Digital Commons Network^™

Exploring Help-Seeking Experiences And Barriers Of Ethnic And Racially Marginalized Individuals With Ocd In The United States, Nayara Aparecida Da Costa Silva Beall

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This qualitative study explored the help-seeking experiences and barriers of ethnic and racially marginalized individuals with OCD living in the United States through a sociocultural model of OCD. Participants included eight adults who self-identified as members of a racial or ethnic marginalized group and with an OCD diagnosis. Individual interviews were conducted to gain an in-depth understanding of participants’ experiences and data was analyzed using a thematic analysis approach. Five themes emerged from the analysis: (1) OCD Emergence, (2) Barriers to Getting Help with OCD, (3) Desire for Help, (4) Ongoing Challenges with OCD, and (5) The Importance of Finding …

At The Table: Queer Identity And Exploration Through Tabletop Role-Playing Games, Seth Carroll

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This study explored the phenomenon of a growing queer subculture within the tabletop role-playing game community. Eight participants, all self-identified members of the LGBTQIA+ community with significant experience playing tabletop role-playing games, were interviewed to better understand their lived experience within this subculture, what draws them to playing tabletop role-playing games, and the personal impacts and meaning they draw from engaging in them. Participants identified as White, between the ages of 23 and 30, and represented a variety of queer identities in both sexuality and gender. Data was analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) in order to derive six group …

Department Of English Newsletter, Winter 2024-2025, Illinois State University, Department Of English

Department of English Newsletter

Newsletter of the Illinois State University Department of English

Safety Of Indocyanine Green Microdosing For Clinical Imaging Of Csf Ventricular Dynamics And Extracranial Outflow, Miriam Zamorano, Banghe Zhu, Ahmed T Massoud, Jonathan Hendricks, H Alex Choi, Pedram Peesh, Brandon A Miller, Xinhai Robert Zhang, Manish N Shah, Eva M Sevick-Muraca

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background and purpose: Intravenous administration of indocyanine green (ICG) has been approved in brain surgeries for decades, yet concerns about neurotoxicity prevent its direct administration into the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Armed with prior animal studies demonstrating the feasibility of using ICG microdosing into the CSF, we sought to evaluate its nonclinical safety profile and obtain surrogate measures in adults prior to its use in human neonates.

Methods: Evaluation of ICG toxicity was conducted in mixed primary CNS cell cultures and in an extended safety study of juvenile rat pups deploying intraventricular injections of saline (as control) or ICG. Analysis of …

Reproductive Futurity: Policy, Pop-Culture, And Praxis, S. Gavin Weiser, Lindsay Demartino

Faculty Publications - College of Education

Like the depiction of plagues in apocalyptic science fiction, neoliberalism continues to infect education at all levels. This infection causes educators to care not for the children, but to embrace the figure of the Child. Reproductive futurism, in the imagined redemptive figure of the Child has been regulating the structure of education not for children, but for the exclusionary and decontextualized Child. This takes the shape of draconian accountability measures present in recent educational policies that do not have the best interests of children in mind, but rather the perceived redemption of society and culture, taking agency away from all …

A Review Of Research On Engineering In K-12 Science Education, Allison Antink-Meyer, Ryan A. Brown, Margaret E. Parker, Jennifer Smith

Faculty Publications - College of Education

The purpose of this study is to explore trends in interrelated engineering education and science education research within six science education research journals across the first decade since the release of the Framework for K-12 Science Education and the Next Generation Science Standards. Journals were selected using a combination of impact factors and random sampling. The resulting qualitative systematic review exposes trends that arose and fell among science education journals and scholars as reflected in 141 articles published between 2011 and 2024 in the Journal of Research in Science Teaching, Science Education, the International Journal of Science Education, School Science …

Synthesis And Assessment Of Biobased Acrylated Epoxidized Soybean Oil Resins For Stereolithography 3d Printing Of Microfluidic Devices, Natalie S. Romero Figueroa

