Digital Commons Network^™

Disability, Inclusion And Language-In-Education Policy In The Global South: The Colombian Context, Rosa Dene David, Kimberley Brown

Applied Linguistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper calls for a shift related to English language-in-education policy and inclusive education initiatives in Colombia to ensure that English language learners with disabilities receive equitable and inclusive classroom instruction that is context-appropriate. We call for English language initiatives and policies to draw from theories and practices from both the Global South and the Global North in order to teach towards inclusive education. Trends in both English language teaching and inclusive education have drawn upon the Global North for solutions, which cannot be systemised to fit one international standard. Instead, using the Colombian context as an example, the present …

Drowning Prevention In The West: Who Did It Better?, Arran Hedley

University Honors Theses

This paper aims to communicate the differences on how the US, UK and Australia have approached drowning prevention in each of their nations. This paper addresses drowning statistics within each nation, national, state and local policies, access to public facilities, and the preventative strategies, swim lessons and Lifeguarding. These are the criteria each nation is being graded upon, because each criteria is a factor that can help mitigate drowning deaths.

For literature around this subject, there are many papers on each individual nation's approach to drowning but in researching there does not appear to be a comparison of the nations' …

Effectiveness Of Peace Education And Recommendations For Implementation In The Sultanate Of Oman's School Curriculum, Vision 2040, Mohamed Al Braiki

Dissertations and Theses

This study explores peace education as an institutional process within the Sultanate of Oman's K–12 education system. Currently, Oman Vision 2040 articulates commitments to social cohesion, global citizenship, and holistic development. Existing empirical research indicates constant challenges related to bullying, student well-being, emotional distress, and school-related harm. This study conceptualizes peace education as a structural and relational mechanism embedded within institutional routines, leadership practices, and conflict-management responses. Using a qualitative integrative review design, the study examines peer-reviewed research, policy documents, and institutional analyses relevant to Oman, the Gulf region, and broader peace education scholarship. The analysis is guided by theoretical …

Inertia Versus Adaptation: Relational Resilience In Buyer-Supplier Relationships Facing Extreme Disruption, Jordan M. Barker, Anne E. Dohmen, Carlos Mena

Business Faculty Publications and Presentations

This research introduces the concept of relational resilience, which reflects the dynamic capacity of a buyer–supplier relationship to absorb external shocks and continue its core function of exchange. Guided by structural inertia theory (SIT), the research explores how relationship age, exchange volume, and multiplexity contribute to relational resilience across both stable periods and times of extreme disruption. Using a large-scale panel dataset of buyer–supplier relationships and the COVID-19 pandemic as an exogenous shock, the findings reveal that relational resilience is enhanced by all three mechanisms, but extreme disruptions lessen the protective value of relationship age and exchange volume while strengthening …

Phased-Genome Assemblies Of Saltgrass Reveal Structural Dynamics And Genomic Basis For Extreme Salt Tolerance And Dioecy., Kashif Nawaz, Izamar Olivas Orduna, Dal-Hoe Koo, Francisco Molina-Freaner, Hester L. Bell, Mara Miculan, Victor Llaca, Judith Harrington, Sarah M. Eppley, Jesse Poland

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The climate crisis poses a critical challenge to agriculture, with freshwater scarcity becoming a major constraint on crop production. Harnessing halophytic adaptations for growth in saline environments offers a promising path for neodomestication of salt-tolerant crops. Distichlis spp. (saltgrass)-a genus of dioecious, halophytic C4 grasses in the PACMAD clade-thrives in extreme saline conditions, making it a compelling species to understand salinity tolerance and adaptation. Here, we present high-quality phased genome assemblies of four Distichlis genets, revealing an allotetraploid genome (576-610 Mb) with two highly syntenic but degenerate subgenomes, each exhibiting over 30% gene loss across orthologous pairs. Comparative genomic analyses …

Proceedings Of The 24th Annual Urban Ecology & Conservation Symposium March 16, 2026, Urban Ecosystem Research Consortium Of Portland/Vancouver

Urban Ecosystem Research Consortium of Portland/Vancouver

These proceedings document the agenda and abstracts for presentations and posters from the 24th annual conference organized by the Urban Ecosystem Research Consortium of Portland/Vancouver (UERC) which occurred on March 16, 2026. The UERC is a consortium of people from various universities and colleges, state and federal agencies, local governments, non-profit organizations and independent professionals interested in supporting urban ecosystem research and creating an information-sharing network of people that collect and use ecological data in the Portland/Vancouver area. The annual conference has an open call for abstracts. The UERC organizing committee selects the final oral and poster presentations, along with …

