Digital Commons Network^™

Monuments Of Folly: The Persistence Of He Lost Cause At The University Of South Carolina, Sean Dedmon

Senior Theses

The recent controversies surrounding the Confederate flag and Confederate monuments has sparked increased interest understanding why many people, particularly in the South, celebrate the Confederate States of America. This thesis seeks to better understand the motivations and emotions behind the persistence of the Lost Cause among students at the University of South Carolina. This study utilizes both deep textual readings and sentiment analysis to analyze student-published newspaper articles printed in The Gamecock from 1960-2006 and survey responses from current University of South Carolina students to capture the scope and history of belief in the Lost Cause at the University of …

Surviving Recission: Refining The 2020 Final Title Ix Regulations' Cross-Examination Requirement To Balance The Interests Of Complainants And Respondents, Samantha J. Doward

The Journal of Law and Education

No abstract provided.

Compulsory Classrooms And Custody: Applying State Truancy Laws To Find That School Is Inherently Custodial For The Purposes Of Miranda Warnings, Mary S. Williams

The Journal of Law and Education

No abstract provided.

Cortical Source Analysis Of Event-Related Potentials: A Developmental Approach, Stefania Conte, John E. Richards

Faculty Publications

Cortical source analysis of electroencephalographic (EEG) signals has become an important tool in the analysis of brain activity. The aim of source analysis is to reconstruct the cortical generators (sources) of the EEG signal recorded on the scalp. The quality of the source reconstruction relies on the accuracy of the forward problem, and consequently the inverse problem. An accurate forward solution is obtained when an appropriate imaging modality (i.e., structural magnetic resonance imaging - MRI) is used to describe the head geometry, precise electrode locations are identified with 3D maps of the sensor positions on the scalp, and realistic conductivity …

Reclaiming Equality: How Regressive Laws Can Advance Progressive Ends, Jonathan P. Feingold

South Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

Secrecy, Conspiracy, And The Media During The Cia-Contra Affair, Jakob Miller

Senior Theses

In 1996, Gary Webb and the San Jose Mercury News unleashed a media firestorm over his “Dark Alliance” series of newspaper articles, which detailed CIA involvement in the Los Angeles crack cocaine epidemic in the 1980s. The series alleged that a drug ring in L.A. sold tons of crack to a primarily African-American population in the city, with profits then smuggled back to Nicaragua to a group of CIA-backed Contras. The series resulted in four separate investigations into CIA wrongdoing, including one by the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Terrorism, Narcotics, and International Operations, which concluded that there were “serious questions …

Suicide Screening And Surveillance Of Students, Discrimination, And Privacy: The Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act, Nicholas D. Lawson

The Journal of Law and Education

No abstract provided.

The Miseducation Of Public Citizens, Etienne C. Toussaint

Faculty Publications

The American Bar Association Model Rules of Professional Conduct calls upon lawyers, as public citizens, to embrace a special responsibility for the quality of justice in the legal profession and in society. Yet, some law professors have historically adopted a formalistic and doctrinally neutral approach to law teaching that elides critical perspectives of law, avoids the intersection of law and politics, and tends to overlook the way law can construct the very social injustices that it seeks to contain. The objective, apolitical, and so-called “colorblind” jurisprudential stance in many law classrooms inflicts intellectual violence upon law students who discover a …

Seeking Reconciliation: An Examination Of Churches' Response To A History Of Lgb Discrimination, Alexandra Kauffman

Senior Theses

The Church’s response to LGB people has evolved quickly in the past century. Gay visibility and understandings of sexuality as it is known today only began to emerge in the mid- to-late 20th century. Within that time, responses to constantly evolving science and shifting understanding of LGB people invoked a variety of religious and political responses to the issue of legal protections of gay people. Theological interpretations of the Biblical passages surrounding same-sex relations have evolved as the church’s response to gay people has shifted from ex-gay therapy, to calls for celibacy or affirming gay marriage. The issues surrounding LGB …

George Macdonald's Phantastes As A Bildungsroman Of Spiritual Reality, Hannah O'Malley

