Digital Commons Network^™

Depictions Of Girls With Adhd In Contemporary Picturebooks: A Critical Content Analysis, Madison Briann Smith

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines how girls with ADHD are depicted in contemporary picturebooks through the theoretical framework of critical disability studies (CDS). While research has increasingly explored disability representation in children's literature, depictions of girls with ADHD remain underexamined despite the ways in which ADHD manifests in female populations and the historical underdiagnosis of females with the condition. Using critical content analysis (CCA), six contemporary picturebooks featuring female protagonists with ADHD were analyzed for their visual and textual representations of neurodiversity. Findings were organized into two overarching themes: strength-based and deficit-based depictions. Strength-based portrayals emphasized creativity, identity formation through adult mentors, …

Properties Of Enjoyable Mathematical Contexts From The Student Perspective, Emilie Nadine Hendrickson

Theses and Dissertations

Researchers continue to grapple with how to meaningfully engage students in mathematical content. Many students report disengagement due to perceptions that mathematics is difficult, irrelevant, boring, or anxiety-inducing. This study sought to understand how students interpret and respond to different mathematical problem contexts, with particular attention to the reasons students describe certain problems as enjoyable or unenjoyable. Using semi-structured interviews, this research examined student responses to a variety of mathematical problem types primarily across affective engagement. Students reflected on specific problem contexts and explained which features supported or hindered their enjoyment and engagement. Students described that contexts were enjoyable have …

Comparing Principal Component Analysis And Sequential Fusion Deeponet With Varying Dataset Size For Design Space Exploration Of Hypersonic Flow, J. Dallan Trentman

Theses and Dissertations

Design space exploration and optimization of hypersonic vehicles is costly due to the difficulty of producing high fidelity CFD simulations in the hypersonic domain. Reduced order modeling can allow for design optimization at a fraction of the computational cost. This paper investigates the amount of training data required to produce an accurate Reduced Order Model. A PCA based ROM is developed and compared to a Sequential Fusion DeepONet by comparing model prediction accuracy, training time, and prediction time, across dataset sizes from 25 samples to 1024 samples. These models are applied to 2D hypersonic CFD simulations of the Orion reentry …

Resonant Shock Plate Simulation And Prediction Using Modal Substructuring, Harrison C. Denning

Theses and Dissertations

Aerospace structures such as rockets can experience various shock events during flight, such as stage separation or impacts. These shock events can expose components inside the rocket to large accelerations and stresses which in turn can damage the parts. Shocks are often simulated in the lab using a resonant shock plate test. Resonant shock plate testing is often used to qualify aerospace parts, as it can mimic the shocks experienced during launch and stage separations. However, during the course of development, both the definition of the shock environment and the design of the subcomponent tend to change, so that multiple …

Rfsoc Based Ground Penetrating Radar For Detection And Avoidance Of Underground Utilities, Brady Bowerbank

Theses and Dissertations

Preexisting underground utilities present a considerable danger to underground boring projects. Gas and electrical lines can be damaged, leading to major economic impact and even loss of life. While maps of underground utilities exist, they are not always accurate and gas and electrical lines can shift over time, necessitating tools to accurately detect utilities so that crews can steer the machines away from any possible danger. In this thesis, the design of a new frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) ground penetrating radar (GPR) is outlined. The design of a lightweight, flexible radar is demonstrated using the CASPER FPGA framework with an operating …

Isoperimetric Soft Robots, Mihai Stanciu

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents two advances in isoperimetric soft robotic trusses that improve their performance, modularity, and configurability. The first contribution introduces a large-scale modular robotic truss designed as a lightweight, reconfigurable structure for lunar applications. The system consists of inflatable fabric tubes routed through motorized roller units and interconnected by a newly developed spherical joint that enables multiple robotic triangles to connect at a common vertex. The resulting truss can be assembled into structures beyond a single octahedron while retaining compact stowage when deflated and untethered operation after initial inflation. Experimental validation demonstrates modular assembly, long-term pressure retention, load-bearing capabilities …

