Digital Commons Network^™

A Thematic Analysis Of Experiences With Accommodation Plans Of College Students With Disabilities: Recommendations For Students, Faculty, And Administrators, Christina Dimauro

Theses and Dissertations

This study explores the experiences of students with disabilities in higher education through a multiple case study design, incorporating both surveys and follow-up interviews to perform a thematic analysis across the cases. The primary aim was to amplify the voices of these students, gaining insights into their perspectives on the accommodations provided and gathering their advice for navigating the accommodations process. The interviews provided a qualitative depth, allowing students to share personal experiences and practical advice for other students. Findings reveal a diverse range of experiences, highlighting both successes and challenges in accessing and utilizing accommodations. Recommendations included advocating for …

Reflections Of Chinese Opera In Contemporary Chinese Piano Repertoire: A Cutural, Analytical, And Pedagogical Guide, Mengyu Song

Theses and Dissertations

Over 5,000 years, Chinese opera has been inspired by many imperial dynasties, regions, and ethnic cultures, making it a unique reflection of Chinese culture. Chinese composers have incorporated traditional Chinese opera in piano compositions to express cultural identity and artistic significance. This music has a broad and profound cultural significance, fostering cultural interchange and understanding and presenting a diverse and inclusive musical experience for non-Chinese students and musicians.

This research study provides a comprehensive overview of Chinese traditional operas, vocal technique and instrumentation, the development of piano music in China, and corresponding piano literature in progressive difficulty for early-intermediate to …

The Disruption Of Kinship: Interracial Relationships, Displacement, And Marginalized Mixed-Race Families In Korean War Literature, Hyunwook Kim

Theses and Dissertations

The Korean War (1950–1953) left a profound mark on the Korean peninsula, its people, and their diaspora, with its impact still felt today. Korean War literature serves as a vital source for understanding the war's social and cultural ramifications, particularly for marginalized groups, including military sex workers, mixed-race children, and mixed Korean adoptees. Emphasizing the role of interraciality in their experiences, the dissertation delves into literary representations that depict encounters between Korean women and American soldiers, leading to the formation of novel mixed-race families both within military camp towns in Korea and domestic spaces in the United States. While much …

Mental Trauma, Colonial Mimicry, And Internalized Racism In Tsitsi Dangarembga's The Book Of Not, Lily Kay Lynn Cook

Theses and Dissertations

Tsitsi Dangarembga’s second novel in her Nervous Conditions trilogy, The Book of Not (2006) emphasizes the disabling nature of colonial domination and terror through pain and violence inflicted on the body and the mind. Through the use of Frantz Fanon’s colonial and post-colonial theory and Homi Bhabha’s concept of colonial mimicry the critical nature of Tambudzai—the main protagonist—position in the novel becomes apparent. Just as the title suggests, the novel becomes a book of negation and unbecoming as Tambudzai tries to find her place as a woman in Southern Rhodesia while attending a European colonial institution while war rages just …

Tree Recruitment Dynamics In An Urban Forested Natural Area, Lee Eric Bridges

Theses and Dissertations

Urban forested natural areas (UFNAs) are the remnants of larger forested ecosystems that have become surrounded by urban land development. Due to their proximity to dense population centers, UFNAs provide levels of ecosystem services disproportionate with their small size. However, stressors on UFNAs, such as fragmentation, invasive species, urban heat islands, soil compaction, altered seed predator populations, and disrupted disturbance regimes, can alter species composition and forest structure such that the continued flow of these ecosystem services is unlikely. Further, management of these systems is confounded by their size and location. While most urban forests are managed using individual tree …

Efficacy Of Fungicides And Herbicides, Applications To Manage Southern Blight In Mississippi Peanut Fields, Subina Tripathi

Theses and Dissertations

Peanuts are an important legume crop cultivated in Mississippi with an annual production of 71 million kg per hectare. Southern blight (SB), caused by Athelia rolfsii, is a devastating disease resulting in significant losses to peanut production. Cultural practices may not adequately control diseases; therefore, the application of fungicides is important. Recently, the rapid growth of weed species has emphasized herbicide usage and studied weed interaction with SB. In this study, Athelia rolfsii isolates were collected from different counties to identify their biological characteristics and determine the in vitro efficacy in both 2022 and 2023. In the field trial, seven …

