Digital Commons Network^™

A Fine Arts Program For No. 1 Chase Manhattan Plaza, Paul Richert-Garcia

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis reads Chase Manhattan's 1959 art program as a reconstitution of ornament. The spatial and affective work historically performed by murals, carved stone, and mosaic was now performed by collecting—contemporary art, ethnographic holdings, folk art—deployed by committee across a corporate modernist master plan stripped of the handcraft tradition.

From Guyana To Queens: The Formation Of The Indo-Guyanese Ethnoburb In New York City, 1970-1990, Lianne R. Persaud

Theses and Dissertations

Expanding on Li’s concept of ethnoburbs, this study examines Indo-Guyanese settlement in Little Guyana, Queens (1970–1990). I propose the Vertical Enclave Model, which suggests that multi-family homeownership and internal rental markets facilitated the residential permanence of working-class individuals. The IPUMS Census microdata corroborates this community’s reliance on metropolitan integration, thereby refuting traditional self-sufficient ethnic enclave theories.

Fascism Usa: Class And Identity Politics In The Age Of Trump, Marc Edelman

Publications and Research

This essay argues that Trump’s triumph in the 2024 presidential contest represents the consolidation of an oligarchical authoritarian project, backed by a multi-class and (surprisingly, for some) multi-racial electorate. It brought intensified state and freelance attacks on immigrants, labor unions, women, LGBTQ+ people, journalists, civil servants, assorted “political enemies,” and other groups that the MAGA movement targets. It is institutionalizing authoritarian governance structures in ways that will be exceedingly difficult to undo. The paper first addresses the experience of growing up in the shadow of fascism. It analyzes various sectors that supported Trump and the impacts of inflation, incumbency, economic …

Sociology 250: Racial And Ethnic Communities In The United States Syllabus, Minglei Zhang

Open Educational Resources

This Open Educational Resources (OER) syllabus for SOC 250: Racial and Ethnic Communities in the United States provides a no-cost, adaptable framework for examining the sociological dimensions of race, ethnicity, and power in American society. The course is organized thematically across four modules, progressing from foundational concepts of race as a social construct through analyses of institutions, inequality, and historical movements for social change. Drawing on diverse theoretical perspectives including intersectionality, critical race theory, and racial formation theory, this OER syllabus emphasizes critical thinking, analytical writing, and evidence-based inquiry. All course materials, including academic readings, documentaries, podcasts, and digital resources, …

Cuny Oer Initiative Catalog (Ay 2024-2025), Jahanara Alamgir, Yujin Lee-Hwang, Rachael Nevins, Elliot Galvis, Rebecca Morofsky, Andrew Mckinney, Jojo Karlin

Open Educational Resources

This circulating catalog inventories the reusable teaching objects produced by CUNY campuses in AY 2024-2025! You’ll find textbooks, assignments, syllabi, videos, and more, organized by discipline and with brief descriptions of the resource. This publication (which links to all the resources) is supplemented by a by our online, filterable CUNY OER Initiative Catalog.

The CUNY OLS Research and Publishing Strategy team gathered, described and indexed the work of the campuses. OLS Fellow Hwang-Lee Yujin designed the publication.

Analyzing The Survey Of Consumer Finances With `Scf`: Methodology, User Guide, And Package Validation, Joseph N. Cohen

Publications and Research

The R package `scf` streamlines analysis of the Survey of Consumer Finances' (SCF) public-use microdata. The package encodes best practices for handling the Survey's complex sampling scheme and imputed missing data, such that analysts can produce valid population estimates with simple function calls. This article reviews the SCF structure, details the design and logic of the `scf` package, and demonstrates these functions' ability to replicate official statistics.

Edu 30 Introduction To Special Needs, School & Society Syllabus, Propa Akter

Open Educational Resources

The syllabus for EDU 30 contains a course description, course objectives, course readings divided by week and a link to OER textbooks and ZTC readings.

Bridging Theory And Practice: A Criminal Justice Course Collection, Penny Geyer

Open Educational Resources

Dr. Penny Geyer compiled a full reading list, course calendar, set of weekly discussion questions, in-class experiential exercises, a death penalty case-study module, and a final paper assignment into a single, organized course packet that can be easily accessed, revised and remixed by other instructors teaching theory-to-practice criminal justice courses.

