Digital Commons Network^™

Does Self-Efficacy Of Teachers Toward Inclusive Education Differ Between Primary And Secondary School? A Cross-Cultural Study Of Ghana And The United Arab Emirates, Ahmed Mohamed, Maxwell Peprah Opoku, Bernadette M. Guirguis, Ebenezer Mensah Gyimah, Maya Al Yafi, Shouq Alqahtani, Safa Alharthi, Mahra Aldhanhani, Al Zahra Aljaberi

All Works

There are ongoing debates on the level of education that students with special educational needs could participate in and enjoy as part of their fundamental right to education. There is a notion that students with special educational needs could be more easily included in primary schools than in secondary schools. However, teachers were excluded from such discussions. The current study aims to invigorate such discussion by exploring primary and secondary school teachers' self-efficacy across Ghana and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). a total of 897 teachers were recruited from Ghana and the UAE to rate their self-efficacy via the Teacher …

“I’M A Biracial Person Who Looks White In A Black Man’S Rap Game”: Exploring Expressions Of Multiracialized Masculine Vulnerability In Logic’S “Everybody”, Matthew Oware

Sociology and Anthropology Faculty Publications

The field of Black vulnerability studies includes analyses of Black men rap artists’ sexual debut, romantic relationships, mental stress, self-medication, and suicidal thoughts. I expand this analysis to Black-white mixed-race men who express emotional vulnerability regarding their racial identities. Using a case study of the song “Everybody” by Logic—a Black and white, mixed-race man—I find that Logic expresses joy and pride in his Black and biracial identity. Similarly, I observe that he expresses anger and frustration toward those who question, dismiss, or degrade his Black and biracial identities, a pattern paralleled in research on multiracial individuals. By analyzing his radio …

Cultivating A Culturally Relevant And Inclusive Elementary Music Classroom, Elisabeth Virginia Marie Buzzell

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

While programs such as the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Act (DEI) and the practice of Culturally Responsive Education (CRE) existed for much of the last decade, representation of marginalized and intersectional identities in traditional music education is often limited to world culture units, rather than being consistently integrated throughout the curriculum. The social understanding of CRE and DEI often limits their purpose to racial diversity; however, these philosophies affirm people from any marginalized class, including those based on gender, disability, race, culture, community, orientation, socioeconomics, or simply bringing one’s lived experiences into a valued perspective. The lack of integration happens …

Provorov Fights Pride Night: Hockey, Homophobia, And Reactionary Athlete Activism, Matthew R. Meier

Communication & Theatre Faculty Publications

The 2022–2023 NHL season witnessed a spate of reactionary protests to team-sponsored Pride Nights by players set off by Philadelphia Flyers defensemen Ivan Provorov. In this essay, I consider the reactionary side of athlete activism through an analysis of these protests. Drawing on a critical rhetorical perspective, I critique the discourse of players, coaches, teams, and the league to outline the discursive features of athlete activism that advocates for the hegemonic status quo. I argue that these reactionary protests feature a refusal to engage in public discourse, a reliance on individual beliefs and personal choices, and tacit institutional approval from …

Expanding Ai Literacy: The 5cs Of News Literacy In The Era Of Generative Ai, Seth Ashley, Adam Maksl, Paul Cook

Journal of Media Literacy Education Pre-Prints

This article adapts the 5Cs framework of news literacy—context, creation, content, circulation, and consumption—to media environments shaped by generative artificial intelligence. We argue that prevailing discussions of AI literacy overemphasize technical or functional competencies while underemphasizing the social, cultural, political, and communicative systems in which AI operates. Drawing on previous research, we define AI literacy as knowledge of the technical, social, and ethical dimensions of AI-mediated content production, distribution, and consumption, along with the critical capacities needed to exercise agency within those processes. We show how the 5Cs can be reinterpreted for generative AI environments and integrate pedagogical implications for …

The End Of Unmeasured Exploitation: How A.S.M., C.A.S., And S.I.A. Challenge Digital Attention Capitalism, Delante Clark

