Digital Commons Network^™

Paternity, Protection, And Pirates: A Queer Theory Analysis Of Intellectual Property Metaphors, Eden Sarid

IP Theory

Intellectual Property and queer theory share a fundamental concern with the interplay between private and public, tangible and intangible, and language and form. Queer theory emphasizes how language impacts the construction of identity and belonging, highlighting that discourse plays a pivotal role in structuring gender, sexuality, and normativity. Intellectual Property is often portrayed as strictly neutral, laser-focused on spurring creativity and innovation. However, is this portrayal reflective of reality? And does this purported neutrality hold up in IP’s rhetoric? By examining two principal IP terminologies through a queer lens – the term “protection” to describe IP legal privilege, and the …

A Phenomenological Study On The Assistant Principal's Preparation For Culturally Responsive Leadership, Lakechisa Phillips

Doctor of Education Dissertations

American public schools today are facing an influx of a more diverse student population. This diversity, driven by changes in demographics, is impacting our public schools and the administration of those schools. The role of the assistant principal in promoting culturally responsive leadership in those schools is critically needed. This study explored the significance of culturally responsible leadership by assistant principals and how that leadership can impact student engagement and the culture and climate of the school. The literature review highlighted the importance of administrators having the time and training to become culturally responsive leaders. Twelve administrators were interviewed to …

Through Their Own Eyes: A Mixed Methods Study On Perceptions And Reflections Of Culturally Responsive Teaching Self-Efficacy Of North Carolina Elementary School Teachers, Bria C. Wright

Doctor of Education Dissertations

Historical inequities disproportionately impacting historically marginalized communities continue to persist in classrooms today. Culturally responsive teaching plays an important role in addressing these inequities by recognizing and affirming diverse cultural identities. The purpose of this study was to explore elementary school teachers’ culturally responsive teaching self-efficacy (CRTSE) perceptions. This mixed methods convergent parallel study examined CRTSE across five domains: culturally congruent instruction, cross-cultural communication, culturally relevant curricula, cultural diversity knowledge, and cultural caring learning communities. Quantitative data were collected from 147 North Carolina elementary teachers using the CRTSE Scale, and qualitative data were gathered through semi-structured interviews with 16 participants. …

Beyond Weirds – How We Advanced Theories Of Gender Beliefs – Insights From Towards Gender Harmony Project., Natasza Kosakowska-Berezecka

Online Readings in Psychology and Culture

Using insights from cross-cultural multination analyses performed on data collected from over 33,000 participants in 62 countries during the four-year Towards Gender Harmony project, I will present five main reasons why sampling beyond WEIRD nations advances theories of gender beliefs, helps us meet “good science” criteria, and is doable, but yet full of challenges.

¡We Count! The Enumerated History Of The Latinx Legal Academy: Part One, Beginnings To 1990, Emile Loza De Siles

Seattle Journal for Social Justice

Latinx law teachers and scholars are vital to the success of Latinx and other students in legal education, as well as to the attainment of the power, influence, economic advancement, and justicegetting that students seek through that education. Today, one in five Americans are Latinx with the proportion quickly growing to one in four. Although there are many Latinx law professors who are highly credentialed, sharply skilled, and deeply committed, to date, there has not been an adequate accounting of their presence and contributions at law schools. What is known is that their numbers are, and have long been, grossly …

The Contributions Of Language And Inhibitory Control To False Belief Reasoning Over Time, Jill De Villiers, Peter A. De Villiers

Psychology: Faculty Publications

Introduction: The role of language in false belief reasoning has been much debated for twenty-five years or more, especially the relative contributions of general language development, complement syntax, vocabulary, and executive function. However, the empirical studies so far have fallen short, in that they generally have too few participants for adequate statistical modeling; they do not include control variables; or they are cross-sectional rather than longitudinal, making inferences about causal direction much more tenuous.

Methods: The present study considers the role of these different variables in the development of false belief reasoning over several months of testing, with 258 children …

Comprehensibility, Accentedness, And Intelligibility Of English Varieties As Perceived By Japanese Learners Of English, Kana Machida

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In response to Japanese learners of English having limited exposure to various English accents in education, this study investigates their comprehensibility, accentedness, intelligibility, and familiarity with different accents. Twelve participants evaluated how easy speakers were to understand and the extent of their accentedness, and transcribed their speech.

