Digital Commons Network^™

Materia Non Medica: Reading Disability And Medical Narratives In The Daughter Of Doctor Moreau, Jessica Elizabeth Young

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

This thesis presents a close reading of The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, engaging Indigenous studies and disability studies to illuminate how the novel interrogates embodiment, medical authority, and human difference. By situating the text within historical frameworks of medicine and corporeality in Mexico, and alongside speculative modes that seek to recuperate non-Western epistemologies, the analysis reveals how Moreno-Garcia reimagines the body as mutable, relational, and politically charged. The narrative’s hybrid characters and transgressive identities offer a generative lens through which to explore bodily variance, not as deviation, but as a site of possibility. Ultimately, this thesis argues …

#Tribe: A Study On Digital Tribalism In Saudi Arabia, Maha Alrehaili

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

This dissertation examines digital tribalism in Saudi Arabia as a lens through which to explore the complex interplay between state, identity politics, and social media in an era of rapid transformation. Amidst ambitious modernization efforts under Vision 2030 and ongoing economic restructuring, the Saudi state has sought to establish a national identity by leveraging tribal heritage. This study investigates how the three major tribes, Harb, Qahtan, and Otaibah, are responding to rapid modernization through an examination of their digital presence on X (formerly Twitter).

Employing a comparative case study design and content analysis of three years of digital activity, this …

Dual Language Programs: An Exploration, Amanda Burke

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

This research is an exploration into: 1) the utilization of programs that teach students English as a second language in the US, particularly Dual Language programs, 2) a history of research surrounding the formation of an individual or group identity, both overall and through an ESOL lens, and 3) how ESOL instruction in the US may be impacted by certain aspects of this identity construction.

After a review of research, this dissertation analyzes a cohort of students from the Palm Beach County School District who were enrolled in either a Dual Language program or in a “traditional” ESOL program from …

A Study On Sentence-Level Argument Identification In Imbalanced Student Essay Corpora, Rishabh Lingam

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

Writing is an essential skill that affects success in nearly every academic subject and professional field. For undergraduate students, strong writing helps them organize ideas, communicate clearly, and perform better in both written assignments and overall coursework. Good writing also supports critical thinking, which is key to problem-solving and academic growth. Beyond school, writing continues to be important in the workplace, where it is used for emails, reports, presentations, and formal documents. Yet, despite its importance, many students and graduates do not have strong writing skills, and this gap is noticed by employers. A recent survey by Ashley Finley [1] …

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

Intersectionality And The Canon Of Romanticism, Serenah Minasian

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation discusses the origins of the canon and the place it has in British Romanticism studies both past and present. This research begins unpacking what has already been done in this sector of study and takes it steps further by the use of Crenshaw’s “intersectionality” theory. The “Introduction” unpacks past scholarly work and its role in the present studies and how we must move beyond the past. “Chapter I” serves as a historical breakdown of the canon’s role and impact in both literary studies and Romanticism studies in specific. “Chapter II” provides an in depth analysis of two major …

The Effects Of Singing In Music Therapy Sessions On Vocabulary Acquisition With Children With Asd, Yeim Kim

Theses and Dissertations

Background: Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) often struggle with language acquisition and maintaining engagement during learning activities. While music therapy has shown promise in supporting communication and behavior in children with ASD, few studies have focused on its effect on vocabulary acquisition, particularly in comparing different types of music interventions like singing and non-singing approaches.

Purpose: This study aimed to explore how singing, as a method used in music therapy, affects vocabulary acquisition in a child with ASD. Three research questions guided this study: (1) How do singing and non-singing programs influence receptive vocabulary acquisition in a child with …

Transformation Of Buddhist Musical Practices From The 7th-13th Centuries As A Response To Political And Social Disorder In Medieval India, Stephan I. Duran

Monsoon: South Asian Studies Association Journal

This article gives an account of the development of Buddhist musical practices on the Indian subcontinent from their earliest, datable instances, to the disappearance of Buddhist institutions from India proper, demonstrating the persistence of descendant traditions of Sanskrit Buddhist chant and song in contemporary Japanese, Tibetan, and Newar esoteric Buddhist communities. It is argued that the Buddhist musical theory and praxis of these three cultural spheres both preserve features of ancient and medieval Indian Buddhist music and sonically illustrate the transition from political and social order to de-centralized social organization, a shift that took place between the 7^th and …

