Digital Commons Network^™

Oh No, Don't Let The Rain Come Down..., Mervyn Bennun

Nebraska Journal on Advancing Justice

No abstract provided.

The Failure Of Law Reform: Housing Codes, Bans On Retaliatory Eviction, And The Implied Warranty Of Habitability, David Ray Papke

Nebraska Journal on Advancing Justice

No abstract provided.

Disney And Critical Global Citizenship: Border Politics And Linguistic Decolonization In The Lion Guard, Gordana Lazić

Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy

In this essay, I analyze the Disney television series The Lion Guard as a site of public pedagogy and argue that the show fosters a form of critical global citizenship among young viewers. It does this, I further maintain, in two primary ways: the progressive treatment of and careful attention to immigration and border politics, and disruption of the hegemony of the English language. Through age-appropriate plot development and dialogue, The Lion Guard actively participates in public pedagogy urging future policy and decision-makers to develop critical global consciousness.

Sang M. Lee, Unl Business Management; Goal Programming, Mark Griep, Sang M. Lee

UNL ORCA Interview Series

Dr. Sang Lee was awarded the ORCA in 1980. Sang was born in 1939 in South Korea and grew up in Seoul. He earned his bachelor’s in 1961 at Seoul National University. Next, he traveled over 7000 miles to the US to earn a master’s from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and then a somewhat shorter move to the University of Georgia in Athens, where he earned a doctorate in Business Administration and Management. From 1968 to 1976, he rose through the ranks at Virginia Polytechnic Institute in Blacksburg while making a splash for his “goal programming” ideas. In 1976, …

Genomic Analysis Reveals New Subspecies Of Cercyonis Scudder, 1875 (Nymphalidae: Satyrinae: Satyrini), Jing Zhang, Qian Cong, Jinhui Shen, Leina Song, Todd L. Stout, Michael S. Fisher, Robb Hannawacker, Nick V. Grishin

The Taxonomic Report of the International Lepidoptera Survey

Genomic analysis of Cercyonis (Cercyonis) Scudder, 1875 (Nymphalidae Rafinesque, 1815) partitions the subgenus into three species groups and reveals five new subspecies from the USA (type localities in parentheses): Cercyonis (Cercyonis) pegala koosharem Stout and Grishin, ssp. n. (Utah, Sevier Co.), Cercyonis (Cercyonis) pegala lasala Grishin, M. Fisher, and Hannawacker ssp. n. (Utah, Grand Co.), Cercyonis (Cercyonis) pegala hortoni Grishin, ssp. n. (Arizona, Gila Co.), Cercyonis (Cercyonis) meadii maculana Grishin, ssp. n. (Colorado, Montezuma Co.), and Cercyonis (Cercyonis) meadii rimana Grishin, ssp. n. (Arizona, Yavapai Co.). A neotype is designated for Satyrus boopis Behr, 1864 (USA, California, Contra Costa Co.). …

Parks Coble, Jr., Unl History; Chinese Nationalists & Business, Chinese-Japanese Relations, Mark A. Griep, Parks M. Coble Jr.

UNL ORCA Interview Series

Dr. Parks Coble, Jr. was awarded the ORCA in 2005. He was born in Waterloo, South Carolina in 1946 but he grew up in Columbia. He earned his bachelor’s in history at the University of South Carolina in Columbia. Next, he traveled 740 miles northwest to earn his doctorate at the University of Illinois in Champaign. In 1976, he became an assistant professor of history at the University of Nebraska, where he quickly rose through the ranks. His early work focused on the relationship between Chinese business elites and leaders of the Chinese National Government movement during a very interesting …

High Biochar Rate Improves Water Retention In Some Environmentally Sensitive Soils, Samundra Sigdel

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Improving water retention and other hydraulic properties is key to managing soil water and sustaining crop production under fluctuating and extreme weather events. We assessed how wood biochar (836 g C kg^-1) applied at 0, 6.25, 12.5, 25, and 50 Mg ha^-1 affected: i) soil hydraulic properties after 5 years and ii) corn and soybean yield, and biomass production of cereal rye cover crop (CC) and CC mix (cereal rye, radish, and winter pea) in sandy, sloping, and semi-arid soils in the central U.S. Great Plains over 6 years. Biochar affected field saturated hydraulic conductivity (K_{sat …}

