Digital Commons Network^™

Heroines From An Ancient World, Danni Liang

Art Theses and Dissertations

A female warrior wearing different historical armor will fight against each other for territory. Ultimately, it will be presented in Unreal Engine 5 through a fusion of animation, special effects, and armor themes.

I will conduct historical research on armor in its early stages, including its structure and essential components. Then, I will choose a particular armor set from that era for production. I will study the fighting movements of different warriors and make them into animations accompanied by historical background stories.

Create three special effects, namely thunder, fire, and ice, and integrate these elements into the animation to present …

What It Takes To Live This Lifestyle: An Investigation Into Black Women’S Identity Progression When Practicing Soft Life, Monique Fontella Pollock

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

The Strong Black Woman schema has served the Black woman well in modern history, as it has given formidable warnings to all others that this demographic cannot be easily defeated. What would make this intersection, female and Black, needing of this title? Possibly as Malcolm X stated in one of his most famous speeches, “The most disrespected person in America is the Black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the Black woman. The most neglected person in America is the Black woman” (X, 1962). Even with these obstacles, Black women have gone on record to lead in entrepreneurship …

What Is The Value Of Value Neutrality? Exploring The Tension Between Objective Scholarship And Activist Scholarship, Julia C. Newman

Gettysburg Social Sciences Review

In recent decades there has been an increase in activist scholarship, a specific type of work where scholars seek to generate knowledge and pedagogies that aim to solve issues of inequality through political change. The emergence of activist scholarship poses a challenge to the long-standing ideal of value neutral scholarship and, as a result, universities and academics are grappling with these competing visions of scholarship. Complete value neutrality within scholarship is impossible yet remains a desirable ideal. But in seeking value neutrality the voices of those who have been historically undermined should not have their thoughts dismissed simply because their …

Gaeilge In Éirinn: Irish Language Ideologies And Attitudes In A Divided Island Nation, Skyler D. Newhall

Linguistics Honors Projects

Sociolinguistic research on Irish has predominantly examined language dynamics within either the Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland, neglecting the connected experiences of language communities across both territories. Drawing on media and interview data, this paper investigates the significance of a shared 'language=identity' ideology. The results reveal that despite most Irish identifying individuals operating within this framework, diverse controversies regarding attitudes towards language legitimacy, speaker agency, and perceived 'usefulness' affect native and new speaker language use and motivation. These findings underscore the need for language reclamation and revitalization projects to address language ideologies and attitudes.

40 Years Of Koyaanisqatsi: The Greatest Experimental Film Ever Made, Brian Thomas

Honors Program: Student Scholarship & Creative Works

The 1983 experimental film Koyaanisqatsi remains a visionary artistic work 40 years after it was initially released, because it continues to resonate in contemporary society by vividly depicting the intersection of human life and technology, prompting viewers to contemplate "life out of balance" and its implications. The film makes us question where life is headed and the ways in which we "live technology" today.

The Humanization Of War Reparations: Combatant Deaths And Compensation In Unlawful Wars, Hannes Jöbstl, Dean Rosenberg

Michigan Journal of International Law

Recent events have sparked a renewed interest in the law and practice of war reparations. While today it is uncontroversial that unlawful uses of force, including acts of aggression, entail the obligation of the wrongdoing state to make reparations, including by way of compensation, the precise extent of this obligation remains subject to debate. One particularly contentious aspect is whether, and to what extent, states that violate the prohibition on the use of force are obligated to pay compensation not only for harm caused to civilians and civilian objects, but also for damage caused to the armed forces of the …

Spectacles Of Security: Deconstructing Visual Narratives Of Operation Lone Star, Terry Kincer

Theses & Dissertations

Operation Lone Star was a border security initiative launched by Texas Governor Greg Abbott in March 2021. Serving as the intermediary between the military and the public, the Texas Military Department's YouTube channel, TMD Operation Lone Star, produced news-style short digital videos aimed at documenting and promoting increased security along the U.S.-Mexican border. Drawing on Peter Andreas's (2022) concept of the border as a symbolically manipulated site, this study deconstructed these videos to analyze the visual strategies employed in depicting the migrant crisis as a threat to the United States. Through an examination of thematic categories such as massification, …

Scare If You Dare: A Look Into Scare Acting, Hana Goss

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Scare acting has always been the unsung villains of the entertainment industry. For three months of the year, for about five minutes of a haunted house, they get attention. However, the work scare actors do to is way more than just a five second “boo.” Scare actors have been at the beginning of theatre and continue to influence modern entertainment. Even though the patrons may be the ones feeling the danger, scare actors may be even more in danger than them. Each scare actor is unique from their looks to their moves. It might be take a lot of nerve …

