Digital Commons Network^™

The African American Pulpit And The Reconstruction Of Narrative Ground In The Black Community, Nathaniel Cox

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores how the African American pulpit serves as a living wellspring for rebuilding stories, memory, and identity, a task made urgent by centuries of erasure, from the trauma of the Middle Passage to the ongoing reverberations of that violence. My central claim is that African American preaching, when viewed through the insight-rich frameworks of Gadamer, Burke, and Frankl, becomes not just a form of speech, but a lifeline. It helps reclaim "narrative ground": the deep roots of meaning, belonging, and shared purpose that nourish a wounded people and allow genuine flourishing.

The journey unfolds across six movements. Chapter …

"Am I A Man Or A Muppet": A Rhetorical Analysis Of Generative Ai’S Representation Of Gender, Jessica Boaz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines how generative artificial intelligence constructs and performs gender roles through a rhetorical analysis of the fully AI-generated podcast Fairytale Forensics. Drawing on theories of constitutive rhetoric, stereotyping, and McLuhan’s approach to the medium, this thesis investigates how AI-generated hosts interpret classic fairy tales while simultaneously reproducing and negotiating gender norms through the lens of prosopopoeia, metonymy and synecdoche. These performances rely on normative gender stereotypes that align with broader societal expectations, thereby potentially reinforcing existing cultural assumptions about masculinity and femininity. Ultimately, it demonstrates that AI-generated discourse does not merely reflect human biases but actively participates in …

Suppressing Saints And Suffering Sinners: An Analysis Of Reductive Tropes Through The 2025 Film Sinners, Kaila Palmer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Ryan Coogler’s 2025 horror film Sinners is set in a predominantly Black Mississippi community during the Jim Crow era and explores the vulnerability and hypervisibility of Black people. Vampires and Klansmen fixate on Black bodies, treating them as consumable and dispensable sources. Prior to its Amazon Prime debut and extended theatrical run, Sinners grossed over $300 million, signaling its cultural impact and contribution to reshaping representations of Black identity in cinema. As part of Coogler’s broader array of Black storytelling, the film disrupts entrenched stereotypes by emphasizing character depth rather than caricature.

This paper analyzes the characters Annie and the …

Critical Roles And Critical Rolls: A Frame-Analytical Perspective Of Self-Making, Safe Spaces, And Worldbuilding In Tabletop Role-Playing Games, Cal Quayle

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many gamers prefer to play tabletop roleplaying games, or TTRPGs, in order to a) join a community, and b) tell a story collaboratively with friends and acquaintances. This thesis discusses selfhood-making, safe spaces, and allegory in imaginary worlds from the perspective of Erving Goff man’s frame analysis. It relies on a theoretical framework of imagined communities, the magic circle, and subcreation. This research culminated in the understanding that people play TTRPGs for a variety of reasons - collaborative storytelling and exercising critical thinking skills, but respondents overwhelmingly reported that they enjoyed the ability to socialize with friends and strangers, and …

Examining The Effects Of Video Modeling To Enhance Culturally Specific Social Greeting Skills In Preschoolers With Asd In Saudi Arabia, Sarah Alzahrani

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A lack of social communication skills, including initiation and responding, has been a prominent characteristic of children diagnosed with ASD (Kanner, 1943; Kroeger et al., 2007). Enhancing these skills in children with ASD during early childhood is crucial to their future relationships, friendships, participation in communal activities, and overall lowering the likelihood of adverse long-term effects, giving significance to this age as a pivotal period for enhancing various skills (Hart Barnett, 2018). Failure to provide interventions to address social communication in children with ASD, specifically in cultures that value this skill, can impede their integration into that society. Thus, this …

The People’S Medicine: Modern Perspectives On Folk Medicine In South Central Appalachia, Stacey M. Horton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The study addresses the critical need to document Appalachian folk medicine conventions and cultural practices from a modern perspective. In so doing, it addresses folk medicine research gaps in understudied places in South Central Appalachia, particularly in Southwestern Virginia and Northeast Tennessee. This research utilizes participant observation and oral history interviews to research modern Appalachian folk medicine practices among a select group of practitioners. Interviews focused on individuals who center their professional careers and subsequent lifestyles around herbalism, foraging, folk medicine, ethnobotany, and botanicals. By utilizing a critical praxis framework, the study seeks to move beyond lists of symptoms and …