Graduate Scholarship and Creative Works

Digital attention capitalism generates value through the capture and monetization of human attention, yet it has historically lacked standardized mechanisms for measuring attention-related harm. This paper argues that the Attention Safeguard Models (A.S.M.), Cognitive Attentional Standards (C.A.S.), and Sociological Impact Assessment (S.I.A.) collectively challenge this system by introducing an integrated framework for classifying, measuring, and evaluating digital attention harm and its societal consequences. C.A.S. provides standardized measurement of digital attention harm, A.S.M. identifies and classifies patterns of attentional disruption and manipulation, and S.I.A. evaluates broader impacts on institutions, communities, civic engagement, education, social cohesion, and inequality. Together, these systems transform …

Self And Other, Translingualism And Pan-American Race Thinking In Xul Solar's San Signos, Thomas Genova

Spanish Publications

This article deals with translingualism, race thinking, and Pan-Americanism in Argentine polymath Xul Solar’s Los san signos. The purportedly autobiographic, mystical text is written in Neocriollo, an artificial creole that the author created as a lingua franca for the Americas. Based on visions that he claims to have received using the I Ching, Xul Solar elaborated his work during the 1920s, a period marked by transnational debate on the meaning of Pan-American politics in light of US imperialism and race thinking. Los san signos mobilizes the mystical union of self and Other as a trope for regional unity, …

Beyond Forecast Accuracy: A Responsible Ai Framework For Provenance-Aware Fine Jewelry Retail Planning, Katayoun Kiarsi, James Hutson

Faculty Scholarship

Fine jewelry retailers must reconcile uncertain demand, high-value inventory, complex material histories, and expectations of responsible sourcing. This article develops a responsible artificial intelligence framework that connects demand forecasting, provenance evidence, and governance within retail planning. A conceptual framework-development approach informed by design-science research combines a targeted literature update through October 9, 2026, with descriptive analysis of published market statistics and an external retail forecasting benchmark. The analysis distinguishes original design propositions from empirical findings reported by other researchers; no retailer-level experiment or environmental impact assessment was conducted. Three sourced bar charts illustrate changing gold jewelry consumption and the methodological …

From Homes To Classrooms: Cultural Wisdom As A Guide For Stem Lesson Planning, Miriam Ortiz, Uma Ganesan, Angela Chapman, William Medina-Jerez, Ruby Lynch Arroyo, Mourat Tchoshanov

Teaching and Learning Faculty Publications

This article describes innovative elementary science instructional approaches based on cultural wisdom developed by preservice teachers enrolled in a teacher preparation program at a university in the U.S.-Mexico border region. As a part of a larger study, three Latina preservice elementary teachers were a part of a teacher residency in conducting community interviews and reflection activities to uncover cultural backgrounds that could inform culturally relevant STEM lesson planning, centering on family and home knowledge. This project began with family interviews during winter break and culminated in lesson planning and implementation during their science methods course in the spring semester. The …

Brochure: 49th Annual Literary Festival, 2026, Make Room For Wonder, Marina Cortez

49th Annual Literary Festival at ODU: October 4-8, 2026

No abstract provided.

From Colonies To Copies: Integrating Pcr, Culture, And Ast In Bacterial Diagnostics, Rob E. Carpenter, Andrew Krouse, Alaina Vincent

Human Resource Development Faculty Publications and Presentations

Real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has reshaped bacterial infectious disease diagnostics, yet important interpretive gaps remain regarding the relationship among molecular detection, cycle threshold (Ct) values, microbial viability, culture findings, and phenotypic antimicrobial susceptibility. In particular, Ct values are frequently overinterpreted as direct surrogates for viable bacterial burden, and PCR–culture discordance may be interpreted without sufficient consideration of the distinct biological information provided by each method. This review therefore aims to clarify the complementary biological and analytical roles of PCR and bacterial culture, critically examine the determinants and limitations of Ct interpretation and PCR–culture discordance, and provide a practical framework …

Festivalization As A Tool For Revitalizing Historic Sites The Case Of Maqa’Ad El-Sultan Qaitbay, Cairo, Egypt, Mona Helmy, Sherin Ashraf

Architectural Engineering

Historic sites are vital components of cities' urbanism, embodying distinctive spatial, architectural, and cultural narratives that shape their character. Their significance extends beyond the built environment, arising from the interplay between tangible elements, such as building forms and spatial organization, and intangible socio-cultural aspects. In many historic sites in Egypt and the Arab world, underuse has led to a decline in social vibrancy, reducing their contribution to the urban fabric. To address this issue, global strategies and tools such as adaptive reuse, placemaking, and festivalization have been employed to revitalize historic public spaces. This research explores the potential of festivalization …