Visibility In The Redacted Space: What Censored Poetry Reveals About Guantanamo Bay Prison And The Individuals Trapped Inside, Chase Portaro

English and Creative Writing Capstone Projects

This paper discusses what readers can understand about Guantanamo Bay and the larger setting of America's Islamophobic "War on Terror" through the poetry of individuals detained inside of Guantanamo Bay Military Prison. In 2002, Mark Falkoff, with the help of a team of lawyers, translators, and human rights advocates published a collection of twenty-two detainee-authored poems, titled Poems from Guantanamo: The Detainees Speak. This paper discusses the emerging neo-colonial subjectivity of America's War on Terror, as it analyzes the available writings of Guantanamo poets. The new language of subjectivity of victims of contemporary American empire is defined by suppression, as …

In The Performance Of A Lifetime: Pepper Plinkett, Lily Camille Hollinden

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This narrative depicts a caricature of the human experience through the eyes of my alter- ego character, Pepper Plinkett. Pepper is a symbol of my personal philosophies of what it means to be human, and serves as a protagonist and guide through an infinite, ambiguous natural world. This exhibition is a celebration of the vibrancy, curiosity, and ridiculousness of a lifetime. The uniqueness of humor as a specifically human trait and its use as a tool of communication, particularly in expressing authenticity, is the driving force behind my use of clowns in my work. I take an absurdist approach to …

University Of Nebraska At Omaha Commencement: May 2024, University Of Nebraska At Omaha

Commencement Programs

No abstract provided.

The Original Meaning Of Commerce In The Indian Commerce Clause, Gregory Ablavsky

Connecticut Law Review

In Haaland v. Brackeen, the Supreme Court returned to the foundational question of federal authority over relations between the United States and Native nations, long known as “Indian affairs.” The decision reaffirmed well-established precedent affirming broad federal authority in the area, but it also underscored ongoing disagreement, as Justices Gorsuch and Thomas offered lengthy and dueling investigations of the original understanding.

This Essay explores one aspect of that history: the original meaning of “commerce” in the Indian Commerce Clause. Nearly a decade ago, I wrote an article that sought, as its title indicated, to move “beyond the Indian Commerce Clause.” …

Summit Report: Artificial Intelligence In The Era Of Strategic Competition, Sarah Brown

GNSI Summit Reports

The 3^rd Tampa Summit: Artificial Intelligence in the Era of Strategic Competition was held March 5-7^th, 2024 at the University of South Florida and encompassed the 9^th event in the Great Power Competition Conference series. The Global and National Security Institute (GNSI), in partnership with U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM), the U.S. Department of Defense Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO), and the USF Institute for Artificial Intelligence (AI+X) brought together over 50 experts from government, academia and private industry to discuss the current and future applications of artificial intelligence in national security.

Future Market Blueprints: Harnessing Artificial Intelligence In A World Wired For Wonder, David Temprano

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

George, Jane, and the gang from The Jetsons promised us the dream to soar with flying cars. Well, we move forward with self-driving cars. Robot maids? Well, we got a handy dandy Roomba. The Turn-off-the-Boss Button? Well, we have screen share toggling and the mute button. What each of these examples has in common is artificial intelligence (AI). According to some estimates, AI and its innovation have the potential to boost the global economy by trillions of dollars a year, revolutionizing society in the process. In this process comes progress, but also worry and questions, law and intervention, along with …

Who Will Speak For The Trees? How The Save Our Sequoias Act Underscores The Urgent Need To Protect Giant Sequoias And The Tule River Indian Reservation From Wildfire Destruction, Bradly Demoll

UC Law Environmental Journal

Increasing rates of high-severity wildfires threaten the existence of giant sequoia trees, as well as the reservation and sacred cultural sites of the Tule River Indian Tribe. Decades of fire suppression have created a ticking time bomb across millions of acres of land. The result: the last two fire seasons alone wiped out nearly 20% of all giant sequoias on the planet and burned thousands of acres of forests across the Tribe’s land. This Article explores the ecological background and significance of the giant sequoias and their relationship to the Tribe. It then examines the existing legal framework for sequoia …

Arkib Universiti Sebagai Repositori Memori Institusi / Siti Mawarni Salim, Noorsuzila Mohamad, Nor Edzan Che Nasir, Salim Siti Mawarni, Mohamad Noorsuzila, Che Nasir Nor Edzan

Research Publications (2021 to 2025)