Characterizing Hexavalent Chromium Neurotoxicity Across Laboratory Models., Samuel Thomas Vielee

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Hexavalent chromium [Cr(VI)] is a ubiquitous environmental pollutant and potent toxicant. Exposure to Cr(VI) in drinking water is primarily associated with cancers, inflammation, and hepatotoxicity; however, recent studies have identified Cr(VI) as a neurotoxicant in rodent and cell culture models. The literature suggest chromium accumulates in the brain, induces widespread neurodegeneration, and alters rodent behaviors. Despite these data, we lack a detailed and consistent assessments of Cr(VI) neurotoxicity across models, and interactions between aging and Cr(VI) neurotoxicity are not reported in the literature. In this dissertation, we characterize Cr(VI) neurotoxicity across 3 laboratory models: Sprague-Dawley rats, Caenorhabditis elegans, and …

Mountain Communities During A Time Of War: A Case Study Of The Hutsul Region In The Carpathian Mountains Of Ukraine, Pavlo Rybaruk

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates the ethno-ecological technologies employed by the Hutsul people within the highland agrarian economy of the Carpathian Mountains. Over centuries, the Hutsuls have developed ethno-ecological technologies that maintain ecological integrity while supporting community livelihoods.

The study addresses three primary research questions: What are the most important ethno-ecological technologies of the Hutsul highland economy? How might these traditional ethno-ecological practices be applied to economic, agricultural, and tourism development in the Hutsul region? How might these traditional ethno-ecological practices be combined with contemporary approaches to encourage sustainable development in the region?

The research explores the devastating impact of the Russian …

The “I’M Too Much, Yet Never Enough” Paradox: A Critical Approach To Discourses Of Afro-Latinidad Among Second-Generation-Immigrant Women In South Florida, Eleni Victoria Webster

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study critically examines discourse and the ways it shapes identities and community belonging for self-identifying Afro-Latina, second-generation-immigrant women in South Florida. This qualitative research uses an intercultural communication framework to analyze interviews and collected poems. Informed by grounded theory and a Black feminist critical approach rooted in the intersectionality theory, the data is analyzed through comparative thematic and metaphorical rhetorical analyses. When discussing the discourses related to the development of ethno-racial identities for Afro-Latinas, certain communicative patterns of self-discovering, self-defining, and self-envisioning emerged. With regard to community belonging, three metaphorical discourses arose: not-enoughness, in-betweenness, and un-humanness. The internalization of …

The Resonance Of Desire: A Sonic Exploration And Guide To Recreating Disney’S Signature ‘I Want’ Songs, Aiyanna E. Riley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the sonic architecture of Disney’s Renaissance-era “I Want” songs and develops a framework for recreating their signature production style. This study analyzes how vocal timbre, microphone choices, layering, stereo placement, and mixing strategies contribute to the immersive qualities that define the Disney sound. Drawing from historical accounts, interviews with industry professionals, and technical literature, the thesis documents production practices unexamined in scholarly work. Inspired by David Gibson’s The Art of Mixing, my analyses prioritize spatial and textural qualities in Disney mixes, highlighting how sound design shapes narrative impact. The study culminates in two original compositions modeled …

"That’S Not A Meal, Bestie”: Humor, Identity, & Feminized Consumption In “Girl Dinner”., Claire Tudor

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the viral “Girl Dinner” trend as a case study in how gendered consumption, digital identity, and feminist humor intersect in digital spaces. Using “Girl Dinner” as a rhetorical artifact, this thesis explores how women use gendered trends to navigate visibility, labor, and autonomy in online spaces. Through thematic analysis of TikTok content, media coverage, and branded adaptations, the research traces the evolution of the trend from a lighthearted joke to a site of cultural negotiation. This study reveals that while “Girl Dinner” may appear empowering and relatable on the surface, it often reinforces traditional gender expectations under …

Coalitional Belonging As Praxis: First-Year Writing And Student Community Creation In The Post-Dei University., Kendyl C. Harmeling

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation began as a study into how students interpret and engage language and actions from their institutions of higher education which allege to be supporting and supportive of universally diverse, equitable, and inclusive campus community belonging. Occurring within a locally and globally turbid context of exponential and variable challenges to diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts by institutions of power – like those of higher and public education – this dissertation seeks to understand how, within and without institutional support for DEI, students self-sponsor and community-sponsor their ways of knowing and being to claim space for their belonging on campus. …