Resurrecting Natures With Charlotte Smith And Ebony G. Patterson, Leila Walker

Publications and Research

Recent scholarship on the botanically influenced poetry of the early Romantic period, particularly that of Charlotte Smith, has emphasized the genre’s formal engagement with the herbarium, treating botanical poetry as a non-extractive alternative to the violence of specimen collection. Yet such readings isolate the act of specimen collection and poetic return from the larger systems of extraction, translocation, and violence in which they participate. In this article, I read Smith’s Beachy Head alongside Ebony G. Patterson’s recent installation at the New York Botanical Garden, which artistically resurrected extinct species from herbarium specimens and “planted” them among living flora, in order …

Introduction To Mexican American Studies: Course Syllabus (Oer), Luis B. Quesada Nieto

Open Educational Resources

This course studies the varied experiences of Mexicans in the United States from an interdisciplinary perspective. Through readings, lectures, media, and discussions, students will learn about the historical, social, and cultural contributions of Mexicans and Mexican Americans. The course will survey the history of Mexico and Mexicans in the United States at the same time that it explores issues of culture and identity. While the course emphasizes developments in the 20th and 21st centuries, students will also engage with developments before the 20th century. Students will study major political and social events that contributed to the incorporation of Mexicans into …

Opportunities, Challenges, And Conspicuous Absences: An Integrative Review Of The Social Work Literature On Artificial Intelligence, Michael J. Massey, Ian G. Williams, Grace C. Polistina, Eathan A. Breaux

Publications and Research

INTRODUCTION: Social work discourse regarding artificial intelligence (AI) in practice, research, and education has proliferated over the last 5 years, reflecting both excitement over its potential and ambivalence about its ethical challenges. However, the extent to which social work is fully engaging with the structure of AI and its enormous impacts on the environment, labour, and distribution of power remains unclear.

METHODS: An integrative review of social work literature from 2020–2024 was conducted to address two research questions: 1) What is the nature of the social work discourse related to AI? 2) To what extent is the discourse …

Academic Freedom And Collective Bargaining: A Joint Report By The National Center For The Study Of Collective Bargaining In Higher Education And The Professions And The Aaup’S Center For The Defense Of Academic Freedom, William A. Herbert, Isaac A. Kamola, Timothy R. Cain, Erin Ward, Anita Levy, Kathryn Ritchie, Ariana Gonzalez

Publications and Research

This is a joint report by the National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions at Hunter College (National Center) and the Center for the Defense of Academic Freedom (CDAF) at the American Association of University Professors. It presents excerpts from forty-five collective bargaining agreements in higher education to demonstrate the wide range of ways academic freedom is defined in contracts, or not, and how the negotiated definitions incorporate, quote, follow, mirror, or deviate from the principles set forth in the 1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure (hereinafter 1940 Statement).

Why We Must Commune: Rethinking The Role Of Marketing Communications In Turbulent Times, Javier Garcia

Publications and Research

“Communications” is often thought of as a noun, representing the messages we receive on a daily basis from people, brands, and institutions alike. 

"Communications" is also often associated with an industry that exists to produce such messaging in service of capitalism, with a commercial or otherwise actionable outcome desired from its receiving audience. 

This presentation, hosted by two-time CCNY graduate and senior marketing communications professional and Assistant Professor Javier Garcia, will examine the urgency and opportunity in rethinking the value and study of marketing and communications. 

In his presentation, Professor Garcia will offer suggestions on how to guide students towards …

Finding Luis: A Creative Nonfiction Account Of Law & Society, Jason M. Leggett

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This essay explores the contradictions in legal theory and human experience through creative nonfiction. Its main purpose is to argue that a truly just society requires acknowledging the profound influence of individual narratives on the law. This is supported by blending personal narratives, critical analysis, and philosophical inquiry to reveal the gap between codified law and lived realities for marginalized individuals. This unique Legal Poetics methodology employs a series of six vignettes, such as the author's and Luis's shared experiences with traumatic brain injury and the denial of justice, as data. By integrating autoethnography, law as narrative, and performativity theories, …

Social Capital And The Spread Of Information On Twitter Related To Change In The Criminal Legal System, Sebastian Hoyos-Torres

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Criminal legal reformers and abolitionists have differing visions for change within the criminal legal system, where reformers seek to modify and abolitionists aim to dismantle it altogether (Davis 2005; Foucault 1977; Kaba 2020). Advocates used print media to disseminate information related to their proposed changes to broader audiences. While print media remains a valuable tool to reach wide audiences, the advent of social media introduced new mechanisms to interact with broad audiences at very low cost while leaving traces of digital data which could be analyzed to better understand the social factors which impact whether information is spread. Throughout this …

Filling The Gaps: Maiti Nepal And Anti-Trafficking Governance In Nepal, Sushmita Lamsal

