Digital Commons Network^™

Honors Students’ Perceptions Of The Strength And Growth Areas Of Liberty’S Honors Program: An Ethnography, Nyah V. Gray

Senior Honors Theses

In her pursuit of both exploring and documenting Liberty University’s Honors culture, the author takes an ethnographic research approach; surveying existing literature on the history and development of Liberty’s Honors Program, expounding upon the concept of honors culture, surveying the effects of the new Honors College track’s implementation, and identifying honors students’ perceptions of the strengths and growth areas of the Honors Program. This study includes a literature review, the collection of 12 formal interviews, and use of the participant observation research method to analyze Liberty honors students’ perceptions of the program; ultimately ascertaining what they believe to be the …

Javier Milei, Fenómeno Barrial: Political Slogans As Narrative, Sawyer J. Deshon

Senior Honors Theses

Javier Milei won Argentina’s 2023 presidential race to the surprise of many. His prolific use of political slogans on social media has continued into his presidency, contextualizing his agenda and the potential image he seeks to project when pursuing reelection in 2027. This investigation conducts a critical reading of Javier Milei’s political slogans through the lens of Walter R. Fisher’s narrative paradigm, identifying a clear narrative arc that portrays Milei as a populist political outsider, villainizes the political elite of Argentina, and promises a thriving Argentina rooted in libertarian fiscal policy. The subsequent rhetorical analysis integrates quantitative and qualitative assessments …

A Survey Of Acoustic Phenomena And Predictive Modeling Techniques For High Explosive Experimentation, Nathanael I. Breed

Senior Honors Theses

High explosive experimentation (HEE) is a technical industry that is regulated, expensive, and dangerous. Developing novel technologies to aid in predictive abilities to minimize the industry’s reliance on the need for full-scale experiments is a worthwhile endeavor. Having the capacity to make accurate predictions regarding the overpressure of a detonation wave after it has interacted with various geometries is useful, but the current state of predictive techniques is limited with many techniques, either neglecting relevant acoustic phenomena or not being able to account for complex geometries. This thesis provides an overview of several acoustic phenomena and the current state of …

The Icarian Dilemma: The Battle Of Faith Versus Identity Addressed With Scenic Design, Allistar G. Barrett

Senior Honors Theses

American Christians and the LGBTQ+ community have long been in a cultural war with one another. However, queer Christians – individuals who are both LGBTQ+ and Christian – have rarely found solace in either community, instead being shunned and ostracized for their beliefs and identities. Using the transformative art of theatre to address cultural divides, a theatrical scenic design was developed for Joe Calarco’s Shakespeare’s R & J, a retelling of the traditional Romeo and Juliet script through the lives of four Catholic school girls. This design uses the Greek mythology of Icarus, Catholic culture, the original Romeo and Juliet, …

Fashion And Film: The Art Of Costume Design, Abigail C. Stalder

Senior Honors Theses

A costume designer’s job is to create wardrobes that fit the film’s aesthetic, context, and personality of each character. Costume designers take inspiration from trends, incorporating them into their work through their own creative process, inspiring fashion designers and trend-setters to implement the styles in new ways. Thus, producing an endless cycle — an ecosystem wherein both fashion and film thrive off each other, continuously evolving to create beauty on and off the screen. Aligning my creativity and knowledge of both fashion and film, I participated in the making of six student films, costuming over 30 named characters as well …

A Sacramental Model For Digital Ecclesiology: Theological Retrieval For A Mediated Church, Caleb J. Atha

Senior Honors Theses

The widespread proliferation of digital technologies has opened the door to new ecclesiological questions and challenges for the Christian denominations that have integrated these technologies into their community life and liturgical practices. American evangelicalism is proposed to be especially susceptible to the aforementioned challenges due to its ecclesiological emphases and general posture towards digital media. Using Marshall McLuhan’s seminal insights in media theory, this work argues that the role of digital media in the church shows a significant congruence with Christian sacramental theology. The concept of the digital church is analyzed through McLuhan’s tetrad framework and its weaknesses are highlighted. …

The Evolution Of Women's Rights In Iran, Rebecca G. Buis

Senior Honors Theses

Over the past 46 years, Iran has undergone change; substantial change that will impact the lives of women for generations to come. The ones who have been at the forefront of this challenge are women. Islamic extremism and religion have created a substantial shift in the lives of women over the past half century. As time has gone on, more women have protested, leading to an increased resistance. Prior to the Iranian Revolution of 1979, Iranian women experienced increased liberties and freedoms. However, with the rise of Khomeini, their freedoms were increasingly replaced with expectations as to how they should …

The Impact Of Globalization On Human Resources Policy And Performance, Katherine H. Alford

Senior Honors Theses

Globalization is a rapidly growing phenomenon that impacts individuals, governments, and businesses. Businesses develop and run on polices implemented through HR and employee performance that drives efficiency. Therefore, the relationship between these two topics is vital to understand the adaptations that need to be made and why. Changes can be made on both a macro and micro level addressing each area of concern. Addressing the issue is the first step followed by implementation into HR polices through the employee handbook.

