Digital Commons Network^™

Diagnostic Accuracy Of Nonword Repetition Tasks For Dual Language Learners And Monolingual Students, Elizabeth Hunt

Theses and Dissertations

Assessments for diagnosing language disorders (LD) can be biased for dual language learners (DLLs). Nonword repetition (NWR) tasks show potential as a less-biased language assessment measure for DLLs. This study explored the diagnostic accuracy of NWR tasks for diagnosing LD. There were 291 participants included in this study in first through fifth grades. Thirty-nine of the participants had LD and 86 of the participants were DLLs. Sixteen of the participants were DLLs and had LD. Monolingual participants were administered an English NWR task, and DLLs were administered both English and Spanish NWR tasks. These tasks were scored by percent phonemes …

Perceptions Of Faculty On Trauma-Informed Practices At The American University In Cairo, Marwa M. Emara

Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

Trauma-informed education is gaining momentum in higher education as a framework that seeks to create learning environments that are safe, inclusive, and responsive to the emotional and psychological needs of students—particularly those who have experienced trauma. This qualitative study, situated at the American University in Cairo (AUC), explores how faculty perceive, understand, and implement trauma-informed practices in a diverse university context that includes refugee and displaced students. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with seventeen faculty members from various disciplines and incorporating an autoethnographic reflection. An expert interview was conducted with Dr. Mays Imad, a leading scholar in trauma-informed …

The Teaching Experiences Of Black Women Faculty In Educator Preparation Providers Licensure Programs At Predominantly White Institutions, Tiffiney M. Atterberry

Theses and Dissertations

Understanding the experiences that Black women faculty encounter in instructional spaces of Educator Preparation Providers licensure programs (hereafter referred to as EPPs) at predominantly White institutions are important for institutional change and reform to occur. In spaces of EPPs, Black women faculty are forced to cope and deal with racialized issues such as feelings of social isolation, a lack of inclusion, acts of microaggression from students, disrespectful acts, and students challenging their knowledge and credentials. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore how Black women faculty narrate their teaching experiences in EPPs at PWIs. The use of Collins’ …

Zeroizing Trust In A Naïve Federated Zero Trust Environment, Keith E. Strandell

Theses and Dissertations

The position of the United States on the global stage is predicated on information dominance and the ability to project power through cooperative engagements with mission partners in both wartime and peacetime. Recent cyber-attacks highlighted the need for a more robust cybersecurity posture. As the United States progresses toward the adoption of Zero Trust, it is incumbent on the Department of Defense to assess the impact to the ability to share data across strategic partnerships while securing the data of both the United States and its partners. This paper proposes research into ensuring an environment rooted in Zero Trust and …

Prosodic Pitch And Intensity Patterns In People With Moderate Broca's Aphasia, Juliana Pickard

Theses and Dissertations

People with aphasia (PWA) experience deficits in utilizing prosody, which drastically impacts their communicative effectiveness. The lack of prosody in people with aphasia may alter their ability to nurture meaningful relationships, advance educational and work opportunities, and participate in community activities. This study acoustically evaluates the prosodic characteristics of speech produced by individuals with non-fluent aphasia to better understand how to accurately assess and more effectively treat communication difficulties in PWA. Recorded speech samples derived from a Cinderella story retell from 16 individuals with moderate Broca's aphasia and 16 age-matched controls were acoustically analyzed in this study. The recordings were …

Mixed Method Approach To Language Allocation Policies For High School English Language Learners, Rhonda Hope Huegel

Theses and Dissertations

This mixed-method sequential exploratory research study aims to describe how New York City High School principals use their language implementation policies to describe their approach to closing the achievement gap for English Learners through three theoretical lenses: transformative leadership, social constructivism, and ethics of care. The study used public data and documents along with principal interviews

The Evolution And Impact Of Blog Analysis Tools: A Study Of Blogtracker's Comprehensive Approach To Digital Discourse Analysis, Oyindamola Koleoso

Theses and Dissertations

This study presents BlogTracker, a comprehensive web-based platform designed to address the growing complexities of analyzing the modern blogosphere. We detail BlogTracker's evolution from earlier blog analysis tools, highlighting its innovative integration of features including real-time data collection, advanced content analysis, sentiment analysis, influence tracking, and narrative analysis. At the core of our contribution is a robust content extraction system that achieves 91.33% accuracy across diverse blog formats, providing a reliable foundation for all analytical functions. This extraction system effectively distinguishes between primary content and peripheral elements, ensuring high-quality inputs for downstream analysis regardless of source blog structure. The platform's …

