Digital Commons Network^™

Building The Social Capital Of The Academic Library Through Fundraising, Kathryn Dilworth

Honors College Faculty Publications

The Social Capital Fundraising Model builds stronger and more meaningful connections with individuals who are in a position to give to the library, and it increases the reputation and value of the library. Finally, because so little scholarship exists on fundraising for the academic library, this piece adds to this literature. It also brings the academic library into philanthropy literature, which is an area of tremendous growth in recent years. My intent is that this chapter will serve as evidence for higher education development programs to invest more in academic library fundraising, recognising it as a viable case for giving …

Leader Labeling Of Employees Within Organizations: Descriptions, Daily Patterns, And Contextual Factors, Erin B. Lunday

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

This study explored how formally assigned, organizational leaders perceive their employees using an explanatory sequential mixed-method approach. Applying the tropes associated with labeling theory (i.e., the perceptual frame within the labeling process) and positive organizational elements (i.e., positive deviance and positive leadership), the research determined what potential labels leaders assign to employees they supervise, examined the degree to which self-assessed positive leaders assign more positive descriptors, and identified contextual factors that influence the leaders’ labeling process. As part of an eligibility process for the study, leaders completed a positive leader self-assessment (n = 62), of which a sample (n = …

The In-Between : Addressing The Gap In Identity Formation Modeling For Ex-Muslim Atheists, Fatima Afsheen Shaik

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

The transition between religiosity and disaffiliation has been under-represented in the literature. Furthermore, religious disaffiliation has thus far been studied in reference to religion broadly without further specification, except in the cases of Christianity and Catholicism, which have been studied far more often than other religions. Gaps in the research were identified and addressed using seven existing models of religious and nonreligious identity development. The extant literature was reviewed, analyzed via critical interpretive synthesis, and organized into an identity development model for ex-Muslim atheists. The resulting model consisted of the following stages: (1) religion as ascribed identity, (1a) socialization, (1b) …

Building Cultural Competence In Schools Through Teacher Capacity, Latonya R. Robinson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to understand the dynamics of how teaching culturally responsive strategies to teachers can help eliminate the opportunity gap between students of color and their White counterparts. The action research method involved first collecting quantitative data through several surveys and then explaining the quantitative results with in- depth qualitative data through interviews and professional learning communities. In the first phase of the study, the culturally responsive and teacher efficacy scale data was collected from the participants within the study and the district at large. While the district survey was not mandated, it was strongly encouraged. …

This Is Home: Stories Of H-2a Placemaking In The U.S. And Mexico, Lillian Slaughter

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis contextualizes the lived experiences of two agricultural guest workers who I work with in Kentucky. Beginning in 1917, the history of agricultural guest worker programs in the United States is detailed up until today with the H-2A visa program. The first chapter pro-vides this history and pays close attention to the impact of the liberalization of Mexico’s econo-my and integration into the larger agricultural market between the US and Canada. In chapter two, census data of Kentucky and the county that the farm is located, provides a background on the Latino population. This chapter focuses on the growth …

Themes And Associations Concerning The Covid-19 Pandemic: Autoethnography, Amber Mcgannon, Ebunoluwa O. Adedeji

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Per the college of nursing, my proposed project will discuss living during uncertain times and unusual times of change. This APA formatted paper will be an autoethnography, meaning that we will review the perspectives of COVID through the lens of culture, research, and our own perspectives and experiences. Everyone has experienced changes during the COVID-19 pandemic due to self-isolation. Examples of change include changes in learning, working, thinking, teaching, and behaving. Using acquired nursing skills such as critical thinking, reflection, inquiry, and evidenced-based practice; my partner and I will dissect and discuss these changes and how they have affected ourselves, …

Mapping Religious Sites In China: A Research Note, Jackie Henke, Fenggang Yang

Department of Sociology Faculty Publications

Drawing from visual studies scholarship, we highlight current and persistent critiques of sociological visualization, note recent developments in visualization tools for sociologists, and propose how sociologists can be reflective about their visualization choices. As a case study, we outline the visualization development and selection process in our project of mapping Chinese religious venues. We explain the visualization challenges we faced, the visual biases we hoped to manage, the strengths and limitations of various visualization methods we identified, and how we selected visualizations for varying research queries. In addition, we provide a list of considerations for fellow sociologists working to visualize …

Sisters Of Social Justice: The Social Justice Activism Of The Grand Rapids Dominican Sisters, Elizabeth Kay Chamberlain