Examining The Role Of Hypertension-Induced Mechanotransduction On Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells And Vascular Calcification, Jessica Moon

Theses and Dissertations

Cardiovascular disease is the world’s number 1 killer. The cardiovascular system helps to pump blood throughout the human body and maintain a systemic balance. However, medial vascular calcification results when this system becomes off balance, such as in cases of high blood pressure leading to hypertension. Many factors are involved in this process, but the most important is the vascular smooth muscle cell phenotypic switch to osteoblast-like cells. When vascular smooth muscle cells are subject to mechanical stimuli, mechanotransduction occurs, causing an intracellular signaling cascade leading to a phenotypic switch associated with the Wnt signaling pathway and osteogenic markers. There …

Corneal Epithelial Tissue Engineering Approaches To Treat Limbal Stem Cell Deficiency, Sasirekha K

Theses and Dissertations

A clear healthy cornea is essential for visual acuity. As a self-renewing and regenerating tissue, the corneal epithelium has a stem cell pool, the limbus that acts as its proliferative reservoir. When limbal epithelial stem cells are destroyed or become dysfunctional, a pathological state known as limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD) manifests. Damaged corneas have been successfully reconstructed by transplanting the cultured limbal epithelial stem cells. Limbal stem cell transplantation (LSCT) is one of the applicable and most challenging procedures in clinical ophthalmology for the reconstruction of the stratified ocular surface epithelium in patients with LSCD. Given the above challenge, …

Redefining Spaces Of Resistance Against Capitalism And Patriarchy: A Study Of Females In Society And The Family As Presented By Mrs. Warren’S Profession (1893) By Bernard Shaw And A Raisin In The Sun (1959) By Lorraine Hansberry, Jennifer L. Gonzalez

Theses and Dissertations

These plays show how conflicts concerning race, gender, and class stem from economic distress, racial discrimination, and patriarchal oppression. Within such intersections lie distinct realities of capitalism which simultaneously upholds patriarchal ideals that can only be best understood through a Marxist-Feminist lens. This thesis pays attention to how racism and discrimination functions to isolate certain groups of people from reaching social mobility. The first chapter analyzes Mrs. Warren’s Profession to demonstrate how Mrs. Warren decision to enter into prostitution cannot simply be reduced to a question of morality, but rather a question of society’s conditions that place women into certain …

An Overview Of Contributing Frameworks To Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy, Sarai Clemente Soli

Theses and Dissertations

Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy (CSP) is a framework designed to help traditionally marginalized students. Other frameworks have previously tried to draw on culture to help students in similar ways. However, Paris (2012b) claimed that the word sustaining enclosed a meaning of maintaining and enhancing these students' language and cultural practices that no other frameworks did until that point. There is some confusion for educators and others about CSP since it is a newer framework and that there are many of these cultural frameworks analyzing similar concepts. Therefore, the purpose of this literature review was to examine these previous main frameworks that …

Too American For The Mexicans And Too Mexican For The Americans: Autohistorias Of A Tejana Educator, Roberta Zamilpa

Theses and Dissertations

This study explores how my personal and professional experiences have influenced my identity and pedagogy as a tejana in the Rio Grande Valley. Spoken word diaries and the concept of autohistoria were used as a method of self-reflection. The research was guided using a Gloria Anzaldúa framework that consists of mestizaje/neplanta, coyolxauhqui, and the seven stages of conocimiento. The three major themes that emerged during my research are the backbone of my study: personal entanglements, things I learned from my students, and things I learned from teaching. Each theme was deeply broken down, creating subsections that further analyzed my experiences. …

“What Memory Wants From Me”: Contemporary Female Writers On The Calling To Remember, Daria Smirnova

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores the intersections of transnational memory studies and feminist autobiographical writing through the works of Maria Stepanova, Annie Ernaux, and Lea Ypi. It argues that contemporary literature, especially that written by women, provides innovative frameworks for understanding identity, memory, and the sociopolitical context of our time. By examining how these authors intertwine personal and collective histories, the study highlights the shift in memory studies from monumental, nation-centered history to transnational, mobile memory modalities. I have pinpointed three themes to which these authors significantly contribute within the feminist and political discourse on memory: the relationship between gender and memory, …

