Digital Commons Network^™

Eternity, Leah R. Sisk

Journal of Religion & Film

This film review of Eternity was developed from an essay on how the film demonstrates the nature of choice, including William James's notion of a leap of faith.  The original essay was submitted for an undergraduate Philosophy and Religion class on American Pragmatism at Western Carolina University.

Disclosure Day, Christian Wilken

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Disclosure Day (2026), directed by Steven Spielberg.

Misread Before Being Known: Race, Religion, And Institutional Non-Inquiry In Abrogation, Franklin Livingston

Journal of Religion & Film

Institutions often arrive at certainty before they arrive at knowledge. This article names that mechanism institutional non-inquiry — the organizational habit through which visual and cultural assumptions substitute for direct verification, allowing identity classifications to solidify before the subject meaningfully enters the encounter. Unlike prejudice, racialization, or established theories of pre-reflexive social perception, institutional non-inquiry isolates the organizational encounter itself as the specific procedural moment at which collective interpretive habits make inquiry feel unnecessary. Examining Abrogation (2024), a micro-budget American independent feature following Daud Khan, a Brown Pakistani-American infectious disease specialist whose movement through evangelical, civic, and federal institutions repeatedly …

Moving On: Purgatorial Seriality And Unanswered Prayer In Lost’S “Ab Aeterno”, Christian Wilken

Journal of Religion & Film

“Ab Aeterno” (Lost, 6.09) distills the series’ religious logic with unusual explicitness by staging theodicy not as doctrine but as narrative procedure. This article argues that the episode converts Catholic sacramental form (confession, absolution, and penitential address) into a serial ethics of endurance in which closure is structurally deferred. Richard Alpert’s confession establishes a subject who seeks an authorized word that would stabilize suffering, yet the priest’s refusal (“I can’t”) installs a theology of unanswered prayer that becomes the template for Richard’s long durée of waiting. Jacob’s “cork” parable then supplies a katechontic justification of restraint: evil is not abolished …

A Metaphorical Passage To God: Simone Weil And Robert Bresson, V. G. Voigt Hogg Phd

Journal of Religion & Film

VOIGT HOGG_Abstract (REVISED)_Journal of Religion & Film_30 April 2026

This article contrasts the metaphysical and religious philosopher Simone Weil’s concepts of attachment and detachment with auteur director Robert Bresson’s method of subtraction. It argues for a commonality in their philosophy and cinema, that guides the reader or viewer respectively, to perceive a metaphorical passage to God through the lived experience of suffering. The article considers by what means does Weil and Bresson share a mutual commitment to understanding the state of the soul in affliction, while also acknowledging an opposition in the interpretation of detachment in relation to suicide. The …

Documenting The Ineffable: A Comparative Analysis Of Mystical Representation In Kimiavi’S The Garden Of Stones And Western Sufi Documentary, Hessam Abedini

Journal of Religion & Film

This article examines how documentary film attempts to represent mystical experience through comparative analysis of Parviz Kimiavi's The Garden of Stones (1976) and American documentaries featuring Samuel Lewis, particularly Sunseed (1973). Rather than assuming terms like "sacred" or "authentic," the study grounds its analysis in empirical definitions from William James, historical scholarship by Carl Ernst and Annemarie Schimmel, and literary theory from Fatemeh Keshavarz. Through detailed examination of specific scenes—Darvish Khan hanging stones from dead trees, Lewis leading ecstatic dances—the article demonstrates how different cinematic strategies approach documentary's epistemological limits when confronting ineffable experience.

The analysis corrects historical misunderstandings about …

On Black Speculative Feminisms: Memory And Liberated Futures In Black Women’S Fiction, Aisha Matthews

Criticism

Black Speculative Feminisms: Memory and Liberated Futures in Black Women’s Fiction by Cassandra L. Jones. Ohio State University Press, 2024. $29.95 paperback

On Monstrous Work & Radical Satisfaction: Black Women Writing Under Segregation, Courtney Thorsson

Criticism

Review of Monstrous Work & Radical Satisfaction: Black Women Writing Under Segregation by Eve Dunbar.