Translation Of The Carcinogenic Dna Breakage-Repair Inhibition Mechanism For Hexavalent Chromium To Its Key Targets: Lung Epithelial Cells, Lung Tissue And Impacts On The Genome., Idoia Meaza Isusi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death worldwide. Hexavalent chromium [Cr(VI)] is a human lung carcinogen with widespread occupational and environmental exposure. Despite the known health risks, how Cr(VI) causes lung cancer remains unclear. This dissertation investigates the mechanisms of Cr(VI)-induced carcinogenesis. Cr(VI) causes DNA damage, specifically DNA double strand breaks, and inhibits homologous recombination repair, a high-fidelity repair pathway. Unrepaired DNA double strand breaks or those repaired through error-prone pathways, progress to chromosomal damage, and chromosome instability. The latter is a common characteristic of Cr(VI)-exposed cells, and a hallmark of lung cancer. Although the mechanism of Cr(VI)-induced …

Tel Jezreel's Medieval Crusader Cemetery: A Case Study In Contemporary Burial Practices And Necroviolence Against Infants And Children., Autumn Koehling

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The 1990s excavation of the archaeological site of Tel Jezreel in the modern nation state of Israel yielded the remains of fifty infants and children, associated with the contemporary Medieval Crusader Church. The Church, built by Knight’s Templar from the Frankish Kingdom served the occupants of Tel Jezreel from the 11^th to the 13^th century and introduced Western Christian burial practices to the local Syriac-Palestinian Christian inhabitants. Burial practices from the surrounding region of the Levant and beyond, into Crusader European cultures, show different forms of burial treatment for infants and children that can be used to understand …

Engineering Solutions For The Transplant Supply Gap: Social Network Analysis, Artificial Intelligence, And Optimization In Living Kidney Donation., Joshua Nielsen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Kidney transplantation is the gold standard for treating end-stage renal disease, yet over 90,000 patients remain on the transplant waitlist. This dissertation introduces engineering-driven solutions to help reduce the transplant supply gap by addressing three challenges: illicit trafficking, donor recruitment, and evaluation inefficiencies. First, we model illicit organ trafficking networks using social network analysis. We demonstrate that targeting transplant clinics alone is insufficient to disrupt operations. Instead, disrupting the network requires detaining brokers who organize behind-the-scenes logistics—offering a more effective strategy for intervention. Second, we seek to identify a latent population of potential living donors who face barriers such as …

Affective Teacher Tok: A Sociomaterial Analysis Of Teachers’ Digital Literacy Practices On Social Media., Jessica Nicole Gottbrath

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Mass media often depicts teachers in oversimplified terms, as heroic saviors or dangerous agents of indoctrination, flattening the complex realities of their daily work and lived experiences. This polarization contributes to the ongoing deprofessionalization of teaching, where educators’ expertise is increasingly questioned and politicized. In response to these reductive portrayals and the everyday pressures of the profession, some teachers have turned to short-form social media videos as a creative outlet to share personal and professional insights. To explore how teachers reclaim agency through their digital literacy practices, this study employs mixed-methods research to investigate how educators use networked microvideos to …

The Role Of Tgfβ-Activated Kinase 1 In Fibroblast Differentiation And Cardiac Remodeling After Injury., Daniel Chien Nguyen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Immediately following myocardial injury, a robust reparative response is orchestrated through intercellular communication. While various cell populations play critical roles in this process, cardiac fibroblasts have long been recognized as essential mediators of collagen synthesis and scar maturation; however, recent investigations have uncovered significant heterogeneity within the cardiac fibroblast population, revealing distinct subpopulations with roles that extend beyond their traditional functions. Notably, after tissue injury, fibroblasts exposed to damage signals can transition to an inflammatory phenotype, utilizing paracrine and autocrine signaling to coordinate immune cell recruitment and activation. Yet, the mechanisms underlying inflammatory cardiac fibroblast differentiation and their influence on …