The Hidden Forms Of Violence In The Lives Of Professional Women In Tagamoa, New Cairo, Nouran Elhariry

Theses and Dissertations

The desire to craft new lifestyles is the main drive for the relocation to New Cairo among Egypt’s upper middle classes. This research is focusing on the upper middle class--people who still rely on their incomes from working to maintain their status—as opposed to the elite upper class, who rely on incomes from property, investments, inheritance, and other forms of intergenerational wealth. These communities were enmeshed in high degrees of domestic violence. The power-relations reconfigured in the domestic sphere, with increasing numbers of upper middle class women embarking on professional careers while navigating households and family relations, have opened the …

Examining Undergraduate Students’ Learning Transfer From English For General Academic Purposes (Egap) Courses To Discipline-Specific Courses, Sara Abdelkader

Theses and Dissertations

The principal aim of this study is to explore university students’ learning transfer from two English for General Academic Purposes (EGAP) courses into a variety of non-EGAP courses. The current study examines near and far transfer based on three dimensions of Barnett and Ceci’s (2002) transfer taxonomy. It investigates (a) the writing samples of undergraduate students from different majors, with a special focus on the transfer of five learning outcomes (LOs) namely: Sentence Structure, Essay Structure, Cohesion, Coherence, and Language Errors, (b) the impact of their majors on transfer, (c) their perceived transfer, and (d) their perceptions of the …

Replication Study On Ostracism And Self-Isolation The Role Of Shame And Guilt, Zhi Quan Lim

Theses and Dissertations

This study explores the ostracism and solitude-seeking link by conceptually replicating the two studies (Ren et al., 2016; 2022) using different methods of inducing the feeling of being ostracized in the participants. In this study, I asked participants to recall a memory of being ostracized to induce the feeling of being ostracized. I am also interested in if shame and guilt mediate this connection. One hundred and thirty-two participants took part in the study. I divided the participants into two groups (the ostracized group and the control group). After finishing the first task, the participants took a modified version of …

An Exploration Of Power Relations In Select Plays Of Girish Karnad A Foucauldian Perspective, Srinivasa Yogananda Rao Netrakanti

Theses and Dissertations

The present study, ‘An Exploration of Power Relations in Select Plays of Girish Karnad: A Foucauldian Perspective‘ aims to study power relations among the different characters in the three plays of Girish Karnad viz., Tughlaq, Naga-Mandala and Tale- Danda through Foucault's three modalities of power viz., bio-power, disciplinary power and sovereign power.

Chapter 1, Introduction gives a bird-eye view of Foucauldian concepts of power followed by the three modes of objectification and dividing practices, subjects and power relations, inter-connectedness between power and knowledge, panopticism, bio-power and discourses, the application of Foucauldian theories of the three major powers. Next, a Girish …

“Freakish Man”: Sexual Blues, Sacred Beliefs, And The Transformation Of Black Queer Identity, 1870-1957., Xavier E. Sivels

Theses and Dissertations

“‘Freakish Man’: sexual blues, sacred beliefs, and the transformation of Black queer identity, 1870-1959” investigates how queer Black men expressed their gender and sexual identities. It follows how, from the days of Reconstruction to the modern civil rights movement, queer Black men used various aspects of Black culture—particularly the blues, working-class social culture, and charismatic religion—to form identities that departed from dominant Black and white norms. The “freakish man” emerged as queer Black men cultivated legible, subversive gender and sexual identities in sacred and secular spaces of working-class Black culture that prioritized masculine heterosexuality. Though queer Black men were briefly …

State Funding Of Higher Education Institutions: An Analysis Of Equity, Brittany O. White Doty

Theses and Dissertations

Land grant, also known as Morrill Act, institutions and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) were founded upon the principles to educate a target population with limited access to resources to expand their educational opportunities and social mobility. With the rise of new public management and neoliberalism, state financial support for higher education has changed drastically over the past two decades. Institutions are required to demonstrate performance metrics for funding. However, some of these institutions have been disproportionately under-resourced for many decades and the funding inequality has left them with a unique set of challenges to overcome. Social construction theory …

