Digital Commons Network^™

Ecpse 550: Foundations Of Special Education, Deborah J. Gruber

Open Educational Resources

No abstract provided.

Ecpse 350: Foundations Of Special Education, Deborah J. Gruber

Open Educational Resources

No abstract provided.

Development Of An Adhesive Emulsion Hydrogel For Soft Tissue Reconstruction, David J. Alpert

Dissertations and Theses

Soft tissue filling materials are most commonly associated with various aesthetic, cosmetic procedures, primarily using lightly cross-linked hyaluronic acid to fill wrinkles and give facial features a more youthful appearance. These natural materials are biocompatible but degrade over time while more persistent synthetic fillers may provoke a chronic inflammatory response. Migration from the injection site is also a key factor as this may not only render the implant non- functional but necessitate further procedures for removal of the foreign material. Such concerns are more pronounced for soft tissue reconstruction procedures (e.g., to treat congenital defects or traumatic injuries), which require …

Design, Testing And Controls For Air Source Heat Pump System In Cold Climates Using Natural & Conventional Refrigerants, S M Abdur Rob

Dissertations and Theses

Fossil-fuel based heating systems used in the residential buildings in northeastern U.S region are not only inefficient but also largely responsible for the greenhouse gas emissions in U.S. Electrification of the buildings has been proved to be the most efficient way to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions where Heat Pumps can be the best alternative to replace the natural gas based heating system to accelerate the electrification process. Among different types of heat pumps, the Air Source Heat Pump (ASHP) system is widely used due to the easy installation and energy efficiency. Conventional heat pump technologies use various types of …

Hybridization And Introgression In Marine Invertebrates: Population Genomics Of Phymactis Papillosa And Asterias Sea Stars, Christopher J. Dookie

Dissertations and Theses

Hybridization and introgression are evolutionary significant processes in marine invertebrates (Sanford & Kelly,2011) yet genome-wide investigations of gene flow in these taxa remain limited relative to vertebrate systems (Marchi et al., 2021). This thesis presents genomic analyses of hybridization and introgression in two marine invertebrates occupying contrasting oceanographic settings and characterized by contrasting genomic datasets: restriction-site associated DNA sequencing (RADseq) SNP data for the eastern Pacific sea anemone Phymactis papillosa and whole genome sequencing (WGS) data for the North Atlantic sea stars Asterias rubens and Asterias forbesi. For each system, I applied coalescent-based species tree inference using CASTER (Zhang …

Mad Or Uncontrollable? Reading Female Madness In Three Gothic Texts, Amy Marie Bueno

Dissertations and Theses

My thesis employs comparative close reading framed by disability studies to analyze representations of female madness in Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, Jean Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Sea, and Isabel Allende’s “If You Touched My Heart.” Drawing on theories of socially constructed disability, it argues that Bertha, Antoinette, and Hortensia are framed as “mad women” not through inherent pathology, but through patriarchal violence, colonial domination, and institutional power. By integrating the social model of disability with feminist theory, this thesis examines how women are rendered disabled within societies influenced by Social Darwinism and eugenic ideologies.

This thesis further incorporates Gothic theory and …

Disaster Risk Management During Climate Emergencies In The Dominican Republic And Puerto Rico, Rosleny Ubinas

Dissertations and Theses

This paper analyzes the DRM approach as an effective framework in addressing climate emergencies across the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. These two Caribbean regions, with high hurricane exposure and differing response structures, are deeply shaped by their governments and affiliated international organizations. Disaster Risk Management is the systematic process of using laws, plans, institutions, and community networks to reduce vulnerability to hazards and coordinate effective response when disasters occur. It covers the full cycle, from prevention to reconstruction and rebuilding more resiliently. The Dominican Republic’s law-based intervention led to greater local-level community participation during disasters with its embedded volunteer …

Relational Spirituality And Maternal Coping In Carceral Contexts: A Participatory Action Study Of Meaning-Making And Mental Health Among Formerly Incarcerated Mothers, Jessica Peters

Dissertations and Theses

Maternal incarceration carries significant psychological, familial, and community consequences, yet limited research centers the mental health experiences of mothers themselves. This study explored how religious and spiritual engagement shape mental health and coping among formerly incarcerated mothers using a participatory action research framework. Guided by this, small groups and semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 mothers in collaboration with a community-based organization. This approach prioritized lived experience and aimed to reduce barriers to participation among a population often mistrustful of research institutions. Data were analyzed thematically to identify patterns in psychological distress, coping strategies, and meaning-making. Findings revealed pervasive and …

Examining The Spatial Variability Of Summer Heat In New York City Using Landsat Land Surface Temperature, Ryan Kabir

