Digital Commons Network^™

Holistic And Holy: An Inward Journey Toward Healing And Wholeness, Chad Mcswain

Doctor of Leadership

There are two ubiquitous challenges to the modern church in North America: declining church attendance and the mental health crisis. This is an opportunity for the modern church to take up the missional imperative by providing access to mental health resources to meet the mental and spiritual needs of those they serve, while creating a positive connection to those who do not currently attend church.

This doctoral project seeks to address both challenges by providing a podcast called, Holistic and Holy, Listener Guide, and website that creates conversations at the intersection of mental health and spirituality. This approach uses traditional …

The Bourgeoisie Black Church: An Analysis Of The American Black Church's Aspirations And Imagination, Alexander Robert Booker

Seattle Pacific Seminary Theses

I am a product of the Black church. It is my home, my heart, and it has helped me spiritually, financially, and emotionally in many ways throughout my life. However, the church that I love dearly and has provided me with many opportunities has also provided spaces of harm, exclusion, and the promotion of an imperialistic Christ. This tension is not a unique tension for many institutions born in America, but what I see so clearly is the tension between the Black church’s countercultural and resistant roots that started in the brush harbors of the antebellum south and into what …

Predicting Hurricane Evacuation Decisions With Interpretable Machine Learning Methods, Yuran Sun, Shih-Kai Huang, Xilei Zhao

Research, Publications & Creative Work

Abstract Facing the escalating effects of climate change, it is critical to improve the prediction and understanding of the hurricane evacuation decisions made by households in order to enhance emergency management. Current studies in this area often have relied on psychology-driven linear models, which frequently exhibited limitations in practice. The present study proposed a novel interpretable machine learning approach to predict household-level evacuation decisions by leveraging easily accessible demographic and resource-related predictors, compared to existing models that mainly rely on psychological factors. An enhanced logistic regression model (that is, an interpretable machine learning approach) was developed for accurate predictions by …

What Roosevelt Did To Brown V. Board Of Education, Or Race And Court Packing, Jill M. Fraley

Nebraska Law Review

Roughly one-third of American schools remain segregated. Scholars have offered a variety of explanations, mostly social and cultural, but sometimes legal, for why desegregation did not proceed effectively after Brown v. Board of Education. This Article articulates a less expected and previously undocumented cause: President [Franklin D.] Roosevelt’s prior attempt at court packing slowed—even derailed—desegregation.

The story of what Roosevelt’s court packing did to make the work of integration harder is a cautionary tale, particularly for those who want to alter the U.S. Supreme Court now in furtherance of a modern cause. The only reasonable route for reforming the …

Building Effective Communicative Relationships: Understanding Superintendent And School Board Member Perceptions Of Trust And Role Responsibilities, Jason Blume

Dissertations of Practice

Effective superintendent and school board leadership teams are positioned to create learning conditions that promote student success. Research emphasizes that effective district leadership teams and school board relations directly correlate with improved student outcomes. Understanding the communicative relationships between school board members and superintendents as well as their perceptions of trust and role responsibilities will support leadership teams’ ability to effectively lead their school districts. Communication and mutual trust amongst team members is essential to fostering a strong collaborative environment.

The purpose of this research is to better understand how communicative relationships, trust, and role responsibilities support effective leadership. Following …

บทบาทของเครือข่ายการเคลื่อนไหวข้ามชาติ (Tans) ในการสนับสนุนสิทธิสตรีเกาหลีใต้ ในสมัยประธานาธิบดียุนซอกยอล (ค.ศ. 2022-2025), ปิยนุช ชัยสมพร