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

This research focuses on the development and characterization of a biobased photocurable resin synthesized from soybean oil for use in stereolithography (SLA) 3D printing of microfluidic devices. The study explores a sustainable alternative to petroleum-based resins by performing an acrylation reaction on epoxidized soybean oil (ESO) to produce acrylated epoxidized soybean oil (AESO), which was then formulated into a photocurable resin with the addition of a photo initiator. The fabrication process involved designing microfluidic molds in SolidWorks and printing them using an Elegoo Mars 4 SLA printer under various exposure and layer thickness parameters. The printed samples consisted of microchannels …

The Senior International Officer: A Sociological Perspective On The Development Of A Higher Education Profession, Mohammad Mansoor Khan

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Internationalization of higher education institutions in the United States has progressed rapidly since World War II. The pace and specifics of this internationalization vary by institution. However, there are some shared characteristics including, but not limited to, increase in student mobility, both inward and outward, exchange of scholars, cross-border research, and internationalization of the curriculum. This increased the institutional administrative burden and necessitated the centralization of internationalization activities under a single administrative unit and led by an individual capable of providing leadership at their institution in the area of higher education internationalization. This individual is recognized as the Senior International …

Identity Art Reexamined: Boundaries And Narratives In The Outsider Art World, Fanling Cheng

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

This dissertation examines how cultural meanings shape market boundaries through a case study of outsider art, an art category deeply embedded in a "culture of authenticity." Using mixed methods, the dissertation analyzes hierarchies and structures of the outsider art market, narratives in biographies crafted by dealers, and interactions between artists, dealers, and the audience. Through strategically constructed narratives, dealers portray outsider artists as heroes using art to fight against hardships. They not only present the authenticity of the art but also perform their own authenticity and extend it to the audience, performing civic commitment in the aesthetic public sphere and …

The Psychological Impacts Of Homeland Havoc Among First-Generation Raised Americans: An Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis, Raneem Kurzum

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

The current study explored the psychological experiences of first-generation raised U.S. citizens whose ancestral homelands are affected by ongoing or recent havoc. First-generation raised Americans are defined as the first-generation to be born in the U.S. or those who immigrated to the U.S. during infancy (less than two years of age). While research on trauma, resilience, and identity has previously addressed collective and intergenerational responses within culturally homogenous groups, few studies have examined the cross-cultural psychological impact of homeland turmoil among diverse diasporic populations living in the U.S.

Using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), this qualitative study employed semi-structured individual interviews …

Rethinking Rural Identity: Reimagining Rural Politics, Matthew B. Kirk

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

This work chiefly consists of a genealogical critique of rural identity. Tracing the development and deployment of the concepts of rurality and rural consciousness, I argue that our current depictions of rurality as “spatial other,” replete with its harmful stereotypes, stem from a misconception about the nature of power. Political theorists’ and political scientists’ appraisals of rurality suggest that the set of actions that define rural politics are a product of their relative powerlessness. Rural locales’ removal from the center of power in urban spheres means that rural politics is reduced to reactionary, violent, and conservative political thought and engagement. …

Embracing The Unmanageable: The Critique Of The Everyday And The Postwar Condition In Wallace Stevens’ And Robert Duncan’S Works Circa 1950, Kazuma Morita

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

My thesis is designed as an investigation of the ethical and political implications of the everyday in postwar American poetry. While recent scholarship of everyday life studies has clarified the centrality of the everyday or the ordinary to modernism and postwar literature, it does not elaborate enough on the impact of the political condition on literary expressions of everyday life in post-1945 period. Given U.S. military’s infiltration into everyday life of people living inside and outside the country after World War II, it is an important task to spotlight the way American postwar poets tackled U.S. war culture through their …

Animating Soil: Cultivating Young Children's Soil Relations, Jane Merewether, Mindy Blaise, Stefania Giamminuti