Turning Point: Usa, 2020 Election Denialism And Its Consequences, Zack George

University Honors Theses

Current President of the United States, Donald Trump interrupted the peaceful transfer for power for the first time in 250 years. In the typical study of the events surrounding this interruption, much focus is made on the events of the January 6th Capitol Riot. Firstly, this thesis examines the 2 months in the leadup to the 2020 election and how the Trump administration acquired and attempted to execute their plans to commit a self-coup, keeping the administration in power in the face of the election victory and transition to the Presidency of election-winner, Joe Biden. Secondarily, it will contextualize and …

Reasoning In Large Language Models Across Multilingual, Long-Context, And Symbolic Settings, Sina Bagheri Nezhad

Dissertations and Theses

Large Language Models (LLMs) are increasingly deployed as general-purpose reasoners, yet their reliability degrades in three settings that frequently arise in practice: multilingual inputs, long contexts, and symbolic or formally constrained domains. In multilingual settings, uneven training coverage produces substantial performance disparities and uncertain generalization to languages with little or negligible pretraining exposure. In long-context settings, relevant evidence may be sparsely distributed, and models exhibit the "lost-in-the-middle" phenomenon, undermining retrieval and multi-step synthesis. In symbolic settings such as mathematics, small arithmetic or logical slips invalidate solutions, and prose rationales are difficult to verify automatically.

This dissertation first characterizes these failure …

Nonstationary Flood Frequency Analysis For Urban Watersheds Using Open-Source Bayesian Software: Contrasting Case Studies From Texas, C. Haden Smith, Brian Skahill, David A. Margo

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Urban flood frequency analysis faces unique challenges as land development alters watershed hydrology, producing nonstationary flood records. This study demonstrates nonstationary flood frequency analysis (NSFFA) using RMC-BestFit, an open-source Bayesian software, through two Texas case studies. Brays Bayou at Houston (96 years of record) exemplifies an urbanized watershed with increasing flood trends; a step-logistic model captures both the abrupt increase in mean flood magnitude around 1968 and the progressive decrease in log-space variance as urbanization homogenized runoff response. O.C. Fisher Reservoir (169 years of record) exhibits decreasing trends attributed to brush encroachment and groundwater extraction; despite a sinusoidal model achieving …

Mapping Fire Management: A Spatial Social Network Approach, Christoph Neger, Cody Evers, Kapil Yadav, Octavio Romero Cuapio

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Maps are an essential tool to inform fire governance and management. For instance, they can highlight which areas are most vulnerable to adverse fire impacts or be used to plan interventions for risk reduction and prevention. In recent years, several studies have mapped the fire management activities and the networks between the multitude of involved actors. They build upon previous advances to combine quantitative and qualitative social network analysis with geographical analysis and cartography, aiming to highlight areas of opportunity to enhance fire governance. This paper continues this line of research, examining cooperation in fire management within the south-eastern part …

Building Connections With Graduate Students Through Credit-Bearing Instruction, Michelle Desilets, Kimberly Pendell

Library Faculty and Staff Publications and Presentations

Graduate students often need support with research skills and other professional development that is under-recognized by their programs. Librarians play a key role in helping students fill in these gaps. This case study reviews student feedback on a librarian-developed and -delivered credit-bearing course. The course, Library Research and Scholarly Communication Fundamentals, is offered to graduate students across all disciplines. The curriculum is flexible and applicable to each student’s research, covering topics such as researching literature, citation and data management, and publishing in scholarly journals. The course has generated positive and constructive feedback from students, encompassing themes of self-efficacy, improved research …

Madwoman Makings: The Modern Girl As An Object Of Fear And Fascination In Unno Jūza’S "Mrs. Hirumi's Refrigeration Bag", Eliza Joy Mortimer

University Honors Theses

This thesis argues that Unno Jūza's 1937 short story "Mrs. Hirumi's Refrigeration Bag" uses the sensational tropes of deviant detective fiction to both stage and interrogate interwar Japanese anxieties around gender, science, and modernity. Focusing on the figure of Mrs. Hirumi—a scientifically empowered and sexually assertive female plastic surgeon who dismembers and cryogenically preserves her husband—the author reads her as a radical iteration of the Japanese Modern Girl character. By drawing on scholarship on deviant detective fiction, imperial modernity, and Kazue Harada's concept of (re)productivity, this thesis demonstrates how the short story both reproduces misogynistic criminological discourse and unsettles heteronormative …