Identity Status And Identity Style In The Emo Subculture: Exploring Identity Between Emo Vs. Non-Emo Emerging Adults, Melanie Rebekah Uggen

Theses and Dissertations

Emerging adulthood can be viewed as a time of exploration and experimentation for college-aged adults (Arnett, 2000). As individuals begin trying on their possible selves as they explore personal identity, they can gravitate to peer groups that fit their interests. For some, that can mean being drawn to the emo subculture. This subculture focuses on its fashion, often based on dyed black hair, dark clothing, studded accessories, and black eyeliner (Chernoff & Widdicombe, 2015), centered around music with lyrics often interpreted as depressive or angst?ridden. Emo subculture has been subject to criticism and stereotypes, especially those with mental health themes …

Human Experience In The Immersive Experience Economy, Beliz Yuksel Inal

Theses and Dissertations

This study explores the growing trend of immersive experiences, examining how they are designed and experienced. It compares the artistic Machine Hallucination and the commercial Van Gogh Immersive Experience examples. Analyzing audience engagement and social contexts, the research aims to understand the impact of immersive experiences on individuals and society.

Stages: Social Dance Forms As Catalyst For Recovery, R. Austin Marquez

Theses and Dissertations

Dances originating in social settings have served as catalysts for community building, liberation, and healing for decades. Hip hop, house, krumping, voguing, and other forms of dance have empowered communities in their struggle against oppressive forces and have subsequently become influential in media based popular culture. This research explores how social dance forms promoting empowerment are popularized through mediated culture and how this process informed the creation of Austin Marquez's MFA thesis, "STAGES.""STAGES" is an interdisciplinary performance that integrates Marquez's album and choreography to explore his recovery from alcoholism. This study investigates how choreographing narratives of recovery using social dance …

Container Film, Dena Kopolovich

Theses and Dissertations

Container Film is an experimental nonfiction short film that explores the theme of carrying. Drawing inspiration from a blend of anthropological, religious, and artistic sources, the film is guided by an unknown narrator who contemplates the origins of humanity. Unlike conventional storytelling, the narrator’s uncertainty and inner dialogue punctuate the narrative, challenging a traditional linear structure. Jumping between diverse thoughts, she resists depicting human history with a singular hero or linear trajectory. Visually, the film unfolds through vivid tableaux vivants, dance sequences, and curious object arrangements, illustrating the subtle relationship between human cognition and materiality. Through its nuanced, tactile approach, …

Ai-Powered Information Retrieval In Meeting Records And Transcripts Enhancing Efficiency And User Experience, Srushti Nitin Ghadge

Theses and Dissertations

This study compares the traditional search methods, which is to search from video recordings of the meetings by moving the slider back and forth or by keyword search in transcripts versus integrated AI video plus transcript search. Based on the previous test results, we introduced some human-centric design features to the AI and built a new enhanced AI search tool for information retrieval. For search technique efficiency testing, the method had two set of experiments. The first results of the experiment showed that AI-based search algorithms were more accurate and faster than conventional search approaches. Participants were also happier with …

Role Of Interferon-Induced Protein With Tetratricopeptide Repeats 3 (Ifit3) In Hiv-1 Associated Neurodegenerative Disorder And Alzheimer’S Disease, Ranjit Kumar Das

Theses and Dissertations

The advent of cART has revolutionized the management of HIV-1 infection and saved the lives of millions of people worldwide. Yet, HAND continues to be clinically relevant with aging people with HIV-1 (PWH). The underlying mechanism of HAND remains poorly understood. In this regard. Signal transducer and activator of transcription 1(STAT1) and IFIT3 genes have been shown to induce neuroinflammation and neuronal cell death. However, the role of IFIT3 in HAND pathology has not been well established. Therefore, the present work investigated the significant role of IFIT3 gene in development of HAND. In the current study, …

Escúchame, Mi Ciencia Cuenta: Leveraging Cultural Ways Of Knowing To Increase Chicana Stem Engagement, Patricia Ramirez-Biondolillo