Quantitative analysis revealed that Japanese learners of English struggle with understanding certain accented varieties of English, particularly Nigerian English, and are unfamiliar with them. In contrast, General American English and Southern American English speakers were generally perceived as less accented and easier to understand. However, results from the listening transcription task indicated that …

Glossed Over, Rebecca Oh

Theses and Dissertations

Glossed Over is a collection of interdisciplinary artworks exploring my Korean-American diasporic identity and how gender, queerness, religion, neurodivergence, and internet culture intersect within that experience. Through a blend of painting, woodworking, and sculpture, this installation carries the various elements of undefinable 한 (pronounced: han), a concept I attempt to define and contextualize in the Introduction and throughout this thesis. Each artwork operates through coded language, metaphor, and partial disclosure, offering space for the othered to find recognition through subtle cues and signifiers. Through Glossed Over and this thesis, I scratch the surface of my journey in reconciling generational trauma …

Waking The Witch: Exploring Gender, Magic, And Power Dynamics In Ancient Rome, Diana Gibson

Honors Theses and Capstones

This thesis explores the presence of witches and magic in the literature of the Roman Empire. The study ranges from the 1st century BCE to the 6th century CE, and relates the prevalence of female witches in the Roman literature to particularly turbulent social contexts, such as the fall of the Republic and the rise of Christianity. The piece considers the rhetorical nature of accusations of witchcraft, and how the concepts of magic and witchcraft themselves were defined and shaped by those in power to uphold imperial hegemony and structures of patriarchy. The project seeks to highlight a distinction between …

Production & Perception Of /S/ And Pitch Of Transgender Speakers, Connor J. Ryan

Honors Theses and Capstones

Linguistic research on how transgender speakers use speech traits commonly associated with gender, such as f0 and /s/, is still limited in scope. Past research has focused primarily on singular gender groups within the transgender community, particularly transmasculine speakers, leaving gaps in how speech differs among transgender speakers. Additionally, there has been little research on how transgender identity influences perception of gender in speech. Here, I use data from reading passages by fifteen university-age transgender speakers in New England to analyze variation in /s/ and f0 among transmasculine, transfeminine, nonbinary, and multigender speakers. I then performed a perception study using …

Exploring The Use Of English In African Literature Through Hiwot Teffera’S Tower In The Sky And Chinua Achebe’S Things Fall Apart, Dibora Merid Tilahun

Student Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Translanguaging: Leveraging Theoretical Shifts Toward Social Change, Sara E. Vogel, Ofelia Garcia

Publications and Research

Translanguaging posits that all people make meaning, communicate, and learn by orchestrating heterogeneous features from a unitary repertoire in ways that defy named languages and other socially constructed language categorizations. In this chapter, we share insights about translanguaging theory for applied linguistics by revisiting themes we surfaced in an encyclopedia article we authored a half-decade ago, specifically reconsidering our 2017 tenets in light of scholarship that has (a) deepened translanguaging's relationships to dismantling social and political hierarchies; (b) emphasized how translanguaging has been used to highlight the heterogeneity of all language-in-use, and not just the practices of those people recognized …

Increasing Humanities And Stem Pipelines: Associations Between Student Characteristics And Academic Outcomes, David Wutchiett, A. W. Logue, Zun Tang, Vita Rabinowitz

Publications and Research

Humanities and STEM disciplines may face shortages of college graduates, particularly from underrepresented demographic groups. Using multilevel generalized linear models, we evaluated associations between student characteristics and 6-10-year academic outcomes in humanities and STEM pipelines from associate’s major declaration through post-enrollment wages among 92,169 first-time community college students. Nonarts humanities majors were more likely to graduate and begin graduate study. STEM majors earned higher wages after terminating their studies. To increase the output and diversity of the humanities and STEM pipelines, students’early selection of humanities-related majors should be increased, and STEM students’persistence and degree completion should be prioritized.

Foreign Language Instruction In Germany And The Influence Of Multilingualism On Literacy, Rachel Pokornowski

International Professional Development Partnerships (IPDP) Consortium

As part of Buffalo State University’s IPDS (International Professional Development Schools) Germany program, I was granted the opportunity to spend two weeks observing in various schools around Stuttgart, Germany. This study focuses on the methods and practices used to teach English (foreign language) in German schools, and the quick rate at which students appear to pick up the language. The findings of this study could be beneficial to schools in the United States as they may consider using similar practices to teach foreign languages, which would in turn increase students’ literacy skills.

Xi: Dwelling Writing Thinking: Traces Of Being Songs Of Elduvík Hölderlin’S “In Lovely Blue…” Remembrance The Ister, Charles S. Taylor

Wine Journey: Tasting Dwelling Learning at The Kitchen Table

Lieblicher Cousin Holz / Beloved cousin Holz, welcome once again to my Gehäus! 1 2Please make yourself comfortable on this bench beside me. Remembered conversations bring us back here. New questions to share. Neither of us has a guess where we will ramble during the adventure. Thinking about your beloved Ister / Donau / Danube flowing through the Schwarzwald / Black Forest we found our way, unexpectedly, to Kant’s Erhabene / Sublime. Only after making a visit north of Norway to Svalbard. Der Ister, begins with you calling for daylight allowing you to carefully, reverently observe what will present itself …

A Meditation On The Thirteenth Amendment And Constitutional Redemption, Darrell A.H. Miller

Public Law and Legal Theory Working Papers

No abstract provided.

