Digital Commons Network^™

“Some Vague Utopia”: Searching For Urania, Moira L. Neve

Theses and Dissertations

Despite the global pendulum swing of gender trouble marked by the United States’ President’s declaration that there are only two sexes, activists have been rejecting assimilation (ie. defining equality as gay marriage or queer people in the military) within queer studies long before 2025. In the first half of the 20th century, a journal by the name of Urania (1916-1940), privately published and circulated to their home base in the United Kingdom and beyond, five editors (Esther Roper, Eva Gore-Booth, Jessey Wade, Dorothy Cornish, and Irene Clyde/Thomas Baty), challenged the gender binary and the resulting assumptions of heterosexual marriage. This …

(Art) Education In The Afterlife Of Massive Resistance: Constructing, Capturing, And Commodifying Racialized Disability In Virginia’S Student Assignment Practices, 1956-1966 And Present Day, Jenna E. Gabriel

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores discursive functions of disability in pupil placement decisions in Massive Resistance Virginia, the relationship between disability and race that was constructed through these moves, and how these relationships surface in the reflections, perceptions, and pedagogy of a practicing art teacher, Nathan, who works at Arts High School (AHS), a Virginia specialty center high school. Under the umbrella of the Discourse Historical Approach, which relies on multiple, interdisciplinary data sources to explore how discourses evolve, I connect a robust archival analysis of historical data collected in the records of Virginia’s Pupil Placement Board (746 boxes, 1956-1966) with present-day …

Establishing A Conventional Linac-Based Electron Flash Beam, Justin Defrancisco

Theses and Dissertations

Problems: A rediscovered radiotherapy technique, FLASH, involves increasing the dose rate to >40 Gy/s. For a given dose, FLASH is shown to decrease the normal tissue complication probability without affecting the tumor control probability. More preclinical studies are necessary to confirm and enable these desirable properties on humans. Current preclinical investigations have diverse constraints, requiring FLASH apparatuses with flexible parameters and accurate control. However, there are limited FLASH platforms available, the existing ones are costly. Our institution is not in possession of any such infrastructure. Even if available, dosimetry and beam control in FLASH are extremely lacking. There is …

Social Support, Tobacco Attitudes/Perceptions Of Harm, And Asthma Status As Moderators In The Association Between Tobacco Exposure And Cotinine Levels, Rachel L. Pitts

Theses and Dissertations

Tobacco use and exposure are linked to adverse health outcomes (e.g., respiratory conditions) and increased healthcare utilization (e.g., emergency room visits). This study examined the moderating role of social support, tobacco attitudes/perceptions of harm, and asthma status on associations between tobacco use (e.g., combustible product use) and exposure (e.g., secondhand smoke) and cotinine levels among individuals in Richmond, Virginia. We also explored differences in tobacco-related variables by asthma status and associations among tobacco use, secondhand smoke exposure, cotinine levels, and asthma control. Youth (n = 201) and adults (n = 209) (95.7% Black/African American; 60.6% female; 65.8% non-tobacco users; 21% …

Liner Notes On Black Trans Girlhood: Afrofuturist Affect & Black Popular Music As A Praxis Of Self-Fashioning, Shawn J. Williams

Theses and Dissertations

Liner Notes on Black Trans Girlhood: Afrofuturist Affect & Black Popular Music as a Praxis of Self-Fashioning interprets Black musical performance in identity-making, with a focus on how music and Black trans identity intersect and informs Black trans girlhood. As such, Black trans girls render ourselves legible, i.e. understood without shame or judgment, by constructing our identities through the music by Black women we listen and dance to, or watch and sing. These musical connections affirm the possibilities of Black femme expression. This expression of Black femininity is due to what I call an Afrofuturist affect, by which I refer …

Molecular Mechanisms Of Kynurenine-Mediated Lifespan Regulation In Yeast, Ryan E. Counterman Jobb

Theses and Dissertations

The kynurenine pathway is a highly conserved pathway that acts as the primary pathway for tryptophan catabolism and has been found to be involved in lifespan regulation across many diverse organisms. Caloric restriction (CR) is the only known dietary intervention to date that both increases the mean lifespan and the health span of multiple organisms, although the molecular mechanisms of these effects are not fully understood. There are known and sometimes contradictory relationships between the kynurenine pathway activity and the life- extending effect of CR but the crosstalk between the two is not well characterized. Understanding these relationships could lead …

Sarge, Jon F. Merrill

Mighty Pen Project Anthology & Archive

A short story on how a service dog can change a man's life.

Articles, stories, and other compositions in this archive were written by participants in the Mighty Pen Project. The program, developed by author David L. Robbins, and in partnership with Virginia Commonwealth University and the Virginia War Memorial in Richmond, Virginia, offers veterans and their family members a customized twelve-week writing class, free of charge. The program encourages, supports, and assists participants in sharing their stories and experiences of military experience so both writer and audience may benefit.

Journal 2, Ryan Peschman

Mighty Pen Project Anthology & Archive

A stunningly kaleidoscopic narrative that asks, over and over, what it means to be alive.