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

สารนิพนธ์ฉบับนี้มุ่งศึกษาบทบาทของสหพันธ์สมาคมสตรีเกาหลีใต้ (Korean Women’s Association United – KWAU) ในการร่วมมือกับเครือข่ายการเคลื่อนไหวข้ามชาติ (Transnational Advocacy Networks – TANs) เพื่อส่งเสริมและปกป้องสิทธิสตรีในช่วงรัฐบาลของประธานาธิบดียุนซอกยอล (ค.ศ. 2022–2025) โดยใช้กรอบแนวคิด Boomerang Effect ของ Keck และ Sikkink (1998) ในการวิเคราะห์กลไกการเคลื่อนไหวของภาคประชาสังคมเมื่อรัฐเพิกเฉยต่อข้อเรียกร้องด้านสิทธิมนุษยชน ผลการวิจัยพบว่าแม้ TANs จะเคยเป็นกลไกที่มีประสิทธิภาพในอดีต แต่ในบริบทร่วมสมัยของเกาหลีใต้กลับเผชิญข้อจำกัดหลายประการ ทั้งจากกระแสต่อต้านเฟมินิสม์ภายในประเทศ การเผยแพร่ข้อมูลเท็จผ่านแพลตฟอร์มออนไลน์ การลดบทบาทของรัฐผ่านการยุบกระทรวงความเท่าเทียมทางเพศ และการโจมตีองค์กรสิทธิมนุษยชนว่าเป็นกลุ่มแทรกแซงจากต่างชาติ อย่างไรก็ตาม KWAU และพันธมิตรยังสามารถปรับเปลี่ยนกลยุทธ์โดยหันมาใช้สื่อสร้างสรรค์ การเคลื่อนไหวเชิงวัฒนธรรม และการสื่อสารที่ลดระดับการเผชิญหน้าเพื่อสร้างการยอมรับในระดับรากหญ้า งานวิจัยนี้เสนอให้เสริมพลังกลยุทธ์ Sandwich Effect ซึ่งผสานแรงกดดันจากภายในและภายนอก พร้อมทั้งเสนอให้รัฐ ภาคเอกชน และองค์กรวิชาการมีบทบาทเชิงรุกในการส่งเสริมสิทธิสตรีท่ามกลางกระแสอนุรักษนิยมร่วมสมัย

Digital Orientalism In Machine Vision: A Cross-Platform Analysis Of Ai-Generated Representations Of Indian Culture, Jinu K. Varghese, Padma Rani

Open Access archive

This study investigates how contemporary artificial intelligence image generation systems interpret and reproduce Indian cultural elements through a comparative analysis of three major platforms: Stable Diffusion, Flux, and Midjourney. While these systems have demonstrated remarkable technical capabilities, their handling of non-Western cultural elements remains understudied. We present a novel methodological framework that combines visual social semiotics with digital anthropology to analyse AI-generated images across multiple dimensions, including representational accuracy, cultural sensitivity, and power dynamics. Our systematic analysis of images generated through increasingly sophisticated prompts reveals significant patterns in how these systems mediate cultural representation. Results indicate that while platforms exhibit …

Lb-Sam: Local Beam Search With Simulated Annealing For Community Detection In Large-Scale Social Networks, Keshab Nath, Rupam Kumar Sharma, S. K. Mahmudul Hassan

Open Access archive

With the rapid development of internet technologies and the increasing availability of large-scale data, the detection of community structures within complex networks has become a critical area of research. This paper introduces a novel community detection technique called LB-SAM (Local Beam Search with Simulated Annealing and Modularity), designed to efficiently uncover hidden community structures in large-scale social networks. LB-SAM integrates Local Beam Search (LBS) to explore the local network structure and Simulated Annealing (SA) to globally optimize modularity, enabling the detection of communities with intricate boundaries and strong internal connections. By focusing on influential nodes to form subgroups and recursively …

Stories Of Dismantling Whiteness In Social Work Educational Spaces, Jeanean Mohr

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

Social work and higher education are rooted in systems of racism and exclusion and continue to operate as racialized spaces. As the social work profession grapples with its past and calls upon social work educators to support efforts to undo structural racism, paying attention to what is happening in educational spaces is essential. In this study, I examined the stories and tensions of White Social Work faculty engaged in efforts to dismantle whiteness in their classrooms, departments, and universities. Using narrative inquiry, I interviewed nine White faculty from different universities representing five regions across the United States. I explored their …

From Runway To Homepage: Synthesizing Luxury Brand Strategies In Digital Scape, Diksha Agarwal, Rajeev Kumra

Open Access archive

The increasing preference of consumers to purchase luxury online has caught the attention of luxury retailers over time. It has encouraged retailers to formulate strategies that boost their online revenue. Owing to the importance of the topic, this article presents a detailed and critical review of brand strategies that induce luxury consumption using digital platforms. Using the PRISMA approach and following the systematic review process, the authors have identified five major brand strategies that can help them strengthen their digital game. The article presents a conceptual framework that will help luxury retailers understand the current state of online brand strategies, …

