Digital Commons Network^™

Fugitive Formalisms: Strategies Of Dissemblance And Dissent In The Work Of Queer-Identifying Artists, 1970–Present, Rowan Diaz-Toth

Theses and Dissertations

Utilizing case studies of works by Hélio Oiticica, Scott Burton, and Felix Gonzalez-Torres as points of departure, this thesis puts forth a speculative historical framework for reconsidering queer art practices up through the present day in opposition to regimes of visibility and transparency, exploring the subversive, fugitive potential of non-representational formalisms.

The Role Of Exotic Plants In The Diet Of Black-And-White Colobus Monkeys (Colobus Guereza) In Kibale National Park, Uganda, Michelle Gaykov

Theses and Dissertations

Exotic plants have both positive and negative impacts on their environment. They may act as additional food sources for the local fauna or as competition for local flora or leading to changes within a landscape or ecosystem. To considere the role of exotics in primate diet, this study focused on the dietary role of exotic plant species in the diet of a leaf-eating foregut fermenting monkey, the black-and-white colobus monkeys (Colobus guereza) in Kibale National Park, Uganda. Int this study, I followed individuals in two groups of black-and-white colobus monkeys for 21 days recording their food intake (0700-1900). I also …

Rhetorical Awareness And Vision In The Four Speeches Of Ellison’S Invisible Man, Asif Ibrahim

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis evaluates Ralph Ellison’s account of rhetoric’s role in establishing, disguising, and contesting racism in the early- and mid-twentieth-century United States. The thesis is structured around four pivotal public orations by the protagonist of Ellison’s 1952 novel Invisible Man. Drawing on Ellison’s private letters and essays to further illuminate his concern for the relationship between speech, public engagement, and self-perception, I propose that Ellison’s novel dramatizes some ways that shifts in speech style, technique, and addressee enable intellectual development and political efficacy. Even techniques that initially appear self-sabotaging and “blind,” Ellison suggests, have the potential to develop into politically …

Simulation Of Quantum Walks For Secure Data Access Patterns, Arslan Ahmad Janjua

Theses and Dissertations

Quantum computing is revolutionizing computational science, offering fundamentally new approaches to information processing that surpass classical limitations. One of the most versatile and powerful tools in this emerging field is quantum walks. Quantum walks are quantum analogs of classical random walks that leverage superposition and interference to explore complex spaces efficiently.

This thesis will explore how discrete-time scattering quantum walks can be simulated and analyzed to investigate patterns of secure data access. By modeling quantum walks on a variety of graph structures and studying the dynamics of marked vertices, the project aims to demonstrate how quantum interference and graph topology …

The Decadent Bible: Biblical Intertextuality In Flaubert’S Herodias And Wilde’S Salome, Shoshana Mintz

Theses and Dissertations

This paper argues that Gustave Flaubert’s Hérodias and Oscar Wilde’s Salomé incorporate biblical intertextuality throughout their work as a means to showcase Decadent technique and themes. Both authors weave direct quotations from biblical sources such as the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Revelation, and Acts into their texts, layering biblical passages with themes of excess, eroticism, and decay central to the Decadent movement. Drawing on Julia Kristeva’s theory of intertextuality, I show how these biblical fragments intersect with narrative voice to destabilize meaning and form a unique, new work of writing that intertwines their own words with biblical …

O Esqueleto De Um Romance, Lanna Leite

Theses and Dissertations

In O Esqueleto de um Romance: The Film (2025), a Berlin legal dispute between a mayor and evangelicals sparks filmmaker Lanna Leite’s reflection on faith, memory, and belief. Using archival, 16mm, and 8mm footage, the experimental film frames filmmaking as an ephemeral, performative practice resisting closure and conventional narrative finality.

The Double Gaze: Weaving Historical, Decolonial, And Indigenous Perspectives Through Maruch Sántiz Gómez’S Creencias., Elisa Gutiérrez Eriksen

Theses and Dissertations

The Double Gaze examines Maruch Sántiz Gómez’s series Creencias (1994-2000) at the intersection of sociopolitical changes in southeastern Mexico and the 1995 Johannesburg Biennial. Drawing on Rita Segato’s “capillary disobedience” and the Mayan philosophy of kab’awil, the research considers Creencias as a theoretical proposal for reading Indigenous art practices.