Dissertations and Theses

Extreme heat is the leading weather-related cause of death in the United States, and in New York City (NYC) approximately 370 heat-related deaths occur annually on average. The spatial distribution of surface heat exposure across NYC is highly uneven, low-income neighborhoods and communities of color consistently face higher temperatures, yet the intraurban spatial structure of land surface temperature (LST) during heatwave events has not been systematically characterized at high resolution. The New York City Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment (NPCC4) identifies this as an explicit research gap, noting that its own projections, based on global climate models downscaled to …

Civil War Memory In New York City, 1861-1902, Kevin J. Sugrue

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis examines how New York City experienced, understood, and later remembered the American Civil War, from the outbreak of war (1861) through the dedication of major monuments at the turn of the twentieth century (1902). Although New York was the Union’s largest city and its most significant source of troops, casualties, industrial output, financial capital, and press coverage, the city’s wartime experience was deeply conflicted. As a Democratic stronghold and home to large populations of recent immigrants and working-class laborers, New York’s support for the Union was broad but conditional, fractured by class, ethnicity, race, and political allegiance. These …

China-U.S Relations: Techno‑Nationalism, Strategic Entrapment, And Taiwan., Prince Y. Munya Mr.

Dissertations and Theses

Abstract

This thesis examines how China–U.S. relations evolved from a manageable strategic rivalry into a more rigid and increasingly difficult form of competition after the Obama administration’s “Pivot to Asia.” It argues that traditional explanations such as power transition theory alone cannot fully explain the deterioration of the relationship. Instead, the study introduces the concept of techno-nationalism, where technological leadership becomes tied to national identity, economic security, and geopolitical power, particularly in areas such as semiconductors, artificial intelligence, and supply-chain security. Through historical analysis and policy tracing, the thesis develops the concept of strategic entrapment to explain how both Washington …

Statistics 103a Instructor Guide, Elizabeth R. Wentworth

Open Educational Resources

This set of slides contains reading, original videos, activities and instructions for instructors to run a complete 12 week course in any modality. These resources can be used to supplement in-person instruction or can be used for either a hybrid or asynchronous course.

Syllabus: Guttman Psyc101: Introduction To Psychology, Natalia Lara Gonzalez

Open Educational Resources

The present syllabus includes materials to be used for an introduction to psychology class. The topics range from basic cognitive, behavioral and developmental psychology to social sciences and nature vs. nurture debates. The syllabus also includes an abnormal psychology open access textbook where students can access details on mental health conditions which they present on at the end of the semester.

Eng 2100 - Writing 1 - Writing As Being, Jonathan Toro

Open Educational Resources

This is an Open Educational Resources (OER) syllabus for ENG 2100 - Writing 1 - Writing as Being. In this course, students will examine how their identities and communities shape their understanding of themselves and the world around them—how it affects the way they move and think in the spaces they occupy. Through the usage of personal narrative and critical writing, the students will study how language, culture, community, and socio-historical contexts influence their ways of knowing and being. Then, they will utilize these influences—the very systems that affect them in tremendous ways—to write themselves into being.  All course materials, …

Graduate Student Retention: Examining Why Master’S Students Leave And What Motivates Their Return In A Large Public University System, Sonja Prophete

Theses and Dissertations

Graduate student persistence is a relatively unexplored area in the literature of higher education studies; specifically, at a multi-institutional scale at the master's level. This research study examines the factors which cause students to discontinue their master's degrees, and what conditions could possibly support them returning to their program at a large urban public university system. The current study was guided by Hoyt and Winn's (2004) distinction between non-returning students, and Bean & Metzner's (1985) theoretical model of student attrition. A sequential mixed-methods study was conducted to examine the institutional and environmental influences on students' decision-making processes.

The quantitative data …

Hs 6000 Food Systems And Health, Shannon Caravello

Open Educational Resources

Within the context of the US food system, students will examine the role of urban agriculture and its impact on local communities. Students will gain the ability to critically analyze current trends in urban agriculture and apply them to societal; cultural and health issues associated with the US food system as well as develop strategies to implement healthy eating in their own lives. Issues of food justice and insecurity will be addressed. Demonstrations and workshops on the KCC Community Farm and Garden may be included.

Decentralized Linear Solvers: Communication Cost And Privacy, Nelson G. Brasil, Vinay A. Vaishampayan

Publications and Research

We consider the problem of multiple parties iteratively solving a system of linear equations in a decentralized manner. Specifically, we solve for $\negr{x} \in \R^n$, the $n \times n$ system of linear equations $M\negr{x} = \negr{b}$ when each party only knows their row of the matrix $M$ and a single component of $\negr{b} \in \R^n$. Our objective is to determine the tradeoff between the accuracy of the solution and the total communication cost measured in bits. A fully connected, reliable mesh network is assumed to connect the different parties. We develop a general formulation that applies to a large class …

Major And Institution Transfer Path Combinations And The Relaxed Lasso Method: Parsimonious Prediction Of Vertical Transfer Student Success, David Wutchiett, A. W. Logue, Martin Kurzweil, Colin Chellman