Intersections Of Religion, Race, And Feminism With A Progressive Politic, Amanda D. Hernandez, Tess Starman Phd

Sociology: Faculty Publications

Public perceptions of feminism often posit religion as antithetical to the movement, despite many Christian women who identify as feminist. Previous scholarship has studied the ways that race and ethnicity have shaped how individuals conceptualize feminism. This study brings religious affiliation into the equation, specifically among Christian women in the United States. Do women who identify as Christian feminists have more “progressive” stances on social issues than Christian women who do not identify as feminist? Through a quantitative analysis of the 2021 Values and Beliefs of the American Public Survey, this study shows the differential moderating effect of two variables: …

Unlocking Effective Evaluations: Lessons From Media Literacy And Digital Skills Intervention Studies In Estonia, Finland, And Poland, Natalia Edisherashvili, Marit Puusepp, Veronika Kalmus, Margus Pedaste, Sini Tiihonen, Fatemeh Irani, Łukasz Tomczyk, Leen D'Haenens, Tania Azadi, Chao Wang

Journal of Media Literacy Education Pre-Prints

This study examines factors that enable and hinder the evaluation of Media Literacy (ML) and Digital Skills (DS) interventions across three countries and four contexts: in-service teachers in Estonia, elderly populations in Jyväskylä (Finland), vocational students in Helsinki (Finland), and pre-service teachers in Poland. Guided by the Logic Model framework, it explores barriers and enablers across Inputs, Activities, Outputs, and Outcomes to reveal structural and contextual elements shaping evaluation effectiveness. Findings cluster into four domains: organisational and administrative factors, intervention design, evaluation processes, and participant engagement. Organisational challenges such as staff turnover disrupted alignment between intervention and evaluation goals, while …

Syllabus: First Year Writing, Kylie Quave

Kylie Quave, First Year Writing: Food Archaeology for Civic Engagement

No abstract provided.

Syllabus “Struggles That Connect Us: From South Africa To Palestine To The United States”—A 14-Day Study Abroad Course In Cape Town, South Africa, Nafisa Tanjeem

Nafisa Tanjeem, Struggles that Connect Us: From South Africa to Palestine to the United States” - A 14-Day Study Abroad Course in Cape Town, South Africa

This course challenges conventional approaches to global engagement and study abroad by integrating decolonial, anti-racist, and feminist lenses with experiential learning to explore how historical and contemporary systems of power, inequity, and resistance operate across borders. It invites students to think beyond national boundaries, evaluate how their own identities and positionalities shape their perspectives and actions, and engage ethically and critically with interconnected struggles.

Chapter 10: Swipe, Reward, Repeat: Gamification, Intimacy, And Emotional Labor In Digital Dating, Emma Taylor

School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences

The rise of online dating platforms has transformed how individuals approach romantic relationships, with many users increasingly engaging in these spaces for entertainment as well as connection. Central to this shift is the phenomenon of gamification – the integration of game-like mechanics into non-game contexts, which has redefined user behaviors, shaped romantic choices, and influenced relationship outcomes. This chapter critically examines the gamification of online dating, exploring how swiping, match notifications, rankings, and rewards reframe intimacy as entertainment, alter decision-making, and marketize romantic engagement. Drawing on psychoanalytical and ultra-realist frameworks, and using original qualitative data from interviews, the analysis reveals …

Visualizing Equity: A Design Framework For Global Mental Health Communication For Generation Z, Jose Pena

Masters Theses

There is a lot of information about mental health available today. However, for Generation Z, those born between 1997 and 2012, the information proves both challenging to find and difficult to understand. The World Health Organization and other global groups publish a lot of information about mental health inequality, treatment gaps, and workforce shortages. However, this information is usually presented in dense, technical formats that are not meant for young people who are not experts. Many digital mental health tools, on the other hand, don’t give young people the emotional connection, cultural relevance, and visual clarity they need to deal …