Udl As A Framework For Expanding Liaison Work And Engaging With Students, Erica Defrain

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: Faculty Publications

This chapter examines the development of a series of virtual workshops designed to strengthen research and information strategies in the social sciences. Guided by the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL)—emphasizing equity, flexibility, and simplicity—the program evolved into both a successful synchronous learning experience and a sustainable suite of asynchronous instructional objects accessible across the university. Now in its third semester, the workshops have expanded beyond traditional liaison boundaries, increasing awareness of library resources and services throughout the academic community. The chapter details the iterative process of developing, designing, and assessing the workshops through a UDL framework, highlighting pedagogical …

Presenting Past People: Storytelling Through Prehistoric Garment Reconstructions, Floor Huisman, Anna Zimmermann, Ronja Lau, Karina Grömer

Textile Crossroads: Exploring European Clothing, Identity, and Culture across Millennia

This paper argues that we need to focus on past people (rather than just objects) in our narratives and museum displays to engage museum visitors more effectively. It will demonstrate that we can use a combination of well-researched physical and digital prehistoric garment reconstructions to implement more people-centered approaches also used in living history, which bring the past to life and allow visitors to literally come face-to-face with long-dead people. In this way, visitors can relate to past people on an emotional level, which helps them to learn much more about past life than many traditional displays. After outlining how …

Frontmatter For Textile Crossroads: Exploring European Clothing, Identity, And Culture Across Millennia, Kerstin Droß-Krüpe, Louise Quillien, Kalliope Sarri

Textile Crossroads: Exploring European Clothing, Identity, and Culture across Millennia

Title and copyright pages, Acknowledgments, Contents, Prefaces.

We believe this volume has the potential to contribute to the advancement of European scientific excellence and competitiveness, fostering a deeper understanding of the cultural, technological, and societal significance of textiles and clothing in shaping European identity and heritage through the millenia. We hope that the anthology will find a wide and interested readership, and that it will inspire many new research projects in the field of textile history.

Technical And Technological Analyses Of Excavated Textiles, Christina Margariti, Judith Goris, Petra Linscheid, Agata Ulanowska

Textile Crossroads: Exploring European Clothing, Identity, and Culture across Millennia

Textiles are particularly complex and labor-intensive structures, thus their constructive elements, such as fibers and yarns, as well as the final textile products (e.g., threads, cords, fabrics, and applied decoration) reveal a range of important technical, technological, and sociocultural information. In this paper, we discuss the analysis of excavated textiles at two levels:

1) Technical analysis that offers basic information about the qualities of examined textile samples.

2) Technological analysis that provides insights into technology, social relations of production, and the level of craft specialization or production modes.

Both analyses offer new evidence for environmental resources, sustainability, trade, and exchange, …

Investigating Organic Colorants Across Time: Interdisciplinary Insights Into The Use Of Madder, Indigo/Woad, And Weld In Historical Written Sources, Archaeological Textiles, And Ancient Polychromy, Paula Nabais, Cecilie Brøns, Magdalena M. Wozniak

Textile Crossroads: Exploring European Clothing, Identity, and Culture across Millennia

Organic dyes have been used from the earliest times to provide color primarily to textiles, but also as a colorant in painting. Such organic dyes could create a wealth of colors, depending on the availability and know-how of resources. These dyes are usually organic in nature, and primarily obtained from different plant sources. Unfortunately, the characterization of natural organic colorants in textiles and artworks is still a challenge. The difficulty of analyzing these materials is sometimes allied to the frequent impossibility of micro-sampling, and the frailty of the objects. Many techniques, such as HPLC (High-Performance Liquid Chromatography) and SERS (Surface-Enhanced …

Towards Textile Narratives: A Cross-Over Perspective On Textile Imagery In Statuary, Iconography, And Literature, Leyre Morgado-Roncal, Juliane Müller, Marisa Kerbizi

Textile Crossroads: Exploring European Clothing, Identity, and Culture across Millennia

Textiles and clothing constitute a fundamental element of our cultural past, present, and future. Therefore, they were also represented in many mediums, such as iconographic depictions and literature. Images are a source of visual and mental illustration and are often dependent on the viewer’s perspective. As a result, the representations of textiles convey social constructions and their cultural perception. Their study is the focal point of this article: The ways in which textiles and clothing are described by the imagery shown in Greek and Roman statuary and iconography, as well as in contemporary Albanian literature and mythology.

