Digital Commons Network^™

Inherited Fervor: Maternal Archive, Maria Angela Talavera Tejeda

Theses and Dissertations

Inherited Fervor: Maternal Archive investigates the deconstruction of the non-verbal language of Catholic ecstasy rituals to develop a choreographic language. Through the piece Doves Don’t Fly at Night, it explores the expansion of dancers’ physical range, positioning the body as an archive that embodies memories and mirrors the audience’s humanity.

Searching For Enslavement In Viking Age Iceland: An Exploration Of Making The “Invisible” Visible, Caitlin Moore

Theses and Dissertations

Enslavement was almost certainly a reality in Viking Age Iceland. However, the fields of Norse Studies and archaeology have traditionally used different lines of evidence to explore enslavement, and for archaeologists, the phenomenon has been left underexplored, and sometimes considered "invisible." While Norse Studies relies primarily on written texts, such as sagas and poems, archaeology focuses more on material remains, including burials and shackles. In Iceland, the archaeological evidence is more subtle - houses with annexes or pit houses, as well as signs of intensive farming and weaving, for example. The presence of any one of these could be otherwise …

The Imposition Of A Narrative Line: The Bildungsroman As Form In Contemporary Art, Brianne Chapelle

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the work of contemporary American artists and writers Moyra Davey, Chris Kraus, Frances Stark, and Martine Syms within the context of feminist art history, theory, and practice in the post-1970s artworld. While often read as autobiographical or self-referential, their work across media uses personal narrative as a means of engaging broader theoretical and institutional concerns. Through the literary form of the bildungsroman, these artists employ narrative, fiction, and memoir—often through new and time-based media, but also through interdisciplinary modes rooted in writing—to reflect on their ongoing education as artists within an increasingly globalized Euro-American artworld. By …

Island Child: Sound, Memory, And The Diasporic Imagination, Rachel J. Oh

Theses and Dissertations

Island Child is an immersive audiovisual installation that explores how sound-based memory sustains personal and cultural identity. At its core, the piece reflects on the quiet yet shared emotion among those who have left home—the inevitability of departure, and the complex act of holding both loss and love. For many, leaving is not a choice, but a necessity. Yet the act of leaving leaves a permanent mark, etched in memory, time, and body.

This project creates a contemplative space for those silent truths, using sound and image to express the tension between separation and continuity. Traditional Korean lullabies, my grandmother’s …

One Can Only Dream, Sophia V. Yacca

Theses and Dissertations

One Can Only Dream is an interactive installation in which players are invited to navigate a liminal, dream-like game, engage with a branching series of questions, and introspect upon the relationships between unconscious expression, conscious self-perception, and the inherent difficulty of depicting, sharing, and understanding subconscious thought.

Rooted in both my personal experience with a rare neurophysiological condition and in my desire to create, this project examines dreams not only as a medical and cultural phenomenon, but also as a means to form identity, reflect trauma, and inspire creativity. Drawing from modern interactive storytelling and my lived experiences, this work …

Hemispheres Of Faith: Mapping The Global Journey Of An Ivory Rosary Bead At The Metropolitan Museum Of Art, Mary M. Thompson

Theses and Dissertations

Hemispheres of Faith reattributes a carved ivory rosary bead in the Metropolitan Museum of Art to the Quito School in 18th-century Ecuador. Through examining the trade history of the Manila Galleons, material analysis, and iconographic study, Hemispheres of Faith challenges the bead's European origins and reveals the object as a product of global exchange, devotional practice, and colonial artistic collaboration within the Spanish Empire.

Intersections: Gastro-Politics Aesthetic And Contemporary Chinese Art, Fan Du

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines how contemporary Chinese artists use food as a medium to explore ritual, trade, politics, and cultural identity. Centering on The Note of Food, an exhibition I curated, it draws on Arjun Appadurai’s concept of gastro-politics and Lu Xun’s nalaizhuyi (“grabbing doctrine”) to analyze how artists strategically appropriate cultural resources amid tensions between East and West, and tradition and modernity. Merging curatorial practice with food and visual anthropology, the project uses exhibition-making as both method and object of inquiry. As a native anthropologist working as both curator and researcher, I propose a model of curatorial anthropology that …

