Digital Commons Network^™

The Universal Art Class: Integrating Disability Studies Into Art Curriculum To Create Engaging, Equitable, And Inclusive Lessons For Diverse Learners, Stephanie Mccoy

Theses

This paper examines the transformative potential of integrating Disability Studies into the Art Curriculum, establishing “The Universal Art Class” as a framework for creating engaging and inclusive lessons tailored for diverse learners. The exploration begins by illuminating the foundational principles of Disability Studies and its relevance in the context of art education. Subsequently, the study navigates the intersection of Disability Studies and Art Education, highlighting the significance of this interdisciplinary approach in fostering a more inclusive learning environment. The research expands on practical strategies for integrating inclusivity into the art curriculum. These strategies encompass adaptations and modifications, collaboration, and observation …

Political Propaganda In The Reredos Of Our Lady Of Light, Owen Keith Medina Loftus

Theses

This master's thesis explores the Reredos of Our Lady of Light, a stone monument situated as the focal point of a former military chapel known as La Castrense in Colonial Santa Fe, New Mexico. Crafted by Bernardo Miera y Pacheco in 1761, the reredos is analyzed as a multifaceted masterpiece that blends religious symbolism with propaganda messaging. Its central location in the capital and meticulous design make it a potent tool employed to shape perceptions, reinforce beliefs, and incite the viewer to take action in support of both the Roman Catholic faith and the ever-growing interests of the king and …

Discourses Across Periods Of Time, Amanda Raquel Moreno

Theses

This literature review explores the revolutionary effect of generative artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual reality (VR) on digital art history, specifically concentrating on their capacity to enable dialogical exchanges with historical figures and deepen the understanding of artworks. This study considers the current state of research, detecting key methodologies, areas of improvement, and possible challenges and ethical concerns. The example historical figure used in this analysis is the iconic Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. Kahlo’s refusal to correspond to a specific artistic style makes her an ideal subject for generative AI and VR-based investigation, offering fresh insights into her work. The …

The Brigham City Temple: An Architectural Intersection Of Standardization And Localization, Ashlee Mckay Hall

Theses

This paper analyzes the necessary interplay of standardization and localization within the design of Latter-day Saint temples. These buildings are sacred religious structures intended for spiritual growth, learning, and rituals. Previous scholarship has discussed different aspects of various temple designs within the context of contemporary history. These analyses focus on different temples constructed by the LDS Church and how the design of these building was impacted or influenced by contemporaneous events. Prior critical efforts have also focused on symbolic interpretations of motifs incorporated into temple design and criticized the standardization of Latter-day Saint buildings. This scholarship will consider the Brigham …

Unveiling Identity: Exploring Afrofuturism In Ekow Nimako’S Contemporary African Diasporic Sculptural Art, Kandra James

Theses

Identity expressed within African diasporic arts has historically been connected to traditional genres such as portraiture. Over time, contemporary artists have explored identity through genres beyond portraiture and through the use of non-traditional materials. The sculptural practice of Ghanaian Canadian artist Ekow Nimako, a fine arts sculptor based in Toronto, Canada, employs the unconventional material of LEGO® to offer a multi-generational perspective into deep diasporic memory. Examining Nimako’s sculptures through the perspective of colonialism and de-colonialism, materiality, and Afrofuturism, this thesis investigates the artist’s exploration of Black historical pasts to shape identities and construct narratives of Black futures. The monumental …

Enchanted South Tarot: A Contemporary Interpretation Of Tarot, Hannah Mathis

Theses

This project uses qualitative research to create an original 78-card tarot deck. Its focus is to create a tarot deck informed by the rich history and symbolism of tarot while utilizing original art and unique experiences to create a one-of-a-kind deck. The deck’s artwork showcases flora, fauna, and manufactured objects of the Southeastern United States, referencing traditional tarot archetypes to select each card’s imagery. The deck’s guidebook introduces readers to some of the history of tarot and several historical and contemporary decks that inspired the Enchanted South deck. The project emphasizes tarot’s evolution and how each artist’s contribution adds layers …

Enhancing A Brand With The Introduction Of Merchandise And A Social Media Content Schedule, Rachel Imming

Theses

This project focuses on how to enhance a brand by incorporating merchandise for the brand and utilizing a social media content schedule to push out content consistently and uniformly. The primary beneficiary of this project is J.E.D.I. Brew Co, a small craft brewery out of Southern Illinois. The aim of the project is to study the important aspects of marketing and brand awareness, in order to help a brand better promote themselves. Ultimately, the project studies consumer engagement, advertising, experiential marketing, storytelling, and consumer behavior to help brands understand how these things affect and aid their business.

