Digital Commons Network^™

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 …

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 Next Drug Epidemic Is Legal: The Nation's Kratom Problem Is More Complicated—And More Harmful—Than It Seems, Elizabeth Walsh

Capstones

This two-part health and science investigative piece reports how kratom and its offshoots have quietly fueled a lucrative and legal addiction epidemic for the last decade. While kratom’s derivative alkaloid 7-hyrdoxymitragynine made headlines this year and as the DEA is poised to ban the strong derivative, “natural” kratom and other kratom-derived products will remain. This piece tracks the history of the 'gas‑station opioid' crisis in the U.S. over ten years: what was thought to be an innocuous southeast Asian supplement has become multi-billion dollar industry built on gray‑area laws, marketed falsehoods, and regulatory loophooles.

Part 1: The ‘Gas Station Opioid’ …

The Campus Evp: A Multi-Case Content Analysis Of Employer Branding Communication In U.S. Higher Education, Latoya A. Clarke

Student Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines how universities across the major geographical regions in the United States communicate their employer brand through the Careers section on their websites and digital recruitment materials. Using a multiple-case qualitative content analysis, the study applies the four-dimensional brand SMRT storytelling framework of story, meaning, ritual, and transmedia to evaluate how institutions signal aspects of their employer value proposition across various content formats. Findings show that meaning and ritual were consistently applied through content formats via mission statements, departmental narratives, and employee photography. However, story and transmedia appeared inconsistently, as fewer content formats featured long-form …

Dialogic Communication And Digital Fandom: The Role Of K-Pop In Shaping Global Artist–Fan Relationships, Huanchun Xu

Student Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines how K-pop artists use Instagram and Weverse to communicate with fans, and how platform-specific affordances shape the relational dynamics of contemporary fandom. Using a mixed-method content analysis of four artists—Seventeen, Babymonster, Lee Sung-Kyoung, and Kim Myungsoo (L)—this study compares 2022–2024 posting patterns across both platforms. Quantitative findings show that highly curated promotional photos and videos dominate Instagram, whereas Weverse contains far more text-based, casual, and relational posts.

This study further reveals that Weverse fosters dialogic communication, personal disclosure, and multilingual fan interaction, unlike on public-facing platforms. Drawing on dialogic communication theory and computer-mediated communication (CMC) interaction frameworks, …

Creating A Radical Social Change Campaign To Restore Rational Thinking: A Theoretical Framework, John S. Long

Student Theses and Dissertations

Rational thinking is a skill and mindset that is under siege in modern society, becoming increasingly endangered as we devolve into increasingly hyper-partisan communities rife with echo chambers and confirmation biases. The most basic processes of analyzing issues and facts to develop clearly thought-out and defendable positions have been abandoned in favor of a zealous devotion to toe the party line, no matter the evidence or implications. What we are witnessing firsthand is the fast-approaching culmination of the post-truth era.

One might assume that an issue with such far-reaching implications across our entire society would generate a significant amount of …

Data Storytelling For Reputation Management: A Multiple Case Study Of Formula 1, Patagonia & Spotify, Michael O. P. Lowsley-Williams

Student Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates data storytelling as a reputation management strategy by examining how organizations leverage data narratives to enhance brand identity, build stakeholder trust, and reshape public perception. Through analysis and comparison of three qualitative case studies of Patagonia, Formula 1, and Spotify, this research explores how these companies construct and utilize data-driven narratives to address reputational challenges across distinct industry contexts. Drawing on elements of framing, situational crisis and stakeholder theories as well as the concepts of encoding and decoding, this study analyzes narrative structures, framing devices, and audience engagement tactics within reports, campaigns, and multimedia content from 2015-2025. …

The Trust Equation: Users, Companies, And Safety In The Online Dating World, Hayley Solomon

Student Theses and Dissertations

Digital dating platforms have become essential to modern-day relationship formation, yet concerns about user safety, harassment, deception, and accountability have intensified distrust, particularly among women. This study explores (1) how women’s personal experiences of danger shape their perceptions of dating apps’ trustworthiness, (2) how women explain the nature of trust and distrust in these digital environments, and (3) how communication professionals can design messages that promote safety and strengthen trust on dating platforms. Using a qualitative study design, four focus groups with three participants each were conducted with heterosexual cis-gender women aged 18–50 who had used Hinge, Tinder, or Bumble …