Publications and Research

The majors, institutions, and their combinations, which characterize transfer between higher education institutions relate to student success but introduce high-dimensionality and multicollinearity to statistical modeling. Relaxed lasso regression, a procedure blending regularized lasso models with unregularized refit models, selects variables and facilitates unbiased coefficient estimation in high-dimensional settings. Using a large sample of students transferring from associate to bachelor’s programs (n=28,166), we compared lasso and ridge regression parsimonious models predicting bachelor’s graduation and posttransfer GPA improvement, evaluating associations using unregularized parsimonious predictive models. Relaxed lasso parsimonious optimal models outperformed standard lasso and ridge regression models while including few of 702 …

Spn 316, Introduction To Hispanic Linguistics, Bernardita Chaigneau Castro

Open Educational Resources

The present syllabus includes the structure for an Introduction to Hispanic Linguistics class. The topics range from basic concepts in linguistics to the specific study of Spanish in the United States. The syllabus also includes different Open Access Resources in Spanish, as the class was thought to be taught mainly in Spanish.

Topic Modeling The Cuny Graduate Center's Dissertations And Theses, Michael Mandiberg

Open Educational Resources

This 4 week module is designed for Data Analysis, Data Visualization, and Digital Humanities courses at the MA/MS or advanced 400-level undergraduate level. It introduces students to textual analysis with topic modeling and requires a solid foundation in Python. The module uses Gensim and a Colab notebook to introduce a standard text analysis workflow used in Digital Humanities, archival research, and exploratory data analysis.

Students build a topic model describing 19,000 CUNY Graduate Center dissertations and theses. They work with an unexplored dataset to load and explore the data, prepare the corpus, train and evaluate a topic model, and interpret, …

Improving Efficiency In Noma Schemes Having Inter-User Interference Using Mechanism Design, Zory Marantz

Publications and Research

Modern wireless systems utilize non-orthogonal multiple access to increase their rate capacities; however, the efficiency of the individual utility defined in bits per Joule has yet to be considered. Multiple variations of non-orthogonal multiple access have the interference of the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio as a function of the received power from multiple other users due to code implementations that are non-orthogonal or non-ideal cancellation in successive-interference-cancellation methods. Game theoretic concepts are used to improve user bits-per-Joule performance. Previous solutions increment transmit power and are not based on closed form systematic methods. The mechanism design presented here led to a non-cooperative Nash …

Reclaiming Agency: Ai Hallucinations And Translingual Interrogations In The City Tech Writing Center,, Joseph Franklin, Anna Laura Falvey

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

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 …

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 …

Infection Control Across Clinical And Laboratory Dental Settings Protocols, Risks, And The Role Of Emerging Technologies, Khrystyna Vyprynyuk, Laura Andreesku

Publications and Research

This article explores infection prevention strategies and disease transmission pathways in dental settings, emphasizing the critical connection between clinical practice and dental laboratories. It highlights the risks of cross-contamination, disinfection and sterilization challenges, and the growing role of technology in enhancing infection control.

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 …

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 …

Food Apartheid And The Retail Food Environment In The Bronx, Aissatou Barry

CUNY Mexican Studies Institute

This project examines the structural mechanisms that contribute to unequal food access, both historical and ongoing, in the South Bronx, and applies the food apartheid framework created by Bronx food activist Karen Washington. This paper applies the framework to two food retail initiatives in NYC: the New York State Regional Hub and the New York City FRESH food program to assess whether their policies address the structural mechanisms that contribute to food inequality. I ask: How does the unequal distribution of healthy food access in the Bronx reflect broader patterns of racial and economic exclusion? To what extent do current …

Will Technology Help Us Understand Animals?, Frances I. Sacks

Capstones

New technologies allow scientists to study animal communication like never before. Advanced surveillance devices ornament forests and oceans, recording animals over great stretches of distance and time. Artificial intelligence can absorb these enormous datasets, sorting tangled abstractions into coherent patterns. With a sufficiently robust library of analyzed data, some researchers believe that large language models will soon learn to translate whale communication systems.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ky6mPFjc-lNJFVK8CHebUa5zCSFUoMgkCB560pqxwfo/edit?tab=t.0

The Neverending Manifestations Of Gambling In Children’S Spaces, Brandon M. Malave

Capstones

The pervasiveness of gambling in American culture has gotten out of control. Unlike traditional casinos of that are easily recognizable by their slot machines and blackjack tables, these contemporary forms of gambling lurk in spaces that children frequent, specifically within popular culture. My experiences in contemporary gambling within the computer game Counter-Strike and trading card games like Magic: The Gathering, is following along the century long trend of exploiting culture to generate wealth. Should this continue, gambling will continue to manifest in spaces that it should never be allowed to exist in.

Project Link: https://www.the-analog.net/blog/the-never-ending-manifestations-of-gambling-in-childrens-spaces

Github: https://github.com/brandonmalave/Magic-The-Gathering-Card-Price-Analysis