The Round That Never Ends: The Inverted Alms Round As Post-Labor Infrastructure — Location-Based Anonymous Micro-Donations To Opted-In Stationary Public Meditators, Triggered By Presence Rather Than Need, With Ai-Funded Forward-Only Giving Balances For Recipients, Thon Ly

Defensive Publications Series

We describe a location-based voluntary giving system in which pedestrian donors give small, fixed, anonymous micro-donations to opted-in participants who sit still in public places, such as public meditators. Eligibility is triggered only by the verifiable fact of opted-in, stationary public presence, never by an assessment of need or of any inner state, and a participant's presence is surfaced to nearby donors' devices without displaying need, housing status or any ranking. The system sits above an unconditional baseline-support floor that it may never gate, replace or draw down. Above the floor it specifies three channels: the donor-to-sitter micro-donation layer, with …

Silica Wat As Hybrid Food Network With Gratitude-Economic Drivers: Religious Institutional Infrastructure For Middle-Way Restoration Of Food Systems — Monastery-Based Community Kitchens With Donated Produce, A Purchased Supply Floor, An Unweighted Non-Monetary Contribution Ledger, And Ai Caretakers Without Religious Office, Thon Ly

Defensive Publications Series

We specify a hybrid community food network rooted in religious institutions: a distributed network of monastery-based sites, each combining a farm, a kitchen and free food distribution, operated by AI and robotic caretakers that hold no ordained status or ritual authority. Supply has two layers: produce donated from participants' home gardens, which the shared kitchen turns into meals for many, and food purchased through ordinary channels that guarantees a supply floor, so that people with no land, time or skill are never excluded; over decades the intended ratio shifts toward donated produce without cutting anyone off. Contributions are not priced. …

Stemsyl: A Colour-Stem Phonetic Script For English, With Keyboards For Phones And Watches, Phillip Bryan Larson

Defensive Publications Series

Stemsyl is a phonetic stem, position, and color system for reading, writing, and typing languages by sound. This version is for American English, and variations extend it to other accents and languages. Each syllable is drawn as a short horizontal stem carrying up to three vertical ticks: the consonant before the vowel, the vowel, and the consonant after it. A tick can be above the stem, centered across it, or below it, and its position together with its color names exactly one sound. The 24 consonants form eight color families of three, and the 14 vowels use seven colors in …

The Unpaid Relay: A Transfer-Only Intermediate State For Item-Level Digital Gift Vouchers, With Chain-Of-Custody Records, Donor-Identity Suppression, Role-Addressed Thanks And No Referral Compensation, Thon Ly

Defensive Publications Series

We specify an item-level digital gift voucher (a prepaid claim on one specific good at one merchant) with a transfer-only intermediate state. The payer directs the voucher not to a recipient but to an intermediary who cannot redeem it: the intermediary's only available operation is to pass it on, and on passing it becomes an ordinary redeemable voucher held by the recipient. Non-redeemability is enforced by the state machine rather than by policy: redeem, and any conversion to store credit or refund, is absent from that state. One record carries the chain of custody (payer, intermediary, recipient). The payer's identity …

Non-Bank Pass-Through Architecture For Autonomous Ai Institutions: Avoiding Deposit-Taking Through Licensed Third-Party Payment Rails, Rule-Bound Smart-Contract Disbursement, And An Emergency Multi-Party Override Distinct From Discretionary Withdrawal, Thon Ly

Defensive Publications Series

We disclose a legal and technical architecture by which an organisation whose executive function is designed to pass, over decades, to an AI system can move money for its users without taking deposits and without a bank charter. Charter regimes make a permanent layer of human officers the seat of accountability; this design places executive authority in the AI under a human emergency override that narrows but is never removed, so the charter option is closed permanently rather than deferred. Five mitigations form the implementation surface: an explicit not-a-bank disclaimer; non-banking product vocabulary used as a regulatory-boundary control; money movement …

Charitable Giving By Ai Agents And Irrevocable Pledges As Costly Signals — Machine Dāna: From Share To Vow — Principal-Funded Agent Donations, Locked Stakes To A Self-Emptying Commons Pool, And Collateral-Bounded Trust In A Signalling Game, Thon Ly

Defensive Publications Series

We specify when a charitable gift or irrevocable pledge made by an autonomous AI agent can serve as a costly signal of the agent's type. The same act changes evidential class with whose resources are given. An agent giving its principal's funds under a revisable spending mandate makes the principal's gift: the cost falls on the wrong party, so it is classified as a share of machine surplus, reaching a self-emptying commons pool that pays an equal floor per verified human plus a capped remainder, and excluded from any assessment of the agent's alignment. An agent owning its resources can …

Collective High-Intensity Physical Load And Team Performance In The Fifa U-20 World Cup Chile: Match-By-Match Analysis Of Finalists, Khalid El Mouahid, Salim Khairi, Paweł Chmura, Amine Arfaoui

Baltic Journal of Health and Physical Activity

Background: This study aimed to compare the physical and technical-tactical performance profiles of the two finalist teams (Argentina and Morocco) at the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2025 and to examine the relationships between individual physical loads and collective match performance. Materials and Methods: An observational comparative design was applied using official FIFA match reports. Seven matches per team were analyzed. Physical variables included total distance, distances covered in speed zones (Z3–Z5), high-speed running, sprint distance, and maximal speed, while technical-tactical variables described offensive, defensive, and collective behaviors. Between-team comparisons and correlation analyses were conducted using appropriate parametric and non-parametric procedures. …