Senior Theses

George MacDonald's 1858 novel Phantastes is one of the first fantasy novels written for adults, but it has received little attention in part because of its confusing structure. I argue that Phantastes is best understood as a Bildungsroman, a novel of formation. While the Bildungsroman is usually a realist novel of commercial society, Phantastes’ fantasy elements allow the protagonist to grow up into a spiritual reality that contrasts with many commercial values. MacDonald uses the fantasy genre to show his protagonist's inner development as he learns humility, gains feminine and childlike virtues, and leaves behind the old self

The Problem With Dissociative Identity Disorder In The Media: Misrepresentation, Or Inadequate Diagnostic Criteria?, Rebecca Cortez

Senior Theses

The highly popularized portrayal of Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) in mainstream media has often been dubbed inaccurate; blamed on misrepresentations, bad applications of the diagnostic criteria, and the tendency to sensationalize mental illness. Through the analysis of five different depictions of DID in film, I find that all five characters met the minimum criteria for diagnosis according to the most recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (2013). Some depictions of DID predate the publication date of the current diagnostic manual by over 50 years, portraying symptoms that are widely recognized today but were neither accepted nor identified back …

Investigating The Self-Reported Availability And Effectiveness Of Parental Support For Parents Of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder Immediately Post-Diagnosis, Maria Striebich

Senior Theses

Autism spectrum disorder, commonly known as ASD, is one of the most well-known and recognized neurodevelopmental disorders. Parenting a child with ASD is typically more stressful than caring for other children (Boyd, 2002). Because of this stress, these parents are likely to experience caregiver burnout, which is a condition that develops when someone is overwhelmed with taking care of another person without the proper support channels (Tkatch et al., 2017). It is beneficial to utilize support services in order to alleviate caregiver stress, and there are several different types of support services. However, minimal research has been done on the …

Examination Of Energy Needs In Male And Female Physically Active Individuals, Savanna Griffin

Senior Theses

Content: The Female Athlete Triad refers to three interrelated components: 1) low energy availability (LEA), with or without an eating disorder (ED); 2) harmful and physiologically impactful hormonal changes; and 3) alterations in bone mineral density, which are often experienced by individuals engaged in organized sports or other intense physical activities. This phenomenon is called the Female Athlete Triad because the relationship of components has thus far been observed primarily in females. A new term, the Male Athlete Triad, has been recently developed to describe the same phenomenon in males. LEA occurs when dietary energy intake (EI) is inadequate to …

Music And Mental Health: Increasing Awareness And Promoting Wellness, Catherine Sarah Black

Senior Theses

“Music for Mental Health: Increasing Awareness and Promoting Wellness” examines how music might raise mental health awareness and act as a coping resource. Specifically, it 1) argues for the connection between music and mental health, 2) presents a case study of select BTS songs that have been useful in promoting mental health, and 3) describes the efforts of Classical Healing Keys, a non-profit organization designed by the author as a proposal to promote mental health through classical music.

Hannah Arendt And The Lives Of The Female Intellectual Celebrity: Public Imagery And Storytelling Before And Since 1995, Gabrielle G. Johansson

Senior Theses

This thesis explores the lives of Hannah Arendt, specifically her image as a celebrity intellectual before 1995 and variant Arendtian protagonists which arose after 1995, with the publishing of Elżbita Ettinger’s Hannah Arendt/Martin Heidegger. Ettinger’s book was the first of its kind to explore their love letters and create from them a narrative of scandal, passion, and paradox. Before 1995, Arendt’s image was secure as a well-respected philosopher and guide for Vergangenheitsbewältigung. After 1995, Arendt’s image and legacy fragmented as artists and academics tried to make sense of how the celebrated philosopher could have had an affair with …

Using Item-Response Analysis To Evaluate The Task-Demands Of A Pictural-Response Based Test Of Word Reading, Michael Eason

Theses and Dissertations

While some children’s reading difficulties are a consequence of socio-economic factors and inadequate instruction, other children have extreme difficulties learning to read despite having adequate educational opportunity and adequate levels of intelligence. These children are classified under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) as having a learning disability specific to reading (SLD-R). The identification of children with SLD-R is costly on time, personnel, and other school resources, and due to an insufficient number of resources generally available to schools, the methods implemented for identifying children are alarmingly inconsistent. The aim of the current study is to investigate the task …

Motivation In Online Course Design: Action Research Using A Self-Determination Theory-Based Mathematics Unit To Improve Students’ Autonomy, Competence, And Relatedness, Emily Rose Shank