Leading From The Precipice: How Academic Deans Are Navigating Artificial Intelligence In Higher Education, V. Dozier, Sarina Chugani Molina

Copley Library: Faculty Scholarship

This qualitative case study examines how associate deans at a medium-sized Catholic university respond to the rapid integration of generative artificial intelligence (AI). Guided by decolonial and feminist frameworks, the study analyzes survey data from seven academic leaders to understand their concerns, decision-making processes, and emerging practices. Our findings reveal uneven adoption, limited institutional guidance, and ongoing concerns about academic integrity, equity, and bias. The study also highlights the often-unseen relational and emotional labor involved in supporting faculty and students. We conclude by recommending flexible, collaborative approaches to AI governance that attend to context, care, and diverse ways of knowing.

Culturally Safe Nursing: Transformative Learning Experiences Through Critical Reflection Assessment, Lesley Andrew, Michelle Pedlow, Bev Ewens

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Aim: To explore the transformative learning experiences of postgraduate nursing students engaging in an Aboriginal culture and history module, through an analysis of a critical reflection assessment, in particular the student development of cultural awareness and culturally safe practice.

Background: Despite mandated inclusion of Aboriginal cultural content in Australian nursing curricula, culturally unsafe practices and racism persist. Transformative learning, underpinned by critical reflection, can challenge fixed assumptions and promote cultural awareness and culturally safe care.

Design: A qualitative descriptive study using thematic analysis. Methods: Written critical reflections from 15 consenting postgraduate nursing students who completed the Ngany Kalyakal Katatjiny Boordawan …

How Conditions Within Immigration Removal Centres In The United Kingdom Affect The Mental Wellbeing Of Detainees: A Scoping Review, Niamh Gallagher, Tristan Price, Matthew Griggs

Peninsula Medical School

BackgroundImmigration Removal Centres (IRCs) are used to detain people for immigration control by the UK government. This scoping review aims to examine the experiences of detainees within UK IRCs, specifically how conditions within them, including the regime, affect their mental wellbeing.MethodsThe Joanna Briggs Institute guideline for scoping reviews was followed. Six bibliographic databases and additional grey literature sources were searched for quantitative and qualitative evidence. Descriptive analyses and quality assessments were conducted.ResultsFifteen research studies and nine pieces of grey literature were included, comprising a total of 1353 participants and 11 IRCs. The majority of data was qualitative in methodology and …

‘Passing’ The Baton Of Trauma: Queer Failure Of The Women’S Sport Policy Working Group’S Anti-Trans ‘Position’, Meredith M. Bagley, Mary Anne Taylor, Sarah F. Price

Publications and Research

Engaging in critical rhetorical theory and methodology, we interrogate the contemporary landscape of anti-trans backlash in women’s sport. Specifically, we read the ‘TERF wars’ (Pearce et al.) across critiques of biofeminism (Pape) and whiteness (Fischer) while drawing upon critical social science research into trauma-bonding, bullying, and the structural impacts of gender verification policies. Our analysis focuses on the Women’s Sports Policy Working Group (WSPWG), offering a trauma-informed reading of the WSPWG’s ‘Position’ statement to illuminate how lesbian female athletes who were previously slandered for failing to meet femininity norms in sport are unable to overcome that trauma to recognize and …

Béla Király’S Tall Tale That Led To His Decoration As “Righteous” In Yad Vashem, Peter Pastor

Department of History Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

In May 1993, General Béla Király was decorated Righteous among the Nations in Yad Vashem for protecting the lives of a Jewish labor company in the winter of 1943–1944 in the rear of the front in Proskurov, Ukraine. His recognition was based on false testimonies by veteran labor servicemen who were unaware that, during the winter of 1944–1945, Király, then a high-ranking official in the fascist Arrow Cross Ministry of Defense in Kőszeg, failed to respond to the suffering of 5,000 Jewish labor servicemen, of whom 2,500 died.

