Digital Commons Network^™

Forms Of Career Services Capital, Dylan Thomas Houle

Social Justice in Educational Leadership EdD Dissertations

Despite career outcomes being a primary measure of institutional quality, career services leaders often remain in terminal mid-level positions with limited organizational influence. This qualitative study explores the forms of capital—including skills, knowledge, and networks—that career services leaders possess and how they leverage these assets to obtain greater organizational influence. Drawing on Bourdieu’s (1986) theory of capital and Bolman and Deal’s (2021) four-frame organizational model, the researcher conducted focus group interviews with 28 current and former career services leaders from diverse U.S. higher education institutions. The findings identify five distinct forms of Career Services Capital: knowledge, social, economic, reputational, and …

Operationalizing Creativity: The Role Of The Arts Within Post Secondary Institutions, Jordán Francisco Sandoval

Social Justice in Educational Leadership EdD Dissertations

Despite the significant benefits creative campus spaces offer to their academic communities, non-curricular creative spaces within the university such as art galleries, art museums, and art centers remain critically under-explored within academic research. Addressing this gap by highlighting the lived experiences of arts administrators, this dissertation engages a qualitative study informed by narrative inquiry. Utilizing semi-structured interviews and photovoice elements with arts professionals across multiple colleges and universities, this study captures firsthand perspectives from key leaders in order to (I) provide rich, anecdotal context about the day-to-day realities of arts administration within formal educational environments; (II) illuminate the dynamics that …

Five Urban Futures For A Hot Planet: U.S. Legal Scenarios, Michael B. Gerrard

Faculty Scholarship

If current climate change trends continue, flooding, extreme heat, wildfires, and water scarcity will make the homes of millions of people in the United States increasingly uninhabitable. This change could happen by the end of the century, perhaps sooner. Most people will want to stay in their current homes, but there is no coherent policy to fortify the most vulnerable places. Nor is the current legal system equipped to handle what may become one of the largest migrations in U.S. history, as people flee intolerable climate conditions. This Article envisions five scenarios for cities in the future: sprout, grow, stay, …

Table Of Contents, Journal Of Youth Development

Journal of Youth Development

No abstract provided.

The Spirit Of Jubilee, Christopher D. Hampson

BYU Law Review

The Jubilee texts of the Hebrew Bible call for debts to be forgiven and enslaved persons freed every seven years and for farmland to be restored to families every fifty years. Tightly woven into the legal, narrative, and prophetic vision of the text, the Jubilee tradition offers an inspiring and dramatic vision of socioeconomic justice for multiple religious traditions. Yet the American legal tradition, which purports to draw on its religious heritage for inspiration and moral authority, has not fully drawn on the Jubilee tradition for a contemporary vision of equality and justice. This Essay seeks to rekindle that conversation. …

Christian Lawyers In The Public Interest And Outside The Political Right, Jennifer Lee Koh

BYU Law Review

This Article provides an empirically based portrait of a population that is typically hidden from the public eye and has received scant attention in legal scholarship: Christian lawyers who engage in public interest work that falls outside the political right. Throughout the legal profession, lawyers who treat their Christian faith as a component of their professional identity and who actively endorse a politically conservative worldview are visible and active. With such lawyers’ increased prominence, growing political polarization, and reports of shifting levels of religiosity in the United States, the prospect of Christianity being perceived as synonymous with political conservatism seems …

Evaluation Associations As Catalysts For The Professionalization Of Evaluation Practice: A Comparative Case Study Of Brazil, Ghana, Indonesia And Uganda, Amy C. Jersild

Dissertations

Professional associations are recognized as key actors in promoting the development of the evaluation field across the globe. There has been exponential growth of Voluntary Organizations for the Professionalization of Evaluation (VOPEs) in the Global South in the past several decades in response to an evolving international aid agenda and a mobilized international evaluation field intent on supporting the development of national monitoring and evaluation systems and the professionalization of the field. VOPEs have featured as a central actor in the Global Evaluation Agenda, an initiative developed by the international community aimed to promote professionalization of the evaluation field as …

Toward A Synthetic Theory Of Tolerance For Carnivores: Learning From A Half-Century Of Research On Attitudes Toward Wolves, Jeremy T. Bruskotter, John A. Vucetich, Lisa Naughton-Treves, José Vicente López-Bao, Benjamin Ghasemi, Nicole D. Sintov, Tara L. Teel, Neil H. Carter, L. Mark Elbroch, Adrian Treves

