Digital Commons Network^™

Manahatta, Nicholas Hinckfuss

Masters Theses

The explosive population growth of overly indulgent urban societies, in conjunction with the absence of systematic structures that alleviate human environmental impacts, contribute to unfavorable socio-economic consequences which actively interfere with the long-term prospect of human development. One of the hidden costs of the urban population boom is the alarming trend of infectious disease outbreaks. To meet the demands of an ever growing population, essential urban conditions such as green spaces, eco-infrastructure, and amiable living conditions are lacking from modern urban contexts. New York City, is the perfect example of a hyperly urban community that lacks an overall organizational strategy …

Breaking The Mold: A Journey Of The Brick, Sumanth Krishna

Masters Theses

Around the world practitioners and researchers are working on new material systems and technologies that center new ways to build. In this age of information, there are countless design frameworks, tools, machines available to us. We are a part of the fundamental shift in architecture that involves new modes of production and new material systems that redefine our role as architects. We have a role in addressing the context of each project, using architectural elements as tools for negotiation and consensus to build stronger communities. How can architecture contribute to improving global labor conditions, instilling dignity in manual labor, dismantling …

996 & Anti-996, Jinmi Liu

Masters Theses

I constantly hear my friends complain about work. They say that the workload has become heavier than before. They say that people are working longer yet earning less. They say that their life is out of their control and their dreams had died. I feel pathetic when I hear these comments. Will I have to become one of those busy bees after graduation? Living a life that centered around compromising work and gradually losing the way?

"996" is a common work schedule now in China under which the employees work from 9 am to 9 pm, 6 days a week. …

Balance The Conversations, Karen Kuo

Masters Theses

This thesis aims to examine the role environmental factors play in people’s experience of the built environment, with a focus on the ongoing debate between individual freedom and collective responsibility of masks in the COVID-19 era. This thesis will argue that a middle ground that balances the relationship between individual and collective pursuits is necessary and can potentially be enabled through design. The project will articulate these ideas by using the debate around mask-wearing as a starting point to develop a broader manifesto forshaping the built environment.

During this ongoing global pandemic, we can’t deny that human behavior has been …

Inside The Bubble 2.0, Sunny Yuqing Ma

Masters Theses

As a designer, I use speculation to observe. I use design to express. I want to hit people's souls directly. I want to create unexpected sparks through relaxed storytelling.

A Family Game: Tell The Stories That Shape Us, Zhuoyan Xie

Masters Theses

There are a lot of books and theories on the market to help improve our communication skills and relationship with others. However, they hardly mention that the fundamental principle behind our relationship to others is how we understand and accept ourselves. The thesis aims to promote our understanding of our own identity and identities of our family members. It is worthy to mention that the thesis is conducted in a Chinese context. The thesis mainly learned from Non-violent communication and theories about identity, especially narrative identity. The deliverables are a set of narrative cards and prompts that can be played …

Zoomorphic Extended Body, Nicholas Tamas

Masters Theses

My thesis work is built around emerging technologies within the fields of prosthetic and robotics. The end result is a speculative proposal with how to expand the potential modes of use with these emerging technologies to extend and build upon their potential uses.

Kitsch Study And Chinese Kitsch Market, Jiaqi Ellie Liu

Masters Theses

From the old industrial age to the new information age, the accumulation of capital has led to the monopoly of the assets and technology of large enterprises, and the pressure of the middle class is increasing day by day.

At the same time, informatization has led to a substantial increase in the next round of energy and material needs, and therefore human needs for thinking, physical and emotional needs have also increased. Kitsch can meet the thinking and emotional needs of the public. Therefore, it has become the mainstream contemporary aesthetics.

