Digital Commons Network^™

An Investigation Into The Redemptive Uses Of Technology To Help Churches Reach The Lost And Make Disciples, Scott W. Sherman

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

There is a compelling rationale for investing the time and energy to develop a successful digital discipleship program. There is a mandate to reach the lost. There is a command to make disciples of all nations. Theologically there is significant and sufficient biblical evidence that discipleship and can happen remotely. Evidentially, Christian digital community has occurred successfully and with levels of engagement needed for spiritual accountability and growth. Following a non-empirical mixed methodology based on Bernard Lonergan for evidence gathering and subsequently incorporating a redemptive Augustinian methodology akin to The City of God, we have fulfilled the purpose of being …

A Review Of Education Policies And Their Impact On Gang Participation For Youth, Sarah Sanders

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Youth have suffered from gang violence in schools and neighborhoods at different rates per the Concentric Zone Model and the Strain theory. Gang violence is a concern for Little Rock, Arkansas. This study will follow the Concentric Zone Model and the Strain theory for data collection and evaluate the extent of gang violence linked to education in response to Zero-Tolerance policies for the Little Rock School District (LRSD) and Pulaski County Special School District (PCSSD), showing a holistic explanation of crime. This study will review secondary data from LRSD, PCSSD, and local law enforcement agencies to cross-reference reports of concerns …

Promoting The Use Of Suicide Prevention Mobile Applications Among Clinicians To Reduce Suicide & Suicidal Behaviors In Adults Aged 18-45, Papetua Jepkoech Kimutai

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Suicide among adults aged 18-45 has increased significantly and has become a challenge to public health worldwide. The purpose of this scholarly project was to promote the use of suicide prevention mobile applications by clinicians to reduce suicide and suicidal behaviors among adults (18-45 years old). Safety Plan suicide prevention mobile app was used in addition to the standard method of preventing suicide. A quasi-experimental design was conducted to promote a suicide prevention mobile app in clinical practice. The clinician participants included three family nurse practitioners (FNPs) and five psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners (PMHNPs)The data were collected using pre …

A Phenomenological Study On The Mental Health Stigmatization And Faith Of Christian African American Genx Men, Kenneth Jerlette Mickie

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The primary goal of this study was to examine the Mental health stigmatization and the faith of Christian African American GenX men. Mental Health within the African American community is a topic that is often considered taboo and seldom discussed. African faith plays a prominent role, many still experience contradictory feelings about receiving mental health treatment due to the worry of being judged and stigmatized. Therefore, it is critical to understand African Americans' perceptions of depression and views of depression treatment, including cultural stigmas and religious, spiritual, and socioeconomic barriers that may deter individuals from seeking or accepting treatment in …

Improving Early Detection Of Skin Cancer Through Enhanced Screening Practices, Ashley Cline

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

With an effort to enhance early detection and intervention, this research investigates the urgent need for better skin cancer screening procedures. Developing and evaluating a multicomponent intervention to improve skin cancer screening and increase skin cancer early detection rates in primary care settings was the purpose of this project. In order to assess the use of improved screening procedures for early skin cancer detection in the primary care setting at the Complete Health organization’s Ormond Beach branch, the evidence-based practice study used a quasi-experimental approach. The project focused on the clinical question of whether implementing enhanced screening practicessuch as patient …

Increasing Self-Esteem In Early Adolescents, Megan Ostendorf

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

Self-esteem is how someone views themselves in different aspects of their life. It can fluctuate throughout a person’s life. The literature review in this paper looks at the impact that it makes on their academics, connectedness to school, peer interactions, and how parenting styles play a role in a student's self-esteem. School counselors play a role in helping students to better succeed academically using a variety of interventions using small groups throughout their day. The small group in this paper is used to increase early adolescent students with their self-esteem. The small group takes place once a week for eight …

The Importance Of Adopting A Neurodiversity Affirming Approach: A Training For School Counselors, Emily Bauer

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

Consisting of a literature review and a training presentation, this project investigates the concerning mental health crisis affecting the autistic community and educates school counselors on how to shift to a neurodiversity-affirming approach to better support student needs. Research shows that autistic individuals subjected to applied behavioral analysis (ABA), social skills training (SST), and other behaviorist treatments experience significantly poorer mental and physical health outcomes as well as lower quality of life, indicating a critical need for change (Aral et al, 2023; Cassidy et al, 2020; Stewart et al, 2023). Supported by modern research, a neurodiversity-affirming approach is a better …

Stigma In Special Education Services With Student Focused Solutions, Deion Heinen