The Economic Drivers Of Preferential Access, Kristie-Marie Sanchez

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines how economic theory can explain differences in preferential access across products. Preferential access is the difference between the preferential tariff and the most favored nation (MFN) tariff. This research applies the theory from Bagwell and Staiger (1990) and the empirical findings from Bown and Crowley (2013) to tariff, import flow, import demand, and export supply elasticity data, where Chile is the reporting country. The two-way fixed effects linear regression estimates how changes in import growth, the volatility of import growth, and the inverse sum of import demand and export supply elasticities affect preferential access. The estimates indicate …

A Grieving Heart, Cong Zhao

Theses and Dissertations

“A Grieving Heart” is a 12-minute animated short film about an immigrant woman examining her past in the wake of her American ex-boyfriend’s death. The film features a first-person confessional voiceover, 2D black and white animated imagery, and an original score. The narrator reflects on her Chinese-American upbringing, her past relationship, and her current grief. The film explores how love and loss impact the ways she confronts her immigrant identity, memories, insecurities, and regrets.

As Above So Below, Robin Smith Fedock

Theses and Dissertations

As Above So Below is a short experimental documentary film that reveals an unexpected world of entanglements connecting life, death, and fungi in Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery. Fungi are nature’s decomposers, turning dead trees into soil so new trees can grow, for example. Mycorrhizal fungi perform acts of collaboration and mutualism, delivering water and nutrients to roots of plants through their underground networks of mycelium. As we struggle to find ways of living in and beyond this time of planetary crisis, rife with loneliness and grief, what can we learn from fungi and their entanglements? How can we move beyond dominant …

Jawad, Mohammed A. Alani

Theses and Dissertations

In a luxurious suburban glass house in Toledo, Ohio, tensions simmer within a fractured family on the brink of unraveling. Jawad, a 17-year-old Pakistani American, struggles with his identity and rejects the traditional path to college, much to the frustration of his father, Kamal, a businessman trying to juggle a demanding career and a complex family life. Kamal’s new wife, Ishraq, is caught in her own struggles with body image and the overwhelming pressures of her roles as a new mother and stepmother. Beneath the surface, an unsettling attraction brews between Jawad and Ishraq, further complicating the already strained dynamics. …

Horse Boy, Madeline Dennis-Yates

Theses and Dissertations

Have you seen the new boy at the barn? Why does he get to ride Gemini? More importantly, why don’t Sarah and Ava get to? A bittersweet comedy about gender, class, and who’s jumping highest that asks: Who will love the horse girls if they lose each other?

Coffee Bindings, M. Ermolenko

Theses and Dissertations

Coffee Bindings is a multi-media interactive installation weaving themes of history, memory, death, and spaces that no longer exist through the lens of coffee readings and a mixture of physical and digital media. By navigating ghost spaces (spaces/places that used to exist but don’t anymore), and looking at survival through three time periods, Coffee Bindings jumps through liminal time and space, navigating the Armenian Genocide of 1915, the ethnic cleansing and displacement of Armenians from Artsakh in 2020-2024, while also tying them to personal family history with the death of my father and the loss of the physical space of …

What Is Art Hungry For? Food And The Collective Performance Of Life, Sophie Kaufman

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines FOOD, the artist-run restaurant founded in 1971 SoHo, as a feminist, collective artwork. Centering overlooked figures like Carol Goodden and Tina Girouard, it explores how FOOD reimagined authorship, labor, and space, linking artistic, economic, and social experimentation through archival research, spatial theory, and feminist art history.

All You Can Eat, Kelly Schiesswohl

Theses and Dissertations

All You Can Eat is a 2D-animated horror short following the patrons and inhabitants of a bakery as they prepare for its annual pie-eating contest. As the contest nears, tensions rise after the discovery of a dark secret amongst the staff inspires rebellion. Through the visual metaphor of pie and the pie-eating contest, this film explores how sexual violence functions on a systemic level. It explores our collective conditioning to a range of behaviors that contribute to patriarchal oppression and the social cycles that reinforce them across generations. Through design and surreal storytelling, this film captures the urgent threat of …

Unplug: Psychological Impact Of Nature In The Age Of Media Technology, Haisi Hu

Theses and Dissertations

My thesis explores the psychological, cultural, and societal consequences of humanity's growing disconnection from the natural world, intensified by dependence on artificial environments such as media, technology, and generative AI.