Kitsch art & design are easier to be loved …

The Sixth Migration - Rural/Urban "Heterotopia", Pan Chen

Masters Theses

Written during the pandemic of 2020/2021 ,as people moved out of cities with new options to work remotely, we have witnessed a new trend of urban-rural migration. This study looks in detail at rural /suburban communities in southern New Jersey and asks how a planning framework and community engagement strategy can come together to coordinate urban-rural development at different scales. This thesis project applies two types of design strategies - “top down” as planning guidelines communication and “bottom up” as community-oriented design to bring residents in the conversation of town development, and in the long term stimulate regional development to …

Transforming Islands: A Living Memorial For The Marshall Islands, Chengwen Jiang

Masters Theses

Does Utopia exist? If so, I believe it is a state of mind, a way of thinking. This thesis speculates on future uncertainties. As such, my work punctures an illusion, examining history to reveal underlying tensions and, finally, conceive a brighter future for the Marshallese. Using the Marshall Islands as a case study, this thesis examines how a population might face traumas, both historical and climactic, and demonstrate how new infrastructures can build resiliency to support minorities and create new memories. My proposal introduces two potential “visitors:” Marshallese people ( future generations as well as indigenous) and the rest of …

Re-Foresting: Cohabitation Of Human And Trees, Chengyu Ke

Masters Theses

This thesis starts with the ideological thinking of the interconnected and interdependent relationship between humans and non-humans. Taking the tree as an example, this research focuses on rethinking our urban built environment, and dynamic urban ecotones where humans and trees cohabitate.

It reframes the city from the bottom up with the consideration of root ecology and canopy ecology, focusing on this important metaphor for the infrastructure of the city. The goal is to develop healthy, productive co-dependencies between natural and man-built environments.

It proposes a utopian point of view for our cities and imagines a forest city with an asymmetrical …

Virtuality, Reality, Community, Siqi Rao

Masters Theses

With the popularization of the Internet and the development of technology, virtuality has penetrated into our lives and has taken up an increasing proportion of our time. However, while bringing convenience and benefits, virtuality also brings many problems, such as polarization, radicalization, cyber violence, and social isolation. In the face of these problems caused by virtualization, this thesis studies the importance of the sense of place in a community and uses some virtual technologies to enhance real-world relationships, working to alleviate problems caused by virtualization. At the same time, it explores the role of virtual tools in shaping the sense …

Fluid Ground: Imagining A Floating Future For Tuvalu, Yuxi Liu

Masters Theses

Climate change is posing great challenges to Tuvalu, a small archipelago in the center of the Pacific Ocean. With low elevations above sea level, poor soil, and limited land resources, Tuvalu is considered to be one of the smallest countries in the world, as well as the most vulnerable nation under climate change. About 2000 years ago the seafaring Pacific Islanders inhabited the archipelago and developed its unique culture following the fluid geographies of atoll islands––a culture that was once associated with the notion of paradise, and which gradually faded away with the arrival of western colonizers in the 19th …

Affordable Green: What Cause Landscape Gentrification And How We Deal With It, Siyu Pan

Masters Theses

The topic of this thesis is to figure out how landscape gentrification happened and what we can do to decelerate the process. The first phase of this thesis includes a brief introduction and definition to the term “Gentrification“, its history and the process. Discussions about how such a situation would influence communities and related people would also be mentioned in this part. The last part in this phase is the analysis of some recent research about gentrification world wide. The second phase is a transition from gentrification to landscape gentrification. This part analysis of the cause and effect of landscape …

Mother River: Restoring Transiting Producing, Rui Yang

Masters Theses

The Fen River, located at the Loess Plateau in Shanxi Province, is one of the most important life sources for local people. Most residents in the past relied on farming to make life. As the only riverway that could serve for irrigation in the region, Fen River provided a huge amount of water and fed plenty of people. In addition, nearby lands were vastly used for agricultural purposes. The river acts as a spine to support people’s life for a long time. It is also called as the Mother River in the region.

However, as cities in the region quickly …

Land, Labor, Water: An Agricultural Commons In The Central Valley Of California, Jacob Lightman

Masters Theses

An Agricultural Commons in California's Central Valley examines the spatial and structural relationships between food systems, the ecologies that support them, and the unincorporated farming communities in The Central Valley. Current industrial practices in The Central Valley deplete water resources, deplete topsoil, create toxic living conditons for local communities, and undervalues farmlabor. Further pressures from climate change will inevitably cause greater instability in this food system and greater injustices towards the local communities and ecologies. The Central Valley is already a commons for Americans, as it supplies the majority of our year-round produce. Through a reevaluation of the idea of …

Optics / Perception / Experience: Regenerating Agricultural Landscape Through Railways, Tianyi Xie