Modeling Cross-Platform Narrative Templates: A Temporal Knowledge Graph Approach, Ridwan Amure

Theses and Dissertations

Over the past decade, social media platforms have rapidly evolved in scale, functionality, and user engagement, encouraging individuals to maintain active presences across multiple networks. This complex, interconnected ecosystem has also enabled information actors to exploit cross-platform dynamics to amplify the reach of their content and strategically target diverse audiences. Recognizing the persistence and adaptability of such actors, this research emphasizes the need for robust models that can effectively capture and analyze cross-platform narrative diffusion. To this end, we propose a framework that utilizes temporal knowledge graphs to model the evolution and relationships among narratives across platforms. We extract temporal …

Decoding Symbolic Influence On Youtube Engagement, Emotion Resonance And Trust In Information Campaigns, Diwash Poudel

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined how symbolic images in YouTube videos influences viewers’ emotions, trust, and engagement with political content online. Approximately 2,000 videos were collected and analyzed, with a focus on both thumbnails and standout frames. The findings revealed that cultural symbols were particularly effective at capturing attention and evoking strong emotional reactions—especially anger and disgust. Notably, these same symbols also enhanced viewer trust, making audiences less susceptible to misinformation. Statistical tests confirmed that these effects were consistent and significant. To ensure the validity of these results, additional analyses were conducted to assess potential biases in YouTube’s recommendation algorithm, as well …

Voices In The Borderlands: Reimagining Identity, Cultural Belonging, And Dystopian Spaces In Anzaldúa’S Borderlands And Viramontes’S “The Cariboo Café”, Oralia G. Ramos

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores how Gloria Anzaldúa’s Borderlands/La Frontera (1987) and Helena María Viramontes’ short story “The Cariboo Café” (1985) portray marginalized individuals navigating liminal spaces of identity, oppression, and survival. Borderlands/La Frontera and “The Cariboo Café” show how systematic violence and displacement shatter the self, pushing characters to navigate trauma in a dystopian space. Sonya, Macky, the café owner, and the grieving mother represent Anzaldúa’s concepts of borderland subjectivity, betrayal, and spectral haunting.

Sonya and Macky, two undocumented children, represent Anzaldúa’s borderlands subjects and reside in a state of nepantla, an in-between space of cultural dislocation. The café owner …

‘Good Old John Decker’: Confronting Entrepreneurial Challenges In The Mid-Nineteenth Century Rio Grande Borderlands, Grace C. Maciel

Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

'Good Old John Decker': Confronting Entrepreneurial Challenges In The Mid-Nineteenth Century Rio Grande Borderlands (May 2025)

Grace C. Maciel, M.A., Texas A&M International University

Chair of Committee: Dr. Jerry Thompson

This thesis presents the first scholarly study of John Decker, a French-born immigrant whose rise as a merchant and civic figure in the 19th-century U.S.–Mexico borderlands offers a compelling case of adaptability, resilience, and immigrant success. Settling in Rio Grande City and Camargo, Tamaulipas, Decker built a lasting presence during a period marked by regional volatility, navigating war, revolution, and economic transformation. His story is explored across five chapters, …

Pausing Patterns Across Speech Tasks In Individuals Diagnosed With Broca's Aphasia, Kate Low

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether individuals with moderate Broca's aphasia exhibit different pause duration and frequency patterns compared to individuals without neurological disorders, as well as to explore how speech task type influences pause patterns. A total of 16 participants (eight male and eight female) previously diagnosed with moderate Broca's aphasia and apraxia were included in this study, along with 16 age- and gender-matched control participants. Speech recordings from the 16 participants were sourced from the AphasiaBank database. Speech samples from four different task types (i.e., interview, personal narrative, picture description, and story retell) were analyzed …

Folds, Bayan Abukiwan

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis uses the fold as an orienting metaphor and material gesture to linger on the minor details of intimacy that are severed by occupation and political violence. Through painting, drawing and ceramics, the work traces the more implicit modes of dehumanization—particularly in relation to Palestine—while engaging the domestic as a site of quiet and complexity. Influenced by artists like Jennifer Packer and Beatriz González, the practice embraces slowness, touch, and opacity to fold the viewer into a haptic encounter with the work.

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 …

Aquí Y Ahora A Dance Tribute To Gustavo Cerati And The Expression Of Hispanic Immigrant Identity In New York City, Karina Terán

Theses and Dissertations

This Thesis explores how dance serves as a language of cultural identity among Hispanic immigrants in New York City. Through a multidisciplinary performance and research, it reflects lived experiences, blending movement and music to celebrate legacy, resilience, and community, while honoring the influence of Argentine rock icon Gustavo Cerati.