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

Stigma can impact groups in many different ways. Special education students have endured stigma and the effects of this stigma for decades as proven by years of research. However, student focused solutions have been lacking in the literature and this is critical to give our educators tools to use in order to promote a positive learning environment in their classroom. While in this study, stigma was not proven in students that I currently teach that have IEPs or receive intervention services it was indicated that students rate themselves lower than general education students about how they perceive school. While more …

The Impacts And Interplay Of Adolescent Personal Contexts And Sense Of Belonging To Mathematics On Postsecondary Stem Field Interests And Intentions, Monica J. Weir

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

This quantitative correlational research sought to examine the relationship between high school students’ sense of belonging to mathematics and their interests and intentions to pursue fields of study and careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). With a theoretical framework based on the belongingness hypothesis and social cognitive career theory (SCCT), the author explicitly linked the universality of the phenomenon of sense of belonging to individual, contextual, environmental, and experiential factors that influence career-related interest development. A sample of 328 high school students attending one private, Catholic, college preparatory school in the Upper Midwest of the United States responded …

The Impact Of Adverse Childhood Experiences On Juvenile Delinquency, Abigail Holmquist

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

Abstract

Youth that have been exposed to Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are at a much higher risk of delinquent acts and involvement in the juvenile legal system. This study includes discussion on two studies of ACEs, conducted by Felitti et al. (2019) and Cronholm et al. (2015), reviews the impact of ACEs on juvenile delinquency in certain demographics, and includes case examples of how I have seen ACEs impact previous clients I had on my caseload. Discussion includes examples of how Social Control Theory and General Strain Theory apply to the relationship of ACEs and juvenile delinquency. Future research recommendations …

Symptoms Of Academic Burnout In Associate Degree Nursing Students, Laura J. Witherspoon

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Academic burnout may contribute to high attrition in associate degree nursing (ADN) students because academic burnout affects academic success, causes physical and mental health problems, and decreases self-esteem. Academic burnout may be more prevalent in ADN students because ADN programs are shorter but more intense. The purpose of this study, guided by Maslach’s multidimensional theory of burnout, was to examine the relationship between time in the ADN program and symptoms of academic burnout in nursing student participants and the difference in academic burnout among the four semesters in the ADN students. Maslach’s Burnout Inventory-General survey for students was emailed to …

Whole Human Pedagogy For Education Abroad, Anna Kelly

Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education

No abstract provided.

Critically Examining The Mobilities Of A Critical Thinking Curriculum In Transnational Higher Education: A Case Study In West Africa, Coomerene Muilerman-Rodrigo

Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education

No abstract provided.

Fans In Ancient Egypt: Iconographic And Contextual Study Of Fans In The Predynastic, Old, And Middle Kingdoms, Nadra Zaki

Theses and Dissertations

A variety of fans existed throughout ancient Egyptian history. They had several forms and were made of different materials. They appear in two- and three-dimensional representations, as well as in texts. They relate to royalty and high officials and also feature in domestic settings, both out- and indoors. Fans were used for creating breeze, and providing shade in real life, and also during the journey to the afterlife, where they combined physical and metaphysical protection. Several names were associated with fans, depending on their functions, both in the secular and sacred world.

Earlier studies have either generally examined fans …

Cytoplasmic And Mitochondrial Calcium Influences Retinal Ganglion Cell Survival To Axon Injury, Sean Mccracken

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Retinal Ganglion Cell (RGC) death is the final outcome in optic neuropathies like glaucoma and traumatic optic nerve injury, which represent the leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide. There are currently no treatments for these diseases targeting RGCs directly, and mechanisms underlying RGC death are unclear. Calcium ion (Ca2+) dysregulation occurs in almost all neurodegenerative conditions, including glaucoma, which has been studied in rodents using a robust injury model of traumatic axon injury, optic nerve crush (ONC). However, the impact of homeostatic Ca2+ regulation in RGCs response to glaucoma or ONC is unknown. Furthermore, while some mechanisms that regulate Ca2+ …

Exploring The Homeostatic Functions And Driving Forces Of Lymphatic Outflow Pathways From The Central Nervous System, Zachary Matthew Papadopoulos

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Lymphatic drainage from the central nervous system (CNS) has been noted and described for several hundred years, yet its physiological roles have remained unclear. The fluid homeostasis of the CNS has long stood as an area of scientific interest due to primary disorders including hydrocephalus. However, the early days of neuroimmunology leaned on the lack of lymphatic vasculature in the CNS as a contributing explanation for ‘immune privilege’ in the CNS. As a result, the importance of lymphatics in CNS homeostasis has remained poorly understood and controversial. Following a renaissance in interest in the contribution of lymphatics to CNS homeostasis, …