Theses and Dissertations

This paper is about leveraging cultural ways of knowing such as ethnobotany in order to increase STEM engagement in Chicanx populations. The conceptual framework utilized in this study combines social justice, Chicana feminist epistemology, land-based pedagogy, critical place-based pedagogy, pedagogical praxis, pluralism and ecological sustainability to achieve this end. Four pre-service Chicana science teachers provided testimonio from their elder assignment and engaged in two focus groups in order to identify relevant themes that impact Chicana engagement in STEM. Major themes identified were challenges in bilingual education, elder knowledge as a form of pedagogy, stagnation in common science teaching practices, tensions …

Exploring Chicana Preservice Teachers’ Conscientizing Processes: Introducing An Array Of Criticalities In An Elementary Social Studies Methods Course, Raul Garza

Theses and Dissertations

Recognizing that our preservice teachers are experiencing a euro-centered teacher preparation curriculum, this study aimed to explore Chicana preservice teachers' interactions with an array of criticalities focused on a bioregional context that highlighted critical and resistant resources.

Chapter 1 surveyed the literature on growing critically conscious teachers of color and posed the following research questions: How do critical place-based pedagogies impact Chicana preservice teachers’ experiences in a social studies methods course? How do Chicana preservice teachers respond to a broad array of criticalities? How do the critical and democratic pedagogies experienced in the social studies methods …

Photo-Carbon Monoxide Releasing Molecules For Antibacterial Benefits In Vascular Grafts, Beste Caner

Theses and Dissertations

Globally, the annual hemodialysis procedures surpass 1.5 million, emphasizing the vital role of reliable vascular access methods. However, common challenges like access infections and clot-induced blood flow reduction necessitate innovative solutions. This study delved into the potential therapeutic role of carbon monoxide (CO) and its effects on both endothelialization and non-pathogenic bacteria causing infections. The primary focus was evaluating the impact of loading different concentrations of carbon monoxide-releasing molecules (CORMs), specifically CORM diketone 4 (DK4), within 2D spin-coated films on cultured E. coli and endothelial cells. Initial assessments of CO release kinetics from DK4-loaded films demonstrated that the 10% condition …

Reverberation Of Ecocritical Concerns In The Novels Of Kazuo Ishiguro, Bavetra S

Theses and Dissertations

Kazuo Ishiguro, one of the most celebrated contemporary writers, has authored eight novels. As a Noble Laureate of 2017, his works are constantly under academic scrutiny. One of the best-explored themes in the works of Ishiguro is memories and emotions. No writer of meritable artistic integrity can ever stay away from the pressing issue of his age. Intriguingly, Ishiguro's works seem to lack engagement with environmental issues. The extensive study of Literature reiterates the point that Ishiguro's works are explored solely for a diminished ratio in terms of environmental challenges.

The researcher has identified the lack of critical attention on …

Resonance: A Methodology And Pedagogy For Socially Just Storytelling, Helen Plevka-Jones

Theses and Dissertations

Through a close analysis of Valeria Luiselli’s Lost Children Archive and a comparative analysis of the intertexts it references, this dissertation argues that literary scholars and literacy pedagogues can learn from sound studies and archival practices together to achieve more socially just reading, writing, and teaching. The novel narrates a family traveling across the United States, not only experiencing their own journey but also learning about past forced migrations upon the same land and present attempted migrations into the country. As they encounter and interact with different print, audio, and visual artifacts, the characters achieve a more inclusive and complex …

Imperial Anarchy, Cultural Exchange And Cultural Sabotage In Amitav Ghosh’S Ibis Trilogy, Siva Vidhya M

Theses and Dissertations

The present study aims at analysing three sequential novels written by Amitav Ghosh. The novels are set in the backdrop of colonized India, so the research begins by examining the imperial anarchy that leads to cultural exchange and cultural sabotage. Amitav Ghosh is an Indian born writer, famous for both his fictions and non-fictions.

Most of his works are based on colonization and its aftermath. The major focus of the novels selected for the research is also colonization especially the opium production in India. The author portrays the opium production and its evil effects on people and environment. The three …