Digital Commons Network^™

Amplifying African Immigrant Women's Voices: Self-Advocacy And Competency In Maternal Healthcare Communication In The United States, Sahar Khamis, Faith Otchere, Delight Agboada

Iowa Journal of Communication

This qualitative study examines African immigrant women’s access to maternal health information (MHI), resources, and services in the United States (U.S.), the barriers and challenges they encounter when accessing and utilizing these resources, and strategies for overcoming these challenges. The study explored how African immigrant women access and share MHI, the degree of agency they exhibit in accessing maternal care, and how their participation in the study’s focus group discussions (FGDs) shaped their perceived competence and advocacy regarding maternal healthcare in the United States. Fourteen African women currently living in the United States participated in FGDs. Through these FGDs, the …

Editorial, Arthit Jiamrattanyoo

Journal of Letters

No abstract provided.

Using Sounds For Propaganda In The Sarit–Thanom Government Era, 1960s, Thanawat Rungruangtantisuk

Journal of Letters

This article proposes that since sounds are related to human perception, they can be tool of government for propaganda. In the context of Thai society, the use of sounds for propaganda in the Sarit–Thanom government era deserves attention because these sounds continue to circulate and be reproduced in the present day. A study of the history of sounds and propaganda under the Sarit–Thanom governments in the 1960s shows that advances in sound dissemination systems – which have developments from the previous decade - enabled the government to use sound effectively for leading people in the Cold War situation. Both Field …

The Portrayal Of Single Mother Characters In Contemporary Malay Short Films : Comparative Study Of Stigma Lea And Kabut Semalam, Nureeda Ibni Sulaiman

Journal of Letters

This article examines the portrayal of single mothers in the short films StigMa Lea and Kabut Semalam through feminist textual analysis, framed by third-wave feminism and Islamic feminism, to analyze the “agency” exercised by Malay Muslim women in contrasting contexts.  In StigMa Lea, Lea, clearly situated within Singapore’s urban setting, reconstructs her identity as a “single mom” while rejecting the label “janda” (divorced woman), thereby challenging patriarchal norms. In contrast, In Kabut Semalam, Mastura, a widow residing in rural Malaysia, employs silence and faith as strategies to negotiate social stigma. Both characters illustrate that motherhood does not require …

Introduction, Jirayudh Sinthuphan

Asian Review

No abstract provided.

Surface Repression, Substantive Compromise State Capacity, Anti-Chinese Policies, And Thailand’S Low-Cost Path To Modernization Under Phibun, Qiyu Zhang

Asian Review

This paper examines Thailand's anti-Chinese policies during the period of Phibun Songkhram (1938–1944; 1948–1957), exploring why they exhibited a highly contradictory pattern of “initially hardline but ultimately compromising.” It further analyzes how this policy model objectively propelled Thailand's modernization process. The article argues that while the Phibun government implemented radical anti-Chinese measures at the levels of nationalist mobilization and symbolic politics—such as closing Chinese schools, restricting Chinese-language media, imposing occupational exclusion, and promoting nationalist propaganda—it remained economically and organizationally dependent on Chinese capital, commercial networks, and professional expertise. This created a dual-track policy structure of “surface suppression and core concession.” …

Creative Refusal And Freedom In Craft Making The Case Study Of Dhaka Weaving And The Development Assistance In Eastern Nepal, Yuko Takamichi

Asian Review

This study explores the conflict between local handicraft production and development assistance interventions through the case of dhaka, a hand-woven cloth produced in the eastern hilly region of Nepal. Drawing on studies of development assistance in Nepal and the perspective of “culture as creative refusal,” this paper argues that the characteristics of dhaka cloth and its production practices have been shaped through local people’s conscious rejection and selective adoption of elements introduced by various development programs implemented in the region. Since the 1980s, the KHARDEP program in Town M has served as a catalyst for the implementation of numerous …

Black Ecological Care: Conservation, Environmental Justice, And Sovereignty In Baltimore, Maryland, Alexandria Nicole Casteel

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

Dominant traditions of urban planning, municipal policy, and environmental science register Black urban spaces through a vocabulary of pathology, as sites of ecological deficit, contamination, and social decay. This dissertation investigates how Black communities in U.S. cities attend to the environment in ways that address legacies of environmental and social injustice while opening pathways toward different environmental futures. I gather these practices under the analytic of Black ecological care, which captures the generative labor of making and maintaining livable worlds within, alongside, and beyond histories of harm. I develop the analytic across twenty-nine months of ethnographic fieldwork in 2021 and …

Human Rights In Turkish Foreign Policy, Elif Babül, Zümray Kutlu

Government: Faculty Books

This book builds on the editors’ earlier work and once again brings together women scholars of Turkish foreign policy from different parts of the world. The contributors take an interdisciplinary approach to foreign policy analysis that is increasingly necessary in a global environment shaped less by traditional statecraft and more by overlapping, non-traditional challenges.