Evaluating The Motivations Of Participants In Online Equine Extension Courses, Sarah Vos

Department of Animal Science: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Traditional program evaluations emphasize participant demographics, knowledge gain, behavior change, and program impact. However, evaluating participant motivation can provide addition insight into why participants enroll in extension programs and help explain participant engagement and persistence throughout a program. The purpose of this study was to evaluate participant motivation in two online equine extension courses and examine potential relationships between motivation, demographics, and course delivery method, and describe participant engagement in Virtual Horse Judging Camp (VHJC). This cross-sectional study utilized convenience sampling of participants in two online equine extension courses, Horse Adult Leader Training and Educational Resource (HALTER) and VHJC. The …

Eschatological Echoes: Reading The Bible And The Harry Potter Series, Athira Mohan Dr

Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy

Death has been a major topic in children’s and adolescent literature , which has invited scholarly discourse over different ages. While death was very commonly featured in the puritanical texts of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, it was also deemed to be a subject too sensitive for the genre of children’s literature in the early twentieth century(Aries 1975), due to a combination of factors such as lowered child mortality rate and heightened concern for childhood as a special social category. However, contemporary children’s and adolescent literature focuses on death as an important part of human life, and invites discussions on …

Investigating The Links Between Parent Math Anxiety, Parenting Behaviors, And Child Math Achievement And Math Anxiety In Middle Childhood, Kimia Akhavein

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Existing research indicates that parents’ math anxiety is a robust predictor of children’s math achievement and math anxiety. The current dissertation study moved the literature forward by examining the transmission of parents’ math anxiety to children’s math achievement and math anxiety via autonomy-supportive and controlling parenting behaviors using an observational coding scheme during a homework help task when children were in second grade. The first research aim examined if parents’ autonomy supportive and controlling behaviors mediated the link between parents’ math anxiety and children’s math achievement and math anxiety one year later. The second research aim examined whether parents’ emotion …

The Role Of Cross-Cultural Connections In Leadership Identity Development: From Entry To Embodiment, Jennifer Okoliko

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Leadership identity development has received considerable attention in the literature, but most of what we know comes from studies focused on students in formal leadership programs or on the mentee’s side of mentoring relationships. Less understood is the mentor's leadership identity development journey and the role of culture in that process.

This study explores how mentors from low power distance cultural backgrounds who engaged with mentees from high power distance cultural backgrounds interpreted the impact of those experiences on their leadership identity development.

Using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), I conducted two semi-structured interviews with ten participants recruited from different formal …

Evaluating Variety- And Market-Class-Specific Effects Of Dietary Pulses On Human Health, Jiayu Tang

Department of Food Science and Technology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

While pulses are globally recognized for their high levels of dietary fibers, protein, and polyphenols, research often focuses on characterizing the physiological effects of a single variety. This approach overlooks the substantial genetic and compositional diversity that exists across pulse varieties and individual market classes, which can differ extensively in nutrient content and structure. These compositional differences have the potential to produce distinct physiological and microbial responses in humans, yet variety- and market-class-specific effects remain poorly characterized.

This thesis uses two complementary research methodologies to investigate the health-relevant effects of different pulse varieties and market classes, providing foundational knowledge to …

The Process Of Alcohol-Involved Sexual Assault Disclosure: Examining Disclosure Content And Reactions From Informal Supports, Madison Elle Edwards

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Alcohol-involved sexual violence (SV), in which unwanted sexual contact is attempted or obtained without consent during or after the victim’s alcohol use is a major public health issue among young women. Research consistently shows that alcohol-involved SV can have particularly harmful mental and physical health consequences. Moreover, survivors who were drinking are more likely to receive negative reactions (e.g., blame, minimization) when they disclose their SV experiences to informal supports (e.g., friends, family). These negative reactions are consistently linked to negative psychosocial outcomes. However, little research on negative disclosure reactions has examined the content of survivors’ disclosures. The present study …

