Digital Commons Network^™

A Multimethod Approach To Examining Racial Coping Socialization Among Black Adolescents, Rachel J. Davis

Theses and Dissertations

Experiences of racial discrimination are pervasive in the lives of Black youth and result in race-related stress. Racial coping has been found to mitigate the negative physical and mental health effects of racial discrimination; thus, it is imperative that we understand the process that Black youth undertake to navigate racialized experiences by utilizing a person-centered approach. Additionally, parents socialize their Black youth to navigate racialized experiences, indeed, previous research has investigated racial and emotion socialization as separate phenomena, however, this does not reflect the integrated nature by which racial and emotion socialization processes are interconnected during parents’ and youths’ discussions …

A Mixed Methods Study: High School Teachers’ Perspectives On Incorporating Mindful Artmaking In Their Classroom As A Mental Health Resource, Sherry A. Bosarge

Theses and Dissertations

Mental health concerns and the need for mental health resources for high school students continue to rise in Virginia. Some of the reported benefits to the current mental health services and resources offered in Virginia schools are increased academic outcomes, attendance, and positive behaviors. The reported barriers to current mental health services and resources are lack of participation, lack of training, time constraints, funding, and resources. This explanatory sequential mixed methods study examined high school teachers’ perspectives on the benefits and barriers to incorporating mindful artmaking in their classrooms as a mental health resource at a local high school. This …

Using Habituation And Affective Forecasting To Distinguish When The Passive Enjoyment Of Harm Begets The Active Pursuit Of Aggression, Drew M. Parton

Theses and Dissertations

Understanding the antecedents and impellers of aggression is key to preventing violence, and individual differences have been identified as some of the key factors of interest in the study of aggression. Antisocial personality traits such as psychopathy, Machiavellianism, Narcissism, and Sadism have received considerable focus from researchers. Among these traits, Sadism stands above them all as arguably the most malevolent of all trait constructs in psychology. Sadism shows the strongest correlations with aggression among malevolent traits and is uniquely linked to unprovoked aggression, even when it is costly. Sadism thus represents an extreme risk factor for aggression, and studying its …

Exploring The Development Of Students' Calling To The Work Of An Hod Practitioner In An Undergraduate Hod Degree Program, Neil Dana Rahbar-Daniels

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation project consisted of a multiple case qualitative study to explore indications of cross-influences between students’ experiences of learning takeaways as participants in one or more HOD undergraduate degree courses and accompanying experiences (if any) of perceiving and/or living a calling to work as HOD practitioners. This phenomenological inquiry involved four undergraduate students who had completed one or more HOD degree courses at Mid-Atlantic States University (MSU as a pseudonym) during a two-year period. Each participant attended a single interview of about 90 minutes in duration, responded to a short vocational calling survey as a guide for interview questioning, …

Exploring Prenatal Cannabis Use Among Young Pregnant Bisexual Individuals: A Mixed Methods Study, Nicole Boss

Theses and Dissertations

The perinatal period is a critical time for health behaviors with outcomes that have short- and long-term effects for both childbearing person and child. Research indicates that young bisexual people are at greater risk of unintended pregnancy, experience psychosocial health disparities, and may be more likely to use cannabis during pregnancy. Few studies have examined this phenomenon. This study is a secondary analysis of mixed methods data from a longitudinal cohort study. Thematic analysis of qualitative data (n=12) revealed the contextual adaptivity of cannabis use, with participants explaining the situations and rationales which motivated their cannabis use changed over time. …

You're In The Army Now, John Henry Price Iii

Mighty Pen Project Anthology & Archive

An Army recruit plots to exact revenge on a bully Corporal everyone despises. How will he do it? Will he get away with it?

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 …

Inshallah, Phillip Trezza

Mighty Pen Project Anthology & Archive

Set during a deployment in Iraq, Inshallah follows a U.S. Army medic reflecting on the chaos, camaraderie, and moral ambiguity of war. As his platoon conducts a routine patrol, they encounter violence, uncertainty, and a wounded enemy combatant whose life hangs in the medic’s hands. Through moments of tension, dark humor, and introspection, the story explores the psychological toll of combat and the fragile line between duty and humanity. Ultimately, the medic chooses compassion over vengeance, leaving the outcome to fate—Inshallah, if God wills it.