The book places human well-being at the center of foreign policy analysis and highlights dynamics long treated as peripheral, including gender, the environment, civil society, and the transnational role of diasporas.

Through historically grounded and theoretically informed chapters, the authors examine how these concepts and themes …

Archives And Children's Knowledge, Elliott Kuecker, Ashley Rockenbach

Publications and Research

This article argues for the importance of collecting works created by children—not just about and not just for—in formal archival collections. Framed through the ideas of legitimate knowledge and epistemic injustice, this piece combines notions important to children’s rights activists and childhood studies scholars with the role archives can play in preserving children’s knowledge through child-created materials. The authors describe how researchers struggle to find work created by children within archives, impacting the ability to create child-centered research that centers children’s views of the world as prominently as adult views of the world. Some collections that do include child-created materials …

Niu Working Papers 2025 - 2026, Northern Illinois University

Working Papers

No abstract provided.

Chapter 3: Diamonds In The Rough: The Development And Occurrences Of The Rhombus Motif, Its Components, And Its Variations In Olmec And Olmec-Related Textiles, Billie J. A. Follensbee

Precious Pattern: The Dotted-Diamond Motif in Indigenous American Textiles, Explorations in Mesoamerica, the American Southwest, and the Andes

Discusses the development of textiles in the Mesoamerican Preclassic/Formative period from the Gulf Coast, the rhombus textile patterns and motifs in Olmec and Olmec-related imagery, and includes further reflections on the dotted-diamond motif, its components, and their correlations.

Environmental Protection In War: Beyond Humans And Nature, Alexandra Huneeus, Pablo Rueda-Saiz

Articles

War is not just a human tragedy-it is an environmental catastrophe. Across the globe, armed conflicts leave behind oil-slickened rivers, poisoned soils, and forests reduced to barren landscapes. These harms last for generations, but they are not borne equally. The peoples who live most intimately with the land-drawing from it food, water, culture, and identity-suffer the most enduring losses. Their very existence as a people may be put at risk.

This Article asks: How have the laws of war addressed environmental destruction, and, more specifically, what protection do they afford to communities whose very existence is bound to the places …

Carlotta And Yager Valley: The First Hundred Years, Paula Gundlach Mchenry, Janet Corbett Mattson

Trade & Scholarly Monographs

This book is laid out as a timeline covering the first 100 years that Yager Creek and Carlotta were being settled. Included are not only the happenings in the area but events that were occurring outside the area that would have affected or been of interest to Humboldt County residents. Great care has been taken to preserve the history of the area, to learn who the families were, their reason for coming to the area, and where they came from. This book was compiled through the effort of the entire community.

The Paradox Of Matriliny: Cultural Authority And The Political Marginalization Of Women In Meghalaya, Kasturi Bharadwaj

Journal of International Women's Studies

The global discourse on gender equality gained momentum after the 1975 United Nations World Conference on Women. It continued through a series of international initiatives and culminated in the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, which emphasized women’s rights and their participation in political, social, and economic life. Despite these normative commitments at the international level, women’s political participation and representation within administrative and decision-making structures continue to be uneven, limited, and structurally constrained across many societies. In this context, the study investigates the political participation and representation of women in Meghalaya, a tribal state in Northeast India characterized by …

Children And Adults Across 15 Countries Believe In Human Uniqueness Of Mind: A Cross-Cultural Investigation Of Cross-Species Mind Perception, Karri Neldner, Luke Maurits, Magie Junker, Lara Abbas, Nayrouz Abbas, Arianna Abis, Federica Amici, Bernardo Arroyo-Garcia, Negar Asghari, Giovanna Barragán Pardo, Zhen Zhang, Junior Peña Chumacero, Ardain Dzabatou, Dustin Eirdosh, Susan Hanisch, Tom Herrnsdorf, Tom Hovehne, Alicia Junker, Patricia Kanngiesser, Felipe Villa Larens, Safaa Mahmoud, Sandra Masaquiza, Iino Masato, Risma Illa Maulany, Tongtong Meng, Kardelen Mutlu, Putu Oka Ngakan, Ebru Peközer, Ljubica Petrović, Mirella Christy Rehatalanit