Mechanisms Of Particulate Hexavalent Chromium-Induced Inhibition Of Homologous Recombination Repair: Targeting The Bcdx2 Complex Considered Through A One Health Perspective., Aggie W. Brownell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer death, often linked to smoking. However, smoking alone does not account for all cases. Exposure to environmental metals like hexavalent chromium [Cr(VI)] also contributes to lung cancer. Cr(VI) causes lung cancer by inducing chromosome instability (CIN), an early hallmark of its carcinogenic mechanism. While it has been established that Cr(VI) induces chromosome instability, the precise mechanisms underlying the chromosome instability are poorly understood. This dissertation investigates the mechanisms of carcinogenesis associated with zinc chromate, a particularly potent particulate form of hexavalent chromium. Studies show Cr(VI) induces DNA double-strand breaks and impairs the …

Digital Revival: The Role Of Social And Streaming Media In The Resurgence Of Appalachian Country Music, Jacob Cody Powers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates the role of digital media, specifically social media, and streaming platforms, in the resurgence of Appalachian country music. In recent years, niche music genres have found new life through online platforms, which offer unique avenues for discovery, engagement, and community building. Using a mixed methods approach, this research combines quantitative survey data and qualitative thematic analysis to explore how audiences discover Appalachian country music on platforms such as TikTok, YouTube, and Spotify. A cross-sectional survey was distributed to college students and social media users, collecting responses on participants' digital engagement habits, platform preferences, and motivations for exploring …

Internal Communication And Organizational Culture: A K–12 District Office Phenomenological Study, Jessica Coleman Scogin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This phenomenological study utilized motivating language theory to explore the experiences that K–12 district office staff had with internal communication. The purpose of the study was to find how these experiences impacted an employee’s feelings of safety, value, and positive emotions in the workplace. The lens of motivating language allowed for a view of how empathetic language, meaning-making language, and direction-giving language shaped experiences for employees. Communication is an integral part of the culture of an organization; yet it is often overlooked as an influencing factor in job satisfaction and well-being. In fact, poor internal communication can lead to negativity …

Embodied Liminality: The Ritual-Drama Nexus In Pan-Tribal Native American Dance And Theatrical Performances, Oscar Pereira

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the intersection of ritual, drama, and liminality in pantribal Native American dance performances, emphasizing embodied liminality as a performative process shaping cultural continuity, identity transformation, and communal reinforcement.

Using an interdisciplinary methodology that integrates archival research, visual anthropology, and qualitative analysis, this study investigates three case studies: (1) the Ghost Dance movement as a liminal ritual of resistance and cultural revitalization; (2) pan-tribal powwows as sites of embodied liminality and cultural revitalization, and (3) contemporary Native American theater, analyzing theatrical plays through the lens of liminality, visual anthropology, theater and performance methodologies.

Examining embodied liminality in historical …

The Changing Roles Of Elementary School Principals, Ernie Lozano

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The role of the elementary school principal has changed throughout its history. The role has shifted from primarily a managerial role to an instructional leadership role, to the more current role of a multi-faceted operational leader. Recent events, from the Covid-19 pandemic to highly publicized school shootings, has added additional responsibilities to the current role of the principal. The current high-stakes accountability to ensure all students are learning has also added an increased amount of pressure on elementary school principals. The ability to effectively manage both the operational and instructional roles has created stress and anxiety on elementary school principals. …

Psychometric Properties Of A New Acculturation Scale For Latinos/Hispanics, Alicia Goytizolo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The current study evaluated the psychometric properties of the newly developed Multi-Ethnic Acculturation Scale (MAS), a multidimensional instrument designed to assess behavioral and cognitive aspects of cultural adaptation among Hispanic/Latino individuals in the United States. A sample of 208 adults from diverse Hispanic backgrounds completed the MAS alongside two validated acculturation measures: the Short Acculturation Scale for Hispanics and the Vancouver Index of Acculturation. Exploratory factor analyses revealed a partially distinct but moderately correlated factor structure for both American and Latino cultural orientation subscales, supporting a bidimensional conceptualization of acculturation. Internal consistency was high across both subscales (Cronbach’s α > .90), …

Understanding Widowhood Cultural Practices, Values, And Beliefs, Of Nigerian American Women: An Ethnonursing Study, Prisca Anuforo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: Many widowhood cultural practices are detrimental to the health and well-being of widows in Nigeria. Little is known about the experiences of widowhood for Nigerian American women, their cultural practices, and how it affects their health.

Purpose: Understand widowhood cultural practices among Nigerian Americans and how these experiences may affect health and wellbeing.