Suicide Phenotyping From Clinical Notes In Safety-Net Psychiatric Hospital Using Multi-Label Classification With Pre-Trained Language Models, Zehan Li, Yan Hu, Scott Lane, Salih Selek, Lokesh Shahani, Rodrigo Machado-Vieira, Jair Soares, Hua Xu, Hongfang Liu, Ming Huang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Accurate identification and categorization of suicidal events can yield better suicide precautions, reducing operational burden, and improving care quality in high-acuity psychiatric settings. Pre-trained language models offer promise for identifying suicidality from unstructured clinical narratives. We evaluated the performance of four BERT-based models using two fine-tuning strategies (multiple single-label and single multi-label) for detecting coexisting suicidal events from 500 annotated psychiatric evaluation notes. The notes were labeled for suicidal ideation (SI), suicide attempts (SA), exposure to suicide (ES), and non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI). RoBERTa outperformed other models using binary relevance (acc=0.86, F1=0.78). MentalBERT (F1=0.74) also exceeded BioClinicalBERT (F1=0.72). RoBERTa fine-tuned with …

Addressing ‘Wicked Complex Problems’: Qualitative Understandings Of Sexual Violence Prevention In Male-Dominated Industries, Sarah Vrankovich, Sharyn Burns, Giselle Woodley, Jacqueline Hendriks

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Globally there has been increased focus on the prevalence of sexual violence in workplaces, including the mining industry. In Western Australia, where this study is situated, this industry is a significant employer, predominantly male-dominated, and the prevalent use of fly-in-fly-out schedules can blur work and social life. Consequently, efforts to prevent and manage workplace sexual violence have become a priority, leading to the development and implementation of various strategies and resources. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 34 participants, including sexual violence prevention professionals (n = 16) and mining industry workers (n = 18). Reflexive thematic analysis identified systemic and behavioural …

Pfedrag: A Personalized Federated Retrieval-Augmented Generation System With Depth-Adaptive Tiered Embedding Tuning, Hangyu He, Xin Yuan, Kai Wu, Ren Ping Liu, Wei Ni

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Large Language Models (LLMs) can undergo hallucinations in specialized domains, and standard Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) often falters due to general-purpose embeddings ill-suited for domain-specific terminology. Though domain-specific fine-tuning enhances retrieval, centralizing data introduces privacy risks. The use of federated learning (FL) can alleviate this to some extent, but faces challenges of data heterogeneity, poor personalization, and expensive training data generation. We propose pFedRAG, a novel Personalized Federated RAG framework, which enables efficient collaborative fine-tuning of embedding models to address these challenges. The key contribution is a new Depth-Adaptive Tiered Embedding (DATE) architecture, which comprises a Global Shared Layer, combined using …

Creation And Use Of Sbs’S The Boat; Principles For The Co-Creation Of Online Interactive Learning Environments For Innovative Digital Pedagogy, Prue Miles, Kylie Boltin

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Teachers and students rely more on online-learning environments than ever before, including open, trusted and high-quality online learning resources produced by public broadcasters. For educators, this represents both an inspiration and challenge in the wake of new techologies and online learning environments. This article is a case study of one such online learning environment created by Australia’s multicultural broadcaster, the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS), an adaptation of Nam Le’s award-winning short story, “The Boat” (2008). SBS’s The Boat (2015) is an immersive online experience that explores a refugee perspective and is accompanied by SBSLearn online learning materials. The Boat (2015) …

Cultural Factors In Alcohol And Other Drug Use Among Immigrant Youth In Western Australia: A Qualitative Investigation, Justine Dandy, Caroline Ng Tseung-Wong, Amanda M. George, Byron L. Zamboanga, Vilma Palacios