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Human trafficking in Nepal is closely linked to labor migration, gender inequality, and weak state capacity. In this context, non-governmental organizations play a key role in anti-trafficking efforts. This capstone project examines Maiti Nepal’s approach to prevention, rescue, and rehabilitation, with focus on its work at border points and internal facilities provided to human trafficking victims. The study analyzes how Maiti Nepal functions as a quasi-state actor by addressing gaps in Nepal’s anti-trafficking framework, highlights challenges associated with limited inconsistent funding, uneven resource distribution, and support for survivors. The study argues that Maiti Nepal’s significance lies not only in its …

Towards Unbordered Worlds: Mutual Aid Amid Border Internalisation In New York City, Holly Maclean

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study explores the relationship between mutual aid and border regimes through the case of Tompkins Distro, a mutual aid group that organises a weekly food distribution in the East Village of New York City. It focuses specifically on two forms of border internalisation that have shaped the emergence and context of Tompkins Distro: welfare state bordering and interior border enforcement. Drawing on four months of participant observations, interviews with core organisers, and documentary analysis, the study examines how Tompkins Distro meets people’s needs each week through a framework of collective care that actively rejects border logics of deservingness and …

Maintenance Mode For Digital Dwellers, Maci Morris

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In an ever-expanding digital landscape that operates on the commodification of user-generated materials, whether through direct or “dark pattern” extraction, it becomes vital for educators to employ digital practices that normalize critical reflection about the creation and storage of digital content. These practices should create better understanding of the underlying infrastructure of content management and storage.

This capstone project, “Maintenance Mode for Digital Dwellers,” is an adaptable pedagogical guide that instructors can use to engage learners in strategies and systems for managing their personal digital materials. Participants are encouraged to engage with their digital maintenance and archival practices through a …

Reimagining Safety And Justice: Experiences Of And Resistance To Police Sexual Violence In New York City, Priscilla Bustamante

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In the era following both Black Lives Matter and #MeToo, police sexual violence (PSV) currently constitutes the second most commonly reported police complaint after excessive force. Police across the U.S. are caught for some form of sexual misconduct once every five days, with on-duty officers found to commit sexual assaults at more than double the rate of the general population. The gendered and racialized perpetration of sexual violence extends far beyond policing; however, it has been intensified within the masculine, militarized carceral structures designed to legally control and punish.

Accordingly, this dissertation utilizes an interdisciplinary, multi-method approach to offer what …

The Correlation Between Racial Inequality And Rent Stabilization Apartments In New York City, Juan G. Mayancela

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The federal, state, and local governments have enacted policies to address housing issues in New York City. But have African Americans and Latinos benefited from these policies? To explore this, we conduct a case study of the history of rent-stabilization policy and use data from New York City agencies to contextualize these developments. We also apply Claire Jean Kim’s racial hierarchy framework to examine how White supremacy has shaped housing policy and its effects on communities of color. Our analysis shows that African American and Latino communities face disadvantages both in the number of rent-stabilized units and in access to …

The Radical Political Possibilities Of Asexuality And Aromanticism, Kirty Singh

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study explores the radical political potential of Asexuality and Aromanticism within queer theory, emphasizing their roles in destabilizing normative constructs of sexuality and romantic relationships. Employing mixed methods, including literature review, digital ethnography of online communities, and analysis of graphic narratives, the research examines how these identities challenge systemic systems such as compulsory sexuality, amatonormativity, and racialized discourses. Findings reveal that Asexual and Aromantic communities utilize flexible definitions and taxonomies to assert their identities, disrupt hegemonic gender and sexual norms, and foster coalitional politics that advocate for systemic change. The study underscores the importance of recognizing Asexuality and Aromanticism …

Culture And Its Discontents: Versions Of Matthew Arnold From The 1860s To The 1980s, Jarrett Moran

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Between the 1860s and the 1980s, the concept of culture articulated by Matthew Arnold provided a widespread and persistent language for making claims about who was ready for inclusion in British politics and identity and who was not yet ready or even incapable of being included. Scholarship on Arnoldian culture has often focused on presenting just one version of Arnold, whether as a cultural elitist, a progenitor of literary studies, or proponent of “doing away with classes.” This dissertation instead shows that Arnold’s concept of culture was so pervasive and persistent because he could be appropriated and redefined by people …

Typeface: Machine-Viewing Gentrification On Storefront Imagery In Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, Alexander Mcquilkin