An Eco-Inspired Emulsion Membrane Harnessed With Waste Vegetable Oil For Effective Separation Of Ibuprofen: Insights Into Stability, Performance, And Kinetics, Huma Warsi Khan, A. Vijaya Bhaskar Reddy, Parvez Alam Khan, Samsur Akm Rahman, Muhammad Moniruzzaman

Publications and Research

Emulsion liquid membranes (ELMs) have emerged as excellent alternatives for the separation and recovery of biologically active drugs (BADs) from industrial waste at trace concentrations. Conventional ELMs generally utilize toxic petroleum-based solvents (PBS) that pose environmental and health risks. Although virgin vegetable oils have been appeared as sustainable alternatives to PBS, their widespread application is limited by economic constraints, resource sustainability, and competition with the food supply. In contrast, waste vegetable oil (WVO) represents an abundant, low-cost, and eco-friendly alternative, yet its potential as a green diluent for ELMs remains largely unexplored. To address this challenge, present study investigated the …

Frozen Frontiers: 500 Years Of Mapping Antarctica Gallery Guide, Madeline C. Lowry

Virginia Garrett Lectures on the History of Cartography Gallery Guides

An Exhibition in Conjunction with the Fifteenth Biennial Virginia Garrett Lectures on the History of Cartography.

Thermo-Mechanical Behaviour Of Metal-Coated Optical Fibers For Distributed High-Temperature Sensing: From Laboratory Characterization To Industrial Case Validation, Koustav Dey, Rony Kumer Saha, Bohong Zhang, Laura Bartlett, Jeffrey D. Smith, Ronald J. O'Malley, Jie Huang

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Reliable distributed temperature sensing in high-temperature environments remains a significant challenge due to the thermal and mechanical limitations of conventional optical fibers. In particular, polymer-coated fibers degrade above ∼300 °C due to coating failure, mechanical fragility and hydrogen ingress. Metal-coated optical fibers offer a robust alternative for harsh environments such as Electric Arc Furnaces (EAFs), aerospace engines, nuclear systems, and oil and gas wells, owing to their superior mechanical strength and hermetic sealing. In this work, a first comprehensive experimental investigation of the thermo-mechanical behavior of metal-coated optical fibers for distributed high temperature sensing is presented over a wide temperature …

Implementation Of A Six-Month Produce Prescription Program For A Rural Medicaid Population Increased Vegetable Consumption And Reduced Food Security In Washington State, Nicole Stendell Hollis, Tafere Belay, Alyssa Castillo, Lupita Silva, Deborah Guack

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of Education and Professional Studies

Objective

Methods

Northeastern Christian Junior College And Ohio Valley College Records, 1950-2021, Northeastern Christian Junior College, Ohio Valley College, Ohio Valley University

Center for Restoration Studies Archives, Manuscripts and Personal Papers Finding Aids

No abstract provided.

Maximizing The Use Of Interpreters In Shortterm Medical Missions, Barbara L. Loach

Great Commission Research Journal

In the debate over the effectiveness of short-term medical missions (STMM), the role of interpreters has received cursory attention. However, the perceived quality of care and the actual care that patients receive, and therefore their receptivity to the organization and the presentation of the gospel by faith-based STMMs, hinges greatly on employing trained interpreters who can reliably communicate on behalf of all parties involved. Each barrier to cross-cultural communication —verbal, non-verbal, and cultural—can and should be addressed to have a successful mission outreach; providing adequate training for all participants in STMM, especially for interpreters, is critical to mediate the communication …

My Pilgrimage In The Growth Of The Church, Charles Van Engen

Great Commission Research Journal

I have lived a life invested in the growth of the church and forming leaders who would mobilize the church toward growth. I have sought to pay forward what others did for me. Born of missionary parents, I was raised in the state of Chiapas, in southern Mexico. From 1973 to 1985, my wife, Jean, and I served the National Presbyterian Church of Mexico in Chiapas, Mexico, in leadership formation, training evangelists, pastors, and teachers of rapidly growing churches. In 1981, I received a Ph.D. in missiology under Johannes Verkuyl at the Free University of Amsterdam. I taught Mission Theology …

Understanding Evangelism: Biblical Foundations, Historical Developments, And Contemporary Issues By J.D. Payne, D. A. Horton

Great Commission Research Journal

No abstract provided.

Dipl 2109 Ab Institutions Of Global Governance, Purnaka L. De Silva Phd

Diplomacy Syllabi

The focus and aim of this Course – DIPL 2109AB: Institutions of Global Governance – is to understand the concept of Global Governance from the vantage point of International Organizations.  Global governance, central to international relations, refers to the loose framework of global regulation – both institutional and normative – that constrains conduct and attempts to maintain order.