Butterfly Taxa Discovery Via Genomic Analysis, Jing Zhang, Qian Cong, Jinhui Shen, Leina Song, Nick V. Grishin

The Taxonomic Report of the International Lepidoptera Survey

Expanding a genomics-guided assessment of butterfly taxonomy, we integrate phylogenetic evidence from all protein-coding genes with morphological considerations to refine our understanding of butterfly systematics and discover new taxa. As a result, 2 subgenera, 39 species, and 5 subspecies are proposed as new (type species in original combinations or type localities are listed in parentheses): Erebia (Magda) magdalena uintana Grishin, ssp. n. (USA: Utah, Uintah Co.) in Nymphalidae Rafinesque, 1815; Myselasia rondea Grishin, sp. n. (Brazil: Rondônia), Myselasia pseudocrinon Grishin, sp. n. (Ecuador: Pastaza), Myselasia paramatuta Grishin, sp. n. (Ecuador: Morona-Santiago), Euselasia anapellos Grishin, sp. n. (Peru: Loreto), …

Interview With Orca Winner John Hibbing, Political Science; How Political Attitudes Correlate With Physiological Traits, Mark A. Griep, John Hibbing

UNL ORCA Interview Series

Dr. John Hibbing was awarded the ORCA in 1993. John was born in 1953 in Paullina, Iowa. He earned a bachelor's in secondary education from Dana College in Blair, Nebraska, but then realized that teaching high school wasn't for him. Instead, he attended the University of Iowa, where he earned a master's and doctorate in political science. In 1981, he joined the University of Nebraska-Lincoln as an assistant professor of political science and rose quickly through the ranks. Initially, he studied the reasons that members of the U.S. Congress retire. This led to a longer-term collaboration with Kevin Smith and …

Increasing Fifth-Grade Students’ Motivation To Read Through The Use Of Thematic Units, Irina Anatolyevna Belikova Erickson

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Elementary students’ motivation to read decreases as they advance to upper elementary grades. Reading motivation impacts students’ reading achievement. Only 31% of American fourth-grade students demonstrated proficiency on NAEP, the nation’s report card, in 2024. A need for research-based instructional strategies exists, as teachers can directly affect students’ motivation to read with carefully selected interventions. This action research study examined thematic units as an instructional intervention. In their instructional implementation of thematic units, teachers relied on the constructs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness originated from the Self-Determination Theory (SDT) (Deci & Ryan, 1985; Ryan & Deci, 2017). Satisfying the basic …

Beyond Borders: Educator Identity Development Through Sustained Intercultural Engagement In Rotary Youth Exchange, Lisa L. Waechter-Cass

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

This qualitative study employed collaborative narrative inquiry, informed by autoethnographic reflection, to examine how sustained intercultural engagement through Rotary Youth Exchange (RYE) shaped my evolving educator identity, self-efficacy, and enactment of globally responsive teaching within a rural elementary classroom. Guided by McAdams’ Narrative Identity Theory and supported by Bandura’s Self-Efficacy Theory, the study explored how long-term intercultural relationships and reflective dialogue influenced my understanding of teaching, learning, belonging, and global citizenship.

Data sources included reflexive journals, semi-structured interviews with former Rotary Youth Exchange students with whom I developed enduring family relationships through hosting experiences, and personal and educational artifacts …

Performance Of Illustrations And Images As Language In Sarnath Banerjee’S All Quiet In Vikaspuri, Akanksha Barthwal Ms

SANE journal: Sequential Art Narrative in Education

Sarnath Banerjee’s All Quiet in Vikaspuri, fictionalizes but at the same time addresses water wars and political ideologies in the city of Delhi. By the means of eco-critical approach in the name of Vi-kas (development) Banerjee discuss the acts of slow violence subverted on nature in the name of progress (vikas). Through text/ images the author depicts chaos and challenges for the readers in more direct and obscene ways. The current paper attempts to look at Banerjee’s illustrations and images as new form of language emerged in modern Indian literature with the possibly that illustrations have more effect on …

