Digital Commons Network^™

Light And Darkness For Aesthetic Pleasure: An Exploration Of J.M.G. Le Clézio’S Early Writings And Jun’Ichiro Tanizaki’S In Praise Of Shadows, Kenichiro Otani

The Coastal Review

Building upon comparative principles, this semantic reading of Jun’ichirō Tanizaki’s essay In Praise of Shadows and J.M.G. Le Clézio’s early writings illustrates how both the Franco-Mauritian author and the Japanese writer problematize modern Western perception laden with concepts stifling flexible imagination through the mysterious worldview of light/darkness. They also simultaneously express the hope that another way of life leading to liberation is possible. Delving into the spiritual confinement of the subject, they demonstrate how keeping rich creativity within one’s heart can be an escape from a stagnant society. Albeit in very different mediums, Tanizaki and Le Clézio assert that the …

Dystopian Politics In The Hunger Games Series, Tristan Hogan

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games series takes readers to a fictional country known as Panem that hosts an annual nationwide celebration in which adolescents compete in a battle to the death. In this analysis, I approach this book series with a Marxist lens to argue that the capitalistic system in Panem satirizes American culture in the early 21st century. Every novel in the series, through this theory, can be read as what scholars identify as a “critical dystopia,” a defamiliarized version of our culture, upheld through institutions and social participation in a way that satirizes ours. I argue that the …

From The Battlefield To The Asylum: The Social Construction Of Disability In Italy, 1900 - 1950, Brandie Crisp Robb

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

The Italian social construction of disability reflects a complex interplay between social, religious, political, and religious influences present during the first half of the twentieth century. While Western European and American disability discourse remained similar, those influences unique to Italy resulted in the formation of two distinct disability discourses during the early twentieth century: that of the heroic physically disabled veteran who sacrificed everything for the good of Italy, and the eugenically unfit Italian associated with dependency and uselessness. By combining a theoretical framework that includes critical disability theory with historical methodology, the following thesis demonstrates how the emerging disability …

Learned Helplessness: An Online Replication And Validation, Arshpreet (Sunny) Kandola

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

The current study entails the partial replication of a classic learned helplessness two-phase triadic design experiment within an online learning context and aimed to validate a new attributional style self-report measure designed to identify individual differences in tendencies to develop learned helplessness consistent with the original reformulation of the hypothesis. Further, recent innovations in neuroscientific technology have allowed for a deeper examination of the mechanisms at play, finding support for a major re-interpretation of the theory of learned helplessness - suggesting that helplessness is more so the default passive response, while the active ingredient that is detected or expected (i.e., …

Catalog 2025-2026, University Of North Florida

UNF Course Catalogs

No abstract provided.

Łe:Lding, Muriel Xosa:K’ Ammon

Humboldt Journal of Social Relations

"Muriel Ammon, member of the Tsnungwe tribe, is a Hupa language learner, teacher, and book writer. She is from Łe:lding, and finds inspiration and grounding from her home. She loves learning Hupa language..."

Apoyo En Comunidad: A Proposed Manual For Latinx And Hispanic Support Groups, Yadira Diaz Romero

Psychology Doctoral Specialization Projects

Navigating college life can be difficult; add to that the complications of navigating different cultures and it creates a chasm for young adults to overcome. This is true for many Latinx college students who often attend colleges where few resources exist to offer support in navigating these social and cultural issues in their everyday life. Additionally, while group therapy is championed as a treatment modality for many, few groups exist that target Latinx communities, especially Latinx college students. This project aims to highlight these social and cultural issues faced by Latinx individuals and provide clinicians with a treatment manual to …

Brooches And Identity In Early Medieval Burials In Britain, Elizabeth Christopher

Spectrum

No abstract provided.

A Study Of Trauma Linked To Contemporary Human Sacrifice Practices: A Pilot Study Exploring Machine Learning In Criminological Analysis, Julia Melanson, Riley Woolverton

Spectrum

No abstract provided.