Methods: The qualitative ethnonursing method was used to collect data from 25 Nigerian American widows. Data were analyzed using NVivo qualitative data manager software guided by Leininger’s four phases of qualitative analysis.

Results: Widowhood cultural practices are modified and undertaken to preserve health and honor the …

“Know What I’M Sayin’?”: Advocating Hip-Hop As A Primary Source For Historical Scholarship, Christopher Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Rap, hip-hop’s most characteristic element, evolved from cultural practices combining in New York and spread across the United States in the latter half of the twentieth century. This thesis argues in favor of the use of rap as primary source material in future historical research. Authenticity has always surrounded hip-hop, making rap a window into artists’ perspectives. Storytelling traditions in rap’s roots allow for fiction’s use as a tool to discuss reality in lyrics. To demonstrate rap’s strengths as a primary source, the thesis examines Let’s Get Free, dead prez’s 2000 debut album. The song “They Schools” is dissected section-by-section …

Digital Storytelling Strategies For Viewer Engagement: A Rhetorical Analysis Of Youtube Videos By Nonprofit Healthcare Organizations, Maame Aba Afful

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As reliance on digital media and social media platforms such as YouTube increases, health organizations infuse rhetorical strategies to create memorable and impactful health-related videos to raise awareness and attract support. Nonprofit healthcare organizations use digital storytelling to communicate their impact. In this study, I conduct a rhetorical analysis of five digital storytelling videos shared on the YouTube pages of nonprofit healthcare organizations to: identify how the videos leverage rhetorical appeals, point-of-view (POV), and metadata; and discuss how such strategies might influence viewer engagement or brand objectives. My findings suggest that nonprofit healthcare organizations integrate positive and negative emotional appeals …

The Erosion Of Identity: A Study Of The Influence Of Racial Microaggressions On K-12 African American School Leaders, Rayfield J. Lavan Iii

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study explored the experiences of African American educational leaders in navigating racial microaggressions in the workplace, specifically within K-12 educational settings. Using Taxonomy of Racial Microaggressions and emotion regulation theory as frameworks, this research examines how these leaders manage, respond to, and cope with various forms of racial bias while maintaining their professional identities. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with African American leaders, and thematic analysis was used to identify recurring patterns of microaggressions and corresponding emotion regulation strategies. Key findings reveal that participants frequently encounter microaggressions such as assumption of inferiority, criminality, and second-class citizenship, with …

(Dis)Invested Bodies: The Neoliberal Crafting Of Disability, T. Wesley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Using the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) as a unifying text, my dissertation explores the relationship between cultural production and the neoliberal crafting of humanity, the term I use to describe how social dimensions—including the construction of the textual and material body—become reorganized and governed through market relations. While many disability scholars and activists frame the ADA’s failures through social misunderstandings of disability, few have seriously attended to the limits of the ADA as a neoliberal fusing of economic governance and classical liberal individualism.

Tracing convergences between the ADA and earlier US disability legislation to socioeconomic and political reforms enacted …

Made In The Divine Image: The Interface Of Boki Concepts And Pontifical Biblical Commission's Reading Of Genesis 1-2, Luther Raymond

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Certain images facilitate tailoring our perception of ourselves and the rest of creation in positively practical ways, but others lead us astray and disfigure our relationships. Christians acknowledge that humans are made in the divine image, yet we allow the domineering presence of destructive frames and perceptions to counter our being divine image-bearers. This dissertation explores the intersection of the Boki Beri-be/Keredede motif and the language of the presentation of Genesis 1-2 in the 2019 Pontifical Biblical Commission Document What Is Man? calling for a recognition that humans are the embodiment of the divine presence in creation with a calling …

Delivery Of Mitochondria-Containing Engineered Extracellular Vesicles To The Blood-Brain Barrier For Ischemic Stroke Therapy, Kandarp Dave

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Ischemic stroke is the second leading cause of death worldwide, and the lack of effective treatment options is an unmet clinical need for stroke survivors. Ischemic stroke-induced oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD) in the affected brain tissue leads to mitochondrial dysfunction and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) depletion in the brain endothelial cells (BECs) lining the blood-brain barrier (BBB). ATP deprivation in the BECs dysregulates actin cytoskeleton dynamics, resulting in BBB breakdown. Restoration of blood flow (i.e., reperfusion) upon the first-line stroke treatment further leads to BBB breakdown and widens the paracellular spaces between BECs. …