Arkib universiti merupakan repositori untuk rekod, penerbitan dan artifak sesebuah universiti. Tanggungjawab untuk membangun dan mengurus arkib universiti lazimnya diserahkan kepada perpustakaan universiti berkenaan. Buat masa kini, kebanyakan universiti tertua mempunyai arkib universiti tersendiri seperti Harvard University Archives, Archives at Yale, University of Cambridge University Archives, Oxford University Archives, Kyoto University Archives, Osaka University Archive Repository, Museum of Peking University History, Tsinghua University History Museum dan banyak lagi. Di Malaysia, terdapat 20 buah universiti awam dan pelbagai jumlah universiti swasta, kampus universiti luar negara, kolej, politeknik, kolej komuniti dan kolej swasta. Sehingga kini, tiada rekod rasmi bilangan institusi pengajian tinggi …

Power Shift, The South China Sea Dispute, And The Role Of International Law, Youngmin Seo

Michigan Journal of International Law

The arena of the law of the sea has become a battlefield for Sino-American legal warfare, commonly referred to as “lawfare,” and it is in the tumultuous waters of the South China Sea where this fierce contest of great powers rages. The divergent perspectives on international law, particularly regarding maritime law, between China and the United States stem from the countries’ distinct historical experiences, memories, and outlooks. This inherent disparity in epistemology shapes their comprehension of the fundamental tenets of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (“UNCLOS”), specifically the conflicting notions of mare clausum and mare …

"Speak Arabic!": Arabic Dialect Comparison Videos And The Reconfiguration Of The Maghreb-Mashreq Language Ideology, Jacquelyn Stewart-Kuhn

Honors Theses

There is a hidden power imbalance in the Arabic-speaking world. It is not related to warfare, politics, or oil, but language. For decades, Egyptian and Levantine (Mashreqi) dialects have been over-represented in Arabic language media, to the detriment of North African (Maghrebi) dialects. This imbalance has played a crucial role in reinforcing what Hachimi (2013) refers to as the “Maghreb-Mashreq language ideology,” i.e. the belief that Mashreqi dialects are superior to Maghrebi dialects. Yet in an era of social media, Mashreqi voices and dialects are becoming less dominant, and Arabic-speakers across the region are being increasingly exposed to Maghrebi voices …

“‘With God For Us, We Must Be Successful’: Nationalism, Slavery, And Death In The Civil War Letters Of Robert Franklin Bunting”, Stuart James Priest

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Robert Franklin Bunting (b. 1828, d. 1891) was a preeminent Presbyterian minister, church planter, and Confederate chaplain. Before serving as a chaplain, he planted multiple churches in Central Texas. As a chaplain, he wrote numerous letters to various Texas newspapers. This thesis utilizes Bunting’s letters to understand how white southerners understood and interacted with the primary social issues in the Civil War. Specifically, it examines how Bunting understood nationalism, slavery, and death. His perception of these issues flowed from his religious worldview. As such, it highlights his religious interplay with these issues and contributes to furthering our understanding of religion's …

Investigations Into The Role Of Entropy-Selected Rf-Dna Fingerprint Features On Id-Verification Performance In The Presence Of Rogue Emitters, Awab Mohammed

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The Internet of Things (IoT) is projected to reach 30.9 billion devices by 2025. However, most lack adequate security measures against sophisticated threats. Specific Emitter Identification (SEI) is a crucial security approach for authenticating wireless emitters. This work integrates RF-DNA fingerprinting, a specialized form of SEI, with Deep Learning (DL) techniques to authenticate the identity of authorized emitters. This authentication becomes crucial in the presence of “rogue” emitters who deliberately impersonate authorized emitters using falsified digital credentials. The RF-DNA fingerprints are extracted from the entropy-selected regions within the TF representations of an emitter’s signals. The obtained results demonstrate the success …

2024 Commencement, University Of The Pacific

Commencement Programs

No abstract provided.

Social Media Engagement And Mobilization To Extremist Violence, Lauren Moss

Political Science Theses, Dissertations and Student Creative Activity

This thesis investigates how engagement with extremist communities on social media correlates with increased violent mobilization among radicalized individuals. It argues that as individuals strengthen their ties to extremist groups online, they increasingly identify with these communities and adopt behaviors endorsed by them. This paper explores various levels of online engagement, from passive interactions to more active involvement, as well as factors to mobilization exhibited as observable behaviors both in person and online. Comparative analysis of two violent and two nonviolent adherents of the Boogaloo ideology reveals ten unique mobilizing indicators in violent cases. When compared against the social media …

Rising From The Abyss: A Grounded Theory Exploration On How Afghani And Ukrainian Mothers Navigate Major Milestones Following The Onset Of Political Conflict, Rabab Atwi