Wayne State University Dissertations

“Sisters of Social Justice: The Social Justice Activism of the Grand Rapids Dominican Sisters,” examines the late-twentieth-century social justice activism of the Grand Rapids Dominican Sisters at the local, national, and international levels. It addresses the opposition to their social justice activism by the Vatican and other institutions at the local and national levels and the dangers they faced when ministering abroad. It argues that within the opposition and dangers they faced, and their responses to these challenges, we can see the agency of the Grand Rapids Dominican Sisters. This dissertation, “Sisters of Social Justice: The Social Justice Activism of …

The Thread Of Legality: Lgbtq Parental Identity Construction And Experiences In A Post-Marriage Equality Era, Allison Jendry James

Wayne State University Dissertations

LGBTQ couples have more opportunities to become parents than ever before. This is partly due to advancements in the LGBTQ movement as well as changes in cultural ideologies, changes in families, and more recent medical advancements (Ryan and Berkowitz 2009). Such changes allow LGBTQ couples to become parents, but to do so in differing ways (Dunne 2000). The legalization of same-sex marriage changed the parenting landscape for LGBTQ parents in a variety of ways. Parenthood is presumably different now that same-sex marriage is officially legal. Experiences among LGBTQ couples in the post legalization of same-sex marriage era raises questions about …

White Teacher Attitudes Towards Their Experiences With Anti-Racist Initiatives, Rebecca Frances Reaume

Wayne State University Dissertations

The attitudes of white teachers become a critically important aspect of racism and its dismantling. White teachers work within the institutions that have power to inspire and empower students and they have the tendency to hold the structures of the dominant society within their behaviours and actions. This study embraces a mixed method research design through surveys and semi-structured interviews to explore the attitudes that white teachers have towards their experiences with anti-racist initiatives. Teachers are able to either replicate and sustain social patterns of white hegemony or act as agents of change in combat of racism. As a force …

About Her Business: The Making Of The Black Female Entrepreneur, Selina Steward

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative research explored the lived experiences of Black women in the United States who have managed to establish and sustain successful businesses. This research seeks to explore the vicissitudes and challenges of Black female entrepreneurship, as well as the strategies employed by Black women to achieve successful business ownership. The researcher interviewed 15 Black businesswomen with intimate knowledge of the phenomenon of interest using a purposive sample technique. Employing a phenomenological approach and semi-structured interview questions, this study uncovered connections between previously identified challenges in the literature and recommendations for the next generation of Black female entrepreneurs. Learning from …

Understanding The Underserved Student: Barriers Experienced By At-Risk Students During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Melissa Rosado

Theses and Dissertations

The forced expeditious transition online induced by the COVID-19 pandemic caused a massive disruption to education. COVID-19 exacerbated the inequities that existed in education for years. As technology advances and integrates with education, it can both enhance inclusive instructional practices, as well as exacerbate issues of equity. Achievement gaps will persist unless colleges create equitable educational environments for all students, including “at-risk” populations such as those enrolled in the Extended Opportunity Program and Services (EOPS) program—a state funded equity program.

Through the lens of digital equity and inclusion theoretical frameworks, the purpose of this embedded mixed methods study was to …

A Qualitative Analysis Of The Organizational Culture On An Inner-City Revitalization Of One Government Entity In California, Erin Franco

Theses and Dissertations

Inner-city revitalization is one primary goal of municipal leaders, yet it remains controversial in that it requires the entire municipality to become an organized system operating as an organization. All parties involved in the process of inner-city revitalization must be engaged and willing to undergo the proposed changes. These changes include creating multiple streams of revenue for the city, creating jobs for community members, and encouraging community engagement to develop healthy and happy communities. As leaders engage in this pursuit, they must have a thorough understanding of leadership's critical task to develop an organizational culture that aligns with the mission …

Addressing The Equity Gap In California Community Colleges’ Transfer Pathways: A Transfer Center Guide For Supporting Underrepresented Student Success, Nune Mikayelyan

Theses and Dissertations

California Community Colleges (CCC) are integral in ensuring student enrollment, persistence, and subsequent higher education degree attainment. As one of the most affordable institutions of learning, community colleges symbolize access to various degree and certificate completion options, transfer opportunities, vocation and remedial education, as well as workforce training. However, a high percentage of students, especially from underrepresented backgrounds, systematically falls short of the set institutional guidelines and do not complete a degree or transfer within the expected timeframes. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine the effective strategies utilized by CCC transfer center directors (TCDs) for supporting underrepresented …

An Examination Of Capacity Building For Sanitary And Phytosanitary Measures For Women In Sub-Saharan Africa: Empowerment Theory At The Individual, Organizational, And Community Levels, Lisa De Leon

