative tool. The study aims to empirically validate this method, contributing to the academic debate on creative techniques in social research. It tests the hypothesis that visual storytelling can reveal beliefs related to the criminal imaginary and stimulate critical reflection. Three workshops were conducted with university students (aged 20–25) …

Gender Myths & Colonial Lies, Sophie Camilleri

Honors Papers and Posters

The gender binary is deeply ingrained in today's society, despite a general lack of knowledge on where this system originates from. It is crucial to counter misinformation stemming from propaganda and fear campaigns surrounding the gender binary. This research sheds light on the oppressive roots of gender, as well as its role in the colonization of marginalized individuals around the globe. This paper will make connections to present day systems of oppression and the long-term effects of colonization on Black and Hispanic women.

A Narrative Review Of Military Reverse Triage., Daniel J Hurst

Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine Departmental Research

INTRODUCTION: Military reverse triage has been described at several points in the literature. However, an extensive review of the concept and any gaps that may exist has not been conducted. This narrative review seeks to understand how reverse triage is used in the military literature and how it might be implemented in practice, as well as the documented historical applications of reverse triage.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Four databases were searched manually for English-language articles: PubMed, SCOPUS, JSTOR, and Worldwide Political Science Abstracts. In addition, a manual search of references, U.S. DoD, and NATO doctrine, as well as other published works …

Whole Genome Sequencing Analysis Of Body Mass Index Identifies Novel African Ancestry-Specific Risk Allele, Xinruo Zhang, Jennifer A Brody, Mariaelisa Graff, Heather M Highland, Nathalie Chami, Hanfei Xu, Zhe Wang, Kendra R Ferrier, Geetha Chittoor, Navya Shilpa Josyula, Mariah Meyer, Shreyash Gupta, Xihao Li, Zilin Li, Matthew A Allison, Diane M Becker, Lawrence F Bielak, Joshua C Bis, Meher Preethi Boorgula, Donald W Bowden, Jai G Broome, Erin J Buth, Christopher S Carlson, Kyong-Mi Chang, Sameer Chavan, Yen-Feng Chiu, Lee-Ming Chuang, Matthew P Conomos, Dawn L Demeo, Mengmeng Du, Ravindranath Duggirala, Celeste Eng, Alison E Fohner, Barry I Freedman, Melanie E Garrett, Xiuqing Guo, Chris Haiman, Benjamin D Heavner, Bertha Hidalgo, James E Hixson, Yuk-Lam Ho, Brian D Hobbs, Donglei Hu, Qin Hui, Chii-Min Hwu, Rebecca D Jackson, Deepti Jain, Rita R Kalyani, Sharon L R Kardia, Tanika N Kelly, Ethan M Lange, Michael Lenoir, Changwei Li, Loic Le Marchand, Merry-Lynn N Mcdonald, Caitlin P Mchugh, Alanna C Morrison, Take Naseri, Jeffrey O'Connell, Christopher J O'Donnell, Nicholette D Palmer, James S Pankow, James A Perry, Ulrike Peters, Michael H Preuss, D C Rao, Elizabeth A Regan, Sefuiva M Reupena, Dan M Roden, Jose Rodriguez-Santana, Colleen M Sitlani, Jennifer A Smith, Hemant K Tiwari, Ramachandran S Vasan, Zeyuan Wang, Daniel E Weeks, Jennifer Wessel, Kerri L Wiggins, Lynne R Wilkens, Peter W F Wilson, Lisa R Yanek, Zachary T Yoneda, Wei Zhao, Sebastian Zöllner, Donna K Arnett, Allison E Ashley-Koch, Kathleen C Barnes, John Blangero, Eric Boerwinkle, Esteban G Burchard, April P Carson, Daniel I Chasman, Yii-Der Ida Chen, Joanne E Curran, Myriam Fornage, Victor R Gordeuk, Jiang He, Susan R Heckbert, Lifang Hou, Marguerite R Irvin, Charles Kooperberg, Ryan L Minster, Braxton D Mitchell, Mehdi Nouraie, Bruce M Psaty, Laura M Raffield, Alexander P Reiner, Stephen S Rich, Jerome I Rotter, M Benjamin Shoemaker, Nicholas L Smith, Kent D Taylor, Marilyn J Telen, Scott T Weiss, Yingze Zhang, Nancy Heard-Costa, Yan V Sun, Xihong Lin, L Adrienne Cupples, Leslie A Lange, Ching-Ti Liu, Ruth J F Loos, Kari E North, Anne E Justice

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Obesity is a major public health crisis associated with high mortality rates. Previous genome-wide association studies (GWAS) investigating body mass index (BMI) have largely relied on imputed data from European individuals. This study leveraged whole-genome sequencing (WGS) data from 88,873 participants from the Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) Program, of which 51% were of non-European population groups. We discovered 18 BMI-associated signals (P <  5 × 10

Environmental Racism: The Role Of Racism In The Unequal Distribution Of Environmental Hazards And Resources In Urban Areas, Acadia Petersen

Student Research Symposium

Introduction

There is a large difference in the number of environmental hazards and environmental resources that people live with depending on their race. This is very damaging as certain minorities are being provided with fewer resources and more polluted areas, leading to worse health outcomes.

There is “A strong association between non-white and poor communities and the location of hazardous waste sites…Studies on air quality have documented that minorities and the poor face higher levels of air pollution than other groups” (Pinderhughes 1996).

Turning Farm Waste Into Energy: Pragmatic Approaches For Cleaner Midwestern American Communities, Rebecca Gaisie

Selected or Submitted Student Research Papers/Projects

Mismanagement of farm waste in the Midwest of the United States has resulted in significant methane emissions, water contamination, and public health concerns. The present manure management rules are still inconsistent, underfunded, and insufficient to motivate individuals to behave in a way that benefits the environment, despite increasing concerns about the environment. This policy study investigates anaerobic digestion as a potential means to convert waste into energy that could support rural and environmental development. Some of the problems with the federal and state legislation examined in this study under an EPI framework are a lack of incentives, inadequate technical support, …

Volume 40, Issue 1

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

No abstract provided.

Long Live The Good King: Arthur’S Niebuhrian Kingship And Pursuit Of Justice In The Once And Future King, Camille Bewley

Harding Undergraduate Research Conference

The classic The Once and Future King, written by T.H. White, is a selection of four fantasy novels with one, linear plot: the story of Arthur, the mythological King of England. Reinhold Niebuhr’s book Moral Man and Immoral Society details the Christian realism of a world in need of justice without the ability to achieve perfect application. Through good education, Arthur is well endowed with Niebuhr’s requirements for a functional society: knowledge, honor, wisdom, and compassion. Such king-like qualities make him one of the most influential mythological characters in history, and a grand exemplar for maintaining ethical goals and personal …