Digital Commons Network^™

Practical Implementation Of Ethnomathematics To Increase The Engagement, Math Self-Efficacy, And Hawaiian Cultural Identity Of HawaiʻI Algebra 2 Students, Kamalani George Mamatuki Kaluhiokalani

Theses and Dissertations

The underrepresentation of Hawaiian cultural practices in mathematics education has contributed to a disconnect between students' cultural identities and their academic experiences, resulting in diminished engagement among Native Hawaiian learners. This design-based research examines the integration of ethnomathematics into high school mathematics curricula, with a focus on Hawaiian cultural practices as frameworks for teaching mathematical concepts. Participants include approximately 100 students in Hawaiʻi from a public school and a private school, as well as two mathematics teachers with varying degrees of experience in culturally responsive pedagogy and ethnomathematics. Employing a mixed-methods approach, the study collects data through classroom observations, teacher …

Calibration And Validation Of An Ogden Material Model For Thermoplastic Polyurethane In 3d-Printed Tensegrity Structures, Caleb C. Swain

Theses and Dissertations

This work is motivated by ongoing efforts within the Smart Materials, Adaptronics, and Shock Laboratory (SMASH Lab) at Brigham Young University (BYU) to develop variable-stiffness, external fixators using 3D-printed tensegrity structures. In the process of designing and evaluating these systems, the need arose to accurately model the nonlinear mechanical behavior of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), the primary material used in prototype fabrication. This thesis investigates how accurately a calibrated Ogden material model can predict the nonlinear mechanical response of TPU in 3D-printed tensegrity structures. Experimental data were used to calibrate the parameters of the hyperelastic constitutive model through nonlinear optimization. An …

Anatomy And Function Of Vasopressin Receptor 1a-Expressing Neurons In The Limbic Thalamus, David Joseph Kahn

Theses and Dissertations

The vasopressin (Avp) system modulates social behavior through region-specific and sex-dependent mechanisms, yet the role of Avp receptor 1a (Avpr1a) signaling in the thalamus has remained largely unexplored. This dissertation examined the distribution and functional contributions of Avpr1a-expressing neurons across the mouse thalamus using a combination of genetic labeling, anatomical quantification, and chemogenetic manipulation. Mapping of Avpr1a-expressing neurons revealed a presence in most thalamic nuclei, with highest densities in the anterior thalamic nuclei and midline nuclei. Notably, Avpr1a-expressing neuron densities did not mirror previously described patterns of Avp innervation, and no sex differences in Avpr1a-expressing neuron density were observed. Chemogenetic …

Filling The Knowledge Gap: The National Automobile Theft Bureau And The Rise Of Private Intelligence, 1912–1941, William Murray

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the Automobile Protective and Information Bureau (APIB) and its successor, the National Automobile Theft Bureau (NATB), situating these institutions within the development of corporate intelligence in the United States. The rapid expansion of automobile ownership produced a form of crime defined by technological advancement and jurisdictional fragmentation that existing law enforcement could not effectively address. In response, automobile insurance companies created the APIB as a centralized clearinghouse for theft intelligence. By standardizing reporting, maintaining national records, and distributing investigative information, the Bureau developed an early private intelligence infrastructure that supported law enforcement. The limitations of local enforcement …

Development And Standardization Of Teds Actuator Templates Under Ieee 1451 Framework, Jim Kang

Theses and Dissertations

The IEEE 1451 standard is a family of standards that defines a framework for smart transducers, including both sensors and actuators, to support consistent, interoperable, and cost-effective integration across diverse applications. However, the current IEEE 1451.4 standard templates only define the method for encoding Transducer Electronic Data Sheet (TEDS) information for a broad range of sensor types and applications; they do not address actuator TEDS. Specific types of sensors and actuators are being developed to assess underground environmental conditions in cold regions with widespread permafrost. Evaluating subsurface conditions before construction can help prevent high construction expenses for structures built on …

Philosophia From Dialectic To Dying Before Death: Traces Of Plato’S Spirit In The Encounters Between The Falāsifa, Mutakallimūn, And Sūfiyya, Fadhil Yunus Alsagoff