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Objectives: Our aim was to identify the influence of heritage cultural factors and mainstream Australian cultural norms on young culturally and linguistically diverse (CaLD) immigrants’ alcohol and other drug (AOD) use attitudes, motives for use, and behaviors. Method: We conducted nine focus groups with 55 youth (aged 16–30; 22 female, 33 male). Participants were from diverse cultural backgrounds including India, Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan, Hazara-Afghanistan, Burma (Chin and Karen), Malaysia, Singapore, and China. They were first- (80%) and second-generation immigrants to Australia. Results: We constructed three overarching themes: bicultural conflict, freedom versus constraints, and the intersection of gender and …

Exploring The Sociocultural Significance Of Funerals In Zongo Communities In Less-Developed Countries: A Case Of Effiakuma Zongo In The Western Region Of Ghana, Fusheini Halawayhi, Victor Fannam Nunfam

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Social and cultural capital have been recognized as critical assets for improving nations under the Sustainable Development Goals. The sociocultural significance of funerals in Zongo communities in Ghana, however, has not received much research attention. The Kastenbaum’s concept of funerals and Szmigin and Louise’s relational framework on funeral experiences were used to explore the social-cultural significance of funeral in the Effiakuma Zongo community as is the case in Ghana. Based on interpretive phenomenology and descriptive case study, we purposively sampled and conducted focus group interviews with 15 participants including bereaved family members, gravediggers and Imams. Data was processed and analyzed …

Open Educational Resources In Epidemiology: A Case Study Of Student Perceptions, Kiam Padamsey

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Textbooks are fundamental in epidemiological education, but their rising costs and static nature present challenges in an ever-evolving academic landscape. Open Educational Resources (OER) offer a potential solution by providing free, adaptable, and high-quality alternative learning materials. This study examined student perceptions of an OER textbook compared to a traditional epidemiology textbook across undergraduate and postgraduate epidemiology units at Edith Cowan University, Western Australia. A total of n = 164 students responded to a survey assessing textbook quality, alignment with course objectives, clarity, and perceived impact on learning. Results indicated students perceived no significant differences between the traditional and OER …

Similarity May Be Safer: The Effect Of Similarity Between Speech-Based Takeover Request Style And Driver Personality On Self-Driving Takeover Performance, Keer Ma, Jianfeng Wu, Yanxi Lin, Zihan Li, Songyang Guo, Dongfang Jiao, Shihan Yu

Psychology Faculty Publications

In Level 3 automated driving, it is critical that drivers can rapidly and effectively shift from non-driving related tasks (NDRT) back to the driving task. While previous research has examined the modality, timing, and vocal characteristics of takeover requests (TORs), little is known about how the style of speech-based TORs interacts with drivers’ personality traits. This study conducted a driving simulator experiment with 49 participants using a 2 × 2 within-subjects design. Drawing on the dominant-submissive dimension of personality, we examined the similarity of personality tendencies between speech-based TORs and drivers under takeover scenarios of varying urgency (low: road construction; …

An Ethnography Of Love Jihad: The Governance Of Interfaith Marriages In Times Of Hindutva, Snehal Sharma

Theses and Dissertations--Gender and Women's Studies

My doctoral research focuses on the violations of human and citizenship rights of women and religiously marginalized communities (based on religious differences) in the backdrop of right-wing movements in India. I assess the Hindu nationalist propaganda named “love jihad” to demonstrate the way it weaponizes religious exogamy. This propaganda legitimizes violence against Indian religious minorities and women as it claims that marriages between Hindu women and Muslim men are acts of terrorism against Hindus with the sole aim of increasing the Muslim population using Hindu women's bodies. I have used ethnographic research methods to explore the legal process of interfaith …

The Performance Of Neurologically Intact Sequential Shona-English Bilingual Speakers On The Bilingual Aphasia Test, Mcloddy R. Kadyamusuma, Antony R. Joseph

Faculty Publications – Communication Sciences and Disorders

Background
Currently, no standardized culturally and linguistically appropriate assessment tools may be used to provide speech and language assessment for Shona-English bilingual speakers.

Aims
This study examined the performance of Shona-English sequential bilingual speakers on the full versions of the Shona and English Bilingual Aphasia Test (BAT).

Methods and Procedures
The adapted BAT-Sh and BAT-E were administered to 20 neurologically intact sequential bilingual individuals 30 to 40 years of age. Each participant was administered 32 tasks to facilitate a complete assessment of language skills at all levels of processing and for all modalities.