Apocalypse As Utopia: The Exorcisms And Memorials Of Las Yeguas Del Apocalipsis And Queer Liberation In Chile, 1987-1997, Nicolas Poblete

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis provides a comprehensive history of the queer activist-art collective Las Yeguas del Apocalipsis (1987-1997) and their performance-based resistance to the Chilean dictatorship (1973-1990), cultural homophobia, and the HIV/AIDS crisis. Through art actions blending ritual, protest, and queer poetics, the collective redefined public space and national identity, envisioning a utopian queer apocalypse rooted in memory.

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 …

“Bottom Nature”: Embodying History In Gertrude Stein’S The Making Of Americans, Yasmin Tehrani

Theses and Dissertations

This paper attempts to connect Gertrude Stein’s conception of being in The Making of Americans with her vision of the production of history. This paper then concludes that for Stein, historical subjects themselves, both individually and collectively, and the imbued qualities in their being, shape history.

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 …

Geraldo De Barros’S Fotoformas: Towards The Construction Of New Forms Of Legibility, Jay Bravo

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the legibility and reception of Geraldo de Barros’s Fotoformas within Western art institutions, using MoMA’s 2021 Fotoclubismo exhibition as a case study. It argues that the integration of Brazilian modernist photography into canonical narratives often hinges on strategic affinities with Euro-American frameworks. Drawing on institutional critique, postcolonial theory, and the concept of Anthropophagy, the study explores how Fotoformas challenges conventional photographic discourse and reveals broader dynamics of artistic legitimacy and representation.

Optimizing Small Ai Models For Biomedical Tasks Through Efficient Knowledge Transfer From Large Domain Models, Girish Sundaram

Theses and Dissertations

The PICO (Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome) framework is a widely adopted methodology for structuring clinical research questions and extracting relevant information from unstructured medical texts. However, traditional approaches for PICO classification demand computationally expensive domain-specific language models, such as BioBERT and ClinicalBERT, which require extensive training and large annotated datasets. This dissertation introduces Distilled Rapid Embedding Transfer (DRET), a novel knowledge transfer method designed to enable resource-constrained domain adaptation. DRET aims to efficiently transfer biomedical domain knowledge from large, specialized models to a compact, general-purpose model, DistilBERT, thereby enhancing its ability to perform domain-specific tasks without access to the original …

Fugitive Colors, Natalie Rose Eddings

Theses and Dissertations

My objects are meditations on intertwining themes of labor, rest, and interiority and their shadow sides—power, subjugation and the gaze. I couple materials that have millenia-long histories such as metals, glass, paper and clay with found objects and plat materials to illustrate narratives and exhume memories. Drawn from nature and technologies of land, plant stewardship and the domestic realm, I imagine my sculptures as life supporting vessels or magical enclosures.

Through sculpture, photography and printmaking, I build structures that are space of quiet to be filled with thought, healing and development. Like incubators and seed pods, my work is protective …

Finished!: How Newcomer Students Leveraged Family, Culture And Community To Complete A University Degree, Brenda Eliana Bocanegra

Theses and Dissertations

The transition from high school to college represents a pivotal time in the life of a student. For Latino/a students, this transition may be met with unique challenges shaped by their cultural, socioeconomic and educational backgrounds. This research aims to delve into the multifaceted experiences of newcomer Latino/a students as they navigate the transition from, high school to university, to educators, exploring the factors that influence their paths, the barriers they encounter, and the support systems that helped facilitate their success.

This research used Yosso’s (2005) community cultural wealth as the framework to examine the factors that influenced and impacted …

Territorio Nepantla: A Visual Exploration Of The Matamoros – Brownsville Borderlands, Michel Valeria Flores Tavizón

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the work presented in the MFA exhibition titled Territorio Nepantla. A multidisciplinary exhibition featuring a visual exploration of the Matamoros and Rio Grande Valley borderlands through the perspective of a Mexican transfronteriza traversing the Matamoros – Brownsville border. The feminist Chicana theory of nepantla, a word from Nahuatl origin meaning “in-between” is central to the exhibition. Scholar Gloria Anzaldua defines the borderlands as a nepantla space, a liminal space where art and la frontera intersect. Nepantla represents the in-betweenness beyond physicality. A nepantla space can be emotional, spiritual, sexual, linguistical and more. This body of work …