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis offers a fresh approach to the question “What is philosophy?” by reconsidering Plato’s vision of philosophiaand seeking its traces in the encounters between the Falāsifa, the Mutakallimūn, and the Sūfiyya of the classical Muslim world. I argue that Plato’s true legacy lies in a vision of philosophia as dialectical inquiry that ultimately leads – due to the inextricable limitations of propositional language – to aporia and what he called “practicing for dying and death.” I then argue that this vision of philosophia finds resonance in the classical Muslim world in the embodied encounters between …

The Experience Of Newly Formed Syrian Female-Headed Households Refugees In Egypt: Challenges And Opportunities, Wasim Dia

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the lived experience of Newly Formed Syrian Female-Headed Households in Egypt. It focuses on how the extended displacement reshapes gender roles, decision-making, and survival strategies. Since the beginning of the Syrian conflict in 2011, extensive family separation, death, disappearance, and male migration have occurred, leading to a significant rise in female-headed Syrian refugee households. As a result, displacement has intensified women’s vulnerability, generating new responsibilities and limited spaces for agency, especially within restrictive legal and socio-economic environments.

Based on in-depth qualitative interviews conducted in 2023, this research explores how Syrian refugee women navigate everyday life in Egypt …

Sense Of Belonging Among Undergraduate Students At The American University In Cairo: Demographic Trends, Barriers And Facilitators, Lamiaa M. Mohamed

Theses and Dissertations

A sense of belonging is widely recognized as a key determinant of undergraduate students’ academic success, well-being, and persistence in higher education. However, existing research is largely grounded in Western contexts and often emphasizes institution-level measures, with limited attention to how belonging is experienced and constructed by students in non-Western settings. This study examines undergraduate students’ sense of belonging at the American University in Cairo, focusing on factors that shape belonging and institutional practices that may strengthen it. Using a sequential mixed-methods design, the study examined 87 responses from a quantitative survey adapted from the University Belonging Questionnaire, followed by …

Humanitarianism Through Alan Kurdi Photograph: A Discourse Of Governing Suffering, Nada Mahmoud

Theses and Dissertations

Humanitarianism has become one of the powerful languages of modern times, in which compassion, ethics, and moral obligations are mediated to alleviate suffering. This thesis investigates humanitarianism not exclusively on the basis of its moral sentiments but on its functioning as a system of power that governs people’s conduct. It examines how different technologies of power feed into the operationalization of humanitarianism to transform it into a system for governing suffering. By decoding the elements of its power, the thesis aims to understand humanitarian reason through the humanitarian loop, from generating knowledge, categorization and representation, to the legal and normative …

“The Influence Of Utilizing Ai-Powered Tools (Chatgpt-5) On Afl Speaking Fluency And Learners’ Willingness To Communicate (Wtc)”, Manar Shabayek

Theses and Dissertations

The growing integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in education has expanded opportunities for interactive, technology-mediated language learning. This study investigates the influence of AI-mediated speaking practice using ChatGPT-5 on Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) speaking fluency and willingness to communicate (WTC) among beginner Arabic as a Foreign Language (AFL) learners (A1–A2). It also examines the linguistic and technical challenges learners encounter during AI-supported speaking interaction. Using a mixed-method case study design, the study involves five beginner AFL learners. Data are collected through pre- and post-speaking tests, a modified online WTC questionnaire, semi-structured interviews, and systematic classroom observation. Speaking fluency is analyzed …

The Human Side Of Humanitarian Work: Well-Being And Performance Among Aid Workers In Egypt, Mai Osama Kenawy

Theses and Dissertations

Well-being and productivity are widely recognized as central to the work performance of humanitarian aid workers. Despite increasing attention to staff well-being, performance within the humanitarian sector in Egypt remains stagnant or, in some cases, declining. This study examines why expanded well-being initiatives have not yielded sustained performance improvements by examining how actors' external roles, organizational factors, and individual factors affect humanitarian workers’ well-being and work performance. A mixed-methods approach was adopted, combining ten in-depth interviews with humanitarian workers from international organizations, INGOs, and local NGOs, as well as a survey of eighty workers operating in the same context. The …

Work Precarity, Mental Health, And Performance Among Humanitarian Aid Workers In Egypt Post-2025 U.S. Funding Reduction, Mariam Allam