Results
The Shona-English sequential bilingual speakers performed …

Community Immersion For Homegrown Teachers: Learning “There Are Never Just Negatives…”, Elizabeth A. Skinner, Apryl Riley

Faculty Publications - College of Education

The authors describe an initiative between an urban public school district, a city college, and a college of education to establish a pipeline of teachers of color from and for the school district. The qualitative research occurred during the teacher candidates’ participation in a community immersion program. Centering the teacher candidates’ experiences and reactions to the community immersion highlights their identity, commitment to teaching, and the importance of exposing homegrown teachers to communities beyond their own. The authors discuss community-based curriculum in the preparation of teachers and consider how the experiences of teacher candidates of color impact program implementation.

Restoring Wonder: Play, Inquiry, And Humanizing Pedagogies In Early Childhood Teacher Education, Christie Angleton, Xiaoying Zhao, Robby Anggriawan

Faculty Publications - College of Education

At a writing retreat in the middle of the woods, we considered the trees. Inspired by our surroundings, we discussed possibilities for how we might demonstrate an inquiry cycle with our undergraduate teacher candidates. We considered our spaces: the buildings in which we teach our classes, the university campus, and the broader community. We reminded one another of our campus quad and its status as an arboretum, owing to the diverse variety of trees there, representing myriad species and varieties. We posed questions. “What do we have available within our reach? What do we have that students can literally touch? …

Journey To Well-Being: An Exploration Of Thrivership Post-Domestic Violence, Kader Gumus

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Domestic violence profoundly affects multiple facets of a survivor’s life. While most existing literature on survivorship addresses the immediate aftermath of domestic violence, this study delves into the extended process following the trauma of abuse to attain “thrivership,” a new concept in the scholarly and practice literature that emphasizes enduring well-being and flourishing. This dissertation examines the journeys from surviving to thriving for 13 women who transformed themselves and their lives to achieve well-being after traumatic domestic violence. Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory was applied to examine the multiple layers of environmental influences on an individual’s development, including the micro, meso, …

Lend Me Your Hands: Engaging Waldorf Teachers In Pedagogical Puppetry For Student Growth, Corinna Rezzelle-Pennypacker

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Although puppetry has a long history as a holistic teaching tool, it remains an underutilized arts integration technique in elementary and secondary schools. To better understand Waldorf teachers’ perspectives on pedagogical puppetry and the necessary training to effectively implement the work, this explanatory mixed-methods dissertation sought to fill the gap in research on teachers’ views of puppetry and what training they believe is important to feel comfortable doing the work. Committed to using an action research approach, a professional development workshop and lesson plans were created for 1st-8th grade Waldorf teachers based on the feedback from this dissertation’s explanatory interviews …

The Influence Of A Northwestern School District's Equity And Inclusion Initiative On Classroom Teachers' Perceptions Using Culturally Responsive Practices: A Pilot Study Of Selected Principles, Latrica Rich

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Racial tensions are high in the United States of America in the 21st century, and hate crimes are on the rise due to political rhetoric and more frequent litigation. This situation challenges current approaches to diversity, equity, and inclusion, commonly known as (DEI). Although these tensions affect many societal areas, the public education system has seen particularly dramatic changes as the nation's diversity grows. This shift has invoked the first moves to adapt culturally relevant practices to promote inclusion and belonging in response to evolving classroom dynamics. This study examined some of the significant issues surrounding the implementation of cultural …

Becoming The Donkey Derby’S ‘Karen’: A Humane Educator’S Autoethnographic Journey Toward Anti-Speciesist Communication, Jesika Keener

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Language not only carries oppression as an educative force, but research indicates that language is inherently speciesist and highly pervasive (Ethical Globe, 2021; Guevara Labaca, 2017; Hamlett, 2024; Leach et al., 2023). However, the ontological commitment to speciesism is historically foundational, which makes the total eradication of speciesist communication only viable through an unemerged hypothetical future society (Kahn, 2011). For the possibilities of such a world to come into being, pivotal steps must first be taken to critically engage with the communicated forms of speciesism in order to better understand it and actively resist its reproduction—with the aspiration for this …