Algorithmic Selection Of Iconic Constitutions, Tejas Ramdas, Patrick Chung-Chia Huang, Nuno Garoupa, Martin T. Wells, Yun-Chien Chang, Tom Ginsburg

Public Law and Legal Theory Working Papers

This chapter examines the influence of pre-20th century constitutions using a quantitative approach, comparing expert-selected “iconic” constitutions with those identified algorithmically. In prior work, human experts identified four influential constitutions: the U.S. 1791, France 1791, Spain 1812, and France 1848. Here, we employ a genetic algorithm and Document Term Matrix (DTM) analysis to assess which one or four of 180 pre-1899 constitutions had the greatest textual impact on 581 post-1900 constitutions. Two criteria guide the selection: coverage and originality. Through iterative optimization, the algorithm identifies the most textually influential constitutions, allowing for a direct comparison with expert selections. This chapter …

Vision-Language Models For Future Image Caption Prediction: Methods, Applications, And Adversarial Vulnerabilities, Md Ishak

Wayne State University Theses

Image captioning has traditionally focused on generating descriptions for individual static images. However, predicting future events from visual information is a fundamental challenge in this domain. While existing methods primarily describe current visual content, the ability to anticipate and generate captions for future events remains largely unexplored. We propose a novel approach for future caption prediction by leveraging the capabilities of Vision Transformer (ViT), Generative Pre-trained Transformer 2 (GPT-2), and Text-to-Text Transfer Transformer Model (T5) architectures.

Our method includes two complementary strategies: a two-stage pipeline where ViT-GPT2 generates captions for current images and T5 analyzes these captions to predict future …

Gettysburg College Journal Of The Civil War Era 2025

The Gettysburg College Journal of the Civil War Era

No abstract provided.

Echoes Of Antiquity: The Romanticization Of The Classical World Through Architecture In The Old South, Cait Gurley

The Gettysburg College Journal of the Civil War Era

In the aftermath of the Civil War, the American South looked to the Ancient World as cultural and ideological model. Specifically, the Old South conceptualized Ancient Greece as a glorious land filled with honorable heroes who defended their home and way of life. Confederates utilized formal education in Classical studies to instruct the public on its ideologies. However, the economic downturn immediately following the Civil War forced Confederates to find another means of disseminating their ideologies to the public. Thus, in Reconstruction, ancient Greek-inspired architecture, as demonstrated in the Nashville Parthenon, acted as a vehicle for transporting ideologies. Yet, the …

Surveying New Battlegrounds: Ukraine And The Future Of Cognitive Warfare, Chad M. Briggs, Anita Tusor

Journal of Strategic Security

Cognitive warfare (CW) has emerged as a decisive battlespace in modern conflict, shifting the focus from physical terrain to the perceptions and resilience of societies. This article analyzes the Russian Federation's application of CW in Ukraine since 2013, contrasting it with the strategic concepts developed by the People's Republic of China (PRC). Russia's approach, rooted in Soviet-era maskirovka and reflexive control, integrates cyber operations, disinformation, and the use of non-state proxies, including private military companies, organized crime, and the Russian Orthodox Church, to destabilize adversaries and manufacture uncertainty. In response, Ukraine has demonstrated remarkable resilience through a whole-of-society mobilization, effectively …

Poetry Reading From The Craft Of Poetry Class, Cara Dees, Lj Towell, Lo Vaezi, Abigail Eaton, Bevan Johnson, Virginia Peppiatt, Rachel Jones, Zach Clar, Yara Ali, Lucy Rivas

SPARK Symposium Presentations

This creative reading from the students of "English 3420: Craft of Poetry" features several student presenters sharing the original poems that they wrote and revised across the course of the Spring 2025 semester. These poems of grief, joy, love, and survival showcase the linguistic brilliance and dazzling creativity of Belmont undergraduates.