The Importance Of Female Bass Players: How They Have Influenced And Shaped Our Conception Of Music, Jessica Sacks

Theses

Music allows us to think creatively, dream, and create a soundtrack for our lives. When we think of female artists, most people recognize singers, but I want to describe how women have shaped music for over sixty years with their fantastic playing abilities. This project will analyze how female bass players have contributed to American music and society.

Post-War Restitution In The Republic Of Croatia: Awareness Of The Komza And Reconciliation Of Moveable Property Through Public Sculpture, Anita Govic

Theses

This project is a public sculpture prototype focused on the need for post-war art restitution in the Republic of Croatia: it will have an impact by enhancing public knowledge of the KOMZA list, which offers legal proof for families to retrieve heirlooms taken during WWII and the wars of secession from Yugoslavia.

The sculpture design includes three pillars, two etched with the 1529 names from the KOMZA list and a third that will be progressively built, brick-by-brick, as artworks are restituted. The nature of viewers’ interaction includes access to QR codes that offer links to the KOMZA list, information about …

The Modern Artist's Psyche: Making Meaning In Art Through History, Jenna Banks

Theses

The Modern Artist’s Psyche: Making Meaning in Art Through History provides a way for students to study and analyze works by Modern artists that explore themes like loneliness, isolation, anxiety, and despair. By studying these artists and their works, students learn about topics like art appreciation and psychoanalysis; specifically, how each artist used their mental state to create their visual products. Students learn about art appreciation through the process of discussing and answering questions about specific art works. Students also study the concept of psychoanalysis, relating to theories and techniques that have been used by Modern artists. This connects to …

Impactful Interactivity Within Video Games, Luke Robert Maeser

Theses

Despite half a century of existence and dedicated academic programs educating next generations of game developers, conclusive evidence does not exist as to if video games are beneficial to learning or costly. Examining the notion of benefit versus cost, it is important to assess the value of video games when leveraged as tools for learning as traditional educational methodologies are not infallible. This paper explores how video games can generate psychological responses; and therefore, one must conclude learning has occurred. The following is encompassed: meaningful interactivity within video games (regarding narrative and gameplay), video games as educational tools, video game …

Noises Off: A Full Length Play Master's Thesis, Amelia Morse Kolkmeyer

Theses

Amelia Morse Kolkmeyer's master's thesis, Noises Off: A Full-Length Play, explores the complexities of performing Michael Frayn’s farcical stage production. The thesis delves into the play’s structure as a “play-within-a-play,” analyzing the chaos behind the scenes of Nothing On, the fictional show within Noises Off. Kolkmeyer focuses on her portrayal of Dotty Otley, an aging actress, and her character within Nothing On, Mrs. Clackett, a Cockney housekeeper.

The thesis examines the physical and technical demands of the production, particularly its intricate blocking and fast-paced comedic timing. Kolkmeyer reflects on the challenges of maintaining distinct characterizations, switching …

The Role Of Large Language Models (Llms) Driven Chatbots In Shaping The Future Of Government Services And Communication With Citizens In Uae, Dina Fares

Theses

As technological advancements continue to redefine the landscape of Government Services and Communication with Citizens in the UAE, and in line with the UAE government's efforts towards achieving the UAE charter for future services, the integration of Large Language Models (LLMs) driven chatbots emerges as a pivotal factor in shaping the future of government services and communication with citizens in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Through a comprehensive review of literature and collaboration with industry experts, this thesis explores the development of AI-based chatbots and the introduction of the breakthrough in the field of Deep Learning Language models (Transformers, and …

Drone Swarms In Adversarial Environment, Bhavana Sai Yadav Akula

Theses

Drones are unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) operated remotely with the help of cameras, GPS, and on-device SD cards. These are used for many applications including civilian as well as military. On the other hand, drone swarms are a fleet of drones that work together to achieve a special goal through swarm intelligence approaches. These provide a lot of advantages such as better coverage, accuracy, increased safety, and improved flexibility when compared to a single drone. However, the deployment of such swarms in an adversarial environment poses significant challenges. This work provides an overview of the current state of research on …

Tapered-Precision Numerical Formats For Deep Learning Inference And Training, Seyed Hamed Fatemi Langroudi

Theses

The demand to deploy deep learning models on edge devices has recently increased due to their pervasiveness, in applications ranging from healthcare to precision agriculture. However, a major challenge with current deep learning models, is their computational complexity. One approach to address this limitation is to compress the deep learning models by employing low-precision numerical formats. Such low-precision models often suffer from degraded inference or training accuracy. This lends itself to the question, which low-precision numerical format can meet the objective of high training accuracy with minimal resources? This research introduces tapered-precision numerical formats for deep learning inference and training. …