Theses and Dissertations

Knowledge and application gaps exist for women farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa who are key agricultural players for economic growth and food security. This study examined capacity development for Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures and empowerment of women farmers considering Rappaport (1984) and Zimmerman’s (1995, 2000) lenses of empowerment theory. The central research question was, how does capacity development for sanitary and phytosanitary measures empower women at the individual, organizational, and community levels in Sub-Saharan Africa? The study employed an embedded mixed methods design collecting data via an electronic survey from 23 Sub-Saharan women farmers; 22 from Ghana and one from …

The Anti-Hero Struggle: Mental Health And Addiction Overwhelming The Postmodern Protagonist, Nicholas Michael Durdan

Theses and Dissertations

Essay: The Anti-Hero Struggle: Mental Health and Addiction Overwhelming the Postmodern Protagonist -- Script 1: Shades of Death -- Script 2: Borderline -- Script 3: iSassins -- Script 4: Fake News.

Board Governance In Crisis: Director Influence In Executive Crisis Leadership, Kevin Schaller

Theses and Dissertations

The COVID-19 global pandemic is the most far-reaching crisis of the modern era and the cascading impacts on organizations is tantamount to a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) environment for decision-making by board directors and top management team (TMT) leaders. The pandemic provided an unprecedented opportunity to expand upon the disparate research associated with decision-making by board directors and TMT leaders during crises. This phenomenological study explored how the pandemic influenced decision-making distinctly from previous crisis events and how executive decisions on firm policies and strategies transpired throughout the crisis. A sample of 32 board directors and senior executives …

Impacting Black Youths’ Unemployment Through Online Social Networking And Online Social Capital, Adolphus Emmanuel Archie Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

Blacks have the highest unemployment rate when compared to other subsets of the United States population. Black youths have the highest unemployment rates when compared to other racial subsets in the United States. These facts have been constant since the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) began reporting this statistic in the early 1970s. In order to close the gap between the rate of unemployment of Black youths when to compared to other racial groups, many types of civic programs have been implemented from all levels of governments. None of these programs or efforts have reduced Black youths’ unemployment nor closed …

Icu-Related Medical Trauma: A Socioecological Exploration Of Contributing Factors And Experiences Of Traumatic Stress In Adult Icu Survivors, Jacqueline Hanson

Theses and Dissertations

Advances in biomedical technologies and critical care are leading to increased survivorship rates of ICU patients. During critical care, patients confront a variety of stressors that may contribute to adverse psychological outcomes, including posttraumatic stress. The nature of posttraumatic stress in this population differs from that associated with traditional trauma. The phenomenon of medical trauma in ICU survivors is complex: it is highly subjective, exists on a continuum, is cumulative in nature and carries cumulative effects, involves a combination of endogenous and exogenous, physical and emotional stressors that vary in intensity and duration, occurs in an interpersonal context that involves …

Beyond The Binary Male: A Systematic Review Of Gender-Responsive Modifications To Risk Assessment Tools, Devin Randle

Theses and Dissertations

The American Psychological Association’s (APA) ethical guidelines identify that psychological tests should only be utilized on populations for which reliability and validity have been established. Likewise, the APA specifies gender to be nonbinary, encouraging clinicians to utilize inclusive and accurate measures. Following such guidelines when conducting violence risk assessments with women and individuals who identify as non-binary is currently challenging because a majority of violence risk assessment tools utilize a male normative sample. Applying such tools to populations beyond a cisgender male can result in misclassifications of individual risk. When risk is misclassified, improper interventions are utilized, which leads to …

Implications Of Gender Dysphoria On Gender Schema And Social Cognitive Theories Of Gender Development, Beau Bourgeois

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project considers the implications of gender dysphoria under two prominent theories of gender development, gender schema theory (GST) and social cognitive theory (SCT). Gender dysphoria is considered a significant motivator for transgender behavior and is presented in the DSM-5 as the experience of a strong desire, or as primarily affective in nature. GST and SCT differ in a number of ways, most notably in the role affect plays for gender development and behavior motivations. The former places primary emphasis on environmental influences, leaving the role of affect in question, while the latter posits gender behavior and motivation as an …

Transforming Place: The Socio-Environmental Afterlives Of Tellico, Cheyenne Bennett

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis assesses the socio-environmental afterlives of the Tellico Dam controversy that affected citizens of Loudon, Blount, and Monroe Counties in East Tennessee. The central goal is to understand the impacts that development-induced displacement and resettlement had on communities following dam construction. The people from the aforementioned counties witnessed the landscape transform from one that had an abundance of farmland to an area where the farmland is diminished due to the creation of the dam, the reservoir, and the waterfront properties that surround the reservoir. This project analyzes these post-Tellico Dam impacts in terms of waterfront property development, gentrification, land …

