Digital Commons Network^™

Was Love Invented In Sixteenth-Century England? A Few Comments On Liah Greenfeld’S Theory Of Emotions, Dmitri Panchenko

Comparative Civilizations Review

According to Liah Greenfeld, there are three kinds of emotions. Primary emotions (such as pain, pleasure, fear, positive and negative excitement, hunger, and satiation) and secondary emotions (such as affection, sorrow, and anger) can be observed in both animals and humans. However, most human emotions ⎯ tertiary emotions ⎯ are more complex. “These, though not unusual among our pets, do not exist in the wild. Tertiary emotions are emotions such as love, ambition, pride, self-respect, shame, guilt, inspiration, enthusiasm, sadness, awe, admiration, humility and humiliation, sense of justice and injustice, envy, malice, resentment, cruelty, hatred; one can go on almost …

Gamifying The Classroom: An Interactive Literature Curriculum, Ella Mikulecky

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis highlights an interactive literature curriculum that I have created to help youth engage more deeply with classical literary works. It takes inspiration from many existing collegiate-level curricula that fuse historical simulations with literary studies and adapts those teaching methods for high-school-age students. It also utilizes a variety of different teaching philosophies, game mechanics, and literary practices to create an ideal course for fostering engagement. This thesis provides a small sample of the curriculum along with a teacher’s handbook and reports the results of a pilot program conducted in the summer of 2025.

Mamma Mia: A Study Of Catholicism, Secularization, And Their Influences On Modern Italian, Lara Zanotti

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This study explores the relationship between religion and language by examining how Catholicism and secularization have shaped modern Italian. While the historical influence of the Catholic Church on Italian is well established, less attention has been given to how recent secularizing trends have transformed the language at lexical, discursive, and sociolinguistic levels. Addressing this gap, the study asks: how have Italy’s deep-rooted Catholic traditions and its more recent shift toward secularization influenced the meanings, frequency, and use of religiously rooted expressions in modern Italian?

Using a mixed-methods approach, this project combines corpus-based linguistic analysis with qualitative analysis. Diachronic data from …

Shifting Faith Among Indigenous People In Arunachal Pradesh, India: Revisiting Greenfeld's Civilizational Framework, M. Amin Khan

Comparative Civilizations Review

This paper examines changing religious demography in Arunachal Pradesh through Liah Greenfeld's theory of civilization as a self-generating and self-reproducing symbolic reality. Using decadal Census data (1971–2011), it traces the demographic decline of Indigenous/Tribal religions classified under “Other Religions and Persuasions” (ORP) alongside the widespread growth of Christianity and the more limited growth of Hinduism. The analysis argues that these demographic shifts reflect more than religious conversion; they reveal differential capacities for cultural reproduction. Whereas civilizations endowed with codified first principles and enduring institutions sustain continuity across generations, Arunachal Pradesh's largely localized and orally transmitted indigenous traditions have proven less …

Professor Greenfeld’S Last Class: Notes For Online Lectures On “The Science Of Humanity,” Delivered To Students And Scholars Primarily From India, July 2025, Liah Greenfeld

Comparative Civilizations Review

The question for this class is: What is humanity?

We all believe we all know what it is, don’t we? After all, there is hardly any subject more important for us, a question on the answer to which other subjects depend — political, social, economic. Answers to questions such as: what are human economic needs and desires; what political structures are optimal for humans; is democracy, for instance, a universal human desire; should politics in every nation be democratic, or, perhaps, authoritarian governments are better; is freedom a natural need, does it make life better, does equality?

Full Issue

Comparative Civilizations Review

No abstract provided.

Full Issue

AWE (A Woman’s Experience)

No abstract provided.

Front Matter

AWE (A Woman’s Experience)

No abstract provided.

Guest Editor’S Introduction: Liah Greenfeld And The Future Of Comparative Civilizational Studies, Monika Monika, Guest Editor

Comparative Civilizations Review

Every scholarly life leaves behind unfinished questions. Professor Liah Greenfeld was acutely aware of this. Throughout a career spanning more than four decades, her research never settled into the repetition of established arguments. Each major work emerged from the unresolved problems of the previous one, enlarging both the scope of its inquiry and the range of disciplines with which it engaged. Nationalism led her to questions of modernity (Greenfeld, 1992) and the foundations of economic development (Greenfeld, 2001). The growth of the modern economy and the emerging new forces of globalization, in turn, raised broader questions about the self and …

Liah Greenfeld: Scholar, Thinker, Friend, Joseph Drew

Comparative Civilizations Review

Professor Liah Greenfeld and I met several years ago when she submitted an article to the Comparative Civilizations Review. Her thoughtful demeanor and personal kindness to all were quickly evident, but so, too, was her scholarship, especially her probing theories of state, society, and civilization.