Theses and Dissertations

The humanitarian sector is increasingly characterized by precarious employment conditions and work precarity, including short-term contracts, unclear renewal terms, inadequate compensation, heavy workloads, and job insecurity, exacerbated by volatile donor funding. The 2025 U.S. funding cuts have intensified these vulnerabilities, particularly in countries like Egypt, with massive humanitarian operations because of being a significant destination for asylum applications and one of the largest refugee host countries. Despite the prevalence of precarious work in the humanitarian sector, limited research examines its effects on workers' mental health and work performance, especially during funding crises. This qualitative study explores the perceived effect of …

Scruples Before Religion: Muslim Waraʿ Of The Formative Period, Omar Laaroussi

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis studies the conceptual history of waraʿ and its role as a normative paradigm existing in the formative centuries of the Islamic world. To do so, I consider the Hellenic concepts that ground Near Eastern understandings of virtue and piety before the rise of Islam. This, I then use to contextualise a focused discussion on the textual history of waraʿ before moving on to discuss its properties in a ascetic social-world through the analysis of those very texts. I attempt to place those properties in conversation with modern philosophers’ work on disciplinary regimes and their impacts upon the self. …

Parental Gender Bias In Youth Employment Standards: Evidence From Upper Egypt, Mahmoud Saeed

Theses and Dissertations

Youth unemployment remains a critical challenge in Egypt, with female labor force participation among the lowest globally. While structural factors such as limited job creation and public sector contraction are well-documented, the role of family-level decision-making in constraining women's labor market entry has received limited quantitative attention. This thesis examines parental gender bias in employment standards in Upper Egypt, investigating whether and how parents impose systematically different job requirements for daughters compared to sons. Using primary survey data from 17,284 unemployed youth aged 18-35 across six governorates, paired with responses from their parents, this study analyzes parental preferences across six …

“Between Cultural Norms And Economic Survival: Navigating Egyptian Lower And Middle Income Women’S Challenges In The Informal Versus The Formal Work: “A Case Study From Cairo”, Rowan Mahmoud Abdelnazer

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates the ongoing gender inequities experienced by low and middle-income women in Egypt’s formal and informal labor economy, specifically it is based in Cairo. Although there are many advances made globally on women's rights, yet women still face great challenges such as discrepancies in salary, fewer leadership roles and cultural expectations which put child-bearing duties before professional growth. On the one hand, flexible work for women in developing countries is through informal sector, which makes them vulnerable and serves as a source of their exploitation and insecurity (e.g., lack of social security; workplace hazards), on the other hand, …

Integrative Assessment Of Body Composition And Micronutrient Status In An Adult Egyptian Population, Roua Aref Nouh

Theses and Dissertations

Integrative Assessment of Body Composition and Micronutrient Status in an Adult Egyptian Population: A Functional and Biochemical Approach

Obesity and metabolic dysfunction are increasingly recognized as heterogeneous conditions that cannot be sufficiently characterized by body mass index (BMI) alone. Alterations in body composition, particularly central adiposity and skeletal muscle mass, may coexist with micronutrient imbalances even among individuals who fall outside conventional BMI-based obesity classifications. In clinical settings, such metabolic vulnerability is frequently accompanied by non-specific functional symptoms, highlighting the need for integrative assessment approaches that extend beyond weight-centered metrics. This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the associations between micronutrient …

Mobilizing Social Capital In Social Entrepreneurship: Strategies, Networks, And Growth In The Egyptian Context, Doaa Alaa

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines how social entrepreneurs in Egypt strategically mobilise social capital to access resources, legitimacy, and opportunities within a fragmented and institutionally ambiguous ecosystem. Drawing on qualitative case studies of eight legally registered, mission-driven for-profit enterprises, the study analyses how founders build and leverage offline and online networks through practices such as emotional bonding, community formation, knowledge sharing, symbolic positioning, ecosystem engagement, and digital presence. Through thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews and secondary data, the research identifies a set of relational strategies that function as core mechanisms for entrepreneurial growth in contexts where formal support structures and legal definitions …

From Aspiration To Obligation: A Contractual Sustainability Framework For The Egyptian Construction Industry, Salma Ali

Theses and Dissertations

The construction industry is responsible for approximately 40% of global energy consumption and 35% of total waste generation, making it one of the most significant contributors to the global sustainability challenge. In Egypt, that challenge takes a specific contractual form. Egypt’s construction sector contributes approximately 23% of national energy consumption, yet the survey findings reveal that 63.5% of construction professionals report that sustainability clauses rarely or never appear in contracts, and only 11.5% confirm the presence of enforceable provisions with measurable targets. This gap is structural rather than attitudinal. Competitive procurement penalises voluntary sustainability investment, and without contractual obligation, awareness …