Recognition Of Autism Characteristics In Females: An Examination Of Stakeholders, Laurel Lyn Bishop

Theses and Dissertations

Autism is a neurodevelopmental communication disorder, characterized by differences in social communication, attention, interests, and sensory perception. Diagnostic criteria have historically applied to males, but clinical diagnostic criteria beginning in 2022 now include slight differences in traits comprising the female phenotype. Until recently, autistic females may be missed by the professional and education community or diagnosed later than males. Like their autistic male counterparts, they face an increased risk of suicidal ideation, but they also face more difficulties in peer relationships, academic problems, and increased anxiety and depressive symptoms, but may not get supports. School-age girls spend their days with …

Thermophysical Property Studies: 1. Thermodynamic Consistency For Associating Compounds 2. Autoignition Temperature, Cassandra Jane Guffey

Theses and Dissertations

Accurate thermophysical property data are essential for the design, optimization, and safe operation of chemical processes. Properties such as vapor pressure, enthalpy of vaporization, heat capacity, density, and autoignition temperature--which are among the properties studied in this work--are required for equipment sizing, process simulation, hazard assessment, and economic evaluation. A major focus of this dissertation is the application of multi-property thermodynamic consistency techniques to compounds that exhibit strong vapor-phase association. These methods improve confidence in recommended property values by enforcing rigorous thermodynamic relationships among ideal-gas heat capacity, liquid heat capacity, vapor and liquid densities, vapor pressure, and enthalpy of vaporization. …

When The Road Leads You Home: A Self-Study Of An Appalachian Return Migrant Educator, Brianna Gerstner

Theses and Dissertations

This study explores one Appalachian educator's beliefs and judgments about her students' literacy practices after returning to her Appalachian hometown to teach at her alma mater. Upon her return, she experienced discomfort with the thoughts she had about her Appalachian students, recognizing that they reinforced stereotypes. Through the S-STEP process, the educator identifies her beliefs and judgments of her students, the teaching practice she engaged in over time, and the changes in her beliefs and judgments during a community literacy project. This period of critical self-study lasted 3 months, and the educator intentionally engaged in culturally sustaining pedagogy. Findings revealed …

Tubuh Yang Mengingat (The Body Remembers): Ecology, Ritual, And Embodied Memory In Contemporary Cirebon Mask Performance, Prameswari Mrajabwana

Theses and Dissertations

Tubuh yang Mengingat (The Body Remembers) is a single-channel, site-specific performance film set across coastal and extractive landscapes in Cirebon, West Java, Indonesia. Reinterpreting the five transformations of Cirebonese mask dance—Panji, Pamindo, Rumyang, Tumenggung, and Kelana—the project examines how colonial extraction, ecological deterioration, and systems of social regulation continue to shape embodied experience materially and somatically. Drawing from Karen Barad’s concept of intra-action and Stacy Alaimo’s notion of trans-corporeality, the work approaches body, land, technology, and history as relationally entangled rather than separate entities. Through live biodata sonification generated from environmental sensors and bodily movement, the film establishes …

Delirious Pink, Reuben Gordon

Theses and Dissertations

How to enliven a tradition as accomplished as painting? With the spirit of New York City and the techniques of Abstract Expressionism and Color Field painting as my backbone, I look to my friends, lovers, and fellow artists to form a thesis defined by love, color, feeling, and individuality.

Behavioral Indicators Of Stress In Wild Savanna-Dwelling Chimpanzees (Pan Troglodytes) In Fongoli, Senegal, Leah T. Williams

Theses and Dissertations

Stress influences health, reproduction, social relationships, and survival in primates. I identified behavioral indicators of stress in wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and determined whether coping strategies varied between behavioral contexts. Coping behavior differed significantly across contexts and behaviors, indicating that coping behaviors are strategically utilized in different contexts and provide insight into the emotional regulation of chimpanzees.