Theses and Dissertations

Strong mathematics achievement is lacking in the United States, with motivation waning especially among mathematics and online students. Online mathematics students, in particular, struggle with self-regulation and self-efficacy (Kim, 2012; Sun & Rueda, 2012). Ryan and Deci (2017), in their well-established and empirical self-determination theory, contended that satisfying the psychological needs of autonomy (involving self-regulation), competence (involving self-efficacy), and relatedness (involving a sense of belonging) creates a suitable environment for integrated extrinsic and intrinsic motivation to thrive. The purpose of this action research was to create and implement a self-determination theory-based online unit on factoring polynomials for mathematics students at …

School District Secession In Mobile County, Alabama: A Case Study Of Adaptive Discrimination And Threats To Multiracial Democracy, Sarah Asson, Erica Frankenberg

South Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

Creating Lightbulb Moments: Developing Higher-Order Thinking In Family Law Classrooms Through Court Observations, Sonia M. Gipson Rankin

The Journal of Law and Education

No abstract provided.

Poetic Self-Representation Among Russian And British Female Poets In The Late 18Th And Early 19Th Centuries, Ulyana Brewer

Theses and Dissertations

This study focuses on the development of self-representation by Russian women poets of the end of the eighteenth century and the beginning of the nineteenth century through comparison with the women poets in England of the same period. The comparative analysis of the works composed by Ekaterina Urusova, Aleksandra Murzina, Anna Bunina, Mary Julia Young, Mary Scott, Janet Little, and others provides insight into women poets’ practices of exceeding the boundaries of gender-defined art to inhabit literary discourse traditionally occupied by male poets and expose the artificiality of gender and literary genre relations and engage with a variety of political, …

Effectiveness Of An Ecowellness Intervention For College Aged Individuals With A Developmental Disability, Olivia Jean Lewis

Theses and Dissertations

Nature has the ability to heal many psychological wounds from anxiety and depression, stress, post traumatic stress disorder, and behavioral concerns. As a result, clinicians are recognizing the power of nature as a tool in the healing process. The purpose of this dissertation, which consists of one completed systematic review and a multiple probe single case study is to (a) provide background information on the current literature regarding nature, (b) create a manualized EcoWellness treatment intervention, and (c) test the effectiveness of the treatment intervention in order to provide practicing counselors with a potential new intervention to increase psychological wellbeing …

Impact Of Number Of Alternatives And Spatial Arrangement On Decoy Effects, Jacob M. Stanley

Theses and Dissertations

The way in which people make decisions is largely guided by the context of the choice set. Choice sets that contain decoy alternatives can result in context effects that violate rational principles of decision making. Most studies on contextual choice manipulate preference among two alternatives in the context of a decoy using three option choice sets. However, many real-world decisions are made among choice sets with many more than three alternatives, such as in online shopping. We tested for attraction and compromise decoy effects in choice sets with varying numbers of alternatives by using a within-subjects preferential grocery shopping task. …

Bright Light Treatment Of Combat-Related Ptsd: A Randomized Controlled Trial, Shawn D. Youngstedt, Christopher E. Kline, Alexandria Reynolds, Shannon K. Crowley, James B. Burch Ph.D., Nidha Khan, Seungyong Han

Faculty Publications

Introduction

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a prevalent consequence of combat with significant associated morbidity. Available treatments for PTSD have had limitations, suggesting a need to explore alternative or adjuvant treatments. Numerous rationales for bright light treatment of PTSD include its benefits for common PTSD comorbidities of depression, anxiety, and circadian misalignment and its relative ease of use with few side effects. The primary aims of this research were to examine the effects of bright light treatment for combat-related PTSD and associated morbidity. Materials and Methods

A randomized controlled trial was performed in N = 69 veterans with PTSD attributable …

Adolescent Mothers And Kangaroo Mother Care: A Scoping Review, Genna K. Rivers, Robin B. Dail Phd, Rn, Faan, Robin Dawson Phd, Rn, Cpnp-Pc

Senior Theses

Kangaroo mother care (KMC), the practice in which mothers hold their infants skin-to-skin against their bare chest, can increase bonding and attachment between mothers and their infants. However, there is not much research on the benefits of KMC within the adolescent or teen mother population (13-19 years old). The purpose of this scoping review was to identify how common KMC is within the teen mother population, determine how KMC varies based on social determinants of health and race/ethnicity within the adolescent mother population, and how KMC impacts adolescent mothers’ maternal attachment and bonding with their infants. PubMed and CINAHL databases …