Loving-Learning-Leading-Living: A Scholarly Personal Narrative Of A Black Gay Father, Russell E. Thornhill

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This dissertation examines the roles, challenges, and contributions of a Black Gay father, a demographic largely absent from academic discourse. While literature explores themes of the church, LGBTQ+ identities, and social justice, there remains a critical gap addressing the lived experiences of a Black Gay father. This study fills that void by elevating narratives as community activists, family leaders, and clergy members, acknowledging their transformative impact within familial and societal structures. The methodology used is the Scholarly Personal Narrative (SPN). It allows for in-depth, reflective engagement with personal experiences in conversation with scholars while situating them within broader sociocultural, theological, …

An Autoethnographic Analysis Of Cultic Elements In Education As I'Ve Known It: For Critical Democratic Pedagogies, Kayla Gwin

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

While there is existing research surrounding the democratic potentials of the United States educational system and the vegan movement, two spaces of personal belonging for the author, there is a limited body of work discussing how these spaces may operate with specific characteristics that have been attributed to cult-like groups. Using Dr. Steven Hassan’s BITE (Behavior, Information, Thought, and Emotional Control) Model of Cultic Influence, as well as the lens of critical pedagogy, this autoethnography explores possible authoritarian tendencies within the larger educational system and the vegan movement respectively. The purpose of this study is to delve into and reflect …

Co-Becoming Our Way From Ecocide To The Pluriverse, Jupong Lin Ph.D.

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Coloniality/modernity is dying. Rising temperatures over land and sea, the extreme weather of the past decade, rising sea levels, arctic ice loss, and mass extinction are just a few indicators that the world has moved far beyond climate change to climate catastrophe. My arts-informed research takes the view that climate catastrophe, perhaps more accurately described as “collective trauma,” is part of the prevailing story and worldview of modernity, defined by patterns of domination, conquest, extractivism, and capitalism. East Asian and Indigenous worldviews share an emphasis on relationality with the world of nonhuman beings and animist traditions that do not …

Post-Migration Living Distress And Suicidal Behavior In Refugee Populations Resettled In Vermont, Phoebe K. Lewis

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The study of refugee psychology and suicidal distress is a comparatively nascent field when compared with the body of research concerning non-refugee populations. Over the past fifty years, however, the post-migration refugee experience has been the subject of growing clinical interest. In particular, the construct of post-migration living distress (PMLD) has been identified as a salient factor contributing to psychological distress in refugee populations. This dissertation explores the relationship between PMLD and suicidality in a sample of refugees resettled in a New England city. Guided by the Interpersonal Theory of Suicide (IPTS), this dissertation considers how elements of the post-migration …

Proposed Principles Beyond Human And Non-Human Binaries: Engaging A Kincentric View In Environmental Education, Christine Marie Widrig

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This is a crucial time for a call to an awakened consciousness toward respectable, equitable, and expansive relationships and agency with the natural world. Indigenous philosophy and practices offer alternative visions for cultivating representations of language, narrative, and tradition that expand boundaries of modern Western thought and discourse. Key to many Indigenous traditions is fostering relationships of kin(ki), meaning kinship, within diverse ecological landscapes and place, while engaging respectfully with the non-human world. These alternative ways of consciousness and agency can be vital means of supporting healthy biodiversity and conservation, amid spiritual practices. In this dissertation, I propose and outline …

How Marriage And Family Therapy Graduate Programs Awaken, Develop, And Teach Clinical Intuition: A Hermeneutic Qualitative Phenomenological Study, Jessica Fountas

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This research explored how marriage and family therapy graduate programs awaken, develop, and teach clinical intuition. Using criterion-based sampling and snowball sampling, six licensed marriage and family therapists participated in a two-step hermeneutic phenomenological study consisting of individual semistructured interviews and a follow-up focus group. Requirements for participation were licensed marriage and family therapists who were in clinical practice, had experienced the phenomenon of clinical intuition and awakening of clinical intuition, and used clinical intuition in therapy with clients and in systemic supervision with supervisees. The research findings highlighted 14 themes: Reflection of the Experience of Clinical Intuition; Bodily Knowing, …