Assessing Open Source Tools For Enhanced Forensic Analysis Of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (Uavs), Nura Shifa Hamed

Theses

The widespread applications of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), commonly referred to as drones, has given rise to significant national security threats due to their illicit activities. Consequently, the domain of UAV forensics is rapidly evolving, presenting a substantial knowledge deficit among forensic experts. Open source tools provide accessible and affordable resources, making it easier for investigators to bridge this gap by gaining expertise in the use of these tools. This helps ensure that forensic professionals can keep up with the ever-changing UAV technology landscape. This thesis undertakes the mission of navigate the complex field of drone forensics and conducting a …

Construing Children’S Perceptions Of Ideal Learning Spaces Based On Personal Construct Theory, Rawan Natheer Abdel Rahman

Theses

Learning is an intrinsic aspect of human experience, predominantly shaped by interactions within the socio-physical environment, including engagements with educators, peers, and the built surroundings. The design and character of these learning spaces influence children's cognitive, perceptual, and motor development while also embodying different pedagogical philosophies. Therefore, designing these spaces to align with educational shifts and enhance learning experiences requires a deep understanding of learner’s needs and perceptions. With the COVID-19 pandemic necessitating a shift to home-learning, there arose a unique opportunity to explore children’s perception of ideal learning spaces as they experienced both home and school settings. This research …

Non-Invasive Glucose Detection Using A Triple Pole Csrr Sensor, Chibuike Nnabuife Okika

Theses

A compact, low-cost, portable, non-invasive blood glucose sensor has been designed and presented in this paper. The proposed sensor is a triple-pole square Complementary Split Ring Resonator (CSRR) sensor that is etched on an FR4 substrate. At the bottom of the sensor is coupled an etched Microstrip Transmission Line (MTL) with an impedance matching of 50 Ω, which excites the sensor elements. Utilizing the CSRR-based sensor overcomes the disadvantages of pain and discomfort that the traditional method of pricking the skin to measure blood glucose levels could pose. The sensors work in such a way that as the glucose concentration …

Software-Based Property Enforcement For Detecting Hardware Anomalies, Jacob Thomas

Theses

As the world grows more and more reliant on microcomputing systems, security becomes a greater and greater concern. Malicious code is an ever-present issue in the field of computing and hardware vulnerabilities pose a rising threat to an increasingly connected landscape. This variety in threats can be mitigated through invariant rules for device operation, which form a policy for acceptable device behavior such that policy violations can be interpreted as either erroneous or malicious. This defense architecture disregards threat source and identifies issues based on their symptoms. Such systems are usually enforced through hardware implementations, which can become expensive in …

Lifelong Learning In Spiking Neural Networks Through Neural Plasticity, Nicholas Soures

Theses

Lifelong learning, the ability to learn from continually changing data distributions in real-time, is a significant challenge in artificial intelligence. The central issue is that new learning tends to interfere with previously acquired memories, a phenomenon known as catastrophic forgetting. Surrounding this are several other challenges associated with this, such as knowledge transfer and adaptation, few-shot learning, and processing of noisy data. Since humans do not seem to suffer from this problem, researchers have applied biologically inspired techniques to address it, including metaplasticity, synaptic consolidation and memory replay. Although these approaches have seen some success in traditional neural networks, there …

The Black Garden, Madalene Klocke

Theses

“The Black Garden” is a novel-length fantasy fiction work. It follows the narrative of Ryan, an 18-year-old girl, who has great expectations for what her first year at university will hold. Her entire world view is tilted when she attends a party with her new roommate, Blair, and wakes up in an unfamiliar place. Ryan must fight to keep her sanity as she is thrust into the world of faeries, witches, and far worse creatures than she could have ever imagined: including her parents.

Renewable Energy Integration Strategy Development For Dubai South, Oshba Almheiri

Theses

Dubai South is an aerotropolis city, a global aviation and logistics hub, home to the world’s largest airport, Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC). Along with such growth, a high demand of energy is expected therefore in response to address such need for the implementation of sustainable energy practices in Dubai South’s aviation, logistics, and residential districts. The development of an integrated renewable energy strategy for the region is the subject of this capstone project. The project relies on three pillars; first environmental impact to battle climate change, secondly alignment with local and international standards like as the UN Sustainable Development …

Enhancing Human-Robot Collaboration Through Intuitive Augmented Reality Interface And Precise Visualization, Wenhao Yang

