Digital Commons Network^™

Gender And Disability: An Exploration Of Reflective Practice For Protection And Access Amid Complex Emergencies, Lindsey A. Mandolini

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Gender and Disability: An Exploration of Reflective Practice for Protection and Access Amid Complex Emergencies is a qualitative research project exploring under what conditions and in what ways disabled persons’ organizations (DPOs) effectively protect and provide access to women and girls with disabilities amid complex emergencies. The study upheld a participatory approach and rights-based framework, emphasizing that authentic inclusion requires centering disabled voices in research. Drawing on extant research, grey literature, and data collected from online practitioner questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, the study conducted a multi-phased reflexive thematic analysis. The research findings culminate in a composite narrative that brings to …

The Evolution Of Global Competition: The Creation Of A Soft Power Escalatory Dilemma, Hunter M. Willis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As relationships between actors have become much more important for security in a globalized world and raw capabilities have become less important, the security landscape has fundamentally changed. When looking at the modern competition between the United States and European Union against China, global infrastructure investment has become a new arena to compete within. When examining each actor’s global infrastructure initiatives, China with the Belt and Road Initiative, the European Union with its Global Gateway, and the United States heading the G7’s initiative dubbed the Build Back Better World initiative, competition is deemed to be present within the global system. …

It’S Not What You (Don’T) Eat, It’S What Eats You: Countering The U.S. Eating Disorder Master Narrative, Kelsea V. Schoenbauer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Eating disorders, including anorexia and bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating disorder, affect approximately 20 million women in the United States (National Eating Disorders Association, 2022d). The dominant approach to studying eating disorders is based on the master narrative of biomedicine. The present dissertation examines the existing master narrative by investigating the meaning that women themselves ascribe to their eating disorder experiences. Drawing upon notions of embodiment, the present dissertation proposes narrative theorizing as an appropriate lens through which to view women’s narrative sense-making processes and employs narrative research methods. Using a modified version of McAdams’ (2008b) life story interview protocol, I …

“Omg, I Think You May Have Just Changed My Life”: Binge Eating Disorder Recovery In Instagram Comment Sections, Caitlin Roe

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As the internet and social media have become a more ingrained part of everyday life, online eating disorder pro-recovery communities have become a common topic of examination in the psychological sciences. However, there has been little focus on online binge eating disorder (BED) pro-recovery communities specifically. Additionally, there has not been much exploration into the use of comment sections as a part of pro-recovery communities. The current study used codebook thematic analysis to code ten BED pro-recovery Instagram comment sections to examine the interactive data present within this recovery community. Four themes were developed during analysis: detailed self-disclosure, sharing experiences …

Legitimacy In Conflict Contexts: Shifting Rebel Engagement In Sierra Leone And The Presence Of Private Contractors, Anne Lauder

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The growth of non-state actors has significantly changed the nature of conflict. Rebel groups increasingly challenge state rule while private military and security companies (PMSCs) increasingly enter conflict spaces on behalf of a variety of actors, including states seeking to suppress insurgencies. This case study of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) during Sierra Leone’s civil war between 1991-2002 contributes to emerging work on rebel behavior by examining how rebel’s legitimacy-seeking behavior might evolve when PMSCs enter a conflict context. I explore the ways that PMSCs can shift perceived incentive structures surrounding insurgents’ interpretations of and engagements with legitimacy during conflict, …

The Rural Post-Graduation Plan Development Model: Advancing Student College Choice By Centering Rural Communities, Steve Jenks

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

College choice models have been used since the 1980s to try and explain the processes and influences high school students use to decide if and which college to attend after graduation. These models focused solely on college attendance and lacked attention to the nuanced needs and resources found in rural communities. In this three-paper dissertation, a new, rural-centric model is proposed, tested, critiqued, and revised. The first paper proposes a new conceptual model of Rural Post-Graduation Plan Development using a critique and synthesis of prior college choice models, Critical Rural Theory, Funds of Knowledge, and socio-ecological models. The second paper …