Hope, Incorporated: Welborn Hope As B.A. Botkin's "Promising" Oklahoma Poet, Cullen Whisenhunt

Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy

In 1927, a letter by then-professor at the University of Oklahoma, Roy Temple House, was published in the Ada Evening News complimenting Ada, OK, poet Welborn Hope and suggesting Hope get in touch with folklorist and literary scholar BA Botkin, also an OU faculty member. That same year, Botkin published “Oklahoma Poets, Inc.,” in which he detailed what he believed to be the three stages of a state’s literary development: the pioneer stage, the popular rhymesters stage, and finally, the union of art and life (30-31). In 1935, Botkin presented a lecture in Tulsa in which he cited Hope among …

Akan Proverbs And Social Media Commentary: The Representation Of Women In Ghanaian Society, Richard Ayertey Lawer

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This study examines how gender ideologies embedded in Akan proverbs are reproduced, negotiated, and contested within contemporary Ghanaian digital discourse. Drawing on feminist rhetorical analysis and digital discourse studies, the research analyzes a purposive sample of 25 Akan proverbs and 36 social media posts and comments from Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok (2022–2025) focusing on women in public roles. The study demonstrates that Akan proverbs function as enduring ideological resources that construct women’s agency as conditional, subordinate, and morally regulated. These ideological patterns are recontextualized in digital spaces through both explicit citation and implicit proverbial reasoning, where users mobilize cultural logics …

Voice Across Cultures: Performance, Analysis, And Teaching In Western And Chinese Art Song, Binbin Ni

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

This doctoral portfolio documents the artistic, scholarly, and pedagogical work completed during my Doctor of Musical Arts studies in Vocal Performance at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The portfolio includes materials from two doctoral recitals, one doctoral lecture recital, and supporting teaching and professional documents that together reflect the integration of performance, research, and pedagogy.

The first doctoral recital is accompanied by a research paper examining Maurice Ravel’s song cycle Don Quichotte à Dulcinée. The study explores how Ravel uses musical elements such as rhythm, tonality, accompaniment texture, and melodic gesture to portray different emotional aspects of the character of …

Interparental Relationship Quality Reduces Parental Stress And Subsequent Family Dysfunction Across Pregnancy And Early Childhood, Rachel Clara-Beth Beck

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

In this multiple paper dissertation, I found that a higher quality interparental relationship, characterized by more emotional intimacy, support, responsiveness and better conflict management skills, plays a key role in reducing stress and its subsequent impact on family dynamics. Aims and hypotheses were tested using longitudinal data collected from mixed-sex couples during the pregnancy-postpartum transition and into early childhood. In study #1, higher quality interparental support during pregnancy was associated with lower postpartum stress which, in turn, predicted fewer parent–infant bonding impairments. In study #2, a mutually responsive orientation in the couple relationship during pregnancy interacted with intrapersonal regulatory resources …

Practicing A Pedagogy Of Slow Resistance In The Writing Classroom, Kathleen Rose Dillon

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Especially during and following the ‘lockdown era’ of the COVID-19 pandemic, college writing instructors have sought ways to mitigate the harms of neoliberal and capitalist practices in the academy and writing classroom. Incorporating elements of Slow Pedagogy, Disability Studies, Anti-Capitalist Composition, and Participatory Action Research methodology, this dissertation argues for practicing a Pedagogy of Slow Resistance, centering co-creation and relationship-building, to resist neoliberal and capitalist values, and promote student belonging and well-being. This dissertation highlights a classroom study in which two undergraduate students in the TRIO program, which serves students who are first in their family to go to college, …

Leading While Black: An Examination Of The Black Supervisor Experience Overseeing White Subordinates In Higher Education, Colette Marie Tobias

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

This study examines how systemic racism and social capital hierarchies shape the supervisory experiences of Black supervisors. While existing literature has explored leadership and race, it has not fully examined how systemic racism shape Black supervisors’ experiences or how social capital hierarchies play into the behavioral responses of white subordinates. This study addresses that gap by centering the lived experiences of Black supervisors within higher education.