From Hesitation To Creation: Bookmaking, Language, And The Development Of Student Confidence In The Arts And Crafts, Kayla Rich

Theses and Dissertations

Many secondary students enter art classrooms believing that artistic ability is an innate talent rather than a skill that can be developed, often resulting in low confidence, perfectionist tendencies, and a reluctance to take creative risks. This action research study investigated how participation in a crafts-focused bookmaking curriculum affected students' engagement, divergent creativity, artmaking, and mindset in relation to success, failure, and creative risk-taking. Drawing on research in growth mindset, guided mastery, craft education, and artists' books, I designed and implemented a scaffolded curriculum that progressed from structured bookbinding techniques and process-based exploration to conceptually driven artists' books. The study …

Bridging Change: The Role Of The Pont-Neuf In A Transforming Paris, Mathilde M. Oscarson

Undergraduate Honors Theses

In a twist of irony, the Pont Neuf (“New Bridge”) stands today as the oldest bridge crossing the Seine River in Paris, France. This paper examines how artistic representations of the Pont-Neuf such as etchings, early photography, painting, and art installations embody shifting views of the bridge’s function, the role of public space, and community building even as the bridge itself has not changed. The Pont-Neuf is important to Parisians, as evidenced by how often it has been represented in art, both as an integral aspect of the city’s infrastructure as well as the center of cultural and public life. …

Online Mindfulness Training And Work-Related Outcomes: A Randomized Waitlist Controlled Trial, Conner Lee Deichman

Theses and Dissertations

Mindfulness-based interventions improve employee well-being, yet few studies have examined their impact on work-specific outcomes in private-sector samples. Online mindfulness programs offer a promising, accessible alternative to in-person training. This randomized waitlist-controlled trial evaluated the efficacy of Mindfulness for Humans (MfH), a fully online, self-directed 15-session program, on job satisfaction, burnout, work engagement, subjective well-being, and mindfulness skills among private-sector employees. Participants were randomly assigned to a training-first group or a waitlist-first group and completed measures at baseline, 30 days, and 60 days. Results showed significant improvements in job satisfaction, burnout, subjective well-being, and mindfulness following course participation. The training-first …

Artificial Intelligence And Technology - Joni Full Issue July 2026, Angie Holzer

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

No abstract provided.

Digital Infrastructure Implementation For Nonprofit Sustainability, Yana Kuzina

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

Nonprofit organizations in the United States operate within a constrained regulatory and financial environment that limits their ability to invest in marketing, donor acquisition, and digital infrastructure. Federal funding regulations, particularly under 2 CFR Part 200, restrict the use of grant funds for advertising and public outreach, creating structural barriers to growth and long-term sustainability. This paper presents a scalable methodology for overcoming these constraints through the design and implementation of cost-efficient digital infrastructure systems.

The proposed framework integrates front-end digital acquisition channels with back-end data management and automated communication workflows. It is implemented through a two-stage model: (1) deployment …

Belonging's Influence On Volunteer Motivation In Faith-Based Nonprofit Organizations: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, Adam Stockton

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

Nonprofit organizations often overlook psychological belonging as a driver of volunteer retention and recruitment (Hurt, 2025; Mochin, 2022). The purpose of this qualitative Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) study was to explore how a sense of belonging influenced the intrinsic motivation of nine adults volunteering with a faith-based nonprofit organization in the southern United States. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using IPA best practices to identify themes from participants' experiences. The study was grounded in Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, self-determination theory, and organizational identification theory—frameworks that describe how individuals connect personal values and identity to the values and …

Ai-Powered Logistics For Small Nonprofits: A No-Code, Sub-$10 System For Real-Time Distribution Across 41 Locations, Rishi D. Chundury