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This article explores young children's relations with soil, drawing on research that positioned soil as animate, lively and interconnected. The paper investigates how animist approaches offered a mode of encounter for children and their teachers, encouraging them to see themselves as part of a larger ecological community. The research began with a "soil biome immersion"experience where teachers engaged with soil through sensory and arts-based experiences. These initial encounters led to further exploration of child-soil relations through experiential learning and storytelling. Children, as active meaning-makers, co-constructed the inquiry through imaginative and sensory engagements. Findings suggest animism cultivates soil relations, challenging traditional …

Navigating Ethical Complexities In Health Education: Exploring Challenges In Teaching Food And Health, E. Oljans, M. Quennerstedt, D. Barker, A. Caldeborg, V. Varea

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Teaching food and health may be challenging, especially in classrooms where young people from different cultures, ethnicities, and religions meet. This article explores teachers’ navigation of ethical complexities when teaching food and health in classrooms with immigrant students. Five didactical strategies were identified: (1) The educare strategy, (2) The tiptoeing strategy, (3) The collegial support strategy, (4) The intercultural strategy, and (5) The pluralistic strategy. These didactical strategies are embedded in various educational settings. Our results demonstrate that a further focus on ethical and intercultural competence should be carefully supported and implemented in teacher education and continual professional development programmes …

Contextualising Hotel Career Behaviour: Testing A Sociocultural And Organizational Career Model, Franklin Akosa, Songshan (Sam) Huang, Hossein Ali Abadi, Jun Wen

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This study applies Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) to develop and empirically test a contextual model of hotel career outcomes in Ghana, focusing on how social and organizational factors shape employees' career attitudes and intentions. Drawing on survey data from 769 frontline hotel employees, Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was employed to assess both the measurement and structural models. The results reveal that subjective norms significantly and positively influence career attitudes. Transformational leadership not only strengthens employees' career attitudes and intentions but also moderates the relationship between subjective norms and career attitudes, amplifying their positive effect. Additionally, favourable …

Live Streaming In Hospitality And Tourism: A Hybrid Systematic Review And Way Forward, Yuhong Shao, Songshan (Sam) Huang

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Purpose: This study aims to provide a timely review of hospitality and tourism live streaming (HTLS) research, aiming to understand the intellectual foundation in the past and identify opportunities for future research. Design/methodology/approach: This study collected 56 papers from journals in the Social Science Citation Index database or the Australian Business Deans Council journal quality list and adopted a hybrid systematic literature review combining bibliometric analysis and the theory-context-characteristics-method framework-based approach. Additionally, a cross-tabulation analysis was conducted to compare the research on two specific forms of HTLS – tourism e-commerce live streaming (TEcLS) and travel live streaming. Findings: The study …

Balancing Digital Presents And Futures: Understanding First-Time Parents’ Practices, Plans And Perceptions Of ‘Quality’ And Risk In Young Children's Digital Engagements, Katrin Langton, Emma Jayakumar, Harrison W. See, Catherine Archer, Giselle Woodley

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Parents in Australia today have to make decisions about what counts as appropriate digital media use for their young children in a cultural context characterised by conflicting advice, impractical screen use recommendations and risk-focussed media messaging. These conditions make it challenging for parents to purposefully approach and plan not only their children's current digital engagements but also their futures as digital citizens. How parents negotiate these tensions in managing their young children's digital presents, and how they approach planning for their digital futures, remains underexplored. This paper presents the findings of two rounds of qualitative interviews and three focus groups …

Us-China Competition, World Order And Economic Decoupling: Insights From Cultural Realism, Naoise Mcdonagh

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This study examines how US-China geopolitical rivalry is reshaping global economic order. It identifies gaps in existing research on hegemonic state behaviour and presents an alternative theory based on cultural realism. This latter builds on realism by arguing that political culture influences the intensity of geopolitical tensions. Drawing on domestic political discourse, this study demonstrates that US and China geopolitical tensions are driven by conflicting national political cultures that generate competing visions of global order, reducing the capacity of international institutions to sustain cooperation. This divergence manifest in geoeconomic competition and weaking multilateralism. Theoretical expectations suggest an emerging geoeconomic world …