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Gentrification—broadly, the replacement of a less powerful group by a more powerful one in an urban context—is oft-discussed in the popular press, but its definition is much-debated in the urban planning literature. Furthermore, academic treatments of displacement understandably focus on measurable yet fairly abstract indicators like changes in rent or income, whereas neighborhood change is often registered by residents on the ground using visual, but difficult-to-quantify markers like retail turnover. This project uses image recognition technology on a set of storefront photos to index the visual streetscape of a neighborhood, as well as to track changes to that portrait over …

At The Margins Of History, The Body Moves And Knows: Carmen As Myth, Flamenco As A Fugitive Form Of Knowledge Transmission, Inmaculada Zanoguera Garcias

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

My research, grounded in decolonial historiography and performance studies, examines how Spain has historically relied on the exoticized Other for the construction of its national identity. At the center of my analyses is Carmen, the eponymous protagonist of French writer Prosper Mérimée’s 1845 novella Carmen. Through this dissertation, I attend to the process through which this fictional character turned into the enduring myth of Carmen—the Orientalized, quintessential Spanish woman—and the consequences that upholding this myth has on the real lives of women, historically and contemporarily. I depart from the assumption that this myth-making process emerged in response to Spain’s inability …

Voces Of Teachers And The Politics Of Literacy: A Case Study Of Multilingual Kindergarten In A Midwestern Urban District, Rachel Chapman

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The United States is home to more international immigrants than any other country in the world with about a quarter of its children learning two or more languages while growing up. This study explored teachers’ experiences with children's home languages as they learned English for the first time in a kindergarten classroom. In kindergarten, children build their emergent literacy skills as they enter the beginning stages of reading, when children use letter sounds to decode words. Because teachers have largely been left out of the debate about policy formation and curriculum on teaching reading, this study focused on teachers’ experiences …

Good Mothers: Black Disabled Mothers & The Family Policing System, Siobhan Pokorney

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Good Mothers: Black Disabled Mothers & the Family Policing System is a qualitative study utilizing 16 in-depth individual interviews with mothers who broadly identified as Black, disabled mothers who had at least one interaction with the family policing system as adults in or around NYC. The study examines the work these mothers engage in to navigate their identities and strategically present themselves as good mothers while facing state surveillance and oppressive systems (specifically the family policing system) which automatically frame them as “unfit mothers.” It traces their experiences and the identity work that they engage in through the anticipatory trauma …

Micromobility In Nyc: 2025, Mike Owen Benediktsson Phd, Xuemeng Li Phd

Publications and Research

This report offers a statistical snapshot of micromobility across the city over a three-week period in late 2025. Our team of trained researchers systematically observed over 1,700 micromobility vehicles at 155 separate intersections across the five boroughs of New York City. Our primary findings describe overall patterns in the demographics of micromobility and vehicle behavior at city intersections, and show how this behavior is shaped by variations in infrastructure as well as individual-level attributes.

Where Do Latinos Live In The New York City Metropolitan Area? Changing Settlement Patterns, 2000 - 2024, Laird W. Bergad

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies

This report shows that between 2000 and 2024, the Latino population of the New York metropolitan area increased by 48% from 3,592,542 to 5,316,472 according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Along with population expansion, there was a decisive change in settlement patterns among all Latinos, which, in fact, began before 2000. This was the decline of New York City as the major area of the Latino population concentration, although there were differentiations by nationality.

In 2000, 60% of all Latinos in the region lived in the City. By 2024, this had declined to 46%. And while the City’s Latino population …

Implementation Of The Framework For Great Schools: Lessons From New York City, Jay M. Langkamp

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores the implementation of the Framework for Great Schools in the New York City Department of Education from 2015 through 2019. The study addresses a gap in the literature, specifically regarding NYC School Survey data and the relationship between it, school context, and student outcomes, at a time when families and district leaders regularly use publicly available school-level data to inform their decision-making, understanding how frameworks such as the Framework for Great Schools is essential. The Framework focuses on six elements: Rigorous Instruction, Supportive Environment, Collaborative Teachers, Effective School Leadership, Strong Family and Community Ties, and Trust. It …

Becoming Tricky In Measure For Measure: Isabella's Silences Revisited, Laura Kolb

Publications and Research

At Measure for Measure’s start, Isabella is presented as radically self-same, possessed of “no tongue but one.” By its end, she has helped orchestrate a bed trick and publicly lied about her sexual history. Measure for Measure presents trickery as a vehicle for truth-telling in the face of injustice that is both situationally specific—created by Angelo’s hypocrisy—and utterly mundane: a feature of being a woman in the world. Ultimately, the play suggests that trickery is woven into the fabric of femininity itself: into the repertoire of linguistic, embodied, and behavioral strategies women like Isabella develop in navigating masculinist systems, …