Masters Theses

This thesis examines the relationship between two large infrastructure systems: the railway and agriculture. It’s becoming increasingly important as unhealthy nation-wide industrial agriculture is destroying people’s health and decreasing the long-term capacity of sustainable production of food. In the discipline of landscape architecture, there is a necessity to reform our thinking to match the modern-day development in population growth, transportation and mass production. There exists vast farmlands outside our city, which support our city life with energy and food sources. How could we get people to understand its significance? In chapter I and II, the history of agriculture and railway …

Hard Work / Soft Work, Nicole Schonitzer

Masters Theses

I have never eaten a blancmange, or seen one in the flesh, or even talked to anyone about having eaten one, but the Blancmange, I’ve decided, is the mascot of my thesis. (You might say, “why does a thesis need a mascot?”, but I’ll tell you right now, this is already a better thesis for having one.) A pastel blob of a dessert originating from medieval Europe, it’s a gelatinous creamy mixture, chilled in a mold, that you can put nuts in or serve with cookies. It looks terrible, really truly. I mean, it looks great, the pinnacle of fancy—decked …

Across The Boundary: Addressing Segregation Along Transportation Infrastructure, Ruochen Wang

Masters Theses

Across the United States, we can see examples of cities where highways and railways pass between two ethnic communities or through communities of color and are used to further divide and segregate cities. Increasingly we are seeing a new typology of landscape architecture projects to transform, redesign, or remove transportation infrastructure to help ameliorate the negative impact of transportation infrastructure on neighboring communities and support public uses. However, these projects often lead to gentrification, whereby surrounding housing prices rise, and the original residents are displaced or lose their sense of belonging. The goal of my research is to understand how …

A Descriptive Study On The Strike Characteristics Between A Heavy Bag, Focus Mitts, And Thai Pads, Tirzah Ruth Dacio Talampas

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to compare vGRFs during continuous strikes to three different modalities, a free-standing heavy bag, focus mitts, and Thai pads, and the punching velocities under these conditions. It was hypothesized for punches that punching velocity would be higher in punches thrown at a heavy bag, punching velocity would be faster in rear-hand punches, vGRFs would be higher in the lead leg compared to the rear leg of a punch at impact, and vGRFs would be higher in heavy bag punches compared to focus mitt punches. For kicks it was hypothesized that vGRFs of dominant and …

A Method For The Evaluation Of Song Texts In Evangelical Churches: A Crucial First Step In Developing Indigenous Songs, Kristi Jeanne Colas

Masters Theses

How important are song texts in worship services? According to the Bible, these songs have a multi-faceted role. Not only do they contain truths about God’s revelation of himself in Scripture, but they also call his people to respond with their whole being. The same song can express worship to God, teach believers truths about him, and challenge unbelievers to turn from their false gods. Therefore, the lyrical content of Christian congregational songs is of utmost importance. However, a survey of ethnodoxological literature reveals a greater focus on songs’ musical content. One reason for this may be the general emphasis …

Effects Of Pre-Determined Barbell Hip Thrusting Surface Height On Motor Unit Recruitment And Activation Patterns, Abigail Renae Mccarty

Masters Theses

Several variations of the barbell hip thrust that manipulate stance width and resistance type rather than surface height to better isolate muscle groups that act as prime movers for the exercise have been previously researched. The purpose of this study was to identify the effects of hip thrusting surface heights on neuromuscular activity in the gluteus maximus (GM), vastus lateralis (VL), and biceps femoris (BF). Twelve averagely fit, resistance trained individuals were recruited for this study. Participants completed a dynamic warm-up followed by 10 repetition max (RM) testing of the barbell hip thrust. Prior to trials, root mean square (RMS) …

Retinal Regeneration In A Genetic Mouse Model Of Glaucoma, Joshua Paris

Masters Theses

Glaucoma is a degenerative retinal disease characterized by progressive loss of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs). Previous studies have shown that application of a specific α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor agonist, PNU-282987 (PNU), onto the murine retina induces neurogenesis of numerous retinal cell types, including RGCs. The aim of this study is to characterize the short-term and long-term effects of PNU in a glaucoma model. The effects of PNU were analyzed in a DBA/2J mouse model that auto-induces a glaucoma-like condition in adulthood. These mice manifest an elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) starting at 6 months, followed by loss of RGCs. To assess …

Performer Wellness And Applied Stage Practices Curriculum: Preparing The Undergraduate Vocal Performance Major For An Opera Career, Gabriel J. Kirby