Assessing The Relationship Between Treatment Quality, Matching And Dosage And Juvenile Justice Outcomes Among Youth With Co-Occurring Substance Abuse And Mental Health Disorders, Kevin T. Wolff, Michael T. Baglivio, Joshua A. Lang

Publications and Research

This study examined differences among youth in deep-end juvenile justice residential placement who did, and did not, present with co-occurring disorders. The prevalence of cooccurring mental health and substance use/abuse issues was found to be 19%, far lower than that of prior work. Researchers demonstrated more similarities than differences between youth with and without co-occurring disorders, both in terms of their criminal histories and the prevalence of their criminogenic needs. Additionally, the residential programs across Florida appear to provide treatment at similarly high levels of integrity, as measured by 1) matching treatment services to the highest three dynamic risk assessed …

Halt Under Threat Why Legislators Must Demand Compliance Before Change A Playbook For Action, Vanda Seward

Capstones

This playbook examines the implementation of New York State’s Humane Alternatives to Long-Term Solitary Confinement (HALT) Act and presents evidence demonstrating that the law has not been fully or consistently enforced by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (NYSDOCCS). Drawing on findings from the New York State Inspector General, the Correctional Association of New York, the Justice Center, court rulings, and community testimony, the analysis documents persistent violations, including excessive and illegal use of solitary confinement, inadequate documentation, failures to protect vulnerable populations, and insufficient accountability for staff misconduct. The playbook critically evaluates the recommendations of …

Fake News Y Redes Sociales: Cómo El Algoritmo En Torno A La Migración Afecta La Salud Mental, Maria F. Alarcon

Capstones

Las redes sociales son la principal fuente de información para migrantes latinos en Estados Unidos, pero también son un terreno fértil para fake-news que afectan la salud mental y desinforman.

The Adverse Digital Childhood Experiences (Adces) Framework: A Transformative Paradigm For Decoding Digital Adversity And Safeguarding Human Agency In Child Development And Lifespan Trajectories, Asrat G. Amnie

Publications and Research

Childhood is no longer confined to physical spaces; It increasingly unfolds within digitally saturated environments where algorithmically mediated technologies shape attention, learning, and identity formation from the earliest years. Traditional adversity frameworks, particularly the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) model, do not capture the distinctive, persistent, and often invisible risks of digital life. To address this gap, this study advances the Adverse Digital Childhood Experiences (ADCEs) framework, an empirically informed and theory-driven extension of ACEs that systematizes ten interrelated domains of digital adversity encompassing social, cognitive, and environmental stressors. These include cyberbullying and exploitation, commercial surveillance and privacy harms, technoference and …

Ai And Racism: 6 Reasons Black People Need Digital Literacy, Brianna A. Baker

Publications and Research

Key Points

• AI often reflects racial bias in its training data, which can distort how Black people are represented.
• Psychological stress increases when digital tools misunderstand or misinterpret Black experiences.
• Digital literacy strengthens emotional wellbeing by helping users recognize and counter biased outputs.

My First Conversation With Chatgpt (February 22, 2023): Origins Of A Generative Dialogue, David Smith

Publications and Research

This working paper presents the first recorded interaction between the author and the generative AI system ChatGPT, written on February 22, 2023 during the initial weeks of a faculty sabbatical in Boston. The document preserves a complete and unedited transcript of an exploratory conversation conducted without predetermined research aims, marking the author’s first encounter with a large-language-model conversational interface. Although the exchange includes creative experimentation—including musical and poetic prompts—the discussion remains informal and wide-ranging, and no theoretical framework is articulated at this stage. Rather, this transcript is published as primary-source material documenting the moment of discovery and experimentation that precedes …

Finding Black Joy: Understanding How Black Students Are Seen, Affirmed, And Nourished In Expanded Learning Opportunities., Jamila Mosley

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines how Black students experience Black joy within expanded learning opportunity (ELO) programs and how those programs are structured to nurture that joy. It is guided by the central research question: How do Black students describe the ways in which an expanded learning opportunity program fosters their joy through experiences of being seen, affirmed, and nourished? Using an instrumental case study design at two secondary schools, the study draws on semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and observations of students participating in robotics, debate, Sister Circle, cheer, basketball, and creative writing. Data were analyzed through multiple cycles of coding, first …

Ctrl + Alt + Inner Speech: A Verbal–Cognitive Scaffold (Vcs) Model Of Pathways To Computational Thinking, Daisuke Akiba