Articles, stories, and other compositions in this archive were written by participants in …

Con Thien - The Ambush, Richard Michael Everington

Mighty Pen Project Anthology & Archive

This true story takes place just below the DMZ of South Vietnam, during the undeclared war years of 1967- 1968, at Con Thien. The Marine forward combat base had sustained constant artillery bombardment and enemy attacks for a year. The Marine’s newly acquired night vision scopes discovered that North Vietnamese recon teams were coming in at night to spy on the base. An ambush was put together to eliminate the enemy reconnaissance team and to get revenge from loses from the week before. The plot revolves around Rick and Smitty, two of the lowest ranking Marines in the platoon.

Articles, …

The Romanticization Of Human-Vampire Relationships: How 'Twilight' And 'The Vampire Diaries' May Prime Young Women To Accept Dating Violence, Natalie M. Bowen

UROP Posters

The first literary vampire can be traced back to 18th century Germany, with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s poem “Die Braut von Korinth,” but the stereotypical features of a vampire are traditionally accredited to Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Modern vampires, such as Edward Cullen and Stefan Salvatore of the Twilight and The Vampire Diaries series respectively, have managed to win the hearts of teenage girls all across America with their sex appeal and charismatic nature. According to Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory, individuals learn new behaviors by modeling and imitating the actions of those around them. This comprehensive literature review investigates the connection …

Examining Sociodemographic And Clinical Factors Associated With Smoking Behaviors Among Black Breast And Gynecological Cancer Survivors, Ida M. Adeso, Jian He, Ashley Turner, Arnethea L. Sutton

UROP Posters

Black breast and gynecological cancer survivors experience poorer outcomes than their non-Black counterparts. Although multifactorial, one contributor may be cigarette smoking behaviors. The purpose of this study was to identify demographic, clinical, and social drivers of health (SDoH) factors associated with smoking behaviors in Black breast and gynecological cancer survivors.

We conducted a secondary analysis of survey data collected from an ongoing cross-sectional study. Summary statistics (e.g., means, frequencies) were computed for all factors of interest. Chi square test of independence, t test, and logistic regression assessed the associations between demographic, clinical, and SDoH factors (e.g., social support) and the …

Therapy In The Age Of Ai: How Young Adults Seek Help, Support, And Solutions, Faith Maeba, Isabella Quilon, Abigail Adade

UROP Posters

Therapy has long been a foundational approach for addressing mental health, but advances in digital technology have led many young adults, especially Generation Z, to increasingly turn to AI tools for support. Rising costs, limited access to providers, and long wait times have further boosted the appeal of AI-based mental-health solutions. Despite this growing interest, the use of AI for emotional and psychological support raises important questions about trust, empathy, safety, and the ethical responsibilities of mental-health providers and developers. We conducted a brief scoping review of research on AI-based mental-health tools and student help-seeking behaviors. Searches were performed on …

2025 Merc Annual Report, David B. Naff, Jesse Senechal, Paula L. Ogston-Nobile

MERC Publications

This is the annual report of the Metropolitan Educational Research Consortium (MERC) at Virginia Commonwealth University for the 2024-2025 academic year. It includes vignettes depicting MERC activities in the past year that align with each of its five principles: research, relevance, rigor, multiple perspectives, and impact. It concludes with a discussion of MERC's commitment moving forward.

Virginia Literacy Act Expansion: Implications For Middle Schools, Candace Bechtold, Joan A. Rhodes, Valerie J. Robnolt, David B. Naff, Kendall Hunt, Jan Collins

MERC Publications

This MERC research and policy review focuses on expansion of the Virginia Literacy Act (VLA) to include support for middle school students across the Commonwealth. It explores three questions:

1. What were trends in middle school literacy prior to the VLA expansion?
2. What state policies exist for middle school literacy achievement?
3. What does research say about literacy intervention at the middle school level?