Masters Theses

Within higher education, the goal is to prepare students to enter the workforce with the knowledge and abilities to meet or exceed the chosen occupation’s requirements and expectations. To achieve these requisites, schools create curricula comprising key information for several fields and concentrations while abiding by the regulations enforced by both their school boards and accreditation organizations. Students can apply for a job knowing that their degree holds value. Many institutions continually revise degrees to curricula to inspire the next generation in the workforce. The purpose of this curriculum project is to advocate for expanded curriculum considerations that include acting …

Black Mental Health: Unravelling The Stressors And Stigma Surrounding The Mental Health Of Black Men, Joel Isimeme

Masters Theses

Mental health and illness have become increasingly relevant concerns in contemporary society. While the collective conversation around psychological health has begun, within the black community, mental health remains taboo. Mental illness is seldom seen as affecting black people. All individuals, however, are susceptible to mental illness, especially black men of African descent. This thesis, therefore, aims to explore the everyday experiences that adversely affect the mental health of black men. Specifically, it seeks to identify the factors that contribute to this mental ill-health. To this end, it will examine the role of society, religion, and the media in stigmatizing poor …

Black American Identity Crisis: Culture And Christ, Celestine Job

Masters Theses

The purpose of this thesis is a comparative and qualitive study of African American identity and Christian/Spiritual identity. The formation of each identity was presented by examining psychological and sociological, causes of The case for an African American identity crisis was supported by the psychological and sociological trauma experienced through the African American experience in American. The research showed that the historical effects of slavery and lawful subjection, exclusion from the dominant society indeed cause an identity crisis that has rippling effects even to today. The Christian identity proved to be the highest form of identity, as it is rooted …

Tight Trip Vs. Loose Grip On Russian Kettlebell Swing Work Capacity, Austin Deshner, Abigail Mccarty, Jerrell C. Campbell, Andrew Fields, Will W. Peveler

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a tight grip(TG) and a loose grip(LG) on work capacity while performing Russian kettlebell swings(KBS). It was hypothesized that LG would result in an ability to perform more work. Thirty fit adults (16 male; 14 female) were tested. Two (TG and LG) separate counterbalanced trials for each subject were collected, counting the number of repetitions completed until volitional exhaustion. RPE for forearms and overall exhaustion were collected post-trial. SPSS was used to run a paired samples t-test. There was a significant difference between the two grips (p = 0.013)(TG …

A Proposed Curriculum For Prenatal, Postnatal, And Early Childhood Christian Music Education, Danielle Emily Dixon

Masters Theses

From the prenatal to postnatal/infancy stages, to early childhood and beyond, music plays an integral role in development. This research study aims to detail and describe the benefits of a prenatal, postnatal/infant, and early childhood Christian music education. Employing a mixed-methods and historical research approach, this study seeks to answer the question, in what ways, if any, could a prenatal, postnatal/infant, and early childhood Christian music education be beneficial for developing children and their mothers? By combining the benefits of an early childhood music education with Christian principles, the results of this study will have significance in not only the …

Deliberate Sequencing In The Music Classroom: A Curriculum To Guide Undergraduate Music Education Majors In Music Instruction, Allison Shew Phillips

Masters Theses

The content and structure of courses designed to train potential teachers are critical to such individuals' success. Instructors of these courses should assess which skills are required of pre-service teacher candidates. Researchers have conducted studies over the years to decide what skills are needed for successful teaching. Learning cannot occur without an instructional sequence. Undergraduate music education majors are often not instructed on sequencing methods or have a chance to practice instructional sequencing before their student teaching placement. Research studies have shown that teachers who sequence their instructional delivery and following the complete teaching cycle are considered more effective in …

Music And Autism Spectrum Disorder: Possible Effects On The Autistic Mind, Alexandra L. Ferro

Masters Theses

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a known neurological disorder that directly affects an individual's ability to communicate and interact with others; ASD is diagnosed within the first three years of life. One of the most common forms of therapy or interventions used is music. Music incorporation can change in a format such as learning a specific instrument, singing, or simply dancing to promote physical activity to help brain stimulation and process the overall musical experience. Music has been a commonly used therapy or intervention for children diagnosed with ASD dating back to the mid-1940s. Those diagnosed with ASD have difficulty …