Assessing The Feasibility Of An Online Gaming Ministry And Developing An Action Plan To Train Apologists For Outreach., Alexander R. Mooney

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this research project is to assess the feasibility of an online gaming ministry and to develop an action plan to train apologists for outreach. This study is necessary due to several key developments over the last few years, including the growth of social media and digital platforms, the rise of content creation on platforms like YouTube, Twitch, Facebook, and X, the COVID-19 pandemic, which increased the need for digital ministry, and the overall growth of Gen Z in religion and faith. Because of these points, the need for developing digital ministry and online gaming ministry has grown. …

Grace, Reciprocity Norms, Adverse Life Events, Religious Struggle, Salience Of Religion, Relationship To God As Modifiers, Calvin Jay Slot

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine whether adverse life events, reciprocity norms, relationship to God, salience of religion, religious struggle and/or grace moderate the frequency of church attendance-physical health relationship or if the psychospiritual variables interact with adverse life events (ALE). 1,000 participants were recruited through Prolific to produce a sample representative of the United States population. An additional 20 participants were recruited through pastors of three churches in Illinois. Multiple linear regression revealed relationship to God, religious struggle, reciprocity norms, and ALE were moderators. Additionally, religious struggle and negative reciprocity norms interacted with adverse life events, …

Keepers, Surfmen, Wives, And Daughters: A Gender And Kinship Study Of The United States Life-Saving Service In North Carolina, 1874-1915, Tammy M. Woodward

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The Outer Banks of North Carolina is both a beautiful and dangerous place. Its region is filled with descendants of the Keepers and Surfmen who once manned the lifesaving stations that the federal government built along America’s coastlines. It is also home to one of the most dangerous stretches of American coastline known as the Graveyard of the Atlantic. The United States Life-Saving Service, established in 1871, was a government solution to the growing public outcry over the staggering number of deaths by shipwreck during the nineteenth century. While the Life-Saving Service has fostered a small but detailed historiography, its …

The Lived Experiences Of Special Education Teachers Regarding The Influence Of Transformational Leadership: A Phenomenological Study, Jaleesa Glover

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to understand the lived experiences of school leadership among special education teachers in inner-city charter schools in the United States. At this stage in the research, the lived experience of school leadership support is generally defined as how special educators perceived, interpreted, and responded to the leadership behaviors of their school administrators within their professional roles. The theory guiding this study was Burns’ transformational leadership theory. The central research question addressed in this study was: What are the lived experiences of special education teachers in inner-city schools with school leadership support? Data …

Relational Reasoning Across Cultures: Consistency And Variation In South Korea, The United States, And China, Alexandra Carstensen, Minju Kim, Youngon Choi, Caren M. Walker

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Abstract reasoning in early childhood is often described as following a “relational shift,” over which children become increasingly sensitive to relations. However, recent work has challenged the generality of this account, showing that children in the US and China follow distinct trajectories in a relational match-to-sample task. This difference aligns with multiple cultural and linguistic factors implicated in relational reasoning, where the US and China appear at opposite ends of a continuum, focusing on objects (US) versus relations (CN). This raises the possibility that differences in culture and language may shape variation in the development of abstract reasoning. Here, we …

Indigenous Ontologies And Architecture, Reconstructing Interrelational Relationships, Arlene Garcia Guzman

McNair Summer Research Program

Contemporary architecture faces a growing pressure to respond to the socioecological crises with regard to the consequences of design that so often accept environmental systems as separate from the living. In contrast, many Native systems, often referred to as Traditional Knowledge (TK), comprehend cumulative, place-based bodies of knowledge that are developed through extended histories of interaction with specific environments. In this context, Traditional Knowledge encompasses resource use practices, sustainability, spirituality, and an emphasis on a relational worldview. It is characterized in such a framework that different layers of existence, such as humans, animals, plants, water, climate, and materials, are understood …

Mountain Development In Nepal: Settlements, Infrastructure, And Economic Transformation, Keshav Bhattarai, Ambika P. Adhikari

Himalayan Research Papers Archive

As Nepal urbanizes, expands infrastructure, strengthens local governments, and explores deeper connectivity with India and China, climate change is increasing floods, landslides, heat, and water insecurity. Rapid internal migration, rising disaster risks, youth outmigration, and dependence on remittances are also revealing the limits of conventional urban development, especially in the mountainous region. The central challenge for Nepal is no longer just to accommodate growing towns and cities, but to build settlements that are safe, productive, environmentally resilient, and capable of sustaining long-term prosperity.

This paper argues that Nepal's urban future must be guided by a new development paradigm centered on …