Articles, stories, and other compositions in this archive were written by participants in the Mighty Pen Project. The program, developed by author David L. Robbins, and in partnership with Virginia Commonwealth University and the Virginia War Memorial in Richmond, Virginia, offers veterans and their family members a customized twelve-week writing class, free of charge. The program encourages, supports, and assists participants in sharing their stories and experiences of military experience so both writer and audience may benefit. CONTENT WARNINGS: Animal death, Autopsy related gore, Child …

Extra Bucks, Joseph Stanley Maslanka

Mighty Pen Project Anthology & Archive

A young married man, fresh out of the Marine Corps, has to decide whether it's worth joining the Army Reserves just for a few extra bucks every month. For a Marine, that's a heavy lift.

Articles, stories, and other compositions in this archive were written by participants in the Mighty Pen Project. The program, developed by author David L. Robbins, and in partnership with Virginia Commonwealth University and the Virginia War Memorial in Richmond, Virginia, offers veterans and their family members a customized twelve-week writing class, free of charge. The program encourages, supports, and assists participants in sharing their stories …

Ocean Acidification Mitigation: Potential Expansion Of Sav Restoration Strategy In The Chesapeake Bay, Cree N. Taylor

UROP Posters

Zostera marina is a species of marine macrophyte that has been largely prioritized in past submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) restoration initiatives within the Chesapeake Bay because of its 1) previous abundance, 2) demonstrated carbon burial abilities, and 3) observed ability for meadows of Z. marina to ameliorate low pH conditions. Due to the temperature variability and poor water quality associated with anthropogenic disturbances in the Chesapeake Bay, Z. Marina beds have experienced several die-off events with limited capacity for regrowth. This systematic review explored the possible benefits of focusing future SAV recovery initiatives on ensuring a diverse variety of SAV …

Ai In Education: Teaching, Learning, And Thinking With Machines, Mary Strawderman, Jesse Senechal, Eric Ekholm, Jason Vest, Moe Greene, Dawn Johnson, Daniel Case, Oscar Keyes, Yaoying Xu, Robert Godwin-Jones, Kait Donahue, Kim Elmore, Haley Hendershot, Amy Corning, Paulina Guerrero, Samaher Aljudaibi, Justin Thurston

AI in Education: Teaching, Learning, and Thinking with Machines

This collection from the Humanities Research Center (HRC) Digital Technology in Education (DTE) working group arose from questions around how rapidly emerging generative AI tools are reshaping teaching and learning in K-12 and higher education. The contributions, loosely organized around ethics, policy, and practice, adopt a humanities lens to probe how generative AI and other emerging digital technologies impact human values, experiences, and social structures, surfacing their philosophical, ethical, cultural, and societal implications for schooling. From the perspectives of practitioners and interdisciplinary scholars, the pieces showcase various dimensions of AI's creative potential in education, while also questioning its limitations and …

Attention's Loop: A Sculptor's Reverie On The Coexistence Of Substance And Spirit, Elizabeth King, Katherine Wetzel

Attention's Loop

This is a book about attention and memory. I am a sculptor, so it is also a book about size, dirt, artifice, work, and eye. The text is a set of stories and interruptions that pile up to make a play of overlapping loops. My organizing principle is the image of the round-trip, so one may open the book and step into it at any point. Most of Katherine Wetzel’s photographs are of a single sculpture. It is a self-portrait, a particular kind of round-trip, and it is small: one-half life-size. Called Pupil, it is jointed and movable, and …

Department Of Medicinal Chemistry, Virginia Commonwealth University: Historical And Personal Reflections, Richard A. Glennon

VCU University History Books

This book presents a historical account of Virginia Commonwealth University's Department of Medicinal Chemistry, compiled and recollected in 2025 by Professor Emeritus Richard A. Glennon. Included are personal reflections alongside a historical overview of the department's origins and faculty, as well as newly developed programs and initiatives.

An Interview With Sharon Lee Hart, Mysoon Rizk, Sharon Lee Hart

Art Inquiries

No abstract provided.

Spirit And Invention: Drawings By Giambattista And Domenico Tiepolo, Roberto G. Peredo

Art Inquiries

No abstract provided.

The Shape Of Time: Korean Art After 1989, Saehim Park

Art Inquiries

No abstract provided.

Napoleon’S Corpse And The Subversion Of Historical And Political Authority, Alissa Rachel Adams

Art Inquiries

This article examines printed depictions of Napoleon Bonaparte’s exhumed corpse in conjunction with Romantic historical practice in nineteenth-century France. Current studies on history in the Romantic age emphasize Romantic historicism’s link to a widespread and frustrated yearning for direct access to the past that will settle the upheavals of the revolutionary period. This study considers how the corpse and its representations fulfill the desire for direct access to the past but, in doing so, also contributes to a proliferation of individual understandings of the past—and future. Through an analysis of representations of the corpse, their sources, and their connection to …

Commonwealth Times 2024-11-13

Commonwealth Times, 1969-

No abstract provided.

Ink (2024)

Ink, 2008-

The student-run features magazine covering the fashion, art, music and culture worlds at VCU and in Richmond. Published annually in print and updated regularly online.