Queer Postsecular Conocimiento: Anzaldúan Readings Of Time, Spirituality, And Transformation In Nugent, Vuong, And Herrera, Joshua A. Swem

Theses and Dissertations

An overreliance on secularism within the field of queer theory and a denial of spiritual epistemologies prevent deep, alternative, and transformative strategies of analyzing literature. It can regurgitate oppressive ideology in academia. In this work, I synthesize Gloria Anzaldúa’s theoretical concepts of mestiza consciousness, nepantla, la facultad, and el cenote with José Esteban Muñoz’s queer temporality and futurity as a framework to engage with literary texts in queer, postsecular ways, freeing up fresh insights and polysemic perspectives. I argue that in  "Smoke, Lilies, and Jade" by Richard Bruce Nugent, Signs Preceding the End of the World by Yuri …

Extreme Heat And Its Impact On Public Transit Ridership In Nyc, Craig Denton

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the connection between extreme heat events and public transit ridership patterns in New York City, with a particular emphasis on low-income communities. It investigates the intersection of socioeconomic factors and heat-related challenges, analyzing how extreme temperature periods influence overall transit use and why certain routes or neighborhoods experience greater declines in ridership during these events.

Utilizing existing literature, NYC-specific transit and climate datasets, and the broader context of transit equity, this research aims to inform strategies that strengthen climate resilience within urban transportation systems. The study’s findings are intended to support policy development and planning initiatives that …

Green Extractivism And The Discursive Legitimization Of Deep-Sea Mining In The Clarion-Clipperton Zone, Kaitlyn Maritan

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis critically examines deep-sea mining as an example of green extractivism, constructed through narratives of responsible mining practices. A content analysis assesses the discursive tactics of four actors in the emerging industry; how they collectively legitimize deep-sea mining and manage the contradictions of sustainability and extractivism.

The Introduction Of High-Speed Rail And Its Impact On Mode Choice The Case Of Morocco’S Al Boraq, Michael Stewart

Theses and Dissertations

Morocco's Al Boraq, Africa's first high-speed rail line, reshaped mode choice along the Casablanca-Tangier corridor. Drawing on ONCF ridership data, 234 rider surveys, and nine months of fieldwork, this ex-post assessment finds accelerated passenger growth, substantial induced demand, and mode shift from automobiles, informing Global South HSR development.

On A Classification Of Goy/Sabra-Type Shell Models Of Turbulence, Austin Ho

Theses and Dissertations

Since their inception in the 1970s, shell models have proved to be a fruitful testbed for studying theories of turbulence. This thesis considers variations of two classical shell models: the Gledzer–Ohkitani–Yamada (GOY) model and the Sabra model. Up to conjugacy classes, we classify all possible GOY-type and Sabra-type models. We numerically approximate the scaling exponents for the newly identified models and develop their mathematical well-posedness.

Tribal Reciprocity In Action: Good Medicine For Community & Academia, Keona Marie Manuelito

Theses and Dissertations

The practice of good medicine should be universal and accessible to all; however, for many Indigenous communities, equitable healthcare remains elusive. The historical trauma experienced by Indigenous peoples continues to shape health disparities and institutional mistrust, yet Indigenous communities persist through strength, resilience, sovereignty, and Indigenous knowledge systems. The products that follow embody strengths-based approaches that elevate and support Indigenous science, health, and self-determination. The manuscript identifies key elements necessary to establish the feasibility and institutional support for a peer-reviewed journal centered on Indigenous Health within the United States. A qualitative descriptive study was conducted using semi-structured interviews with journal …

Qualitative Exploration Of Understanding Gluten Intolerance: Knowledge, Experiences, And Perceptions Among American Indian Adults Living On The Mandan, Hidatsa, And Arikara Nation, Roselle M. Martin

Theses and Dissertations

Background: This dissertation examines gluten intolerance, particularly celiac disease (CD), within American Indian communities. Although CD has been traditionally considered more common among people of European descent, emerging evidence suggests increasing rates among American Indian populations as dietary patterns have shifted from traditional, naturally gluten-free foods to diets containing higher levels of gluten. These dietary changes, along with possible genetic factors and historical underdiagnosis, highlight the importance of understanding how gluten-related health concerns are recognized and discussed within American Indian communities. Lower rates of diagnosis may reflect limited awareness of symptoms and challenges in communicating gluten-related health experiences rather than …