Business Capstone Review: An Analysis Of A Local School Foundation, Emily Carlile

University Honors Theses

This capstone review thesis analyzes a school foundation in the Portland Metro Area. The capstone project was designed to conduct research to support the local school foundation, specifically the 18-35 demographic, and to increase overall funding. The project required navigating a compressed ten week timeline and coordinating a large, eleven member team to meet our client’s complex expectations. Beyond our hurdles with research, we managed multiple clients' expectations during the presentation, which were not part of the original consulting process. To maintain the project workload, we communicated with the client through a weekly email, four presentations, and a final recommendation …

How Does Communication Breakdown Impact Group Cohesion Over The Lifespan Of A Team?, Hannah Dyche

University Honors Theses

Communication is one of the main determinants of whether a team or group achieves a successful outcome; when it starts to erode, the team's overall goal often erodes with it. Communication breakdown within teams directly impacts group cohesion, causing small misunderstandings to escalate into larger conflicts. Every team experiences ups and downs, but maintaining a strong foundation of communication and continually strengthening it will prevent this breakdown.

Most of the existing research on team dynamics focuses on corporate environments. By shifting the focus to a short-term academic team, this thesis shows how communication breakdown impacts group cohesion over the lifespan …

Understanding The Experiences And Visibility Of Asexual People And Guiding Policy To Effectively Protect Asexuality, Lizzie Stravens

University Honors Theses

Asexuality is sexual orientation defined by those who experience little to no sexual attraction. Despite asexuality being as common as red headedness or left handedness, it has been severely overlooked in research and conversations. Because many people are not aware of the existence of asexuality, it has not been directly attacked by anti-queer campaigns. Still, there have been some recent shifts in this dynamic as asexuality becomes more visible. I conducted a linear regression on the 2022 Ace Community Survey results. I analyzed the effect of theoretically important variables on the outness of asexual respondents. Results indicated an importance on …

Rewiring The Senses: Neural And Perceptual Adaptation Through Cultural Immersion In Chile, Alexa Castillo

University Honors Theses

This thesis explores how cultural immersion reshapes perception over time. Rather than focusing only on language acquisition, the project examines how sustained exposure to a new cultural and linguistic environment alters sensory processing, cognitive effort, and emotional experience. The study draws on cultural neuroscience and neuroplasticity research to frame immersion as a process of adaptive recalibration.

Over four weeks in Valparaíso, Chile, I documented daily changes in auditory processing, visual attention, emotional response, and social interpretation. Journal entries were analyzed using qualitative thematic coding and organized into five categories: language overload, cognitive effort, automaticity, anxiety/frustration, and belonging/comfort. Weekly intensity ratings …

Bl(U)E Crab: Bluetooth Low Energy Connection Risk Assessment Benchmarking, Dylan Christopher Conklin

Dissertations and Theses

The usage of Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)-based tracker devices for stalking has become a salient privacy concern. Detecting unwanted or suspicious trackers is challenging due to their cross-platform compatibility issues, inconsistent detection methods, and lack of an industry-wide standard for detecting malicious devices. BL(u)E CRAB, Bluetooth Low Energy Connection Risk Assessment Benchmarking, scans data and generates risk factors about nearby devices to classify them as suspicious or not. These risk factors include the number of encounters the user had with a device, the duration of time a device has been near the user, the distance a device has traveled …

In The Wake Of Usaid Cuts, We Can Create A Demographic And Health Survey Program Founded On More Equitable Data Infrastructure And Stronger Research Integrity., Jasmin Abdel Ghany, Aasli A. Nur, Kerry L D Macquarrie, Joshua Wilde, Elizabeth A. Sully, Mahesh Karra, Ursula Gazeley, Ben M. John, Livia Montana

Publications, Reports and Presentations

t ’ s I n o w b een more than a year since President Trump’s dismantling of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which led to the closure of its Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) Program. In place for decades, the DHS Program produced and shared, free of charge, some of the highest-quality data on population health in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Our own analysis found at least 9,000 published studies, reports, and book chapters based on more than 400 DHS surveys in almost 100 countries (Fig. 1).* And the DHS has been instrumental in improving the …