Representations illustrate the …

Young Romans: Status, Dress, And Gender, Mary Harlow, Lena Larsson Lovén

Textile Crossroads: Exploring European Clothing, Identity, and Culture across Millennia

The demographics of the Roman world suggest that it was a world full of children. Demographers argue that in order simply to maintain population levels in a period where life expectancy was very short by modern standards, and infant mortality high, a woman should, on average, have six children, on the assumption that not all would live to adulthood. Despite much research in the last fifty years, children still remain partly invisible in the Roman world. This is primarily because they leave little evidence produced by themselves and are seen through the prism of adult eyes. Inevitably, given the nature …

Narrative And Material Tools Of Resistance: Mobilizing Textile Crafts, Heritage, And Fashion In The Context Of The Invasion Of Ukraine (2022–2023), Magali-An Berthon, Sophia Hayda, Tetiana Krupa, Yuliia Lazorenko, Marie-Louise Nosch

Textile Crossroads: Exploring European Clothing, Identity, and Culture across Millennia

In 2022–2024, textile and fashion scholars came together to write an anthology sharing a new vision of European history as seen through textiles, in the COST Action EuroWeb. During this period, the continent was still dealing with the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and was then faced with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Contemporary European history will be markedly defined by the ongoing war in Ukraine. One remarkable aspect of this conflict is the way textiles and dress appear daily in a variety of media outlets, mobilized as visual and semiotic means to communicate issues of war …

A Sensory Perspective On High-Ranked Women’S Dress In The 8th To 4th Century Bc In The Mediterranean And Central Europe, Karina Grömer, Susanna Harris, Audrey Gouy, Cecilie Brøns

Textile Crossroads: Exploring European Clothing, Identity, and Culture across Millennia

In the late 20th century, the study of western science was dominated by a philosophical approach to evidence as text and meaning. In archaeology, material culture was treated like text, to be read through systems of signs, symbols, and indices put together in syntax. For studies of dress, this was influential in understanding dress as a cognitive system compiled to create identities and meaning. In this approach, textiles, fastenings, hairstyles, and gestures are presented as signs and symbols used to form a statement about identity, to be read by others. There was a focus on the visuality of dress and …

Assignment: Forming Questions, Talha Issevenler

Open Educational Resources

A question development assignment that aims to make space for practicing fo developing critical reading and writing skills in engaging social scientific, philosophic and humanities course material.

Introductory Sociology, Talha Issevenler

Open Educational Resources

A syllabus for "Introductory Sociology" that familiarizes students with basic sociological concepts such as norms, institutions, class, and power with interpretative exercises designed for students to develop ability to apply sociological analysis to particular contexts.

Caring Cloth Praxis: Ethics Of Loss, Practices Of Remembering, Suzanna James

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

This research, in continual development as a part of early PhD study, is currently entitled ‘Ethics of Loss, Practices of Remembering’ and locates itself within the field of cultural sustainability. It is foregrounded by my MA thesis entitled ‘Caring Cloth’ and works in response to the words of Louise Bourgeois: ‘the needle is used to repair damage, its claim to forgiveness.’ My own socially and environmentally regenerative textiles practice considers the way in which personal practices of remembering can be developed in response to cultural sustainability.

This textiles practice develops explorative visual textile art and social textile practice research which …

Public Patriotism, Silent Dissent: Women And The Making Of Senninbari In Wartime Japan, Mariko Nagai

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

During the early years of the so-called “Fifteen Year War” (1931–1945), Japanese women and girls created senninbari when men received draft notices to serve. Often worn around soldiers’ waists underneath their uniforms, these sash-shaped talisman were embroidered with 1,000 red knots, each knot made by a woman. In a time when the Japanese government censored dissenting voices against its militaristic and nationalistic foreign and domestic policies, this government-encouraged gesture of stitching senninbari became one of the few ways in which women could voice their personal protests within patriarchal gender expressions (良妻賢母 “good wife, wise mother”). Senninbari’s design evolved with regional- …

Textile Ways Of Thinking As A Trauma-Informed Design Tool To Research And Understand Communities, Smrti Ganesan, Nishanth Srikanth

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

There has been a shift in methodologies in the broader world of design. Today, co-design and participatory methods are a vital part of the modern designer's toolkit, and designers are finding new ways to interact with communities and design solutions that are more responsive to the actual needs of those communities.