Reading Into Things: Articulate Objects In North America, 1650-1820, Lily Higgins

Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Dissertations

In the eighteenth century, it-narratives emerged as a new literary genre, elevating objects to the role of heroes and heroines. Investing fictional objects with the power to participate in human affairs, these stories offer insight into how the contemporaneous reading public grappled with the agency of objects in real life. Responding to questions about agency and subjectivity provoked within the early modern it-narrative, this dissertation considers how actual objects made and used within an ever-widening world of material goods were “speaking” to people in new ways, both exciting and disconcerting. Defining these “speaking” things as “articulate objects,” the research suggests …

Artifacts Of Ableism: Semiotics Of The Built Environment And Disability Identity On University Campuses, Will M. Williams, Talia Steinmetz, Elaine Gerber

Department of Anthropology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

This article examines the impact that signs, readable as texts and discourse embedded in architecture and the built environment, have on shaping disability knowledge among undergraduate students on college campuses. Using reflexive photography as a research tool, we speculate that architectural signs, the artifacts of ableism, are (mis)representing disability and essentializing what it means to be disabled - which results in an "othering"of the disabled population, perpetuates stereotypes about disability on college campuses, and limits a sense of inclusion. Further, by remaining focused on access, this distortion obscures identities within the disabled community and operates counterfactually to the disabled community's …

De Acordo Com A…: Lexical Bundles And Disciplinary Variation In Academic Brazilian Portuguese, Larissa Goulart

Department of Linguistics Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Research on formulaic language has shown that few lexical bundles overlap across disciplines in expert academic writing, with disciplinary writing being characterized by specific bundles. This was proven to be the case in both English (Hyland, 2008) and Spanish (Cortes, 2008). This paper explores the use of lexical bundles in Portuguese academic writing in two disciplinary groups, life sciences and humanities. Using a corpus of research articles written by Brazilian scientists, four-word bundles were extracted and compared for their function (Biber; Conrad; Cortes, 2004) and structure (Biber; Johansson; Leech; Conrad; Finegan, 1999). The results of this study indicate that writing …

Just Research And Citation, Amanda Levendowski

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Contemporary research and citation practices are often unjust. Data cartels like Westlaw and Lexis have parent companies that prioritize profits in ways that threaten immigrants. Even before the Dobbs decision, search engines could be deployed to weaponize data against pregnant people seeking reproductive care. Women and people of color have been legal scholars for more than a century but, as many scholars have observed, colleagues consistently under-cite, mis-cite or appropriate those scholars’ work with minimal recourse. Citation materials are often inaccessible to disabled people, poor people, or the public due to poor design, paywalls, or unpreserved content that falls prey …

A Preliminary Study On The Role Of Personal History Of Infectious And Parasitic Diseases On Self-Reported Health Across Countries, Gerit Pfuhl, Filipe Prazeres, Marta Kowal, Toivo Aavik, Beatriz Abad-Villaverde, Reza Afhami, Leonardo Aguilar, Grace Akello, Laith Al-Shawaf, Jan Antfolk, Chiemezie S. Atama, Derya Atamturk Duyar, Roberto Baiocco, Sercan Balım, Carlota Batres, Yakhlef Belkacem, Théo Besson, Adam Bode, Merve Boğa, Jordane Boudesseul, Mahmoud Boussena, Hamdaoui Brahim, Nana Burduli, Ali R. Can, Hakan Cetinkaya, Antonio Chirumbolo, Dimitri Chubinidze, Clément Cornec, Bojana M. Dinić, Seda Dural

School of Psychology

Objectives: Infectious diseases are often associated with decline in quality of life. The aim of this study is to analyze the relationship between personal history of communicable, i.e., infectious and parasitic diseases and self-rated health. Study design: Secondary analysis of a large dataset multi-country observational study. Methods: We used a four-pronged analysis approach to investigate whether personal history of infectious and parasitic diseases is related to self-reported health, measured with a single item. Results: Three of the four analyses found a small positive effect on self-reported health among those reporting a history of pathogen exposure. The meta-analysis found no support …