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

Small nonprofits often struggle to coordinate multi-site distribution campaigns with limited staff, tight budgets, and little access to technology. This article describes how Eye on July Corp., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in Omaha, Nebraska, built an AI-powered system to manage the distribution of 20,000 free safety glasses across 41 community locations for July 4th. The system was built without any coding using three commercially available tools, where Airtable stores the data, Make.com runs the automation, and Anthropic's Claude API provides the intelligence, all at a total cost of under $10. The platform collects stock counts from partner locations, analyzes inventory to …

Building Adaptive Capacity In Community Engaged Nonprofits, Lena Hatchett, Kenneth E. Steinkruger, Laundette P. Jones

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

Nonprofit organizations face ongoing challenges related to uncertain funding, staff burnout, and increasing community needs. This article describes adaptive capacity as a proactive form of resilience that can help nonprofits prepare for unexpected challenges before they occur.  Drawing on examples from a small community-engaged nonprofit, the current article presented activities and tools for strengthening adaptive capacity through both longer-term capacity-building practices and everyday organizational decisions.  We used the McKinsey 7S framework to organize adaptive capacity opportunities across strategy, structure, systems, shared values, skills, style, and staff.  The examples suggest that, despite unanticipated challenges, community-engaged nonprofits may strengthen resilience by adopting …

From Access To Accountability: Closing The Nonprofit Data Gap In Fintech Lending, Oluwatomisin Olubakinde

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

Financial technology is often treated as a promising path toward financial inclusion. Mobile banking, alternative credit scoring, and AI-assisted underwriting have expanded access to financial products, but access alone does not guarantee fair outcomes. This piece frames fintech accountability as a nonprofit data accessibility issue. Nonprofits working in financial inclusion cannot fully evaluate fintech referrals or partnerships when the data behind approval decisions, pricing patterns, denial reasons, and appeal pathways remain inaccessible. Drawing on research in fintech lending and algorithmic fairness, the paper shows how data inputs, model design, and approval thresholds shape who benefits from fintech and who may …

Who Counts As A Nonprofit Founder?, Fredrik O. Andersson

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

Who counts as a founder in nonprofit organizational emergence? Although founders are widely treated as central actors in nonprofit entrepreneurship, prior research rarely specifies how founder status is defined or attributed. This conceptual ambiguity is particularly problematic given that nonprofit creation is typically a multi-actor process involving fluid participation over time. Drawing on survey data from 56 individuals engaged in the early stages of nonprofit formation, this study examines how participants themselves demarcate founder status. The findings reveal a consistent distinction between general participation and founder attribution: while an average of over six individuals were involved in the start-up process, …

Exploring The Relations Between Sleep And Mental Health Through The Constructs Of Sleep Health, Psychological Well-Being, Depression, And Anxiety, Taylor G. Wandtke

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Sleep and Mental Health have a variety of definitions and underlying constructs, as well as questionnaires to measure them. This study analyzed sleep and mental health constructs using a variety of questionnaires to examine how they may influence one another, providing valuable insight into the utility of both newly developed and established measures. With an analysis sample of N = 27, this study assessed the reliability of the novel Sleep Health Item Bank (SHIB) across its 14 dimensions and its correlations among psychological well-being, depression, and anxiety scores. Psychological well-being (PWB) was assessed by Ryff’s (1995) 18-item scale, and depression …

Summary & Discussion On United Nations Preliminary Report On Ai: Benefits And Harms Of Artificial Intelligence For Civil Society, Angie Holzer

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

In July 2026, the United Nations' newly formed Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence released its first Preliminary Report, offering the first global, scientific assessment of AI's capabilities, risks, and impacts. This article examines the report's findings through the lens of civil society, organizing the Panel's evidence around three questions of direct relevance to nonprofit leaders and researchers: how rapidly AI capability is advancing, who controls its development, and where its benefits and harms are concentrated. Drawing on the Panel's data across societal applications, economic implications, human rights and information integrity, cultural flourishing and child safety, and AI governance, …

Academic Summaries - Artificial Intelligence, Angie Holzer

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

No abstract provided.