A Comparison And Investigation Of 2d Axisymmetric And 3d Models For The Wave Augmented Varicose Explosions Atomizer, Caleb Miller

Senior Honors Theses

Atomization of non-Newtonian, high-viscosity fluids is a challenging task with many applications. One method of atomizing these types of flows is the Wave Augmented Varicose Explosions (WAVE) atomizer. Using this framework, the study establishes an analysis methodology, investigates the relationship between 2D axisymmetric (2DA) and 3D models, and provides analysis of geometric, non-geometric, and non-dimensional parameter influences on the atomizer characterization in 2DA models. The study found that 2DA models can provide viable predictions of certain 3D model characteristics, established several mathematical models for parameter relationships among 2DA models, and identified certain metrics as inadequate predictors of atomizer characteristics in …

The Legal Cybersecurity Crisis: Potential Resolutions And Artificial Intelligence Implications, Ava R. Warrick

Senior Honors Theses

As cybersecurity becomes more relevant in the digital age, law firms have overlooked protections from cyberattacks, and this neglect has led to irreversible client data breaches. This thesis sought to investigate cybersecurity vulnerabilities in law firms and to theorize potential solutions using a literature review methodology. The research questions for this project are: What are the most effective cybersecurity protections for United States law firms, and should those cybersecurity protections utilize AI-based systems? In response, this thesis posits three claims. First, the central factors that contribute to inadequate law firm cybersecurity are as follows: lack of governmental oversight over legal …

A Biblical Response To Radical Islam, Nehemiah J. Auble

Senior Honors Theses

Islam is the second-largest religion in the world and will most likely overtake Christianity by 2030. Jihad is a major idea within Islam and has been used by radical terrorists to invoke fear and violence on the world, especially among Christians. To best respond to this ideology, Christians must seek to understand the beginnings and history of jihad as well as Islam as a whole. Christians must also look to the Bible as it is the source of truth for Christians and determines how they should interact with radical jihadist terrorists and Muslims as a whole. Four main Biblical ideas …

Windmills As Symbols Of Economic Development And Progress In West Texas From 1860 To 2011, Stacy Taylor

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

The outline of a windmill against the sky is a popular image of Texas found on many forms of media including illustrations, photographs, and other print media. How did the image of a windmill become symbolic to Texas? The purpose of this paper is to determine how and why windmills became an important symbol representing the Texas Plains. Methodology used included analysis of scientific information to explore the geography of Texas, which demonstrated why windmills were needed in West Texas. Critical analysis of journals and books were performed to determine the history of the introduction and evolving use of windmills …

Nil: An Analysis Of The New Financial Compensation Policy For College Athletes And Its Impact On College Athletics, Bruna Gebaili Sampaio

Senior Honors Theses

The newly introduced NCAA Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) laws allow college athletes to have additional opportunities for financial compensation, permitting them to generate revenue out of their image and personal brand. Due to these new regulations, the traditional concept of amateurism in college athletics has been significantly altered. Despite the contracts in no way being able to be based or compensated on an athlete’s on-court performance, these regulations put a strain on the amateurism principles that have marked college athletics in the last century.

These new laws also put to doubt the future of college athletics as we know …

The Movies That Make Us: A Qualitative Research Study On How People Interpret Messages In Movies, Ethan Taylor

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study, “All Movies Have Messages: A Qualitative Research Study on How People Interpret Messages in Movies,” was to analyze the relationship between an individual’s personal, political, or religious views and the way that individual interprets messages and agendas in film. Using Stuart Hall’s model of encoding and decoding, the researcher discovered how an individual’s personal beliefs affected the way a person interprets messages in movies. Focus groups and a survey were used to collect data. This study served to fill the gap in literature available on Hall’s model and reception theory. Most research conducted has not …

Rhetorical Nation-Building: A Close Textual Analysis Of Macarthur, Heuss, And Karzai As Agents Of Renewal, Josiah J. Mork

Masters Theses

Warfare has largely shifted from means of domination into a method of peacemaking. Nations increasingly utilize war to dismantle hostile nations and rebuild them with compatible political identities, which potentially creates more lasting peace than treaties or annexation. However, U.S. attempts at nation-building have varied success and, at times, prolong hostility. This study frames the nation-building process as an act of crisis communication and examines the role of rhetoric in this nation-building process. A close textual analysis was performed to examine discourse of renewal in two successful examples in Japan and West Germany, and in an example of failure in …