The Impact Of Brain Drain On Haiti's Rural Communities: The Case Of A Small Town In Central Haiti And Its Surroundings., Franst Choubert Rémy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative participatory action research study investigated the causes and impacts of brain drain on Haiti’s rural communities, focusing on a small town in Central Haiti and its surrounding communities. Research shows that the brain drain has affected developing countries for many years. The pull factors from developed countries make the push factors in the home country more evident, leaving the latter depleted of educated human resources. It is particularly true in rural communities in Haiti. The researcher aimed to understand the causes through a community-based series of interviews, focus groups, and narratives. Participants expressed their views on the phenomenon …

Characterization Of Molecular Content, Cytotoxicity, And Anti-Inflammatory Activity Of Extractions From Eupatorium Serotinum, Jordy Sloan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Inflammation is a complex and varied immune response which can be expressed chronically or as a temporary reaction to foreign invaders. Symptoms of inflammation include swelling, pain, soreness, and difficulty of motion. Recently, the effect of sesquiterpene lactones such as Helenalin from Arnica montana have been studied for their anti-inflammatory properties. In this study, we identified and harvested samples of Eupatorium serotinum, a plant historically used by Native Americans to treat a variety of medical illnesses. Crude extracts of the leaves, flowers, roots, and stems were prepared by ethanol extraction. The cytotoxicity of the different extracts on HEK293 cells …

The Great Unlearning, Catherine Mccrory Pears

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Great Unlearning is a conceptual exploration: sifting through experiences and objects to overcome psychological pain, expectations of society, individual upbringing, and outside influences in an ongoing quest for authenticity. To both embrace personal history and honor loved ones while letting go of lingering negativity is challenging. Using objects culled from my life, examining the past, and incorporating items gathered along my path through nature, the work seeks personal healing while promoting the power of all people to break from indoctrination, group think, and mob mentality to make better choices to live a satisfying and peaceful existence…hopefully in a democratic …

Perception Of Alumni Of The Department Of Agriculture At Stephen F. Austin State University, Sherifat Rufai

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

University alumni surveys have served various purposes since they were introduced in the 1930s in the United States. The Department of Agriculture at Stephen F. Austin State University (SFASU) aimed to evaluate alumni perceptions between the Fall of 2010 and the Spring of 2022 to provide an opportunity to examine the relationship between degree fields and occupations and the agriculture curriculum, salaries, and demographic data for college graduates. This study's web-based survey was designed to include closed-ended and open-ended questions to collect individual opinions using Qualtrics Survey Software. The survey materials were made available on the alumni's social media accounts. …

Teaching Problem-Solving Skills As A Soft Skill For Employment To Individuals With Autism And Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities Using Video Modelling In A Virtual Learning Environment, Cliff Oliech

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Individuals with Autism (ASD) and Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) exhibit poor post-secondary education employment outcomes compared to their disabled and non-disabled peers (Shattuck et al., 2012; Taylor et al., 2015). In addition, due to the COVID-19 pandemic school closures, students with ASD and/or IDD in post-secondary transition programs may have lost crucial instruction time, possibly putting them at risk for unemployment and underemployment. Consequently, this research study sought to establish through multiple-baselines across participants design how effective VM can be in teaching problem-solving skills as a soft skill for employment to post-secondary transition education students with ASD and/or IDD …

Rhetorical Privilege: Entitlement, Control, And The Disruption Of Shared Discourse, Marc Grandillo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project seeks to explore a concept that I call rhetorical privilege, an occurrence that develops within a particular population of individuals who exhibit an elevated sense of self, demanding exclusive accommodation or recognition for unearned accomplishment. Commonly known as entitlement, this mentality is often associated with younger generations that have been raised in an environment that engenders an attitude of control. Equipped with the misguided notion that all aspects of their lives may be personally determined, individuals carry this same assumption into communicative encounters. My contention is that the contemporary rhetorical speaker-audience relationship, understood to be built upon “a …