Who Moderates? A Polycentric Framework For Allocating Regulatory Responsibility In Online Content Moderation, Farh A. El Wishi

Theses and Dissertations

The question of who is responsible for content moderation on the internet remains one of the key topics relating to internet governance. Legislation has been adopted, platforms have utilized self-regulation methods, and users have flagged and reported content, all often happening simultaneously, yet rarely according to any coherent principle for deciding which actor should bear primary responsibility for which aspect of the problem. This research argues that the absence of a principled allocative framework is the central governance failure of the internet's regulatory history, and that addressing it requires a structured distribution of regulatory responsibility across the three actors who …

The Informal Impact Of The Headscarf Ban On Veiled Students’ Everyday University Experiences In Paris, Farah K. Lotfy

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the informal impact of the 2004 headscarf ban on the everyday university experiences of veiled students in Paris. Although the ban applies formally to public schools rather than universities, the wider social climate surrounding laïcité and the veil continues to influence how veiled students experience visibility, belonging, and participation in higher education.

Using a qualitative approach based primarily on semi-structured interviews, supported by informal observations conducted within university spaces in Paris, the study explores how exclusion is experienced through stereotypes, scrutiny, social discomfort, self-monitoring, and anticipation of discrimination rather than through formal university policy. The research focuses …

How Disability Inclusion Shapes Student Experiences In Egyptian Public Universities, Ramez Maher

Theses and Dissertations

The inclusion of students with disabilities in higher education is a critical aspect of equity, social justice, and human rights, particularly in Egypt, where systemic barriers continue to hinder access to education for this demographic. Despite the enrollment of approximately 19.4 million students in 2018, only 38,135 students with disabilities were admitted, highlighting the significant challenges they face in accessing higher education.   Through a qualitative approach employing reflexive thematic analysis, this study explores the interplay of institutional policies, cultural attitudes, and accessibility challenges that affect the educational experiences of students with disabilities in Egyptian public universities. The analysis of 21 …

Engineering Nanoelectrocatalytic Systems For Co2 And Nitrate Conversion Into Value-Added Chemicals, Abdelrahman Mohamed Abdelmohsen

Theses and Dissertations

The thesis addresses two major related environmental crises: nitrate pollution of water systems and the ever-increasing levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Both challenges are closely linked to anthropogenic disturbance of nitrogen and carbon cycles and require sustainable, energy efficient mitigation techniques. In this study, we investigate electrochemical conversion routes as a unified approach to convert these pollutants into value-added compounds: ammonia (NH3) via nitrate reduction (NO3-RR) and ethylene (C2H4) via carbon dioxide reduction (CO2RR). The first half of this work deals with the design and engineering of Cu-Zn alloy electrocatalysts for efficient NO3-RR. Tuning the alloy composition and surface nanostructure …

Global Health Governance Or Global Governance For Health? Navigating The Path For Pandemic Preparedness, Kadria Abdelmotaal

Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic constituted a systemic stress test for global health governance, exposing structural and institutional weaknesses in national and international response systems. Although health system financing and income levels influenced baseline capacity, this dissertation demonstrates that governance performance was a decisive determinant of pandemic outcomes, shaping intervention timing, vaccine equity, and preventable mortality.

Drawing on governance theory, empirical analysis, and policy-oriented legal evaluation, this research examines whether pandemic preparedness can be achieved through strengthening Global Health Governance (GHG) alone, or whether a broader paradigm of Global Governance for Health (GGFH) is required. GGFH reconceptualizes preparedness as embedded within …

The Tagamo3 Accent: Linguistic Stylization, Enregisterment, And Social Meaning In Egyptian Digital Discourse, Jannah M. Abdelaziz

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates the Tagamo3 Accent (TA), a socially recognizable speech style associated with elite urban Egyptian identity, through a qualitative multimodal discourse analysis of twelve Egyptian TikTok videos, including both naturally occurring lifestyle and influencer content as well as parody and commentary videos that explicitly imitate, discuss, or evaluate the accent. Drawing on theories of enregisterment (Agha, 2003), stylization (Coupland, 2007), and indexicality (Silverstein, 2003; Eckert, 2008), the study examines how TA is linguistically performed, socially recognized, and ideologically circulated within Egyptian digital spaces. The findings suggest that TA does not function as a structurally bounded dialect or geographically …