The Centers For Disease Control And Prevention's Healthy Tribes Program: Uncertainty Around Executive Orders During 2025 - A Qualitative Study, Gem Wilson

Theses and Dissertations

Programs that center culture as prevention are required for promoting holistic health and well-being in American Indian and Alaska Native communities, however limited research demonstrates how these programs are affected by federal policy instability. Securing and sustaining funding for culturally centered initiatives is essential not only for reducing health inequities, but also for upholding Tribal self-determination and the federal government’s trust and treaty obligations.

This qualitative study examines the impact of federal funding uncertainty related to executive orders issued in 2025 on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Healthy Tribes program.

This Tribally driven study employed Knowledge Sharing Sessions, …

Cultivating Kalo In Diaspora: A Qualitative Exploration Of Growing And Harvesting Kalo And Its Connection To Health Among Native Hawaiian Adults In The United States, Nicole Lee Kamakahiolani Ellison

Theses and Dissertations

For Native Hawaiians, kalo, known in English as taro, is more than a traditional food; it is an ancestor. As Hāloa, kalo embodies genealogy, cultural identity, and foundational relationships with ʻāina. Today, the majority of Native Hawaiians live outside of Hawaiʻi, yet little research has explored the experiences of Native Hawaiians cultivating kalo while living in the continental United States. Understanding these experiences shows how Native Hawaiians in diaspora sustain cultural practices, identity, and relationships with Hāloa and ʻāina. This descriptive qualitative study explored the experiences and perceptions of growing and harvesting kalo among Native Hawaiian adults living in the …

Public Good, Politics, And Public Goods: The Social Construction Of Educators In Progressive Era North Dakota, Kevin Joel Read

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines education reforms in North Dakota’s early Nonpartisan League period (circa 1916-1920) by focusing on three policy vignettes located in the local, state, and higher education domains. Together, this dissertation investigates the tensions and nuances of modernizing education in the state including the conditions which created a moment for rapid policy implementation, and the factors which led to that moment ending. The local vignette focuses on housing policy for educators, and the state’s consolidation of education governance into a Board of Administration is explored in the state and higher education chapters. Additionally, the role educators in the state …

Cultural Identification And Preferences In Treatment For American Indian Adults With Substance Use Disorder, Megan Kay Saboo

Theses and Dissertations

Substance use disorders occur at a disproportionately higher rate for American Indian adults in the United States, yet there is a limited understanding of how those in the recovery process perceive their American Indian culture as a meaningful component of their treatment. This study intended to address this gap in the research and to assist with tribal efforts in treating substance use disorder among a small sample of American Indian adults enrolled in a Northern Plains tribe by assessing cultural identification and the importance, contribution, and incorporation of cultural traditions, practices, and ways of living into the recovery process. Results …

Strengthening Teacher Development Through School-University Partnerships: A Document Analysis Informed By Improvement Science, Holly Ripley

Theses and Dissertations

Teacher shortages have become a persistent challenge across the United States, particularly following the COVID-19 pandemic. Although alternative certification pathways have helped fill vacancies, many have also resulted in underprepared teachers entering the profession. This Dissertation in Practice addresses the need for sustainable solutions that strengthen teacher preparation while supporting school districts facing workforce shortages. Guided by improvement science and the Plan-Do-Study-Act cycle, this study investigates school-university partnerships as a strategy for addressing both teacher shortages and teacher preparedness. A qualitative document analysis was conducted to examine funded school-university partnerships and state policies that support their implementation. The study explored …

A Mixed Methods Study: Exploring The Concept Of Rematriation Through The Work Of Indigenous Doulas In New Mexico, Michelle Gutiérrez