Spills & Layers, Anastasya Peña

Theses and Dissertations

Spills & Layers explores how process can give a painting meaning. My work uses acrylic and oil paint to create compositions that are both visible (spilling across the canvas freely) and hidden (caught under layers of paint).

To Protect The Sky From Falling, Charles Lambert

Theses and Dissertations

Using ceramic, found objects, metal and wood, my practice is a meditation and questioning of care, efficiency, repair, structure and place. Architectural elements of support rendered in clay are the initial point of entry to give a soft, lived-in quality to a built environment that is often devoid of the mark of the hand and body. Imprints of the hand are left, and the objects are often deformed in ways to subvert the perceived functionality. The focus on ceramics centers around a play with the binary of soft and hard and the external changes that create its transformation. The work …

A Limit That Recedes, Chloe Wilcox

Theses and Dissertations

In "A Limit that Recedes", I discuss my art practice in terms of accumulation and techniques of reproduction, such as casting, printing, and repetitive actions. I contextualize my work among artists such as H.C. Westermann, Isa Genzken, and Paul Thek. The work featured in this thesis explores ideas of aspiration, longing, and failure, and explores themes of the fraught relationship of the human and nature.

Examining The Connections Between Gender, Identity, And Land In Leslie Marmon Silko’S Ceremony And Rudolfo Anaya’S Bless Me, Ultima, Denise Perez

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the representation of gender, identity, and land in the novels Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko and Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya. To understand the role of gender in the novels, women are analyzed as sources of salvation and refuge for men. The male protagonists seek a “cure” or an understanding of themselves, and they are only able to achieve this through the nurturing of the women in their lives. This thesis also examines how the male protagonists develop their masculinity through the formation of a bond with the Earth, their homeland, and nature. In Ceremony and …

Analyzing The Effectiveness Of Maritime Policy For The Management Of Increasing Rates Of Vessel Traffic In The Bering Strait, Izabella Block

Theses and Dissertations

The Arctic is changing at a rapid pace, affecting virtually every aspect of life in the region, with major changes to sea ice, permafrost, and traditional lifestyles. These changes, in conjunction with globalization, have led to a rise in interest in the Arctic and accessing its resources. One considerable facet of accessing the Arctic is via maritime activity, with shorter transport times between Asia and Europe, fishing valuable stocks, and access to offshore oil and gas deposits. As countries such as Russia and China are intent on developing the Arctic and commercializing maritime trade routes, many living in the region …

Quantification Of Blue Carbon Within The Marine Animal Forest On The Rio Grande Valley Artificial Reef, Michelle Kathryn King

Theses and Dissertations

The protection and enhancement of coastal ecosystems provides a number of benefits such as heightened biodiversity, increased fisheries, and enhanced carbon capture (Yeemin et al., 2024). The study of blue carbon ecosystems has expanded rapidly in the last two decades since the term was coined in 2009 (Lovelock & Duarte, 2019). The most well-known blue carbon ecosystems include vegetation-dominated ecosystems such as seagrass meadows, salt marshes, and mangrove forests (Howard et. al., 2014). Prior studies have overlooked Marine Animal Forests (MAF) ability to capture carbon, until recent studies on soft coral (Coppari et al., 2019) and sponge (Rix et al., …

Breast Cancer Survivors’ Readiness-To-Work Perceptions: A Pilot Study, Joy Darlene Cain

Theses and Dissertations

This pilot study explored the perceptions of women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer and struggles they experienced when returning to work or maintaining employment. It sought to understand the impact of cancer treatment on work demands and how or if that impacted the survivor’s perception of her employment status. This study found significant differences in the RTW perceptions for women with breast cancer in the areas of marital status, physical effort, work strategies, and work-related help. The most significant difference were the differences between women with partners and women without partners. Surprisingly, women without partners, while they do …

A Modern Prometheus: Frankenstein's Relevance In Our Modern Society, Amanda C. Partida

Theses and Dissertations

For over two hundred years Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein has been in the public consciousness. It took only five years for the first adaptation, Presumption; or the Fate of Frankenstein, to be staged in 1825. Since then, there has been at least one adaptation every decade, with Universal Studios’ 1931 Frankenstein as the most famous adaptation, which shows just how much Shelley’s novel of science and hubris has resonated with audiences for many years.