Textile design has historically been a medium for expressing and processing traumatic experiences, reflecting individual and collective traumas in society. Textiles have also historically served not only as a form of artistic expression but also as a powerful tool in activism, particularly within feminist movements. Recent developments have seen …

Solidarity Dividend With Us Wool And Community Engagement To Address Socioeconomic Inequities, Helen X. Trejo, Angela Becerril

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

As a long-standing natural fiber, wool provides an opportunity for community engagement and reflexive practice. Our process involved sourcing wool from US sheep and wool farms in lower income areas and hands-on textile development, and intersectional reflection. Being at a Hispanic Serving Institution, informed approaches to engage with concepts, such as the “zerosum paradigm” and “Solidarity Dividend” based on Heather McGhee’s NY Times Best Selling book “The Sum of Us.” It explores how racism affects intergenerational wealth among minorities. The zero-sum paradigm is the idea that progress is a tradeoff; benefits to some is at an expense for others. The …

Lavenz, Valenz, Levenxë, Lavexha, Lavenzka: Woven Felted Blankets From The Korçë Region In Southeastern Albania, Alexis Zoto

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

This paper will look at and document colors and patterns and motifs of woven and felted blankets from the Korçë region of southeastern Albania. Very little is published on these textiles. This paper will document the disappearing and under appreciated textile, and why are they no longer understood or valued. In Albania and in Albanian diaspora communities this textile has had different names in prewar, prewar Korçare dialect and now.

I will be drawing from information gathered interviewing parishioners who volunteered to share their heirlooms and information gathered from examining the textile(s). These heirlooms belong to members of multiple generations …

Why They Stay: Service-Learning And Degree Progression At The University Of Mississippi, William Patrick Brown Teer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This phenomenological qualitative research study examines a problem of practice as it relates to continued undergraduate enrollment and participation in service-learning programs. While graduation rates remain as a challenge for higher education, the continual enrollment of students that can hopefully lead towards graduation remains just as challenging. Service-learning programs, where students learn about societal issues through direct experience, may be a way for students to develop positive connections to institutions and other relevant skills that can lead to persistence and continual enrollment. This study explored the student experience and student perceptions of continual enrollment in the UM Bonner Leaders Program, …

Substance Use Amongst Veterans Following Post-Deployment Reintegration: An Examination Through The Lens Of Acculturation, Brittany Hampton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Each year, approximately 46.3 million Americans are diagnosed with substance use disorder (SUD), which costs the United States healthcare system approximately $13 billion in annual costs. One group particularly at risk for SUD is veterans due to the unique stressors that veterans face (e.g., being apart from loved ones, exposure to life threatening events, transitioning between military and civilian life) and a military culture that often reinforces maladaptive patterns of substance use. Little research has been done to examine substance use as a negative outcome associated with the acculturative experience veterans face when transitioning from military life back to civilian …

Linguistic Uniscape : A Comparative Study Of Universities In Thailand, Zhaoyi Pan

Manusya, Journal of Humanities

This study examines the linguistic landscape (ll) of university campuses in Thailand and proposes the term “linguistic uniscape” (lu). It attempts to examine whether there is a significant difference in the code preference for signage between the public universities (puu s) and the private universities (pru s) in Thailand and examines the different social meanings of the signage at the puu s and at the pru s by using place semiotics (ps) theory. A total of 30 university campuses were investigated, including 15 puu s and 15 pru s. The results revealed a significant difference in the use of English …

Dissent And Posthuman Consciousness In Prabda Yoon’S Basement Moon, Isaraporn Pissa-Ard

Manusya, Journal of Humanities

This paper examines Thai author Prabda Yoon’s Basement Moon, a 2018 science fictional novel that embodies the belief that art and science can play a vital role in triggering critical consciousness that keeps alive the spirit of dissent. A close reading of the novel also reveals that it mirrors several key concepts and ideas promoted by Gramsci pertaining to power relations between the ruling class and those under them and the educational roles of art and science. Of great significance is that this novel is exemplary of an innovative mode of political fiction in its employment of key posthumanist …