Women And Wars: Understanding Women’S Political Empowerment Post- Conflict In France, Lebanon, And Sierra Leone, Alaa S. Sayed

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis attempts to discusses how conflict can be a time of change for women and how conflict can be a crucial aspect for change and improvement. Conflict provides a chance for the women to witness and experience the disruption of gender roles, which was a common practice during wartime, as women were placed in roles that were not officially theirs, according to what society adheres to or ascribes as acceptable roles for women. The conflict is presented as a “window” of opportunity. However, the reality of the situation of this “window” is not uniform across all post-conflict societies; the …

Fatherhood In Egypt: Identity Formation And Role Theory Perspectives, Mahmoud Nasr Gawdat

Theses and Dissertations

Fatherhood is a central yet under-researched dimension of family life in Egypt, particularly from a psychological and identity-based perspective. This study explores how Egyptian fathers construct and experience fatherhood through the lenses of identity theory and role theory. Using a qualitative research design, seven focus groups were conducted with 43 Egyptian fathers to examine the meanings they attribute to fatherhood, their perceived roles, challenges, support systems, and personal transformations. Thematic analysis revealed six interconnected themes: (1) describing the father’s role, (2) learning the father role, (3) social and cultural influences on the father role, (4) meaning of being a father, …

Experimental And Numerical Analyses Of Eccentric Bolted Connections Subject To Shear And Torsion, Mohannad Mahran Zanaty

Theses and Dissertations

Steel connections are one of the pillars of the steel structures construction industry, and yet, it still to this day holds some ambiguities in our design procedures. Several authors believe that the elastic-based methods constricted connection design into a conservative approach, and accordingly initiated a method called Instantaneous Center, which is a method indicating that the center of rotation is around a fictitious point. The method was investigated analytically by exploring the domain and found the method often present multiple roots, with one of the roots often indicating an unrealistic point of rotation with a marginally high exaggerated capacity of …

Gatekeeping As Leverage: Morocco Strategic Agency In European Union Migration Management, Nadine Omar Elkady

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines how Morocco has leveraged migration as an instrument in its relation with the European Union (EU). Following the Arab Spring, Morocco has utilized this opportunity to implement its own agenda and bargain with the EU on prevention tactics for irregular migration. I argue that cooperation for migration management between the EU and Morocco is built on bargaining processes and tactics from Morocco, which has shifted power dynamics from being merely a passive actor to a key player. Morocco's cooperation reflects calculated bargaining strategies rather than a response to the EU pressure. The research utilizes qualitative methodology, combining …

Marginality As Lens: Abū Ḥāmid Al-Qudsī’S Writings And Mamluk Urbanism, Moaaz Lafi

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis takes the life and works of Abū Ḥāmid al-Qudsī (also known as al-Maqdisī), a Shāfiʿī jurist and Cairene historian who died in the late ninth/fifteenth century, as a point of entry into a central question: how was knowledge about the city produced in Mamluk Cairo? Addressing this question requires engagement with the multiple contexts, political, social, and religious, that shaped and conditioned the production of knowledge in that period. Moreover, a critical engagement with the author’s own biography, through a careful reading of biographical dictionaries and historical chronicles, is essential for uncovering further dimensions of how such knowledge …

Breaking The Silence: A Content And Expert Analysis Of The 2025 Ramadan Series Lam Shamseya's Framing And Subversion Of Child Sexual Abuse Discourse In Egypt, Maya Abouelnasr

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis analyzes how the 2025 Egyptian TV series Lam Shamseya served as a sociocultural intervention and awareness platform for reframing and subverting the typical child sexual abuse (CSA) discourse in Egypt. Using a mixed-methods approach, the study triangulates framing theory and two complementary tools of the critical discourse analysis (CDA) and the circuit of culture model through a scene-level content analysis of 304 scenes across all 15 episodes of the series and ten semi-structured interviews with media experts, media practitioners, and psychologists. Key findings include reported corroboration of subversion of traditional tropes and archetypes, as well as reframing of …