Publications and Research

This theoretical paper introduces the Verbal–Cognitive Scaffold (VCS) Model, a cognitively inclusive framework which proposes the cognitive architectures underlying computational thinking (CT). Moving beyond monolithic theories of cognition (e.g., executive-function and metacognitive control models), the VCS Model posits inner speech (InSp) as the predominant cognitive pathway supporting CT operations in neurotypical populations. Synthesizing interdisciplinary scholarship across cognitive science, computational theory, neurodiversity research, and others, this framework articulates distinct mechanisms through which InSp supports CT. The model specifies four primary pathways linking InSp to CT components: verbal working memory supporting decomposition, symbolic representation facilitating pattern recognition and abstraction, sequential processing enabling …

Understanding Mental Health Crisis Response Through The Lens Of First Responders, Ella Gibson

Student Theses

Responses to mental health crises are becoming an increasingly contentious topic as cases of extreme police violence or fatality during a crisis are publicized in the media. Although first responders’ experiences with mental health crisis response have been explored in prior literature, there remains a lack of research that gathers data from multiple first responder roles and compares their experiences across groups. There is also a significant gap in research examining the perspectives of co-response teams. This study sought to gather qualitative data on the experiences of police officers, EMTs/paramedics, and co-response team members, and to explore their perceptions of …

Eyewitness Consent To Be Video Recorded: Implications For Identification Accuracy And Confidence, Sarah Argüelles

Student Theses

Recently, a recommendation has emerged for law enforcement to record the full eyewitness identification procedure, recognizing the critical role eyewitness testimony plays in the justice system (Wells et al., 2020). However, in some states, such as New York, law enforcement is required to seek consent from witnesses before recording (Municipal Police Training Council & Division of Criminal Justice Services, 2017). Since this practice is relatively new, there has been limited research on how obtaining consent may affect eyewitness accuracy. It was hypothesized that obtaining consent to video record could be linked to a witness’s confidence in their identification, with higher …

Rhetorical Analysis Essay, Reema A. Rao

Open Educational Resources

This assignment is a rhetorical analysis essay typically assigned as part of the English 110 course during the summer semester. For this assignment, students apply their understanding of rhetorical appeals and devices to read a chosen text closely and analyze how the author constructs meaning and purpose. A variety of resources are provided to students, each accompanied by a brief overview, and students may select a topic of personal interest from these options. They then conduct a rhetorical analysis of their chosen source and write an essay based on that analysis.

Students are supported with a wide range of , …

Lessons From Tiktok: Using Popular Social Media Platforms To Engage Gen Z, Debra Bernstein

Urban Library Journal

This study looks at how academic libraries in the New York City metropolitan area are using TikTok to engage with their communities, particularly students. It analyzes the most popular videos from five active library accounts, categorizing content types and measuring engagement through TikTok’s built-in metrics. Results indicate that humorous and lighthearted content consistently receives the highest engagement, while instructional or “how-to” videos tend to underperform. These findings suggest that while TikTok may not be the most effective platform for instructional outreach, it holds potential as a tool for visibility, community engagement, and humanizing the library’s presence. As students increasingly turn …

Dimensions Of Queens Culture / The Personality Of Queens, Claudia Brumbaugh

Open Educational Resources

1. Description of the resource: This assignment will be given early in the semester, and will be due near the end of the semester, scaffolded into steps over the semester:
   1. Via descriptive writing, define one of five, cultural dimensions / Big 5 traits. Then, define the dimension / trait in terms of the local conditions in Queens (e.g., what it means more specifically in the context of Queens).* You can pick the level of analysis for “Queens”. It could be QC, or neighborhood, or the entire borough. Next, place your level of Queens analysis into historical context, describing past movements/events, and …

Queens Mindscapes: A Digital Field Research Project, Shonelle George

Open Educational Resources

This Open Educational Resource (OER) is designed for an undergraduate Introduction to General Psychology course at Queens College, CUNY. Titled “Queens Mindscapes: A Digital Field Research Project,” this assignment is part of a module that engages students in real-world psychological research grounded in the diverse communities of Queens, New York. Drawing from the Noba module from the course textbook, “Conducting Psychology Research in the Real World”, this resource emphasizes experiential learning through ethical, place-based inquiry.