Evaluating The Implementation Of Oregon's Dsm-5-Informed Autism Eligibility Revisions: Interest-Holder Perspectives And Policy Implications, Bradley Josef Hendershott

Dissertations and Theses

Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), states establish their own autism spectrum disorder (ASD) eligibility criteria, resulting in substantial interstate variation and frequent misalignment with medical diagnostic standards. In 2019, Oregon revised its ASD eligibility criteria by directly incorporating DSM-5 diagnostic criteria, reflecting proponents' theory of action that this alignment would improve conceptual clarity, identification accuracy, and coherence across educational and medical systems. While an early implementation study documented generally positive early effects reported by evaluators, no research has systematically examined whether the DSM-5 alignment achieved its anticipated effects, how the revised criteria function after multiple years of …

Adolescent Math Anxiety: Teachers' Grouping Approach At The Intersection Of Multiple Student Identities, Dara Shifrer, Hannah Sean Ellefritz, David Hernandez-Saca, Allison Roda, Karla Santana Martinez

Sociology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Math anxiety represents a substantial barrier to many students’ math learning. In this paper, we apply interdisciplinary perspectives to data on over 13,200 ninth graders and their math teachers from the High School Longitudinal Study. Results suggest that being perceived as dis/abled relates to heightened math anxiety regardless of adolescents’ gender, or race and ethnicity. Our intersectional approach reveals that adolescents’ expressions of math anxiety do not always correspond with gender, racial, and ethnic stereotypes, with Black girls, Black boys, and Latine boys expressing relatively low levels of math anxiety. Finally, consistent with the principles of inclusion and universal design, …

Beyond Rationality: The Role Of Emotions In Communicative Planning, Minji Cho

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

The impact of emotional dynamics has been overlooked within the field of planning. Traditional communicative planning theory, rooted in Habermas’ model of communication, typically propose that emotions should be managed to facilitate rational discussions that lead to logical agreements. Conversely, some research contends that emotions are not illogical or hazardous elements to be restrained during deliberation; instead, they are a topic requiring thorough investigation to create improved public forums. We investigate this tension by analysing facework during a land-use dispute at at the Gongjin Elementary School site in Seoul, South Korea. Our analysis reveals that facework not only impedes the …

Platforms For The Development And Sustainability Of Practice Research In Social Work: An International Cross-Case Analysis, Bowen Mcbeath, Michael J. Austin, Ilse Julkunen, Maija Jappinen, Lynette Joubert, Ralph Hampson, Rosaleen Ow, Lars Uggerhoj

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Purpose:

This paper presents an institutional and organizational comparative case analysis of practice research platforms in social work, which are institutionally embedded partnerships of university-based research centers, organizations delivering social services and healthcare, and other knowledge intermediaries that connect social work practice and research.

Methods:

An institutional and organizational comparative case analysis is presented concerning four practice research platforms from the USA, Finland, Australia, and Singapore.

Results:

We identify similarities and differences in the platforms’ purpose and basic goals, administration and financing, and substantive and methodological foci in the development of social work practice research studies.

Discussion:

We conclude by …

Post-Wildfire Water Quality And Aquatic Ecosystem Response In The U.S. Pacific Northwest: Science And Monitoring Gaps, Sara Wall, Jana E Compton, Ashley A. Coble, Beth M. Haley, Jiajia Lin, Allison Myers-Pigg, Justin Reale, Katie Wampler, Kevin D. Bladon, Kurt Carpenter, Heejun Chang, Multiple Additional Authors

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

An increase in the occurrence of large, high severity wildfires in the western Pacific Northwest (PNW), USA, has created an urgent need for science to better inform forest management and policy decisions to maintain source water quality in the region. The western PNW faces similar challenges to other regions with shifting wildfire regimes and large population centers reliant on surface water from forested catchments. However, the uniquely wet and highly seasonal climate of the western PNW suggests that findings from other, more frequently burned regions may not be directly applicable. To identify science, monitoring, and management gaps and opportunities in …

Examining Fort Vancouver Curatorial Practices: How Do Museums Interact With And Represent The Public?, Karryn Meharchand Pillay

Dissertations and Theses

Historically, the work of curators has always been somewhat opaque and mysterious to the public, with knowledge of curatorial practices only being passed from mentor to student, creating a small elite of those in the know, which is something that has only begun to change in the modern era (Meyer-Krahmer 2015). So, if museum operations are not accessible to the public, what does that mean for communities whose culture and history are being presented by the museum? How are they meant to reclaim their cultural heritage? How are they supposed to approach conversations regarding misrepresentation in museum exhibits?