Public Good And Common Ground: Writing Democratic Engagement Into Community-Campus Partnerships, Deanna Fracul

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on identifying essential characteristics of initiatives that build cooperative relationships and solidarity to advance democratically engaged community-campus partnerships. As such, it involves understanding the conditions that undermine these relationships, the critical practices that strengthen them, and the role of community engagement professionals in facilitating them. Fundamentally, this research is interested in explicating what worked and did not within Leon Ford's Voices Project@Duquesne University, an after-school mentoring program that evolved into a community-engaged writing initiative and dialogic space. This qualitative research project utilizes modified appreciative inquiry questions. Emerging from organizational studies, appreciative inquiry is an asset-based approach to …

Akan Traditional Religion And Catholicism In Dialogue: Envisaging A Paradigm Shift In The Theology Of Marriage In Postmodern Ghana, Daniel Adjei

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The changing phases of religions, cultures, and world history in postmodernity call on the Catholic tradition to be religiously and culturally interreligious. The identity and mission of the Church can no longer be defined in a Eurocentric, triumphalist, or exclusivist term as in colonial times. As the Church expands to new religio-cultural and socio-political territories, the theological principles of dialogue, interculturality, listening, and inculturation must guide her mission. This dissertation, tracing the historical, cultural, and theological development of interreligious and cultural dialogue in the Catholic Church, argues that the Catholic Church of Ghana must engage religious and cultural diversity with …

Goemai/Ankwei Religiosity: Understanding Indigenous Divinity In Relation To Christianity, Edward Muge

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Postcolonial/decolonial thinking developed in response to modernity’s colonial logic that glorified and universalized the Western locus of enunciation, subjectivity, and history. The prioritization of Western epistemology, hierarchization of being based on race, gender, and religion, and the universalization of Western Christian religion relegated all other modes of being, knowing, and accessing the Divine to the periphery. For a long time, indigenous people have accepted the Western linear worldview that makes them the exemplars of the whites (Euro-Americans) in their primordial state of Western history and development. The goal of the Western colonial matrix of power is the subsumption of …

The Cart Before The Horse?: A Phenomenological Study Of The Perspectives And Experiences Of Maker Education Supervisors In Independent Schools (9-12), Jesse Robinson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Over the past decade, makerspaces have increased in popularity all over the globe (Lou & Peek, 2016) and their addition continues to be a popular trend in the K-12 educational space. In the K-12 environment, the decision to implement a makerspace frequently consists of finding, repurposing, or building a suitable space, and outfitting it with the latest technology trends with the anticipation that ‘if you build it, they will come.’ As a director of a makerspace, my experience is that integrating curriculum across disciplines, or creating pedagogical goals for the makerspace, frequently becomes a priority after the space is designed …

Contestant Theology: Toward A Play Theology Of Religions, Greg Jones

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

How can a Christian theology of religions navigate the interreligious dialogical problems of 1) the inability to fully articulate faith, 2) the lack of persuasive religious language, 3) the reality of violence among religions, and 4) the liquescent “truth” of modern times? This dissertation answers this question with a theology of religions considered through the lens of play theology. Contestant theology navigates these problems as 1) a space of cooperation and contest which 2) incorporates assertiveness (exclusivism), compassion (inclusivism), openness (pluralism) and free participation (Trinitarianism) to 3) hold together enriching and diminishing relationalities among diverse religious peoples with a view …

The Change In Representation Of Women In Perfume Advertisements With Respect To Power, Rasika More

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Gender portrayals in advertising have been examined extensively in the last six decades and remain an important topic. Certain brands have taken the initiative of destabilizing patriarchal norms entrenched in society by supporting modern trends and initiatives through various brand/product campaigns and advertisements that support the fluidity in power and representation. The present study navigates the changes in the representation of women in perfume advertisements that have taken place in the advertising world in the past two decades to see if women are shown to possess a sense of power with their head held high and strong posture, compared to …