Words That Win: A Qualitative Phenomenological Analysis Of Rhetorical Techniques In Forensics, Lindsay Anton

Masters Theses

This study explores how different rhetorical techniques in collegiate forensics influence college students. Many people do not fully understand how two types of forensic speeches—oral interpretation and platform presentation—affect college students. Using a qualitative approach, this research examines which rhetorical techniques were most influential. A forensics showcase was held. Both an oral interpretation and a platform presentation were performed on the same topic to see how they influenced students. After watching, students answered survey questions about which techniques were most impactful. The results showed that emotional storytelling was the most memorable and persuasive. This study found that a storytelling approach …

Green Grass And Sassafras: Finding Place In Middle Appalachia, Cody Austin Hester

Masters Theses

This paper is concerned with grounding poems about Middle Appalachia. The region more plainly focused is Southwest Virginia, where I have lived for 25 years. Through the collection of poems, it is apparent how the culture, history, and nature of Appalachia have informed my poems. My goal for the collection is for someone who has never been to Appalachia to see the beauty of the region and its people. For those who are from the region, I desire that they develop a deeper appreciation for our home.

The critical paper posits that the best way for someone to experience this …

Correctional Officer Stress: The Effects Of Supervising Mentally Ill Inmates, Samuel T. Akers

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The work of correctional officers goes unnoticed and unappreciated even though the job is one of the most stressful and dangerous in the United States and worldwide (Pittaro, 2017). Correctional officers work with a population that has proven their propensity to commit offenses against others, such as assaults, rapes, and murders. Officers are on constant alert for threatened or realized personal attacks. Witnessing daily violence and mayhem causes work stress and adversity experienced by no other occupation, yet correctional officers’ occupation lacks research concerning stress on officers and how that stress negatively affects inmate supervision (Lambert et al., 2018). Without …

Parental Experiences Of Work And Family Conflict While Parenting A Child With Cancer, Marshall Smith

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The occurrence of work-family conflict is one that many parents with children experience, however, working parents whose child has received a diagnosis of cancer face additional unique and seemingly insurmountable challenges in family and work expectations. The work and family conflict (WAFC) scale, caregiver distress scale (CDS), and financial toxicity (COST) instruments were completed via self-report by 156 participants. All 156 participants were organized into a crisis (n=15), chronic (n=90), terminal (n=49), or “other” (n=2) group based on the time since their child’s diagnosis, time-to-treatment, or type of diagnosis given. The participants in the “other” group were excluded as they …

A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Study Of Missouri K-12 Public School Educators' Expression Experiences On Social Media, Jacob Murphy Small

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to understand how Missouri public school educators experience their expression regarding social media, seeking to understand their views and lived experiences with expressing themselves on social media. The theory guiding this study was Bandura’s social cognitive theory as it explains the learned behavior of teachers exercising their agency through social media. The central research question for this study was, what are the lived experiences of Missouri K-12 public school educators regarding their expression on social media? This study examined the lived experiences of Missouri public school teachers, gaining an insight to teachers’ …

The Relationship Of Physical Literacy, Motivation, Cognitive Function, And Academic Performance Among Elementary School Children, Meagan A. Hartman

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Physical literacy could promote the development of confidence and motivation to engage in physical activity, reducing chronic health issues within the United States. This study examined physical literacy and its relationship with motivation, cognitive function, and academic performance among fourth and fifth graders. Participants completed the Physical Literacy Assessment for Youth – basic (PLAYbasic), Motives for Physical Activity Measure (MPAM) and Raven’s Colored Progressive Matrices (RCPM), which measured physical literacy, motivation to engage in physical activity, and cognitive function, respectively. Academic scores from the Mississippi Academic Assessment Program (MAAP) were collected to measure academic performance. Scores from these measures were …

Exploring Lived Experiences Of Teachers Fostering Student Engagement In Classrooms In Government Secondary Schools In The Southwest Region Of Cameroon: A Phenomenological Study, Susan Etchu

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to understand the lived experiences of teachers fostering student engagement in classrooms in the Southwest Region of Cameroon. The theory guiding this study was Lev Vygotsky's sociocultural theory of cognitive development as it emphasizes the role of social interaction, cultural context, and language in shaping cognitive development. The central research question was: What are the lived experiences of teachers fostering student engagement in their classrooms in the Southwest Region of Cameroon? Data was collected from 13 teachers through interviews, focus groups, and observations. Seven major themes emerged: Impact of Sociopolitical Crisis, Academic …

The Impact Of Digital Communications And Social Media On Government Officials And The Political Sphere: A Case Study Of The Arab Spring Revolutions, Wurood Shaher