School of Psychology

The way humans relate to other animals is fundamentally shaped by whether we perceive ourselves as unique, with feelings and thoughts not shared by other animals. How beliefs about animals’ ability to feel and think develop across cultures remains largely unexplored. We asked children and adolescents (4–17 years, N = 1025) and adults (N = 190) from 33 urban and rural communities across 15 countries whether animals have thoughts or feelings (judgments of presence), and whether those thoughts or feelings are human-like (judgments of similarity). Bayesian analyses revealed that participants generally ascribed non-human animals the ability for thoughts and feelings. …

Associating Emotional Intelligence, Cultural Intelligence, And Inclusive Leadership: A Correlational Study Of Seventh-Day Adventist Pastors And Church Leaders In Canada, Damson Anim Oppong

Dissertations

Problem

In an increasingly polarized world, church leaders are expected to foster inclusion, belonging, and unity within diverse congregations. Inclusive leadership (IL), supported by emotional intelligence (EQ) and cultural intelligence (CQ), may offer a relational leadership posture well-suited to this challenge. Growing evidence suggests that relational qualities such as EQ and CQ help leaders develop inclusive communities, foster belonging, and bridge differences (Thomas & Inkson, 2017; Wise, 2022). Emotional and cultural intelligence are studied increasingly in organizational settings, but little is known about how they affect inclusive leadership in faith-based institutions, such as among pastors and church leaders in the …

Counselors' Lived Experiences Of Moral Injury: A Social Ecological Perspective, Lisa M. Belknap

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This study explores the lived experiences of counselors who encountered moral injury when sociopolitical, institutional, and organizational conditions constrained their ability to practice in alignment with their personal morals, professional values, and the counseling profession’s code of ethics. Participants (N = 15) included licensed counselors who self-identified as having experienced moral injury in response to directives from legitimate authorities that conflicted with professional ethics, social justice commitments, or client welfare. Grounded in social ecological systems theory, this phenomenological study employed a confidential, cross-sectional online survey. Reflexive thematic analysis identified seven themes: (a) Profit Over People, (b) Structural Forces Contributing to …

Good News For The Poor And More: Reclaiming Martin Luther King, Jr.'S Radical Gospel Of Economic Justice In Pursuit Of The Beloved Community, Lester A. Mccorn

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This dissertation, Good News for the Poor and More: Reclaiming Martin Luther King Jr.’s Radical Gospel of Economic Justice in Pursuit of the Beloved Community, argues that Martin Luther King Jr.—one of the most transformational American leaders of the 20th century—should be best understood as a central figure within the Black Social Gospel tradition whose rhetoric constitutes a sustained socio-political and theological critique of economic injustice. Moving beyond interpretations that limit King to racial integration and civil rights, this study demonstrates that his preaching confronts the structural realities of poverty, racial capitalism, and militarism as interrelated forms of systemic …

Laudato Si' And The Limits Of Law: Reflections On The Vocation To Protect Integral Ecology, Lucia A. Silecchia

Scholarly Articles

In 2015, Pope Francis’s widely anticipated encyclical, Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home, was released. It was a wide-ranging commentary on the state of the world, with much to say to economists, ecologists, farmers, theologians, educators, architects, artists, and pastors. It may, however, have been of particular interest to lawyers eager to see what Pope Francis had to say about law’s particular role. 

On this question, Laudato Si’ painted an inconsistent portrait of law’s suitability to this task. Pope Francis spoke passionately about the need for law at all levels to tackle the complexities of caring for our …

Strict Scrutiny And The Viewpoint Continuum, A.G. Harmon

Scholarly Articles

Consider the following instances: A cell phone photograph picturing a man's left kneecap. A statement that the speaker thinks, "The name Josiah is really cool." A woman who runs her bicycle over a business owner in order to gain celebrity and increase attention for her new podcast. An intentional lie told to acquire a job. A student who insists on answering his math exam questions in runic symbols.

At one point or another, American courts have considered the merits found in favor of instances similar to these and other like circumstances as amounting to "viewpoints." As such, they …

Korean Wedding Hanbok In The May Weber Ethnographic Study Collection, Odette Collins

Department of Anthropology

This report examines a men’s ceremonial hanbok from the May Weber Ethnographic Study Collection, attributed to South Korea in the mid-twentieth century. It discusses the garment’s materials, construction, and decorative techniques, as well as its function as wedding attire. The report situates the object within the historical context of Joseon dynasty court dress, particularly dallyeong robes, and analyzes its symbolic motifs, including crane rank badges. It also considers issues of attribution, provenance, and the broader cultural significance of hanbok in relation to class, tradition, and modern production.