Studentification And Off-Campus Housing: A Case Study Of Grand Forks Near-Campus Neighborhoods, Alva Lindstroem

Theses and Dissertations

With national trends in higher education experiencing dwindling enrollments and personal economies increasingly strained, the University of North Dakota (UND) has grown to become the biggest public higher education institution in North Dakota, having effectively bounced back from the COVID-19 pandemic drop in enrollment. Grand Forks, North Dakota, is the host of UND and home to a student body of over 14,000 as of 2023 fall semester. This study focuses on; to what extent is studentification taking place in Grand Forks, ND; and how the observed housing- and demographic patterns in Grand Forks align with, or diverge from, the broader …

From Emily To Loralei To Rory: A Qualitative Textual Analysis Of Scripts From Gilmore Girls For Real-World Application, Erin Mccann

Theses and Dissertations

In the realm of interpersonal communication and intrafamilial research, one dynamic, the mother and daughter pairing, is especially poignant in exploring the ties of closeness, the openness of communication and the potential for long-term impact on a daughter’s development. When studying the mother and daughter dynamic through a work of fiction, patterns can be observed without bias, allowing for evaluation of the strength of relationship and identification of broader implication to the discipline of family communication. In this study, a textual analysis was conducted evaluating 21 exemplary episodes of the 2000s television show Gilmore Girls focused entirely on the interactions …

Food Sovereignty Among Migrant Farmworkers: The Role Of Agrobiodiversity For Autonomy And Resistance In A Mexican Coffee Plantation, Estelí Jiménez-Soto, Sanya Cowal, April Lopez

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Coffee agroecosystems represent the economic base for thousands of small growers and agricultural workers, as well as a significant proportion of many regional economies in Latin America. Every year, the production of coffee in this region attracts a great number of laborers and their families, particularly during the harvest season. Despite being essential workers in the food system, agricultural workers continue to be one of the most marginalized actors in the coffee production chain. Even with an environment of precarity, agricultural workers exercise their autonomy and food sovereignty—the process by which agricultural workers, in this case, define their food system …

Editor-In-Chief's Note, Surekha Rao

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

“Finally Girls Hitting A Celly:” Emotions And Gender Embodiment In Competitive Swimmers’ Post-Race Celebrations, Lauren Q. Rohde , '25

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

In athletic competitions, the moment of achievement is often extremely cathartic and results in a visible celebration. In competitive swimming, these reactions to success are isolated to the end of a race, completely individual, and often feature interaction with one’s surroundings, such as the water or lane lines. These moments are also highly visible and usually well-photographed, and the visibility of these actions contributes to a growing culture in the sport around post-race celebrations. The exposure of the body in competitive swimming additionally contributes to its visibility, further complicating behaviors and norms around celebrating race outcomes. This research aims to …

Go Birds: Sports Fandom And Civic Identity, Benjamin Rotko , '25

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

No abstract provided.

A Strategy To Address The Challenges Of Intergenerational Conflict In The Haitian Churches At The Southeastern Conference In Florida, Nicolas Louis

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

Haitian churches in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) of Florida, are severely affected by intergenerational conflict, persisting between young people and adults who cannot get along. Churches affected by this misunderstanding are facing a loss of young people, particularly college-educated members and people with vocational skills. This conflict has touched entire congregations, decreasing growth numerically and financially. Between 2013 and 2018, there was a 60 percent decline in members with college degrees and vocational skills. This study analyzes this intergenerational conflict, which manifests in disagreements over leadership preferences and worship styles.