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study investigates the dual role of social media as both a tool for political mobilization and a mechanism for government surveillance during the Arab Spring. Through in-depth qualitative interviews with 22 government officials from various Middle Eastern and North African countries, the research explores how social media influenced internal decision-making processes and external governmental responses during the uprisings. Employing the theory of structuration and the sociocultural tradition as its theoretical frameworks, the study uncovers the profound impact of social media on state power and public activism. Thematic analysis reveals several key themes, including the rapid adaptation of governmental strategies, …

Investigating Faculty, Students, And Diversity Officers' Attitudes Towards Cultural Diversity: A Causal-Comparative Study, Kerry Simmons

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this quantitative causal-comparative study is to investigate the difference in cultural competence scores among students, faculty, and diversity officers who participated in cultural competence training and those who did not. Research on diversity has seldom examined the effectiveness of cultural competence training on attitudes toward cultural diversity. The study participants (n = 411) were undergraduate students, n = 148, faculty, n = 129, and diversity officers, n = 134) from 4-year private non-profit universities in the Northeastern United States. The present study employed critical race theory to explore the effectiveness of cultural competence training programs and assess …

Exploring The Administrator's Role In Regulating Personal Devices In The Classroom: A Qualitative Hermeneutic Phenomenology, Hope Faith Heard

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of the phenomenological study is to explore the autonomy of developing school site personal device regulations for K-12 administrators in central Indiana. The study is guided by Ryan and Deci’s self-determination theory (SDT), which contributed positive results that support administrators’ autonomy and competence. The study’s findings have had a profound influence on K-12 education. The theory uncovered informative, reflective writing that administrators conducted, which involved introspective analysis of their decisions and actions, such as student confidence, satisfaction, and ability to learn using their devices. This study has the potential to improve the learning experience for students in the …

The Impact Of Church Members On Single Parents In Residential Family Care Systems, Vanessa M. Jackson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This paper discusses the value of grace and its significance for making positive, lasting change. The researcher initially hypothesized that accountability alone was the sole catalyst for transformation (van Manen, 1990; Williams, 2008). The researcher conducted 30-minute interviews of seven single mothers with a minimum of 2 years residence in one or more Residential Family Care (RFC) programs, identifying them with pseudonyms for the purpose of protecting their identities. Each interview transcript was then evaluated for key repeated themes and phrases. While accountability did indeed play a significant role in the women’s change processes, the researcher found that grace, facilitated …

Love Your Neighbor As Yourself: Examining The Lived Experience Of Christians Of Color Engaged In Advocacy, Monique Victoria Barber

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to explore the lived experience of Christians of Color (COC) engaged in advocacy work within the counseling profession. The study was guided by the allies integrative model, which asserts that God is the author of all truth, and that theology and psychology offer ways to understand His truth within human limitations. This framework provided a lens to examine how COC navigate their faith and racialized identity in advocacy. Seven licensed counselors participated in semistructured interviews, and their corresponding narratives were analyzed using thematic coding. Findings highlight the ways in which COC counselors …

A Qualitative Constant Comparative Analysis Of The Editing Evolution Through Walter Murch’S Fourth Rule: Eye Trace, Emphasizing Its Utilization In Black Cinema By Renowned Black Directors From The Late 1980s To Present, Hakim Robinson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Research using qualitative methods is growing, notably in media and communication studies. The proposed research will explore Walter Murch's fourth rule, Eye Trace, and its film editing guidelines, focusing on Black filmmakers' utilization of it and the evolution of editing overall. The study will use a Constant Comparative Analysis as the foundation of the research, with planned future use of Green and Bock's Transportation Theory to examine how media material immerses people in narratives; this research method often uses content analysis to identify and analyze text themes, patterns, and messages. The study examines whether content analysis can assess Murch's principles …

Exploring Effective Leadership Styles In Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment Programs: A Qualitative Study, Tony Terrel Curtis

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to examine the perceptions of adolescent addiction treatment counselors regarding effective leadership styles in addressing organizational, employee, and clientele needs. The study focused on leadership in substance abuse treatment programs, particularly the roles that various leadership styles, such as situational, servant, and transformational leadership, play in improving communication, organizational cohesion, and client care. Participants were 15 adolescent addiction treatment program counselors who had worked for at least 1 year and were currently residing in the southwest United States. Drawing from the contingency theory of leadership, the research revealed that different leadership styles …

Experiences Of Students Who Have Attended Disciplinary Alternative Schools: A Transcendental Phenomenological Study, Bonnie Marie Cox

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to describe the school discipline-related experiences in the form of the exclusionary discipline for students who are currently at or who were previously at public alternative education schools in the state of Florida. At this stage in the research, school-discipline related experiences in the form of exclusionary discipline were generally defined as students’ individual experiences that may have contributed to their removal from their general education setting. This study sought to answer what the perceived experiences of current and/or former high school students who have recently attended a public alternative school as …