Qualitative Exploration Of Hallucinations Among Adolescents With Suicide Ideation And/Or Attempts, Rebecca E. Lewis

Theses and Dissertations

A qualitative study exploring and characterizing how psychotic experiences (PEs), specifically hallucinations, may affect suicidal behaviors in adolescents. Thematic analysis revealed eight key themes within the connection, capturing unique perspectives and nuanced meanings. Exploring this intersection may increase the understanding of adolescent PEs and help inform more targeted interventions.

Interpreting Novel Metaphors - A Test Of The Perspective Identification View Of Metaphor Comprehension, Symmetra J. Roane

Theses and Dissertations

This study provides initial evidence for the Perspective Identification View of Metaphor. It proposes metaphor comprehension involves reliance on vehicle properties to shift the perspective of how the topic is conveyed. This is especially true when the perspective shift relies on a property the vehicle has a principled connection to.

Structural Characterization Of Peptide Nanoaggregates At Varying Concentrations And Their Impact On Cellular Responses, Malika Rozmetova

Theses and Dissertations

Peptide nano-assemblies can regulate cellular pathways in a structure-dependent manner. Here, we show that the enzyme-responsive peptide NapFFK(NBD)Yp forms distinct nanoscale assemblies at different concentrations, triggering differential ER stress and extracellular vesicle release in MDA-MB231 cells. These results highlight the importance of supramolecular organization in peptide–cell interactions.

One Stone's Journey, Satoko Saito

Theses and Dissertations

One Stone’s Journey is a participatory, experiential thirty-minute documentary about uranium. By using an embroidered world map and appealing to participants’ senses—especially touch—the project explores the possibility of telling the story of radiation, which is invisible, intangible, and silent. Uranium is a radioactive material used by the United States in the development and production of the atomic bombs during the Manhattan Project. This year, 2025, marks the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident in 2011 was on a scale comparable to the Chernobyl disaster of 1986, and the threat …

"The Very Milk And Sperm Of Kindness": Democratic Pleasures And Echoes Of Intimacy In Moby-Dick And Absalom, Absalom!, Nicholas Profeta

Theses and Dissertations

This paper examines homosocial relationships in Moby-Dick and Absalom, Absalom! to evaluate the ways male bonds have transformed between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and how these relationships comment on the strength and possibilities of American democracy. I argue that Melville’s novel presents a utopian vision of America defined by democratic bonds developed through labor and homoerotic intimacy that cut across racial lines and melt individual identities, while Faulkner’s novel reflects many of those imagined possibilities, only to see them wither away under the weight of racial divisions. Ishmael and the crew of the Pequod embrace this erasing of self, …

"Catching Up": Christian Walker's Critical Lens, Noam Parness

Theses and Dissertations

“Catching Up” examines three bodies of photographic work that artist, critic, and curator Christian Walker (1953-2003) generated between 1984-1991. By reading each series against a corresponding text, “Catching Up” furthers an understanding of how Walker’s works reconstruct experiences and histories of race and sexuality in the United States.

The Effect Of Extending In-State Tuition For Undocumented Students On College Enrollment And Tuition Pricing, Dongxin Weng

Theses and Dissertations

I use panel data of public institutions from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, and estimate the effect of in-state tuition policy using a staggered difference-in-differences estimator. The results reveal that most of the policy's effect is concentrated among Hispanic students, while other student groups and tuition are mostly unaffected.

The Effect Of Medical Aid In Dying On Health Outcomes And Risky Behavior Of The Elderly, Jacky Wu

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the effects of Medical Aid in Dying (MAiD) legalization on health outcomes and behavior among elderly U.S. adults using BRFSS data from 2005-2022. Using staggered difference-in-differences, this paper finds that MAiD increases exercise, lowers BMI, and reduces blood pressure medication use.

I Know You Are Watching, Camilo Salas Kusulas

Theses and Dissertations

I Know You Are Watching is a short documentary film that examines the evolving history and scope of mass surveillance, and how to resist it. The film introduces two local New York City artists, Bill Brown from the Surveillance Camera Players, and Sam Lavigne, who misuse technologies designed to watch us, exposing these systems and fighting back through digital art and performance.