Neil Postman's Loving Resistance Fighter: A Philosophy Of Communication In The Age Of Technopoly, Ryan Mccullough

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project walks the work of Neil Postman (1931-2003) into the philosophy of communication. Traditional conceptions of Neil Postman’s body of work position his ideas within the traditions of media ecology, general semantics, or, more broadly, as a form of media studies and criticism. In addition, others label Postman’s work, especially in Technopoly (1992), as pessimistic, deterministic, and/or imbibed with Luddite tendencies. This project articulates a different view and contends that Postman’s scholarship, in particular his articulation of the loving resistance fighter in the final chapter of Technopoly, is committed to resisting the nefarious forces embedded in both technology …

The Semiotic Use Of Emojis In Marketing Communication, Naif Albarzan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Despite the emergence of social media as the primary tool for communication in social and business settings, research on effectiveness of communication using of emojis is limited. This project seeks to bridge the gap in understanding the effectiveness of the use of emojis in marketing communication. In particular, the dissertation will focus on an interpretive exploration of the use of emojis in marketing communication as a semiotic that supports persuasion.

The Persuasive Use Of Public Relations In Saudi Arabia 2030 Vision, Talal Alqahtani

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is one of the nations that has recommitted to rebranding in modern times, capitalizing on public relations as persuasion techniques. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia through their Vision 2030 endeavors towards attaining a revamped economy that will attract foreign investors, rebrand the nation and establish mutually beneficial relations between the Kingdom and its domestic and international publics. Vision 2030 was officially coined in 2016 by then then Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS). Vision 2030 is anchored around three primary pillars: developing a vibrant society; secondly, establishing a thriving economy, and developing an ambitious …

Exploring The Effects Of Psychosocial Factors And Relationships To Postpartum Depression Symptoms Among Iranian Immigrant Women Living In Canada: A Cross-Sectional Study, Monica Gola

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: Immigrant women’s health garners attention as migration creates changes in social networks and parenting needs. The effect of psychosocial factors, such as maternal self-efficacy, measured by ability to manage parenting responsibilities, social support and cultural postpartum practices on postpartum depression symptoms are not well known in Canadian immigrant women. Methodology: A cross-sectional descriptive survey design guided by Bandura’s Reciprocal Determinism was used to explore the relationships between psychosocial factors including: maternal self-efficacy, social support, cultural postpartum practices; and symptoms of postpartum depression (PPD) among recent Iranian immigrant women living in Canada. Results: A total of 114 participants completed the …

The Rhetoric Of Integrated Marketing Communication (Imc) Approaches To Marketing Sporting Events, Mohammed Almughaiseeb

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The effective communicative capabilities of integrated marketing communication (IMC)

programs demand the expansion of their application to include sporting events. Sporting events, specifically the Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup, have proven to have effective communication capabilities that can be used to influence the perceptions of target audiences. Creating positive perceptions of a sporting event can help achieve promotional, political, economic, and cultural gains, among others. Achieving desired goals requires preparing a comprehensive and persuasive IMC plan. The communication and marketing capabilities possessed by IMC programs have not been sufficiently studied in the context of marketing sporting events. Therefore, …

The Intercultural Communicative Meaning Of The Life Of Igbo Diaspora, Judith I. Udechukwu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In his novel, Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad describes the African continent as “the heart of darkness” and frames African cultural heritage as barbaric, uncivilized, outlandish and backwards.[1] Unfortunately, this view represents the position of many European scholars who consider these cultures as inimical to civilization. However, in the contemporary era, intercultural communication, postcolonial studies, globalization, and decolonization of methodology have proved the negative western portrayal of Africa and its traditions as wrong and can no longer adequately address the complexities of African culture. Thus, the postcolonial African studies from the perspective of Chinua Achebe challenges the colonial narrative …