Students will select a Queens neighborhood undergoing social, economic, or cultural change and use real-world research methods such as diary entries, experience sampling, or oral …

Analysis Of Libraries’ Onboarding Documentation At A Metropolitan University Consortium, Sonali Sugrim, Eric Silberberg

Urban Library Journal

This study investigates the extent to which onboarding documentation for academic librarians prioritizes long-term employee success. The authors applied content analysis to the onboarding documents from a consortium of libraries in a major metropolitan area in the United States. Study findings reveal that the onboarding documents prioritize introducing new hires to organizational structure rather than integrating them into the workplace culture. Most documents are checklists; however, some libraries provide comprehensive manuals, particularly regarding the tenure process. Notably, only half of the libraries include information about mentorship programs. Based on these findings, this study offers recommendations for improving onboarding documentation, including …

Writing Workshop Journal: A Student-Centered Guide For College Composition, Tanya Zhelezcheva

Open Educational Resources

This comprehensive OER workbook supports ENGL 101 (Composition) students through a structured journal-based writing system. The resource combines Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles with post-process pedagogy to offer diverse pathways for student learning and writing development.

The workbook features:

- 4-component journal entry structure (exercises, reflection, next steps)

- 40+ writing exercises across four categories (Foundation Skills, Reading Logs, Drafting, Growth Mindset)

- Extensive planning and organizational tools (weekly/monthly calendars, goal-setting frameworks)

- Metacognitive reflection exercises that build writing awareness - Backward planning and time management strategies

- Evidence-based approaches to developing thesis statements, integrating sources, and crafting arguments …

Rape Myth Acceptance, Pretrial Publicity, And Decision-Making: An Examination Of Perceptions Of Victim Credibility And Perpetrator Guilt In A Real-World Sexual Assault Case, Lindsey Strouse

Student Theses

This study explores how the media narratives and political perspective of pretrial publicity (PTP) can influence jurors’ perceptions in sexual assault cases, raising significant concerns about justice in courtrooms. Specifically, it examines whether media framing of a real-life sexual assault case — through varying media narratives, with media that either challenges or endorses rape myths, and media source (liberal vs. conservative) — affects mock jurors’ rape myth acceptance (RMA), views of victim credibility, and judgements of perpetrator guilt. Participants first completed a RMA scale, then read mock news articles varying in media narrative and political affiliations (media source), followed by …

The Transtheoretical Model Of Behavior Change To Promote Anti-Racist Behaviors In Medical Settings, Amanda Almond

Publications and Research

Abstract: This paper proposes the application of the transtheoretical model, a stage-matched process for effecting change, to better encourage anti-racist behaviors and methods among health care professionals in medical settings. Despite widespread organizational implementation of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, which are aimed at reducing racial health and healthcare inequities across the United States, the absence of a theoretical framework for change has made it all but impossible to standardize meaningful anti-racist practices – a point of particular concern as President Donald Trump’s administration rolls back DEI efforts and requirements alike. Translational and clinical sciences aim for a gold …

Biography Of A Friendship: Maryat Lee And Flannery O’Connor, Carole K. Harris

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Engagement By Design: Belongingness, Cultural Value Orientations, And Pathways Into Emerging Technologies, Daisuke Akiba, Michael Perrone, Caterina Almendral, Rebecca Garte

Publications and Research

This theoretical article examines how belongingness, defined as the sense that one’s participation is legitimate and valued, interacts with cultural value orientations to help explain persistent disparities in U.S. technology engagement, including emerging technologies, across racial and ethnic groups. While structural barriers (e.g., racism, poverty, linguistic bias, etc.) remain essential to understanding such inequity, we argue that engagement patterns in technology also reflect how different cultural communities may define and experience belongingness in relation to digital domains. Drawing on Triandis and Gelfand’s framework, and focusing specifically on educational contexts, we propose the Belongingness through Cultural Value Alignment (BCVA) model, whereby …

Covid-19 Asian American Oral History Project: Reflecting On Identity And Oral History At A Community College, Thomas Cleary

Publications and Research

In this article, I share narrators’ stories from the Covid-19 Asian American Oral History Project based at LaGuardia Community College, CUNY, to illustrate how Covid-19 and increased anti-Asian hate during the pandemic shaped Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) identities in Queens, New York. Narrators’ stories shed light on how Black Lives Matter impacted their own understanding of race and racialization, particularly as AAPI identity and race relate to the Model Minority Myth. This project also laid the groundwork to develop a broader oral history culture at the college, developing faculty pedagogy to incorporate oral history interviews and interviewing into …