Other Others At The Border: An Autoethnographic Inquiry, Clover Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation critically examines the concept of multiple otherness in online learning environments in Hispanic Serving Institutions. Hispanic Serving Institutions may unintentionally perpetuate practices and curricula that exclude and decenter the needs of older, disabled, or geographically diverse black women who may not identify within the university’s focus. Despite their missions to servingness of a stated population, Hispanic serving institutions must examine existing curricula that primarily cater to the dominant minority group they have tasked themselves to serve. By investigating existing curricular practices, this research seeks to maintain the integrity of minority-serving institutions while encouraging inclusivity for all students. By …

Translanguaging As A Cultural Bridge: Entretejiendo Voces Bilingües En La Frontera [Translanguaging As A Cultural Bridge: Interweaving Bilingual Voices At The Border], Gloria Sarahi Garcia

Theses and Dissertations

El presente estudio cualitativo explora las autohistorias de cuatro maestras bilingües que viven y enseñan en el Valle del Sur de Texas, una región fronteriza entre Estados Unidos y México. A través de pláticas íntimas, tejimos juntas narrativas que revelan la complejidad de ser mujer, ser educadora, ser transnacional, y ser bilingüe en un espacio donde las lenguas, culturas e identidades se cruzan, se fracturan y se reconstruyen. “Pláticas can provide a space of healing as the platicadoras release past trauma and current struggles rigged with sexism, racism, classism, xenophobia, homophobia, transphobia, and ableism” (Morales et al., 2023). Utilizando un …

Exploring Secondary Content And Career And Technical Education (Cte) Teacher Self-Efficacy In Supporting The Literacy Needs Of Long-Termed Emergent Bilinguals: A Mixed-Methods Inquiry, Jennifer Louise Burden

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation employed a mixed-methods convergent design, incorporating survey data and semi-structured interviews to investigate the self-efficacy of high school teachers in content areas and Career and Technical Education (CTE) towards their perceived abilities to support emergent bilingual students, particularly in content-specific literacy.

Grounded in the theoretical frameworks of Bandura's (1977) self-efficacy theory and Dweck's (2008) growth mindset, this study explores how educators' perceptions of their abilities impact their instructional practices and student outcomes.

Findings reveal a need for more training and resources to increase student engagement, which impacts academic outcomes and attendance and calls for comprehensive reforms in teacher …

¿Puedo Decirlo En Español?: Teacher Views On Utilizing Translanguaging Pedagogies To Bridge The Language Gap In Secondary Classrooms, Luis Carlos Bocanegra

Theses and Dissertations

Translanguaging disrupts the notion of language as a fixed, separate system, offering a deeper insight into how individuals fluidly navigate and construct meaning across linguistic boundaries. This research study uses narrative research and participatory action research to employ translanguaging as a pedagogical framework to create inclusive spaces where emergent bilinguals could fully utilize their linguistic repertoire in secondary schools in the borderlands of the Rio Grande Vally in deep South Texas.

The findings of this study are organized into two overarching themes: cultural relevance and inclusivity in borderland schools, which brings to light the importance of culture, inclusivity, and supportive …

El Cuerpo Puede Curar, Crear Y Cocinar: Analyzing Chicana Embodied Knowledge In The U.S-Mexico Borderlands, Kimberly Monserrat Grimaldo

Theses and Dissertations

The U.S.–Mexico borderlands, specifically the Rio Grande Valley, is a culturally rich site yet deeply affected by coloniality where Indigenous cultures have been erased and suppressed. The Mexican American War devastated Indigenous communities as their knowledge of healing was dismissed by Western science and predominantly buried. This history of oppression and colonization in the borderlands rendered the region with “una herida abierta,” in the words of Chicana scholar Gloria Anzaldúa. However, despite an open wound, there is potential healing that can be incited through colonial resistance within the home. Texts that convey culinary and healing epistemologies include cultural productions such …

Emotional Outbursts In Latinx Autistic Youth With Intact Or Non-Intact Families; Frequency, Severity, And Socio-Demographic Correlates, Sandra Lucia Masso Hernandez

Theses and Dissertations

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impaired social interaction, communication, and restricted repetitive behaviors. One of the core difficulties in individuals with ASD is related to emotional outbursts. Emotional outbursts (EO) are behavioral episodes in response to situations, environmental and physiological stimuli that occur in an extreme, unpleasant, sometimes aggressive way, often disproportionate to the context. Considering the impacts that EO’s can cause in populations with neurodevelopmental disorders and on the well-being and mental health of parents/caregivers, the need arises to evaluate these populations. Due to the core characteristics of ASD (such as a rigid mentality, …