Blending interviews, observational footage, personal narration, archival images, and news clips from different eras, the film interrogates the mechanisms of control, and positions art as a method of both understanding and talking back to surveillance.

Capturing The Spirit Of Childhood: An Analysis Of Robert Henri’S Portraits Of Children, Alex C. Maccaro

Theses and Dissertations

Robert Henri (1865-1929) is perhaps best known as the prominent leader of the turn-of-the century American movement The Eight, commonly known as “the Ashcan School,” and as a leading teacher in the United States during the early twentieth century. However, his artistic output as a portrait painter, particularly of children, is also significant. Beginning in 1904 and throughout his career as an artist, Henri painted hundreds of images of children in the various foreign or remote locales to which he traveled, often depicting the same subject in multiple instances. These portraits range from the roughly painted, rosy-cheeked Dutch youth of …

Juventino Rosas, Sobre Las Olas, And Their Place In Defining Mexican Music In The Porfirian Nineteenth Century, Catherine J. Langevin-Falcon

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the life and music of Juventino Rosas (1868–1894), the Mexican composer whose most enduring work is Sobre las olas (1888), a Viennese-style waltz. I ask the question: Why was Sobre las olas so well-known and why does it remain beloved with audiences around the world, even today, while Rosas is hardly known outside his native Mexico? I considered historical, social and cultural factors, as well as musical events of the day, that may have had bearing on the question. I describe the broad outlines of Rosas's life and the challenges he faced as an indigenous person, composer …

Confronting The “Green” Discourse Of Librarianship, Michael Kirby

Publications and Research

Set against the backdrop of resurgent right-wing populism and drawing on Sam Popowich’s critique of democratic discourse in librarianship, this article outlines a crisis of imagination within liberal climate activism—particularly its essentially unquestioned commitment to “green growth,” or the notion that economic expansion can continue indefinitely alongside ecological sustainability. The American Library Association (ALA), despite its progressive public image, uncritically promotes these same market-oriented solutions to climate change and aligns itself with international treaties such as the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement, both of which are grounded in growth-centric frameworks and market mechanisms like carbon credits. These frameworks and …

Ma 250 – Evaluating & Creating With Genai, Mohamed Ben Zid

Open Educational Resources

In this assignment, students use Excel and ChatGPT to design, analyze, and interpret a regression model. They create visualizations, calculate the regression equation manually, and make predictions before consulting AI-generated feedback on their model’s strengths and limitations. Students then compare their own interpretation with ChatGPT’s insights, summarize their findings, and critically assess the model’s accuracy and real-world usefulness. The exercise develops quantitative reasoning, practical AI application, and reflective evaluation skills.

Challenging Stem Learning Spaces: The Paradigm Of Contemplative Traditions As The Bedrock Of Creativity And Healing, Raaghav Pandya, Christopher Emdin

Publications and Research

As the post-pandemic classroom and pedagogy evolve to remedy oppressive norms, young people’s mental health and alienation has taken front stage (Rahmani & Zitouni, 2022). Traditional STEM learning spaces often teach inquiry as a linear, non-deviated approach to problems about self and nature (Hrisa & Psillos, 2022). Furthermore, because our classrooms often strip students and educators of their inherent creative abilities through constant assessments, improvement scales, and market-driven expectations, classrooms cease to become places of healing (Pandya, 2021). Eastern wisdom traditions and their associated philosophies provide a unique pedagogical lens that emphasizes a deep inquiry into self, empathy, and creativity …

Ancient Wisdom & Its Cultural Relevance: Reimagining Deeper Learning In Science Classrooms Through The Lens Of Yoga And Vedānta, Raaghav Pandya

Publications and Research

Contemporary calls to reconceptualize how science is taught and understood have brought deeper learning to the forefront of education at-large for its emphasis on critical perspectives, creativity, and student-centered inquiry. Yet this paper argues that its prevailing framework remains constrained by Cartesian dualism, a materialist foundation that disassociates the individual from self, other, and nature, and falls short of addressing the mental health, environmental, and cultural challenges facing youth today. To address this limitation, this paper proposes a complementary convergence between deeper learning and the contemplative traditions of Yoga and Vedānta, whose ancient paradigms of self-inquiry, interconnectedness, and well-being offer …