At-Risk Students’ Perception Of The Effectiveness Of Alternative Schools, Tara D. Cunningham Cantey

Theses and Dissertations

The need for new and innovative alternatives to traditional high schools has never been greater. Alternative schools operate today as a secret, hidden educational system, often providing much needed support for at-risk students. These schools often have little to no accountability for student achievement. Enrollment at alternative schools is increasing at an alarming rate mainly due to zero tolerance policies and students feeling disengaged with the traditional methods of education. For many years the education system has been rather traditional in teaching/content delivery format. One of the greatest advancements has been technology. However, during the Covid-19 virus pandemic, beyond the …

The Influence Of Perceived Leadership On Teachers’ Job Satisfaction: A Comparative Study Between The United States And China, Jingtong Dou

Theses and Dissertations

The challenge of teacher retention in rural schools is significant for many reasons, not the least of which is that teacher retention problems have been found to be negatively associated with school performances (Ronfeldt, Loeb, & Wyckoff, 2013; Tran & Dou, 2019). Teachers’ job satisfaction is closely related to teacher retention, both of which have been linked to students’ long-term learning outcomes (Chetty, Friedman, & Rockoff, 2014). Principals’ support for teachers has been frequently identified as the most important factor influencing teachers’ job satisfaction and retention (Ladd, 2011). Particularly in rural schools, leadership support, autonomy, professional development, and participation among …

Psychophysiological Biomarkers Of Concussion Recovery, Adam Todd Harrison

Theses and Dissertations

Each ach year a growing number of individuals report lingering deficits months-years following concussion. Persistent post-concussion symptoms (PPCS) can negatively impact day-today activities and if left untreated may manifest in severe neurological sequelae resulting in long-term cognitive impairment or advanced neurological degeneration (i.e., CTE). Current clinical diagnostic and prognostic assessments (e.g., symptom reports and neurocognitive testing) lack the sensitivity to quantify neurological function. Accordingly, there is a critical need to identify objective biomarkers specific to PPCS to improve an individual’s quality of life and prevent severe long-term neurological dysfunction.

Psychophysiological measurements (e.g., EEG derived event-related potentials, heart rate variability, and …

Perspectives About Food Safety In Diverse Low- And Middle-Income Countries, Sejla Isanovic

Theses and Dissertations

Concerns about unsafe food influence food choice, and consumption of unsafe foods increases morbidity and mortality, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Actions to ensure safety of food are dominated by mitigation of biological and chemical hazards through supply-side risk management, disregarding individuals’ experiences and perspectives of food safety. We aimed to identify and categorize perspectives about food safety in five countries. Five Drivers of Food Choice projects provided transcripts from 17 focus groups discussions and 303 interviews in Kenya, Ghana, India, Guinea, and Vietnam. We analyzed transcripts using a priori and emergent codes. Individuals constructed meaning about food safety …

Approaches To Teaching Music Counting To Piano Students With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Sunghun Kim

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to interview five internationally and nationally recognized professionals currently teaching piano to students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and to explore their approaches to teaching music counting to students with ASD. The interview questionnaire contained 5 sections. Sections 1, 2, and 3 focused on teacher experience and training, studio demographics, and educational curriculum. Sections 4 and 5 of the questionnaire focused on pedagogical practices in teaching music counting to piano students with autism spectrum disorder, including questions regarding pedagogical approaches in teaching meter, rhythm, and steady pulse. Section 6 emphasized pedagogical practices to teach …

Mindset, Stereotype Threat, And The Fear Of Failure: Why Female Students Leave A Secondary High Honors Mathematics Pathway, Annabelle Merg

Theses and Dissertations

The disproportionate attrition of female students in STEM is well documented in higher education but less well understood at the secondary level. In a large, public high school in an affluent, highly educated city, the high honors mathematics pathway is the only math pathway that has not yet achieved gender parity, an implication for future educational and economic equity. Female students leave this pathway at significantly higher rates than male students, especially during and immediately after the first course. Through an explanatory, mixed methods approach, this study found that these female students are not less well prepared than their male …