The Shades Of Immigration: How Skin Tone Shapes Attitudes Towards Venezuelan Immigrants In Latin America, Madison Hamilton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Venezuela is currently home to one of the most profound economic crises in modern-day Latin America and the most severe in any non-war-ridden country in recent years. Due to this, mass amounts of Venezuelan immigrants have left to countries such as Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, and Peru. This immigration within Latin America, with similar culture and language, leads to the question of if and how does skin tone predict attitudes towards Venezuelans in several Latin American countries? This study uses data from the 2018/19 LAPOP data survey to assess the link between skin tone and support for Venezuelan immigrants. Results of …

Blues Is My Business (And Business Is Good?), David N. Larson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This work focuses on the social, political, and economic trends that govern the blues music scene in Clarksdale, Mississippi. Clarksdale is seen as a sort of “ground zero” in the blues world, it is often referred to as, “the land where blues began.” This claim is not without merit but it is not strictly historically accurate. Many of the town’s spokespeople use euphemisms that distort the troubled history of race relations in the town and its music spaces.

This investigation centers around the economic state of the town’s tourism industry, the individuals who act as the town’s promoters, and the …

Speech Fluency Changes Following Deep Brain Stimulation Of The Subthalamic Nucleus In Parkinson’S Disease: A Meta-Analysis, Emily Morphis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: Speech fluency changes following deep brain stimulation are one aspect that is crucial to consider when exploring treatments for Parkinson’s disease. Deep brain stimulation, specifically of the subthalamic nucleus, has been linked to a decrease in speech fluency despite improved bodily motor control. This acquired dysfluency is referred to as “neurogenic stuttering.” The purpose of the current study is to determine the incidence and severity of speech fluency decline following deep brain stimulation in patients with Parkinson’s disease. A meta-analysis was conducted with 7 studies (239 subjects) that recorded changes in speech fluency. All studies used a quantitative assessment, …

She Owns It: A Study Of White Women Landowners, Hannah Bullock

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Southeast Missouri is home to some of the nation's most valuable farmland per acre on average. Just twenty-four percent of this agricultural land is in possession of female landowners. This study investigates the experiences of these female producers using Fuzzy Cognitive Mapping in order to understand their decision making process and the barriers that they are confronted with in their social field, as well as their relationship to capital, as women in agriculture. The findings of this study can serve as a needs assessment for this community and can be used to develop solutions that can help this community achieve …

The Impact Of Blended Classroom Pedagogy On Student Gpa In A Community College Stem Course, Sarah Mattox Holt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

America is facing a shortage of STEM workers and colleges must meet the demand by educating qualified graduates. However, attrition rates are high in STEM classes, particularly in minority groups. Blended learning has increased in popularity in higher education over recent years and has the potential to improve current teaching practices. Yet, limited research centers on the success of blended learning implemented in a community college STEM course. This quantitative research study (N=1264) was designed to evaluate student success in the blended learning environment versus traditional environment in an introductory community college biology course for science majors. The study indicated …

From Conflict To Co-Creation Three Powerful Stories Of Transformational Change, Payton Silket, Cheryl L. Epps

Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution

In our communities today, too often, the end goal of dialogue is to develop methods that allow people to coexist, but this is not enough. If left at that, our society will increasingly become more segmented and stratified, where groups of people are able to reside in the same vicinity but only interact when absolutely necessary or safe. This is no way to live, and, in fact, it is a recipe for polarization and the eventual death of dialogue.

Speaking Arabic In Israel: "He Whose Hand Is In The Water Is Not Like Whose Hand Is In The Fire", Yael Efron, Mohammed S. Wattad

Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution

No abstract provided.

Beyond (And Before) The Transnational Turn: Recovering Civil Disobedience As Decolonizing Praxis, Erin Pineda

Government: Faculty Publications

Can civil disobedience be transnationalized? This question presumes civil disobedience to be a fundamentally domestic concept—one constitutively tied to both the nation-state and the normative underpinnings of liberal, constitutional democracies. This article shows how this assumption mistakes one version of civil disobedience’s twentieth-century intellectual history for the whole of it, and risks reproducing binaries (domestic vs. international, democracies vs. non-democracies) that trouble attempts to theorize the transnational. Turning to an alternative intellectual history—a network of civil rights and anticolonial activists—reveals a novel theory of civil disobedience as decolonizing praxis, as well the stakes of these binaries: the disavowal of white …