It concludes with a series of key takeaways and recommendations for middle school literacy policy and practice.

Supporting Students In Transition To And From High School, David Naff, Jamelle Simmons, Meleah Ellison, Shelby Garofalo, Laura Thoene, Kim Dupre, Sooyeon Moon, Karli Johanson, Paul Harris, Martin Darby, William L. Parker, Tracy Booker, Janel Miley, Mysia Perry, Xun Liu, Maggie Szydlowski, Ahmed Abbas

MERC Publications

This report is part of a two-part series focused on supporting students in transition across PK-12 education. Specifically, it explores transitions into and out of high school school. The report includes a synthesis of recent peer-reviewed literature, analysis of publicly available data (with a specific focus on Virginia and the metropolitan Richmond region), and summary of relevant federal, state, and school division-level policies. It answers the following questions:

1. What are key considerations for supporting students in transition to and from high school in the MERC region?

2. How do federal, state, and division policies guide support for student transitions …

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.

Inherited Wounds: Navigating Intergenerational Trauma Through Cooperative Play, Ayza Sheikh

Theses and Dissertations

'Strength' for Pakistani women is often defined as compromise, sacrifice, and silence. This definition has shaped intergenerational struggles in which women's self-narratives are constructed through suppression. Inherited Wounds seeks to address the trauma of suppression by creating a safe space for expression that fosters reflective and emotion-driven dialogue between Pakistani mothers and daughters.

Using interactive storytelling and embodied play, I developed a choice-based, narrative-driven video game and accompanying gesture-based controller. The game unfolds across childhood, marriage, and motherhood, mirroring the cycle of intergenerational struggle. Navigating choices in the game requires physical, intimate cooperation. The game uses the protagonist’s life as …

Accurate Body Weight Class Prediction From Mirna And Gene Expression In Blood And Saliva Samples, Kimberly Lettner

Master of Science in Forensic Science Directed Research Projects

miRNA interference on protein abundance related to glucose uptake and lipid production has been evaluated in biomedical research and linked to metabolic disorders like severe obesity. The direct regulation of protein abundance caused by miRNAs on a person’s metabolism can lead to an increased weight and overall size. Body size, measured by BMI, provides additional physical descriptions that can be combined with hair color, eye color, age, and skin pigment to aid investigations of unidentified remains or unknown suspects not found in a database. The purpose of this project was to evaluate the miRNA expression of target biomarkers in dried …

Qualitative Method Validation Of Acid/Neutral Drugs Carisoprodol, Meprobamate, And Naproxen Using Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry, Kate O. Martin

Master of Science in Forensic Science Directed Research Projects

Meprobamate, carisoprodol, and naproxen are acidic/neutral drugs widely prescribed for muscle relaxation and inflammatory conditions, with frequent detection in forensic toxicology casework due to extensive clinical use. A method to qualitatively evaluate these compounds was developed to unify acid/neutral drug screening. This study incorporated blank blood, antemortem blood, postmortem blood, urine, and liver homogenate as representative biological matrices. Method validation was conducted in accordance with ANSI/ASB Standard 036 for Forensic Toxicology, encompassing key parameters including limit of detection (LOD), endogenous interferences, potential interferences, carryover, processed sample stability, and ionization suppression/enhancement. The validation was performed using the internal standards carisoprodol-D7, meprobamate-D7, …

Toward Positive Retention In Academic Libraries: A Conceptual Framework, Jennifer Stout, Sojourna Cunningham, Samantha Guss

VCU Libraries Faculty and Staff Presentations

It’s been nearly 25 years since ACRL and ARL named recruitment and retention of BIPOC librarians a priority for the profession, but the numbers have stagnated or even decreased. One reason for this could be that research on "recruitment and retention" in academic libraries tends to conflate these concepts and focus on recruitment, which can be more easily quantified. As a result, less attention has been paid to defining, measuring, and improving retention. Here, the researchers present a framework to better define the multiple dimensions of retention and how retention is related to organizational culture in academic libraries.