The Effect Of A Low-Carbohydrate Diet On Evoked Pain And Quality Of Life In Non-Hispanic Black Women With Knee Osteoarthritis: A Pilot Study, Asia M Wiggins, Larissa J Strath, Gray E Mcpherson, Barbara A Gower, Amy M Goss, Burel R Goodin, Robert E Sorge

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is a prevalent chronic pain condition that can significantly impact quality of life and contribute to recognized chronic pain racial disparities. We have shown that a low-carbohydrate diet (LCD) can reduce KOA-related pain. Our previous work suggested that the LCD was more beneficial for women and non-Hispanic Black (NHB) adults, but our sample was not sufficiently diverse. Thus, we sought to determine whether the LCD may be beneficial for NHB women with KOA on measures of self-reported and evoked pain.

METHODS: Fourteen NHB women (M = 55.93, S.D. = 7.79 years of age) with KOA were …

'If I Can't Dance, I Don't Want To Be Part Of Your Revolution(S)': On Being Together In And Outside Of The Academy, Tracey Collett, Gayle Letherby

Peninsula Medical School

We have both, independently and with others, long been interested in collaboration within an institution that publicly supports such work whilst often working against it. Thus, in our daily working practices, we challenge (alone, with others and together) traditional definitions and myths of working, learning and being in higher education. In this article, through a focus on our relationship both in and outside of the academy, we critique and respond to the socio-political challenges of academic work. Through auto/biographical stories, we first show the general expectation on us (and others) to dance to ‘the dominant societal tune’ and second, focus …

Chaotic Waters And Well-Tempered Specters: The Philippnes As Source Of Overseas Labor, Joel David

Kritika Kultura

The precolonial territory that became the Philippines was a participant in maritime Asian politics and warfare that made the Southeast Asian region appear unstable and undefined to newly arrived Western observers. In truth, regional network-building amid labor shortages was a constant concern of the various peoples, with their interdependent arrangements occasionally readjusted because of piratical raids conducted by more capable or determined centers in order to increase their working populations. The Western occupation forces (themselves also subject to limitations in their number) sought to stabilize the communities they subjugated in order to more effectively bankroll their colonial projects, an arrangement …

Zainichi, Mobility, And Jeju Island: On The Representation Of Island In The Novels Of Kim Sok-Pom And Lee Yangji, Myungsim Yang

Kritika Kultura

During the Japanese colonial period (1910-1945), about a quarter of Jeju residents moved to Japan to escape their hardships, as Jeju Island’s industry was inferior to the inland area. In light of this, about 60% of Osaka Zainichi Koreans are deemed from Jeju Island. Against this backdrop, the meaning and symbol of Jeju Island, respectively, are well embodied in novels written by Jeju people who moved to Japan. For them (i.e., Koreans living in Japan), Jeju Island is not only their homeland but also a place where they have painful memories. In addition, Jeju Island means their own identities itself …

Mobility Necropolitics And Harmless Islanders, Jinhyoung Lee

Kritika Kultura

This article critically discusses the wartime mobilization policies implemented by the Japanese Empire on the Korean peninsula during the Pacific War (1941-1945) in terms of mobility necropolitics, a framework that combines mobility studies and Achile Mbembe’s notion of necropolitics. In particular, by examining the lives of the Korean islanders on the imaginary Julan island in Kim Sa-ryang’s novel Bada-ui Norae [Songs of the Sea] (1943-1944) through Giorgio Agamben’s concepts of “harmless” and “desubjectivation,” this paper seeks to excavate a postcolonial moment in colonial Korea. In the “death worlds” of the dead and those who will die on the battlefields, “harmless …

The Island Literature Museum In Korea, Inseop Shin

Kritika Kultura

The literature museum serves as a unique locale that emits the symbolism and cultural essence of literature, enhancing the image of a region. However, in Korea, islands have long been estranged from literature due to insufficient literary infrastructure. Conversely, from a mainland-centric perspective, islands have often been considered as peripheral cultural spaces for poetry and novels. This study focuses on the regional characteristics of islands in Korea and examines the relationship between literature and islands through case studies of Jeju Island’s Literature Museum, Yun Seon-do Literature Museum of Bogildo, and Literary Island Nodo. Each of these island literature museums presents …

Island And Mobility In The Face Of Climate Change: Robert Smithson's Floating Island, Jaeeun Lee