Education (PhD) Dissertations

The political conflicts that have erupted around the world have disrupted the lives of millions of people. This constructivist grounded theory study delved into the experiences of ten mothers from Afghanistan and Ukraine who had to overcome three major milestones: conflict in their homelands, liminal places, and resettlement in the United States. Although the wellestablished literature has highlighted the challenges refugee women encounter following the onset of political conflict, limited literature exists on the experiences of refugee mothers and the resources of support available to help them navigate conflict-related challenges. The findings of this study highlighted mothering, community, and governmental …

Cctfv2: Modeling Cyber Competitions, Basheer Qolomany, Tristan J. Calay, Liaquat Hossain, Aos Mulahuwaish, Jacques Bou Abdo

School of Computing Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Cyber competitions are usually team activities, where team performance not only depends on the members’ abilities but also on team collaboration. This seems intuitive, especially given that team formation is a well-studied discipline in competitive sports and project management, but unfortunately, team performance and team formation strategies are rarely studied in the context of cybersecurity and cyber competitions. Since cyber competitions are becoming more prevalent and organized, this gap becomes an opportunity to formalize the study of team performance in the context of cyber competitions. This work follows a cross-validating two-approach methodology. The first is the computational modeling of cyber …

White Cell Support Application For Expo Ops Tactical Wargame System, Zackery Joseph Milder

Theses

The purpose of this project was to create a support application for a tabletop wargame currently used for training and scenario simulation by the United States Marine Corps. The EXPO OPS Companion is meant to enhance the capabilities of the White Cell/table director, the unbiased third party responsible for running adjudication for the EXPO OPS Tactical Wargames System. EXPO OPS TWS is “…a table top wargame covering contemporary and future conflict at the platoon, company and battalion level. It is a wargame toolkit that enables wargaming scenarios in the 2020 to 2030 timeframe. The design centers on plans and decisions …

Something Old, Something Blue: An Analysis Of Identification Methods For Determining The Presence Of Indigo Within Historic Textiles For The Charleston Museum, Chris Cone

All Theses

Identification methods for the analysis of indigo dye within textiles have been compiled in multiple studies. Though few examples demonstrate chemical analysis and phase separation as a technique that can assist in the identity of the dyestuff. The inclusion of nontechnical methods, techniques that require little knowledge of chemistry and can be completed without the assistance of high-tech machinery, can contribute toward these efforts. The goal of this thesis was to provide a simple testing procedure where eight historic textile samples dating from the mid-eighteenth to the mid-nineteenth centuries were subjected to chemical analysis and phase separation to determine the …

Dao Gives Birth To Lots Of Killing: Violence In The Daoist Tradition, Micah Dunwoody

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

Violence in Daoism takes on political and/or cosmological significance. The earliest texts, including Daodejing, argue for defensive war that must be conducted appropriately by rulers. Myths and rituals that developed later in the tradition portray gods and spirits subduing demons. The latter are either killed or enlisted into the armies of the gods. Rituals include the role of humans, particularly Daoist priests/ritual specialists who call upon the gods to fight demons who inflict maladies upon people. This paper also examines the role of martial arts and physical violence. Martial arts are often imbued with religious hues in Daoism, as …

The Use Of Whole Blood In Increasing The Survivability Of Combat Wounded Troops From 1940 To 1953, Devin Sweet

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Humans have been experimenting with new ways to kill each other for millennia, and for just as long, doctors have been experimenting with methods to improve survivability of those wounded. The 20^th century was one of the bloodiest period in human history; war claimed over one hundred million lives. With the scourge of disease more easily managed, the medical communities came to address the one wound that historically cost most lives – bleeding to death. Shock and exsanguination can kill a person within thirty seconds to two minutes, and finding ways to mitigate that outcome has been the subject …

Moral Dilemmas: A Phenomenological Exploration Of Military Members Experience Of War, Deborah Allsbrook Roth

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Due to increasing mental health concerns in combat exposed military members, including posttraumatic stress, there is a commiserate need for improved mental health services. Other mental health concerns include an increasing rate of suicide deaths in military members who have served during Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), or Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). There is a need for mental health counselors to have a more nuanced understanding of the clinical needs of combat exposed military members. In more recent years the construct of moral injury has emerged as a potential explanation for the presentation of certain combat exposed military members. Moral injury …

Problems In Power: How The U.S. And Russia Have Battled Throughout The Decades, Abbie Russman

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

The battle between the U.S and Russia has taken many forms throughout the years. When taking a sample of conflicts that involve the U.S. and Russia in various capacities and different points in time, certain similarities are observed. Within the individual level of conflict analysis, leaders in the U.S., Russia, and other states involved often sway between dovish and hawkish tendencies. On a domestic level, the U.S. and Russia have opposing ideologies. The U.S. values democracy and capitalism, and often supports states that lean democratically. In contrast, Russia views democracy as a threat and supports states that value protectionism and …