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 …

A Quantitative Examination Of The Role Of Relationship Status In Asexual College Students’ Sexual Victimization, Amanda Mollet, Wayne Black, Leslie Shelton

Journal of Queer and Trans Studies in Education

This exploratory quantitative study examines sexual violence among asexual college students using the Asexual Community Survey. We conducted analyses to examine the coercive tactics used by sexual violence perpetrators against asexual college students with a focus on examining statistical differences based on characteristics of students’ relationships. Findings revealed that across multiple forms of relationships, asexual college students’ relationship experiences were significantly correlated with experiencing higher levels of multiple types of sexual violence. The study challenges existing narratives of campus-based sexual violence while highlighting the unique and specific influences of power on sexual victimization within the context of asexual college students’ …

Amplifying The Coloring Art Of A Friend With Alzheimer’S Disease Through Collaboration, Liz Langdon

International Journal of Lifelong Learning in Art Education

The act of coloring pages, is recognized for its therapeutic value and this research shows how amplifying the artistry of a practitioner with Alzheimer’s disease enhances understanding about the disease, improves relationships and adds value to an underrated art practice. My collaboration with a neighbor experiencing Alzheimer’s disease involved presenting her coloring pages as fine art in a gallery, increasing recognition of the practice as valuable for maintaining normalcy and serving as a model for other people with dementia (PWD) and their caregivers.

Crip Time And Creativity: Exploring Intergenerational Artmaking In A Children's Museum, Kelly M. Gross

International Journal of Lifelong Learning in Art Education

This paper investigates the intersection of "crip time" and creativity through an intergenerational artmaking project conducted during an artist residency at a children's museum. The article, framed within the "Shadows and Light: Investigating with Children" project, explores how play-based learning and the non-linear concept of crip time influenced the creative process and outcomes in a museum setting amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The study examines the role of intergenerational interactions in fostering creativity, agency, and engagement among children and the artist-in-residence. The research methodology involved qualitative analysis of imagery and iterative documentation of art processes, emphasizing the impact of flexibility and …

Pearl And Murray Greenberg Award Lectures, Linda J. Helmick, Margaret Walker

International Journal of Lifelong Learning in Art Education

No abstract provided.

Connections: Full Journal

International Journal of Lifelong Learning in Art Education

No abstract provided.

Using Mixed Methods To Explore Forms Of Harassment For K-12 Bipoc Trans Students, Caroline Reale-Smith, Mario I. Suárez, Emma Mecham

Journal of Queer and Trans Studies in Education

Trans students of color face verbal and physical harassment all too often in educational settings. Using the 2015 United States Trans Survey, this mixed methods study explored the relationship between race and gender identity with regard to experiences with verbal and physical harassment in the K-12 setting. The quantitative phase investigated the extent to which race and gender identity predicted verbal and physical harassment, while the qualitative phase explored the types of harassment experiences for trans students of color. Quantitative findings highlight a higher incidence of verbal and physical harassment for Alaska Native/American Indian trans individuals and trans women, and …

Commonwealth Times 2024-11-13

Commonwealth Times, 1969-

No abstract provided.

“We Don’T Do That”: Negotiating Graduate Education As A Bisexual+ Student, Kaity Prieto, Victoria B. Olivo

Journal of Queer and Trans Studies in Education

Bisexual+ people comprise the largest portion of the queer and trans community, yet there is limited research on bi+ subpopulations and a particular absence of literature exploring bisexual+ student identities and experiences. Much of the extant bi+ college student literature has centered on undergraduate experiences, leaving graduate experiences underexplored. Through this narrative inquiry study, guided by a queer theoretical framework, we sought to understand how bi+ graduate students navigate academic and professional contexts and how systems of power influence their identity negotiation narratives. Findings revealed pervasive bisexual+ erasure in academic contexts, pressure to conform to normative notions of professionalism, and …