The History Of Dr. Suess And European Dentists From The Past: Relevant Lessons In Bioethics For Today, Howard A. Israel Dds, Facd

Journal of the American College of Dentists

The works of the author-illustrator Dr. Seuss evoke images of children’s books with moral themes, such as Yertle the Turtle and Horton Hears a Who. The life story of another Dr. Suess has remained relatively unknown. Walter Suess was an extremely talented dentist and musician in Austria. Brilliant and courageous, he became a victim of a morally depraved authoritarian regime and the absence of biomedical ethics during the reign of the Third Reich. The serendipitous discovery of the true story of Dr. Seuss and European dentists from this era offers lessons in bioethics relevant to today.

At The Crossroads Of Law And Society: Understanding The World Of Immigration Attorneys., Elvis Ariri

Senior Independent Study Theses

This independent study examines the professional experiences of immigration attorneys working with immigrant clients in the United States. Through qualitative, semi-structured interviews, the research explores how immigration law operates in practice, emphasizing systemic complexity, administrative delay, and discretionary decision-making. Findings reveal that attorneys navigate a fragmented legal framework shaped by shifting policies, inconsistent adjudication, and high emotional stakes. Beyond technical expertise, immigration practice requires emotional resilience, ethical judgment, and strategic adaptability. By centering attorneys’ perspectives, this study highlights immigration law as a lived social system that structures belonging, exclusion, and stability, illuminating the gap between statutory intent and human consequence.

Enablers And Constraints To Implementing Intellectual Virtues Pedagogy In A Higher Education Context: A Teacher Educator Perspective, Ellen Larsen, Katie M. Burke, Melissa Fanshawe A/P, Yvonne Salton, Mark Oliver

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Higher education aims to develop graduates with specific professional and disciplinary expertise and lifelong learning capabilities. We argue that instruction for these learning dispositions, conceptualised in this study as intellectual virtues, is challenging and complex. We report on practitioner research conducted by nine teacher educators as we worked to implement intentional instruction of intellectual virtues in our teacher education courses. Drawing on online surveys and reflective conversations, we used descriptive statistical and thematic analysis to investigate the approaches taken to integrate the intellectual virtues and, more specifically, the challenges and opportunities for doing so. Findings highlighted the structural, cultural, and …

Provoking Generative Ai Futures: Merging Theory And Praxis, Regina M. Luttrell Ph.D., Nick Bowman

Media Studies - All Scholarship

An accessible exploration of the myriad applications and challenges of generative AI for media and communication students, scholars, and practitioners alike.

The latest emergence of increasingly low-cost and scalable AI technologies presents a point of both celebration and concern for the contemporary media and information ecosystem. To this end, this edited volume gathers media and communications scholars and practitioners to engage in discussions and exchange ideas about current trends and developments in the field. Questions this volume asks include: What are the essentials of generative AI from a media and communication perspective? How has generative AI influenced research and scholarship? …

“He Will Always Love Me”: Authentic Romance And Reciprocal Love In Otome Games, Elena Yifei Zhao, Nick Bowman

Media Studies - All Scholarship

This study investigates how players construct and articulate emotionally meaningful relationships in otome games. Drawing from 293 open-ended responses from Chinese players, a thematic analysis identified six recurring themes: authentic romance, companionship, shared experience, integration into daily life, game features, and personal growth. The most dominant theme, authentic romance, reveals that players often describe otome boyfriends as emotionally responsive partners who provide validation, support, and affection. Functional descriptions of gameplay mechanics were notably disconnected from other themes (primarily emotional engagement themes). A follow-up analysis of the most popular otome games in the same …

Academic Freedom’S Demise, Ruth Colker

Case Western Reserve Law Review

No abstract provided.

Unseen Motherhood, Kylie Zieminski

All Student Theses and Dissertations

Unseen Motherhood is a series of photographs that shows what first-time motherhood is really like, starting with pregnancy and going through birth and everything after. I did not want to just show the happy or perfect moments. I wanted to capture the hard parts, the big feelings, and how much a person's identity can change.

There are eighteen black-and-white photographs in this series, all showing my twin sister as she goes through becoming a mother. These images follow her before, during, and after birth. I wanted to show that motherhood is more than just one happy photograph.

I based this …

Ruth Fine: In Search Of The Place, Carrie Robbins, Maggie North

Books, pamphlets, catalogues, and scrapbooks

This catalogue was published in conjunction with the exhibition Ruth Fine: In Search of the Place, on view in Bryn Mawr College's 1912 Gallery from August 27–December 18, 2026.  The exhibition explores Philadelphia-based artist Ruth Fine's longstanding engagement with the natural world in terms of her "search for the place," an approach to artmaking that invites close looking and collaboration. The catalogue was edited by Maggie North and Carrie Robbins and designed by Nathanael Roesch. It also includes contributions from Wendy Edwards, Ruth Fine, Marianne Hansen, Janelle Rebel, and Chloe Sun.