Through this …

Black Women In Oregon Academia, Topanga Shakur-Freeman

PSU McNair Scholars Online Journal

Black women scholars are a powerful demographic of intellectuals navigating a haunted house of academia, a structure erected upon the bones of a grotesque past. Black women scholars navigate a complex and often hostile academic landscape, a realm marked by under representation and the insidious interplay of race and gender. Oregon, a state steeped in a sinister history of racial terror, casts a long shadow over its present. Its soil, contaminated by the blood of countless Black lives, serves as a fertile ground for the insidious growth of systemic racism. Until 1905, a malevolent decree barred Black individuals from even …

On The Need Of Pluralism And Common Ground In Sla, Simona Pekarek Doehler, Steven L. Thorne, Soren W. Eskildsen, Marije C. Michel

World Languages and Literatures Faculty Publications and Presentations

Hyperbolic claims that SLA is in crisis (!), that a unifying theory is overdue, or that research must be oriented toward pedagogy have resurfaced once again—most recently in the response by Lantolf et al. (2025) to the Special Issue on Synergies in Second Language Acquisition and Teaching (SLA/T) (Atkinson et al., 2025). Our own position is diametrically opposed to such claims.

Who Pays For Preparedness? Valuing Disaster App Features Through A Factorial Survey Experiment In Flood-Prone Communities, Katsuya Tanaka, Tadashi Kito, Kohji Tanaka

Center for Public Service Publications and Reports

This study evaluates public preferences for next-generation disaster preparedness apps using a factorial survey experiment in flood-prone Japanese communities. The analysis first reveals a fundamental heterogeneity in public receptiveness, identifying two distinct segments: a small "receptive" minority (approx. 20 %) willing to consider adoption, and a large "unreceptive" majority (approx. 80 %) that rejects the app regardless of its features or price. Consequently, focusing on the receptive segment, the study estimates the economic value of specific app features. Results show that functions for immediate personal safety and family security—such as Rescue Request and Family Status Confirmation—are most highly prized. These …

The Scope And Impact Of Walking The Talk For Dementia 2024, Sherril B. Gelmon, Kate Irving, Walter Dawson, Jonathan Adrián Zegarra-Valdivia, Lingani Mbakile-Mahlanza, Fernando Aguzzoli-Peres

Institute on Aging Publications

Walking the Talk for Dementia (WTD) is a global educational initiative integrating a walk along the Camino de Santiago with a symposium to combat dementia stigma, raise awareness, and foster inclusion.

"We're Going To Tear Up The Caldera So We Can Have An Electric Car": Wrestling With Prospective Lithium Mining In The Oregon Desert, Elizabeth Bartholomew, Alida Cantor, Kate Berry, Noel Vineyard

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

Extraction of lithium, a key ingredient for renewable energy transitions, is a land- and water-intensive process. In this study, we use qualitative, place-based research to explore socio-environmental imaginaries surrounding a landscape on the verge of change due to lithium mining. We examine the ways that different actors are wrestling with the costs, benefits, and uncertainties of potential open-pit lithium mining in Oregon’s section of the McDermitt Caldera. In contrast to previous research which has described support for mining amongst those closest to the mine site, we find that in this case, perceptions of mining are characterized by ambivalence, uncertainty, and …

The Risc-V Fpga (Rvfpga) Teaching Package, Daniel Chaver, Sarah Harris, Luis Pinuel, Olof Kindgren, Zubair Kakakhel, Chris Owen, Roy Kravitz, Jose I. Gomez-Perez, Fernando Castro, Katzalin Olcoz, Multiple Additional Authors

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

RISC-V is a free and open-standard ISA based on RISC principles, allowing anyone to design, manufacture, and sell RISC-V chips and software. Its flexibility and growing ecosystem have made it popular in research, education, and industry, increasing the need for educational materials. This paper provides an in-depth description of the RVfpga course, which offers a solid introduction to computer architecture using the RISC-V instruction set and FPGA technology. It focuses on providing hands-on experience with real-world RISC-V cores, the VeeR EH1 and EL2 cores, developed by Western Digital and hosted by ChipsAlliance. The course targets students and educators in computing-related …