Theses and Dissertations

Both the United States and New Mexico are facing a maternal health crisis. Despite significant resources and medical advances, Indigenous mothers continue to be impacted by health disparities. This research study explored the concept of Rematriation, most simply defined, as a return to a traditional and spiritual way of life with respect to Mother Earth or the Land, through the work of certified Indigenous birth doulas in New Mexico. Using a mixed methods approach that integrated a survey, body mapping, and interviews with 10 self-identified Indigenous doulas, this research sought insights and knowledge on their experiences and practices in birthwork, …

Gender Perceptions Of Occupational Therapy Students And The Impact On Academic Experience, John Brian Leclerc

Theses and Dissertations

Since its inception in 1917, the field of occupational therapy has maintained a pronounced gender imbalance, with females comprising the vast majority of practitioners despite major historical shifts in healthcare delivery. This dissertation examines how occupational therapist (OT) and occupational therapy assistant (OTA) students perceive gender and how these perceptions influence their academic experiences and future professional roles.

Using a multi-study design, this dissertation integrates qualitative and quantitative approaches across three articles. In article 1, focus groups were employed with doctoral OT students (N=30) and revealed five central themes: the value of gender diversity for learning, a nurturing and supportive …

Pezuta: Ceremony Assisted Treatment To Promote Recovery Among American Indians, Diana Blossom Hawkins

Theses and Dissertations

This study aimed to understand and describe the role of traditional ceremonies and its impact on American Indian adults’ ongoing sobriety and recovery from substance misuse. The research focuses on the perspective of those American Indian adults seeking services from a partnering Tribal-serving organization in South Dakota. A qualitative study design was applied through semi-structured focus groups to better understand relatives’ experiences of participation in ceremony and how it contributed to their recovery. Findings indicate that ceremony fostered healing and strengthened cultural resilience. This lead to recovery-oriented changes that work across cultural, relational, and individual dimensions to support recovery. Furthermore, …

Hidden In Plain Sight: A Single-Case Study Analysis Of An Established Employee Well-Being Department In Higher Education, Andria Spaeth

Theses and Dissertations

This study addresses the perceptions and experiences of student-facing staff within the Divisionof Student Affairs at the University of North Dakota to understand how they currently have their holistic well-being needs met through the Work Well department and the support they receive from the senior administration. A detailed review of the relevant literature is included. A qualitative single-case study research methodology is used alongside the Social Cognitive Theory framework to examine the current perceived support student-facing staff have.

The case study follows a bounded system approach with the Work Well department serving as the site selection as the worksite wellness …

Improving Health Literacy In Diagnostic Imaging For Indigenous Populations: Evaluating Practices, Integrating Policy, And Bridging Gaps, Kimberly Harn

Theses and Dissertations

Indigenous populations in the United States and internationally experience persistent disparities in healthcare access, patient communication, and health outcomes, including disproportionate cancer mortality rates and inequitable engagement with diagnostic imaging services. Communication barriers, limited health literacy, historical trauma, cultural incongruence, and structural inequities reduce meaningful participation in imaging-related care and contribute to delayed diagnosis and poorer outcomes. Despite the critical role of diagnostic imaging in disease detection and clinical management, the intersection of Indigenous health, health literacy, patient communication, and cultural safety within diagnostic imaging contexts remains substantially understudied.

This applied dissertation addresses that gap through three integrated scholarly products …

Emotional And Physical Neglect As Predictors Of Mcmi-Iv Personality Scales, Jenna Wolff

Theses and Dissertations

Theodore Millon (2011) proposed that specific developmental experiences and childhood adversities contribute to personality pathology, although these hypotheses have received limited empirical investigation. Participants (N = 490) completed the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-IV (MCMI-IV) and self-report measures of childhood adversity. Hierarchical ordinal regression analyses examined whether childhood adversities predicted elevations across MCMI-IV personality scales after controlling for age, gender, and co-occurring abuse. Although neglect was the primary focus of the study, childhood physical and emotional abuse emerged as the most consistent predictors across models. Both forms of abuse significantly predicted elevated masochistic, borderline, and schizotypal personality scores. Emotional abuse uniquely …