A Brief Measure Of Decisional Balance For Health Equity Engagement Among Health Professionals, Amanda Lee Almond

Publications and Research

Racial health and healthcare inequities are sustained in part by health professionals’ beliefs about the benefits and costs of equity-focused action, yet no validated decisional balance measure exists for this domain. This study introduces and evaluates the Health Equity Decisional Balance (HEDB) scale. Eighty-eight health professionals completed the scale of ten proposed items assessing perceived pros and cons of engaging with health and healthcare equity work, along with a measure of Anti-Racist Efficacy (ARE) (Eschmann et al., 2023). Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were used to test the latent structure of the scale and its predictive validity. A …

Baking In The Disposition: The Wac/Wid World Through Translational Lenses, Joseph Franklin

Publications and Research

In a global perspective for WAC and other writing programs, the singular identifier of the nation still holds a dominance in articles, books, and conference presentations. But, how we understand relationships between different programs on the global writing studies map often demands a more nuanced unpacking than stable nation-markers can offer. Jonathan Hall (2023) calls us to take up “thinking with trans-” in WAC (p. 13). This chapter answers this call first by locating different pieces of global writing program scholarship along a spectrum from those that aim to establish a single, stable identity for a particular (often national) writing …

Building Engagement And Bringing Joy: Ungrading An Online, Asynchronous Course, Stephanie M. Margolin, Margaret Bausman

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

What Race Means For Health Among Black Americans: How Microaggressions Shape Self-Efficacy And Readiness For Behavior Change, Amanda Lee Almond

Publications and Research

Objectives: Persistent racial disparities in cardiovascular health among Black Americans reflect not only structural inequities in the United States, but also the racialized meanings of cardiovascular disease reproduced through public and private health communication. Drawing on ecological systems theory, this research examines how beliefs linking race and cardiovascular disease are reinforced through routine clinical interactions and how these meanings shape health behavior change. Method: Across two experimental mixed-methods studies, a model integrating ecological, social–cognitive, and behavior-change frameworks was tested. In Study 1 (N = 374), health-message framing was experimentally manipulated to examine effects on self-efficacy and decisional balance while controlling …

From Wikipedia Tables To Public Data Visualizations, Tanvir Prince

Open Educational Resources

This open educational resource presents a practical mathematics lesson in which students turn numerical data from Wikipedia into a clear data visualization. Students select a Wikipedia page with a data table but little or no visual representation. They examine the original source, date, units, definitions, and possible data limits. They then organize the data in Microsoft Excel or another spreadsheet, choose an appropriate chart, and explain what the visualization helps readers understand. A complete worked example uses the 2017 population growth rates of South American countries.

The resource package includes an instructor lesson plan, a student project guide, a Wikimedia …

An Autoethnographic Study Of A Technical Services Librarian’S Teaching Journey During The Tenure Track: “Define Myself For Myself To Both Survive And Thrive”, Junli Diao

Publications and Research

This autoethnographic study explores the disorienting dilemma that a technical services librarian experienced while alternating between working behind the scenes to fulfill professional responsibilities and teaching in the library to meet organizational expectations as a faculty member. The analysis of personal data accumulated during the tenure track period reveals three themes: teaching as learning to become, teaching as learning to challenge the system, and teaching as learning to research. Reflection focuses on three themes interconnected by the concept and practice of mindful learning. With the acknowledgement of limitations, this autoethnography concludes it was the self-reflective lifelong learning mindset that helped …

Toward A Speculative Librarianship, Michael Kirby

Publications and Research

(Academic) citation is a representational practice of hollow, ruined potential professional accumulation of intellectual capital. Critical librarianship finds itself in the same situation as Saint Anthony: beset by interpretive demons (Freud, Nietzsche, Marx), nearing total evaluative exhaustion, wandering in a theoretical desert of its own creation. “Where am I?” the lonely figure shouts as he’s lifted into the air. Prayer, even as a last resort, seems intolerable. What happens when critique loses its way?

Review Of Hayek's Bastards: The Neoliberal Roots Of The Populist Right, Michael Kirby

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.