Kritika Kultura

This essay aims to examine the entropic landscape in motion that appears in Floating Island by Robert Smithson, a distinguished earth artist active in the 1970s. Floating Island was a temporary artificial mobile island made with earth, rocks, native trees, and shrubs, towed by a tugboat around Manhattan Island. Smithson attempted to combine his artistic imagination with the theory of science, particularly entropy, a pivotal concept in the second law of thermodynamics while also developing an original idea of his own, namely “dialectics of entropic change” that combined entropy with dialectic. He believed that the dialectic could go beyond entropy …

Where Island Studies Meets Mobility Studies In Literary And Cultural Studies, Maria Luisa Torres Reyes, Luisa Gomez

Kritika Kultura

This special section challenges the conventional view of islands as isolated entities, aiming to portray island life through various lenses like literature, geography, and history. By merging mobility studies with island studies, it explores how movements within and around islands shed light on societal phenomena such as climate change, infrastructure development, migration policies, and trauma borne out of violent historical events. The articles, stemming from a conference on Jeju Island, South Korea, analyze power dynamics, imagination, and re-imagination between mainland and island, center and periphery. They reflect on islands as subjects for social scrutiny and platforms for cultural expression. Through …

The Forest As Sight, The Forest As Narration: Alvin Yapan's Sandali Ng Mga Mata, Glenn Diaz

Kritika Kultura

Fredric Jameson argues that the passage from monopoly to late capitalism or globalization has resulted in a “bewildering new world space” marked by a “weakening of historicity,” if not the outright “suppression of history.” As a result, this dizzying, dehistoricized totality has become unrepresentable. If this foreclosure is premised on the capture of social life by the “interpenetration of government and big business” under late capitalism, this paper argues that the forest, as a historically and narratively illegible space, may offer an escape. Drawing on a Marxist tradition of ecocriticism, in particular Robert Spencer’s work on “forest literature,” and notions …

Practicing The Sublime, Raising The Marginal Self: The Chinese Muslim Writer Zhang Chengzhi's Narrative Of Adventure, Xiayin Dang

Kritika Kultura

This paper examines the concept of “adventure” in a series of stories by a well-known Chinese Muslim writer Zhang Chengzhi (b. 1948). Zhang is famous for searching out and depicting landscapes, especially in northwest China. This paper will explore in what ways adventures in landscapes become a crucial mechanism for advancing plot development. How do adventures in Zhang’s stories create grand space-time in novels through transformations of different geographic topographies and historical moments? Why are these adventures depicted with attributes of the sublime? More importantly, what is the intertextual relationship between the adventures of the characters in the text and …

Comradeship, Remolding, And Rectification In Norman Wilwayco's Gerilya, Laurence Marvin S. Castillo

Kritika Kultura

In this article, I examine the representation of the long-running Maoist national democratic (NatDem) revolution in Norman Wilwayco’s award-winning novel Gerilya (2008), which centers on the uneasy, often violent encounters between petty bourgeois revolutionaries from the city and revolutionary peasants in the countryside. By engaging with the issues of revolutionary errors, remolding, and rectification, I explore how the novel’s predominantly unflattering depiction of revolutionary guerrillas track the difficulties that underpin the process of revolutionary remolding and the formation of comradely relations. Such portrayal conceives of the revolution as a complex social process marked by the tension between, on the one …

Editor's Introduction, Vincenz Serrano

Kritika Kultura

No abstract provided.

The Erotic As A Marvelous Real Paradigm: Hurston And Conjure Feminism, Patricia Coloma Peñate

Kritika Kultura

The presence of conjuring in African American culture and artistic works in its relation to female identity has been recently addressed from an academic point of view as “Conjuring Feminism”: a term that centralizes its role as an intellectual tradition that works as a liberatory epistemology for women of African descent. In the definition of such term, Audre Lorde’s concept of the erotic has a central role. This paper analyzes Zora Neale Hurston’s works to explore how she engages in this tradition and its erotic nature. Lorde’s notion also functions as the paradigm at the base of Conjuring Feminism and …

Resisting And Transgressing White Patriarchal Constructions Of Race And Gender, Danica Čerče

Kritika Kultura

Until recently a marginalized voice in Australian literary studies, Australian Indigenous literature has gained an important role in the articulation of Indigenous peoples’ political thought. As one of the most frequent media of Indigenous Australians’ artistic expression, poetry presents a commanding exposé of the logic and hypocrisy of whiteness and a potent denunciation of the ongoing racialized and gendered violence in Australia. This essay is focused on the works of Romaine Moreton and Lisa Bellear, which is particularly powerful in addressing violence against Aboriginal women and girls. Framed by an interest in the radical potential of postcolonial literature to dismantle …