Theses

In terms of changing production in the transformation to the Industry 4.0 landscape and increasing demand for customized products, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) utilizing industrial robots encounter a shortage of skilled labor. Open questions in human-robot interaction encompass the need for natural and effective interfaces, path planning within intricate environments, and the design and execution of human-robot collaborations. This dissertation aims to tackle these challenges by leveraging Augmented Reality (AR) to enhance robot operations in manufacturing scenarios, with a focus on optimizing the efficiency of the Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) system, improving the bidirectional trust between humans and robots, and …

Nurses' Experience Of Family-Centered Rounds In The Intensive Care Unit, Kaitlyn King

Theses

A paradigm shift in the Canadian healthcare system has transitioned the patient and family from care recipients to integral and valued members of the multidisciplinary team. Implementation of family-centered care within the context of the adult Intensive Care Unit (ICU) remains slow to adopt in Canada despite evidence that open visitation and family presence offer many benefits to improve the delivery of quality care, and satisfaction with the overall patient experience. The COVID-19 pandemic has further complicated the ability of the healthcare team to effectively include patients and families into their daily multidisciplinary rounds. Restricted visitation policies, infection control and …

The Rise Of Heroes, Nava Barenji

Theses

The Rise Of Heroes is a body of work that represents an era in which Iranian women first revolted for their rights. This body of work incorporates my experiences, feelings, and observations of social incidents that happened during the course of my life as an artist both inside of and outside of Iran. This thesis paper explores the history, culture, and art that I was inspired by to give the visual form to my emotions. These elements clarify the use of traditional art and culture in my Paintings. The research for this body of work originated with my interests involving …

Biodov: A Tool Used To Encourage Discovery In Bioinformatics Through Gamification, Gregory D. Johnson Jr.

Theses

Expressing big data in a meaningful manner is exceptionally difficult. Scientists often struggle with the visualization of data due to several limitations. Currently, many scientists use two-dimensional figures to display and analyze meaningful data. However, I believe using game design theory and game technologies, we can create more robust visualizations. These visualizations will allow scientists to easily communicate science to the masses and make better discoveries. Therefore, we introduce BioDOV (Biological Data Oriented Visualization). This tool will utilize game design principles to expand upon current visualization methods in the scientific community. Through this proof of concept, we will create the …

The Psychological Motivations Of Attendees To Engage And Share Their Event Experiences, Denise Matoushek

Theses

Social media usage, content creation and consumption has increased steadily throughout the years. This facet has impacted the event industry and their audiences’ expectations of immersive and high-end digital opportunities with the goal of memory capturing and user generated content. In addition to providing digital event opportunities, meeting audiences on their psychological level when in attendance at events heightens the likelihood of revisits, word-of-mouth, and social media sharing. The two main psychological aspects to study are that of belonging and internal motivation. In the event field, belonging is the feeling or association to a community of peers and internal motivation …

Multimodal Ai For Prediction Of Distant Metastasis In Carcinoma Patients, Isaac Olatunji

Theses

Metastasis of cancer is directly related to death in almost all cases, however a lot is yet to be understood about this process. Despite advancements in the available radiological investigation techniques, not all cases of Distant Metastasis (DM) are diagnosed at initial clinical presentation. Also, there are currently no standard biomarkers of metastasis. Early, accurate diagnosis of DM is however crucial for clinical decision making, and planning of appropriate management strategies. Previous works have achieved little success in attempts to predict DM from either clinical, genomic, radiology, or histopathology data. In this work we attempt a multimodal approach to predict …

Examining The Relationship Between Help-Seeking Behaviors, Mental Health Perceptions, And Preferred Modality Of Therapy Services Among University Students In Arab Countries: A Comparitive Study, Roxanne Wolmarans

Theses

As mental health concerns continue to grow in the modern world, many are faced with barriers to seeking help due to attitudes, beliefs and self-stigma. This is especially true within Arab cultures. The main objective for this study was to examine how these attitudes, beliefs and self-stigma may impact a person’s help seeking behavior’s when compared to a preferred modality of treatment, namely online and face-to-face therapy. A cross-sectional study using online surveys consisting of the Self-Stigma of Seeking Help Survey (SSOSH), the Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale - Short Form (ATSPPH - SF), the Online Counselling Attitude …

Real-Time Object Tracking With Yolov5 And Recurrent Network On A Hardware Platform, Mohammed Abdulhakeem Alameri

Theses

The advancement of computer vision, particularly in the domain of object tracking, involves the integration of conventional feature-based approaches with contemporary deep learning methodologies. The initial phase of object detection plays a fundamental role in generating prospective objects for further tracking, and its level of success has a direct influence on the overall effectiveness of the tracking process. Many of the methods used to generate candidate objects start with object detection, and then object tracking algorithms are developed to link the object instances together to create the trajectories.
The primary difficulties in object tracking pertain to the establishment of reliable …