Vitriol For The Masses: How The U.S. Government Uses Language Within Propaganda To Influence Citizens’ Opinions On Immigrants, G Smith-Rasmussen

CEG 450 Cultural, Environmental, and Global Studies Capstone

Politicians do not directly express vitriolic words and beliefs; instead, they test the boundaries of what is accepted and slowly push the line until the hate becomes increasingly normalized. The United States government has similar goals in mind when pushing anti-immigration propaganda. The aim is to normalize harmful stereotypes and ideas of what immigrants are, to sway people into supporting their policies. The current immigrant population that is being heavily targeted is Latin immigrants. This paper aims to analyze how harmful the 2024 presidential administrations' language surrounding Latin immigrants is through discourse analysis.

Table Of Contents, Antonio Medina-Rivera

International Journal of the Linguistic Association of the Southwest

No abstract provided.

Domains Of Use And Self-Reported Proficiency: A Comparative Study Of Heritage Spanish Speakers Across Two University Campuses, Sara Castro Cantú, Salvatore Callesano

International Journal of the Linguistic Association of the Southwest

This study takes a sociolinguistic approach to exploring self-rated proficiency of Latinx, heritage Spanish speakers in Illinois. Recent studies show how dominant discourses around Spanish-English bilingualism and the educational environment in higher education institutions shape Latinx speakers’ self-perceptions of proficiency. We specifically investigate and compare two groups of college students from Chicago: students who attend a large public Predominantly-white institution in central Illinois, and students who attend a large public Hispanic-Serving institution in the heart of Chicago. Students completed an online survey about their language histories and linguistic profiles. Descriptive correlation analyses are presented that examine the relationships between self-reported …

Chaos To Confidence: Claiming Your Classroom, Lashae Tietsort, Dasha Glover, Keyana Jackson, Shanel Beason

Instructional Modules for Professional learning Responding to Opportunities and Valuing Educators (IMPROVE)

Nearly half of educators reported that students' behaviors were “a lot worse” than in 2019 before the pandemic (Peetz, 2025). Since COVID, teachers report that students are more prone to misbehavior and defiance, less socially skilled and emotionally mature, less motivated, focused, and present in class, and academically behind, struggling with attendance (Macias, 2024).

The goal of this professional learning module is to equip educators with research-based strategies for establishing a clear classroom vision, implementing effective procedures and expectations, and fostering strong relationships with students and their families. These strategies aim to enhance student engagement and create a supportive learning …

Spanish Conquistadors As God’S Chosen People: The Role Of Biblical Metaphor In Angélico Chávez's Recounting Of Southwest History, Nicholas L. Chavez

International Journal of the Linguistic Association of the Southwest

This study presents a critical discourse analysis of Fray Angélico Chávez’s My Penitente Land: Reflections on Spanish New Mexico through a cognitive linguistic lens based on Hawkins’s notion of iconographic reference. A metaphor analysis first identifies Chávez’s framing of New Mexican history as biblical narrative, mapping Old Testament stories, locations, and characters onto Spanish colonial events. The iconographic reference analysis then demonstrates how this metaphor functions discursively: a biblical iconographic frame of reference allows Chávez to create a biblically-based heirarchy which maps onto Spanish–Indigenous relations, positioning Spaniards as a chosen people and implicitly justifying colonial atrocities by aligning Indigenous groups …

Editorial Advisors, Antonio Medina-Rivera

International Journal of the Linguistic Association of the Southwest

No abstract provided.

Indigenous Technology Futurisms: Reclaiming Mackinac Island In Virtual Reality, Madeline A. Gupta

Library Map Prize

In Indigenous Technology Futurisms: Reclaiming Mackinac Island in Virtual Reality, Madeline A. Gupta introduces a place-based digital storytelling project that uses interactive mapping as the foundation for cultural reconnection and community wellness. Centered on Mackinac Island—ancestral land of the Anishinaabe people—the project features a custom-designed map by an Anishinaabe artist, allowing users to navigate a VR website by selecting specific locations across northern Michigan. Each map point opens into a spatial video experience paired with traditional audio content, including oral histories, poetry, and songs.

The project reframes digital cartography through an Indigenous lens, challenging Western colonial mapping practices that …

Local-Neutrosophic Logic And Local-Neutrosophic Sets: Incorporating Locality With Applications, Florentin Smarandache, Takaaki Fujita

Branch Mathematics and Statistics Faculty and Staff Publications

The study of uncertainty has been a significant area of research, with concepts such as fuzzy sets [87], fuzzy graphs [51], and neutrosophic sets [58] receiving extensive attention. In Neutrosophic Logic, indeterminacy often arises from real-world complexities. This paper explores the concept of locality as a key factor in determining indeterminacy, building upon the framework introduced by F. Smarandache in [73]. Locality refers to processes constrained within a specific region, where an object or system is directly influenced by its immediate surroundings. In contrast, nonlocality involves effects that transcend spatial or temporal boundaries, where changes in one location have direct …