Selective Factors Impacting Charter High School Enrollment, Nathan Marshall

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined factors influencing high school choice among Utah families, comparing parent priorities between charter and traditional public high schools. Using one-way ANOVA with Tukey honestly significant difference (HSD) post hoc comparisons, parental priorities were analyzed across personal, school community, and academic factors. Parents choosing traditional public high schools rated personal and school community factors significantly higher, emphasizing relationships and school climate, while charter high school parents rated academic factors significantly higher, favoring rigor and instructional quality. Charter parents' priorities were not uniform, however, but varied significantly by school model, suggesting that the charter-versus-traditional divide masks meaningful differences within …

From Anaerobic Digesters To The Human Gut: Ecological Responses Of Microbiomes To Environmental And Biological Perturbations, Maliea Annholden Nipko

Theses and Dissertations

Microbial communities regulate essential ecological and metabolic processes across both engineered and host-associated ecosystems. Although these systems differ substantially in composition and function, they are governed by common ecological principles including community succession, resilience, species interactions, and responses to environmental and biological perturbations. This dissertation investigates how perturbations influence microbiome structure, function, and stability through three complementary studies spanning anaerobic digestion and the human gut microbiome. First, the effects of an extremophilic biological pretreatment using Caldicellulosiruptor bescii were evaluated in industrial-scale anaerobic digesters treating dairy manure. High- temperature pretreatment substantially altered microbial community composition, with bacterial populations remaining metabolically active …

Not Just Feeding Capitalism: Fostering Social Change Through Advertising, Eliza Mcmurray

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis is a qualitative analysis of how to use creative advertising to foster social change, by studying award-winning advertising campaigns. It is accompanied with a portfolio of five, speculative advertising-campaigns incorporating the findings. The digital portfolio can be accessed at elizamcmurray.com/for-good

Examining Curriculum Alignment: Utah Core Mathematics Standards And The Mathematics Vision Project/Open Up Resources, Jennifer Suzanne Young

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the alignment between the Utah Core Mathematics Standards (UCMS) and the Mathematics Vision Project/Open Up Resources (MVPOUR) curriculum for Secondary Mathematics I, II, and III, as well as the proportion of Utah secondary students potentially exposed to that alignment through district-level curriculum approval. Using a qualitative comparative case study design, UCMS were systematically compared to MVPOUR topic foci to identify horizontal alignment (standards addressed within the intended course), vertical alignment (standards addressed across courses), combined horizontal and vertical alignment, or lack of alignment. Alignment data were recorded using a spreadsheet-based content analysis and independently coded to support …

Teachers' Perspectives: Literacy Recommendations For Newcomers With Limited Language Proficiency, Rachel Edmunds

Theses and Dissertations

Although multilingual literacy instruction has expanded in recent years, less is known about how teachers can support newcomers with limited language proficiency in Grades 4-6. This gap is significant as many teachers report feeling underprepared to meet the needs of their multilingual learners, especially those with limited language proficiency. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the literacy practices and strategies that teachers found effective when working with students who are multilingual newcomers with limited language proficiency (NLLPs) in Spanish and English in Grades 4-6 along with their implementation experiences. Drawing from Vygotsky's sociocultural theory, this qualitative study …

Constructing Meaning With First Graders Using Wordless Picturebooks During Interactive Read-Alouds, Madison Weeter

Theses and Dissertations

Wordless picturebooks are an underutilized tool in elementary classrooms despite growing recognition as a valuable literacy tool. Research remains limited on how wordless picturebooks influence meaning-making during interactive read-aloud discussions. The guiding question for this study was: "How do first-graders and their teacher construct meaning during three interactive read-alouds of wordless picturebooks?" This qualitative study was conducted in a first-grade classroom. Data was collected through audio and video recordings of three interactive read-alouds facilitated by the teacher-researcher. Recordings were transcribed and analyzed using reflective thematic analysis (RTA). Six themes were created from analysis of the data: (a) cracking the code, …

Radiation Effects On The Amd Versal Running An Automatic Modulation Classification Model, Allan D. Howe

Theses and Dissertations

With the recent increase of interest into artificial intelligence (AI), graphics processing units (GPUs) have been used as the main hardware architecture for AI computation. Because of their high power consumption and large size, it is necessary to consider other architectures to perform AI computing in outer-space where size, weight, power, and cost (SWaP-C) are tightly constrained. One such architecture is the Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Versal Adaptive Compute Acceleration Platform (ACAP), which can achieve acceptable AI throughput at a lower power and size compared to a GPU. As the Versal ACAP gets used in space applications, it is necessary …