Embodied Fatness In Boys: A Critical Phenomenological Study, Sean Leadem

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation was an exploratory study of experiences of fatness in boyhood using a hermeneutic phenomenological qualitative method. The author conducted in-depth, open-ended interviews with participants who identify as men and for whom fatness or related body-difference was an issue in childhood or adolescence to gather data on the meanings of fatness for boys and the men they become. Data analysis was organized around the existential dimensions of embodiment, temporality, and relationality. Themes emerging from this analysis included a) the discovery of fatness as ambiguous meanings mediated by others, b) fatness as a problem in a horizon that does not …

The Future Is Now In Twisted Coil Polymer Actuators (Tcpa), Ryan Ronquillo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis aimed to fabricate and test twisted coiled polymer actuators (TCPA) to understand the mechanical and thermal aspects of this artificial muscle fiber. The purpose of this thesis was to find a linear relationship using the LVDT sensor, fabricating TCPA fibers, and interpreting the data. The project tested whether nylon/polymer could be used as a better artificial muscle fiber.

This research accomplished three goals: (1) designing and fabricating a system capable of creating supercoiled muscle fibers consistently, (2) calibrating the Linear Variable Differential Transformer (LVDT) and Core, and (3) analyzing/interpreting the data of the Twisted Coiled Polymer Actuators (TCPA) …

Peer Perceptions Of Parent-Students Seeking Higher Education, Alexandria Wall

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

With a growing number of parents pursuing academia, it is imperative that researchers understand the social environment in which parent-students function. Stereotypes of parent-students may be held by peers, faculty, and other educational supervisors. Across two previous independent studies, evidence and rationale were provided to suggest that both positive and negative perceptions of parent-students exist, with noted differences between gender. The purpose of the current 2x2x2 between-subjects study was to analyze the social perceptions of students enrolled in higher education as varied by parenthood status, age, and gender. The social perceptions included measures accounting for perceptions of intelligence and academic …

The Impact Of Couple Minority Stress And Perceived Relationship Equity On Relationship Satisfaction Of Women In Same-Gender Relationships, Rebekah Malott

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to test two hypotheses (H1: relationship satisfaction will mediate the relationship between perceived relationship equity and potential relationship dissolution in women in same-gender relationships. H2: Relationship satisfaction will mediate the relationship between perceived minority stressors and potential relationship dissolution in women in same-gender relationships). Participants who met the demographic profile and consented to the study were asked to complete five questionnaires: relationship equity (Kurdek, 1998), couple minority stress (Neilands et al., 2019), relationship satisfaction (Funk & Rogge, 2007), potential relationship dissolution, and demographics. The results showed that relationships satisfaction was a partial mediator between …

Novel Microdevices To Analyze Toxic Volatile Organic Compounds., Sujoy Halder

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There has been a growing interest to measure volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in a range of environmental applications. The presence of toxic VOCs in the air has been associated with serious health problems including asthma, central nervous system dysfunction, cardiovascular disease and cancer, etc. Different analytical instruments such as gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and sensor systems, such as metal oxide sensors are used to analyze VOCs. However, challenges still exist in the detection of airborne VOCs because of their trace concentration and interference with complex gas mixtures. In this dissertation, two microfabricated devices, a sensor array and a micropreconcentrator were …

Argentine Women’S Narratives Of Leadership, Ileana Andrea Mocciola

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The present study investigated and examined the narratives of Argentine women leaders while obtaining and exercising leadership positions. This research was based on narrative theory and the feminist standpoint theory. Argentine female participants (N = 10) were subject to interviews that overall lasted 600 minutes and were conducted through the Zoom platform. Fifty-five pages of single-spaced transcripts were analyzed and studied. The results of this study revealed that Argentine women face major challenges when it comes to tokenism, exclusion, mentorship, and stereotypes that prevent and limit them from reaching and succeeding in leadership positions.