A Moving Cause: Travel Notes Towards Pilgrimage As Creative Writing Process, Elizabeth Reid Boyd

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Pilgrimage Studies is a growing field across the arts and humanities, yet pilgrimage writing is not established as a distinct genre. In this article I share my exploration of pilgrimage as a creative writing process and potential genre. As a social scientist and a creative writer, my approach is qualitative and interdisciplinary, drawing upon an on-the-ground social constructivist perspective and definitions of genre as social action. This includes an ethnomethodological account of my practice that distils ten narrative and thematic elements in the pilgrimage writing process. These elements hinge on the leitmotif of pilgrimage writing being ‘a moving cause’, with …

Learning Contexts And Visions For Stem In Schools, Mellita Jones, Vince Geiger, Garry Falloon, Sharon Fraser, Kim Beswick, Benjamin Holland-Twining, Vesife Hatisaru

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

STEM education is viewed as being vital for economic prosperity and productivity; and can contribute productively to changing technological, economic, and social demands of the twenty-first Century. However, there is limited consensus on how STEM education is understood and taught, and inadequate discussion around its role in addressing global issues such as climate change, health, poverty, food security, and other STEM-related social concerns. In this paper, we identify the contexts adopted for STEM teaching and learning in 47 Australian schools, drawing data from semi-structured interviews with principals and teachers who participated in the Principals as STEM Leaders (PASL) project. These …

Ontological Machines: Subjectivity And Relational Desire In Immersive And Interactive Environments, Toby Chanter

School of Art, Design and Architecture Theses

This practice-based artistic research focuses on two contemporary spaces; namely the pedagogical spaces of healthcare Simulation Based Education (SBE), and the exhibition spaces of installation art. These seemingly unrelated activities share a range of technological and operational similarities that render their combined study under the banner of ‘immersive and interactive environments’ both novel and necessary. The lack of broad engagement with questions of representation, aesthetics, and affect is conspicuous in an educational practice that is reliant on, and implemented through, a network of overtly visual mediums, material technologies, and sensory modalities. In healthcare SBE, clinical skills are acquired, and medical …

Un-Framing Transiting Trajectories: A ‘Beyond Disciplinary’ Approach To Curating In The Context Of Art And Science Discourse, Christina Ioanna Kazakou

School of Art, Design and Architecture Theses

Abstract

The Power Of Presence: Body Image In Disney's The Little Mermaid, Megan Chatelain

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

This study explores how body image is represented in Disney’s The Little Mermaid across its 1989 animated film and the 2019 and 2023 adaptations. Grounded in Gerbner’s Cultivation Theory, the research examines how repeated media exposure shapes audience perceptions of morality, beauty, and identity—particularly through the portrayal of body size. Using a triangulated qualitative approach—reflexive journaling, content analysis, and survey responses—the study reveals consistent patterns: thin characters are depicted as virtuous, desirable, and heroic, while larger-bodied characters are often cast as villainous, comedic, or morally flawed. These associations were recognized by participants across all methods and confirmed through both reflective …

The Monstrous-Digital: Data Necropolitics, Social Media, And The Assassination Of Brian Thompson, Laura Glitsos

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This research article examines the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and the ensuing social media attention on the alleged shooter Luigi Mangione. I argue that the incident can be read as a cultural moment that captures the essence of an emergent sensibility that I call the “monstrous-digital” because of its layered and complex interconnections with the digital apparatus as a space of control and contestation. Specifically, I connect it to the biopolitical weaponization of computational systems, McQuillan’s (2015) algorithmic states of exception, and Pele and Mulholland’s (2023) data necropolitics. I approach this research using a qualitative case study method, …

‘Like A 6-Year-Old Dropped On Mars Without Parents’: Faculty Members’ Intercultural Competence And Cultural Adaptation In The Uae, Mustafa Aydogan, Esra İzmir, Hana Shahin