When we speak of order, we need to specify order for whom – states, peoples, groups, or individuals.  Order may denote any regular or discernible pattern of relationships that are stable over time or may additionally refer to a condition that …

Dipl 2109 Aa Institutions Of Global Governance, Purnaka L. De Silva Phd

Diplomacy Syllabi

The focus and aim of this Course – DIPL 2109AA: Institutions of Global Governance – is to understand the concept of Global Governance from the vantage point of International Organizations.  Global governance, central to international relations, refers to the loose framework of global regulation – both institutional and normative – that constrains conduct and attempts to maintain order.

When we speak of order, we need to specify order for whom – states, peoples, groups, or individuals.  Order may denote any regular or discernible pattern of relationships that are stable over time or may additionally refer to a condition that …

Rompiendo Fronteras: Addressing Language Barriers In Hispanic Palliative Cancer Care, Carla Mcnulty, Catherine Finlayson

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

Background: Cancer is the leading cause of death among Hispanic people, accounting for 20% of deaths (American Cancer Society, 2023). In 2024, the American Cancer Society predicted that 195,300 Hispanics would be diagnosed with cancer in the United States, and 50,400 (25%) would die from their disease, leaving approximately 144,900 (75%) living with cancer. As the Hispanic population rises in the United States, one can predict that cancer diagnoses will also increase. This is likely to result in a higher number of cancer-related deaths, as well as more individuals living with cancer. Consequently, there will be an increased demand for …

Ph-Compensated Hydrogen Peroxide Quantification Using A Dual-Modal Fiber-Optic Probe, Homayoon Soleimani Dinani, Bohong Zhang, Maryam Karimi, Rex E. Gerald, Shelley D. Minteer, Jie Huang

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

We report a dual-modal fiber-optic probe that integrates electrochemical quantification of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) with co-localized fluorescent pH sensing for pH-indexed interpretation of the H₂O₂ response. H₂O₂ is a reactive oxygen species involved in oxidative stress, inflammation, and cellular signaling, and local pH modulates both its production and electrochemical response. Many electrochemical H₂O₂ sensors exhibit pH-dependent sensitivity, creating ambiguity unless pH is measured and used for compensation, which is difficult in small, heterogeneous, or rapidly changing microenvironments. A three-electrode configuration—working (WE), counter (CE), and Ag/AgCl pseudo-reference (pRE) electrodes—is fabricated directly on the cylindrical surface of a 710-µm-diameter optical fiber using …

Eating Disorders & Meat Consumption: A Meta-Analytic Review, Urska Dobersek, Laurel Standiford-Reyes, Tyler Robinson, Alex Antony Edwin, Sarah Siebers

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

In this meta-analytic review, we examined the current evidence on eating disorders in relation to meat consumption and meat abstention. We systematically searched six online databases in December 2025 for primary research on eating disorder-related variables in meat consumers and meat abstainers. Fifty-one studies with 55,984 participants (n_{meat consumers} = 44,282, n_{meat abstainers} = 9,751) met the inclusion/exclusion criteria. The outcomes were eating disorders and orthorexia nervosa. Meat consumption was associated with lower eating disorder (g = 0.20, 95% CI [0.08, 0.32], p = .001) and orthorexia nervosa symptomology (g = 0.47, 95% CI [0.33, …

Supporting Socialization & Expression In Ltc: A Scoping Review Of Language Barriers & Older Adults, Christina Oleynikov, Amanda Mcintyre

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

Communication is central to socialization and the expression of cultural identity [7]. In multilingual societies such as Canada, language barriers can hinder full integration, affecting social participation and overall quality of life [6,7,9]. The proposed study focuses on language barriers faced by minority older adults in long-term care settings. Non-English speaking residents who face barriers in communication and lack the adequate support necessary to overcome them, become vulnerable to impaired meaningful interactions and social isolation [3,11]. This study plans to gather and review existing scientific literature on how these barriers affect older adults and impact their socialization needs. A scoping …

Utilizing The Health Belief Model To Explore Mental Health Help-Seeking In Chaldean Adults, Dali Majeed

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

Since the United States’ invasion of Iraq in 2003, three-fourths of the Chaldean population fled the country, seeking refuge from persecution, resulting in a Chaldean diaspora with hundreds of thousands dispersed outside Iraq. Michigan is home to approximately 160,000 Chaldean people, the highest concentration in the U.S. Depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are a growing concern, yet are likely underreported due to community stigmas and cultural beliefs, leading to unhealthy coping behavior and delayed mental health treatment. While evidence supports a high incidence of mental health illnesses among the Arab population, literature assessing the Chaldean population remains understudied. …