Grounded in narrative inquiry, this research focuses on how participants make meaning of their experiences through their stories. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews and reflective journals with 19 Black supervisors who had at …

Examining Associations Between Cognitive Factors And Behavior To Promote Culturally Responsive Teaching In Middle School Math: A Conceptual Replication Study, Ashley Struebing

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

The purpose of this research was to examine the association of middle school math teachers’ cognitive processes on their use of culturally responsive teaching (CRT) practices to promote CRT in middle school math classrooms. Specifically, a quantitative, cross-sectional research design was used to conduct a conceptual replication of Comstock et al. (2023), and to extend their research by exploring the association between teachers’ self-efficacy in teaching math and their use of CRT practices. Participants in the current study were urban and rural middle school math teachers who may or may not have been involved in a CRT professional development program, …

Empowering Educators, Elevating Students: A Multifaceted Approach To Improving Student Academic Success, Amanda Huebner

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

This proposal examines the interrelationship between teacher professional development, collaborative planning time, and student academic achievement in rural middle schools. Drawing on data from a central Nebraska district, the study analyzes how targeted, job‑embedded professional learning and structured planning practices empower educators, reduce burnout, and increase engagement among seventh‑ and eighth‑grade students. Using an improvement‑science framework, the research seeks to inform systemic strategies that elevate both teacher efficacy and student outcomes.

An Overview Of Selected Works For Chamber Orchestra: Literature Insights For Conductors Leading Small Orchestra Programs, Ramon Araujo

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

This document presents a series of analytical program notes for six orchestral and chamber works spanning four centuries, examined through the intersecting lenses of conductor and educator. The works under consideration, Veracini's Concerto for Violin in D Major, Schubert's Overture to Rosamunde D. 644, Brahms' Serenade No. 2 in A Major Op. 16, Elgar's String Serenade in E Minor Op. 20, Piston's Divertimento for Nine Instruments, and the author's own Tresillos for Orchestra, are treated not merely as historical objects but as active performance problems whose solutions require the integration of scholarly analysis, historically informed practice, and …

A Pedagogy Of Connection: Potentials And Practices For The English Classroom, Alexandra Bissell

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

In a moment characterized by rapid technological advancement and sociopolitical volatility, the academy currently faces the need to redefine what a college education can offer students and reimagine how it delivers on that promise. This dissertation proposes a pedagogy centered on the process of connection as one way that English educators at the collegiate level might approach our teaching and respond to this call. Connection is relational, but also textual and conceptual, and I contend that establishing connection as the catalyst for our pedagogical practices is a powerful way to move forward and support our students’ intellectual growth as well …

Substance Use And Childhood Environment In Adolescent Head Injury: Examining The Effects Of Race, Jessica A. Phelps

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Adolescents participating in sports are at an increased risk of concussion, which is particularly important given the difficulties with cognitive function, emotion regulation, and impulsivity that may occur as a result of this brain injury. These symptoms can predispose adolescents to subsequent concussions, leading to further damage during a critical time in neurodevelopment which can result in mental health disorder development in adulthood. It is crucial to understand what factors may predispose youth to increased rates of concussion for these reasons. As such, this paper explored whether race/ethnicity, gender, grade in school, childhood environment, and risk-taking behaviors were associated with …

Understanding Challenges Faced By Refugee Women And Women With Experiences Of Forced Migration In Entrepreneurship In The Midwest Region Of The United States, Ritu Jadwani

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The labor market participation of refugee women was only 6%. The United States had the maximum employment rate for the refugee women population, which was 40%, as compared to 6% in Germany, Lebanon, and Jordan (Kabir & Klugman, 2019). Refugee women faced many challenges in labor force participation and especially in entrepreneurship. As demonstrated by Desai, Naude, and Stel (2020), refugees faced challenges like cultural integration, language barriers, level of education, and acceptance of education merits. This eventually led to disparities in income generation. Thus, many either remained in low-paying jobs or started their own business (Desai et al., 2020). …