All Works

This study examines the intercultural competence and sociocultural adaptation of international faculty members (IFMs) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a highly multicultural educational setting. Using a mixed-methods approach, the study explores IFMs’ adaptation experiences and the impact of multicultural teaching training. Quantitative analysis of 167 IFMs revealed a significant relationship between intercultural competence and sociocultural adaptation, with training enhancing both. Participants from Muslim or Arab backgrounds adapted better, emphasizing the role of cultural familiarity with the host culture. Qualitative findings from 14 interviews identified five key themes: (a) UAE’s diverse environment, (b) cultural distance, (c) language and communication challenges, …

Intrinsic Motivation, Future Orientation, And Financial Stress: A Student-Centered Model Of Metaverse Classroom Adoption In Low-Income Contexts, Mousa Al-Kfairy, Omar Alfandi, Saed Alrabaee

All Works

The rapid rise of immersive technologies has placed metaverse-based classrooms at the center of higher education innovation. Yet, little is known about how students in low-income contexts perceive and adopt these platforms, particularly when motivation, career goals, and financial pressures intersect. This study develops and tests a student-focused model that integrates intrinsic motivation, future time perspective, career relevance, and financial stress to explain behavioral intention toward metaverse adoption. A survey of 292 university students in Jordan—a lower-income national setting—was analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). Results showed all hypothesized paths were significant. Future time perspective and career …

Introduction, Daniel Coleman, Ki'en Debicki, Bonnie M. Freeman

WLU Press Books

This is the introductory chapter of Deyohahá:ge:: Sharing the River of Life, edited by Daniel Coleman, Ki'en Debicki, and Bonnie M. Freeman.

Deyohahá:ge:, “two roads or paths” in Cayuga language, evokes the Covenant Chain-Two Row Wampum, known as the “grandfather of the treaties.” Famously, this Haudenosaunee wampum agreement showed how Indigenous people and newcomers could build peace and friendship by respecting each other’s cultures, beliefs, and laws as they shared the river of life.

Written by members of Six Nations and their neighbours, this book introduces readers not only to the 17th-century history of how the Dutch and British …

The Literary Field: Agriculture And The Ecological Imagination In The Nineteenth-Century French Novel, Abigail Fields

Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Dissertations

The Literary Field: Agriculture and the Ecological Imagination in the Nineteenth-Century French Novel argues that notions of the farmer and land developed their modern meanings in France in the nineteenth century. Ideas about agriculture fed into the formation of an environmental imaginary and vice versa, resulting in the co-construction of these concepts. To build this case, I develop a method I call agro-ecocriticism, which draws on literary criticism, materialist cultural studies, and ecology to identify flows of agricultural thought and actors within forms of cultural production. Particularly important in this reading method is a new attention to setting. In my …

Synthesising Les Mills’ Five Key Elements: How Readiness-To-Hand Is Developed Among Group Fitness Coaches, Manuel R. Enverga Iii

Economics Department Faculty Publications

This paper examines the process by which Les Mills group fitness instructors in the Philippines develop a seemingly effortless coaching style. They simultaneously perform exercises alongside their participants, correcting and motivating them, while maintaining awareness of the music playing. Using ethnographic data from a local Philippine gym, pseudonymously referred to as The Fit Stop, it is argued that the apparent naturalness of their teaching develops through numerous stages of practice and feedback. Throughout the process, instructors gain mastery over what Les Mills calls the Five Key Elements of instruction: choreography, technique, coaching, connection, and performance. As they become more adept, …

A Pocket Park In Kirkwood: Community, Connectivity, And Urban Transformation, Catalina Freixas

Books, Office for Socially Engaged Practice

The course Architecture For Non-Architects [AFNA] is supported by CityStudio STL, Sam Fox School of Design Visual Arts, Washington University in St. Louis.

AFNA is a foundational course that acquaints students with the principles and practices of architectural design. Beginning with a community-based project, the curriculum integrates lectures, readings, and research to guide participants through understanding and shaping the built environment. Field trips play a key role, encouraging active observation and engagement with both the physical site and invested stakeholders.

Cultivating observation is essential to perceiving our surroundings with intention, yet many people view the environment passively, shaped by habits …