This thesis aims to connect the ever-changing scientific anxieties of society with the most well-known Frankenstein film adaptations. By focusing on four specific films Frankenstein (1931), …

Exploring The Effects Of Serotonin And Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors On The Neurological, Behavioral, And Cardiovascular Systems Using The Animal Model Of The Syrian Hamster (Mesocricetus Auratus), Ariana Vianey Hinojosa

Theses and Dissertations

Serotonin is a neurotransmitter widely recognized for its role in neuropsychological processes, particularly in regulating mood, cognition, and emotional responses. However, its influence extends beyond the central nervous system (CNS), playing a crucial role in various physiological functions, including metabolism, the gastrointestinal system, reproductive processes, and cardiovascular regulation. As a key modulator of homeostasis, serotonin contributes to maintaining equilibrium within these systems, ensuring proper function and response to environmental stimuli. Despite its well-documented effects on mood and behavior, the broader physiological implications of serotonin remain less understood, particularly in the context of its interactions among neural, behavioral, and cardiovascular systems. …

Survival, Biofilm Formation, And Control Of Foodborne Pathogens In Hydroponic Systems, Sai Rithin Reddy Kothur Thirupathi

Theses and Dissertations

The growing global population and increasingly unpredictable weather patterns have intensified the demand for sustainable food production methods. Hydroponics, a form of Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA), has gained attention as a viable solution due to its efficient use of resources such as land and water. Although hydroponic systems are perceived as safer alternatives to conventional farming, recent foodborne outbreaks associated with these systems have raised significant public health concerns. This thesis research investigated the food safety risk in hydroponic, particularly the survival and persistence of foodborne pathogens. Chapters I and II provide a comprehensive overview of hydroponics and the microbial …

The Influence Of Solar Energy Infrastructure On Pollinators And Crops, Deisy Garcia

Theses and Dissertations

As the human population grows, demand for agriculture and renewable energy rises. Landuse competition is caused by the expansion of area-intensive solar photovoltaic (PV) facilities. While solar energy is crucial to mitigate climate change, it presents challenges related to land availability and effects on habitats for essential pollinators. In Chapter II, a spatial analysis was conducted to examine the relationship between solar panel density and pollinator diversity, exploring regions with the least interaction between these two factors. Our findings can inform solar siting and management strategies at landscape levels, in conjunction with field studies, that both mitigate potential interaction and …

Implementing And Evaluating An Ai-Powered Visual Decision Support System To Improve Antibiotic Usage Among Physicians With A Built-In Early Warning System, Akua Sekyiwaa Osei-Nkwantabisa

Theses and Dissertations

The widespread misuse and excessive prescription of antibiotics have played a pivotal role in the emergence and proliferation of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, posing a critical global public health crisis. Addressing this challenge necessitates innovative solutions that enhance antimicrobial stewardship. This study presents the development and implementation of a visual decision support system designed to monitor and optimize antibiotic usage among healthcare providers. The proposed system integrates advanced machine learning algorithms with real-time data analytics to provide a dynamic, evidence-based decision support tool. Specifically, a neural network model was developed after evaluating multiple machine learning approaches, including Random Forest, Logistic Regression and …

Spatio-Temporal Pattern Of Nutrient Dynamics In The South Texas Coastal Watershed, Mohammad Sadman Alam

Theses and Dissertations

Eutrophication threatens aquatic ecosystems by altering productivity through excessive nutrient inputs. In some systems, primary productivity is limited by nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), or both, based on the N:P ratio defined by the "Redfield" ratio. South Texas, facing rapid urban growth and industrialization, is at risk of higher nutrient loads, but research on nutrient dynamics in this region is limited. This study investigates nutrient variations in the freshwater (FW) abandoned distributaries of the Rio Grande and hypersaline saltwater (SW) systems. Results showed a significant decrease in dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) and an increase in dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP), shifting the …

Cloning And Heterologous Expression Of Human Nachrs And A Unique Spider Venom Toxin, Christine M. Vega

Theses and Dissertations

Drug development research has long focused on synthesizing novel therapeutics while overlooking isolation from naturally available sources. Recently, the discovery of the therapeutic effects of highly bioavailable animal venom caused the field of venom research to soar in popularity. Animal venom serves as a natural, sophisticated tool optimized over millions of years by evolution with the ability to bind to ion channels such as nAChRs, non-specific ligand-gated ion channels distributed throughout the human nervous system, with high selectivity and specificity. However, purifying individual venom toxins from crude venom is challenging due to its availability. Therefore, synthesizing large quantities of venom …