Method

To address this problem, I established a series …

Transforming Pathfinder Acculturation Gaps: Confronting Intergenerational Cultural Conflict Between First- And Second- Generation Immigrants With Family Strengthening Workshops Among Scottish Mission Pathfinders And Their Parents, Njabulo King Ndlovu

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

The immigrant population in the UK is rapidly increasing along with correlated increases in the membership of both the British Union Conference (BUC) and the Scottish Mission (SM) of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The Scottish Mission Pathfinder clubs (SMPCs) have many immigrant children. However, as immigrants’ home culture comes into continuous contact with the British culture, acculturation gaps between first- and second-generation immigrants tend to form naturally as a result of the differing pace with which these two generations acculturate. Adolescents are generally thought to adapt quicker. Parent-child miscommunication and disagreement on critical matters such as values, beliefs, and …

A Post Apocalyptic Romp: Designing Costumes For Phoebe In Winter, Emmalee Berger

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This thesis will document the process of costume designing for Phoebe in Winter by Jen Silverman. It will examine the process from first read of the script through initial and final design meetings and to execution and production of the design. This will report on challenges specific to this production, such as nudity and violence on an academic stage, and the subsequent solutions. Phoebe in Winter was produced by West Virginia University School of Theatre and Dance in October of 2024. The design process began in February of the same year.

The Demand For Educational Functions Of Study Tour Products: From Students’ Perspectives, Yaqi Yu, Azizan Marzuki

Journal of Educational Technology Development and Exchange (JETDE)

Few academic studies have comprehensively examined the actual demands of students regarding the educational function of study tours. This paper develops a demand index system based on three dimensions: cognitive, affective, and behavioral demands. A questionnaire survey was administered to 397 students. Initially, student demands were categorized using the Kano model. Subsequently, the “dependence” and “expectancy” characteristics were analyzed through the dissatisfaction index (DI) and satisfaction index (SI). The impact of fulfilling each demand on dissatisfaction and satisfaction levels was then determined. The results indicated that among the three dimensions, there were 7 must-be demands, 6 one-dimensional demands, 8 attractive …

Match Accuracy Of Burned Teeth: A Pilot Study Of Allied Dental Professionals, Brenda T. Bradshaw, Marsha A. Voelker, Samantha C. Vest, Sinjini Sikdar

Dental Hygiene Faculty Publications

Purpose: The purpose of this pilot study was to assess allied dental professionals' match accuracy of burned teeth; a skill required by disaster victim identification (DVI) team members.

Methods: This cross-sectional study used a convenience sample of registered dental hygienists (RDH) (n=15) and dental assistants (DA) (n=15) to assess their match accuracy of burned teeth with simulated antemortem (AM) and postmortem (PM) images. Fifteen human teeth were heated at 400°C for 15 minutes. Prior to and following heat alteration, each tooth was photographed and radiographed. Images were presented to participants in randomized order, and they were instructed to correctly match …

Singing Hunger In Protest Music: Nasboi’S “Hunger Games” And Post-Election Realities In Nigeria’S “Emilokan” Era, Omotayo Jemiluyi, Abubakar Tajudeen

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

This article examines “Hunger Games” (2024), a protest song by Nigerian artiste and skit maker Nasboi, as an indictment of the economic hardship, political repression, and widespread disillusionment that have characterized Nigeria’s 2023 post-election landscape under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s “Emilokan” administration. Situating the song within Nigeria’s long-standing tradition of politically conscious music, from the Afrobeat of Fela Kuti to the contemporary commentaries of Falz and Burna Boy, the study critically dissects how “Hunger Games” reflects collective frustration and subversively positions popular music as resistance. The analysis of the study demonstrates that Nasboi’s aesthetic strategy—combining satire with repetition—renders individual hardship …

Reviewers And Referees

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

George C. Roberts Award Recipients

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

Call For Papers

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

2025 Document For Celebrating Scholarship & Creativity Day Soirée, Stacy Penk, Diana Symons

Celebrating Scholarship and Creativity Day (2018-)

No abstract provided.