A Critical Discourse On Asian American Stereotypes And Pedagogical Strategies Against Anti-Asian Racism, Ryan Shin, Maria Lim, Oksun Lee, Ahran Koo, Kevin Hsieh, Min Gu, Jaehan Bae

Journal of Social Theory in Art Education

In this article, we address the three derogatory stereotypes and tropes of anti-Asian racism: model minority, perpetual foreigner, and yellow peril. We problematize how each of the three stereotypes was formed and has been sustained, affecting our art classroom and professional practices. After that, we offer the novel and futuristic conception of Asian American inclusivity as a critical project in our society. Lastly, in challenging the three Asian stereotypes and embracing Asian American inclusivity, we offer S-R-C teaching strategies (Sense of Belonging, Resist, and Coalition Building) to confront anti-Asian racism and violence. The strategies are designed to help art educators …

New Ways Of Making In The Face Of Uncertainty. Approaching Difficult Conversations Through Media Arts, Veronica Soria-Martinez, Iga Puchalska

Journal of Social Theory in Art Education

In this paper, the authors reflect on a learning experience in which we devised practices grounded in Culturally Responsive Teaching, Equity, Social Emotional Learning (SEL), and Digital Media Arts and how this experience would help students and members of the community (including us as educators) to develop critical knowledge and interconnectedness in the face of uncertainty. We drew on previous research and critical discussions on SEL to create an educational practice that promotes equity and confronts oppression by encouraging students to develop inquiry questions about race and to listen to different perspectives as they form their own answers. In doing …

Sorry, Not Sorry: Activating Moments Of Slippage Through Transpedagogical Practice, Lynn Sanders-Bustle

Journal of Social Theory in Art Education

While innovative approaches to teacher preparation are implemented in teacher preparation curricula, most curricula and practicums continue to be built around expected and normative standards of teacher practice. Intended to prepare future teachers to be successful in K-12 settings burdened by the impact of a stifling audit culture, policy overreach, continued efforts are needed to prepare preservice teachers for contemporary unknowns of pedagogy through contemporary art practices.

In this article, the author/inquirer examines preservice teachers’participation in transpedagogical practice (social practice) aimed at guiding high schoolers in a 2019 social practice project designed to make change in their schools. In this …

Decolonizing Queer Epistemology: Boys Love And Cultural Imaginary From The Global Majority, Roland Sintos Coloma

Journal of Queer and Trans Studies in Education

This article aims to decolonize queer epistemology in order to challenge the hegemony of white/eurocentric LGBTQ histories, cultures, and representations as the universal and normalized standard of queer and trans life and sociality. Toward this objective, it analyzes whitestream queer epistemology, and notes its limits that do not account for its inclusions and exclusions, especially in relation to race, geography, and methodological (homo)nationalism. It draws attention to the works of queer and trans theorists, researchers, and educators from the global majority, especially the growing scholarship on LGBTQ education outside of the United States, to point out a significant gap in …

What Is Decolonial Trans* Feminism And What Can It Do For Queer/Trans Bipoc Education Research? Reimagining Knowledge And Identity Through The Convergence Of Decolonial And Trans* Feminism, Omi Salas-Santacruz

Journal of Queer and Trans Studies in Education

This paper introduces decolonial trans* feminism, a framework merging decolonial theory with trans* of color feminism to challenge colonial gender oppression. It reimagines knowledge, gender, power, and resistance in educational research for queer/trans BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) individuals by integrating Indigenous metaphysics, diverse self-ontologies, and spiritual dimensions. The asterisk in trans* feminism symbolizes the fluidity of gender identities, challenging rigid boundaries of thought and colonial norms. Emphasizing the Androgynous Whole, the paper explores how different configurations of knowledge inform gender and serve as sites of coalitional resistance. Engaging with Third World Feminists, it calls for a shift to …

A Model Of Oocyte Population Dynamics For Fish Oogenesis, Louis Fostier, Frédérique Clément, Romain Yvinec, Violette Thermes

Biology and Medicine Through Mathematics Conference

No abstract provided.

Statistical Mobility Of Aggregated Microswimmers, Yonatan Ashenafi

Biology and Medicine Through Mathematics Conference

No abstract provided.

Impacts Of Hematodinium Infection In A Seasonal Population Model Of The Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab, Gwendolyn R. Sargent, Romuald Lipcius, Leah Shaw, Junping Shi, Jeffrey D. Shields

Biology and Medicine Through Mathematics Conference

No abstract provided.

Understanding Cardiovascular Dynamics: Insights From Data Driven Nonlinear Hyperelastic Wall Modeling In Pulmonary Arteries, Md Arifuzzaman, Mette S. Olufsen, Mansoor A. Haider

Biology and Medicine Through Mathematics Conference

No abstract provided.

Ink (2024)

Ink, 2008-

The student-run features magazine covering the fashion, art, music and culture worlds at VCU and in Richmond. Published annually in print and updated regularly online.

Commonwealth Times 2024-01-31

Commonwealth Times, 1969-

No abstract provided.