Michigan Tech Publications

Human intolerance is a critical factor limiting both the distributions and populations of large carnivores. Using gray wolves as a case study, we synthesize a half-century of scholarship with the aims of clarifying the conceptual foundations of “tolerance” and integrating insights from across the social sciences. Specifically, we review longitudinal studies of attitudes toward wolves and show how trends vary across the populations examined. We then identify and discuss three complementary theories that help explain variation in tolerance across individuals, social groups, and societies: (1) Risk–benefit theories illuminate how perceptions of risks, benefits, and controllability shape individuals’ tolerance of carnivores; …

Assessing Rural Homelessness: A Mixed-Methods Case Study, Matthew Lyons, Ashley Feierstein, Christy Storey, Akilah Hairston, Jonathan Jones, Jada Brown, Sarah H. Cross

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

Rural homelessness represents a significant public health and human rights challenge, but research on homelessness in the United States has predominantly focused on urban settings. This case study describes a mixed-methods assessment of the prevalence, causes, and consequences of homelessness in a rural county. Through both surveys and interviews with stakeholders from multiple sectors (including both service providers and those experiencing homelessness), we built a rich picture of the scale and experiential dimensions of homelessness within the county. Here, we present our research methods, the main findings of each primary data collection arm, and the actionable conclusions drawn from the …

Rural Communities Transformed By Immigration Raids: A Community Of Capitals Perspective, Diego Thompson, Silvina Lopez Barrera

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

In 2019, communities of Central Mississippi experienced large-scale immigration raids. Past studies on immigration enforcement operations show that these types of events have significant consequences. Despite this scholarly evidence, little is known about the effects of large immigration raids and local responses in rural communities. Given the ongoing initiatives to carry out mass detention and deportation of immigrants, learning more about these events and the communities affected is paramount. Based on data from semi-structured interviews, this study uses the Community Capitals Framework to examine how large immigration raids have transformed communities. Results show that the raids had negative consequences in …

Message From The Journal Of Rural Social Sciences Editorial Office, John J. Green, Elizabeth Sweeney

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

No abstract provided.

Behind The ‘Lettuce Curtains:’ Rural Homelessness In The Salinas Valley, California, Allison Evans

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

Rural homelessness remains under-researched despite its prevalence outside the city. This research note presents preliminary findings from a case study in the Salinas Valley, California, examining how rurality—particularly its statistical definitions and socio-cultural conceptions—shapes homelessness policy formation, resource allocation, and local politics. Semi-structured interviews conducted in spring 2023, alongside document analysis, explore rural homelessness in this unique context. Findings suggest that rural homelessness is highly salient to local politicians and policy-makers, particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic, with service clustering in Salinas and other regional towns with more progressive policies. Challenges include housing diverse unhoused subpopulations, especially migrant farmworkers, and confronting …

Socioeconomic Inequalities In Health-Related Quality Of Life During The Covid-19 Pandemic: A Six-Country Comparison Using The Eq-5d-5 L, Joëlle Eijkens, Joshua M. Bonsel, You-Shan Feng, M. F. Bas Janssen, Erica I. Lubetkin, Juanita A. Haagsma

Publications and Research

Purpose

Despite the growing attention to health inequalities, there is no global consensus on how to measure socio-economic status. This study examined inequalities in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic across six countries—China, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States (US)—using three SES indicators: education level, income, and work status.

Methods

Between April and June 2020, individuals aged 18–75 years old completed a web-based survey. HRQoL was measured using the EQ-5D-5L Level Sum Score (LSS), where higher scores indicate poorer health. Country-specific differences in LSS across SES groups …

A History Of The Underground Comix Scene: The Seriousness Of An Unserious Genre, Harris Darcie Shugart

Master's Theses

The Underground Comix Scene of the 1960s and 1970s was born out of an age of censorship. The Comics Code Authority, a regulatory body created by the Comics Magazine Association of America in 1954, established guidelines requiring publishing houses to self-regulate following a recommendation from the United States Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency in 1953. Comix with an X, for their X-rated nature, represent an emerging counter-culture in the latter half of the 1960s and the 1970s, with an epicenter of San Francisco. These comix and their artists were not interested in obtaining the looming ‘Seal of Approval’ from the …

Liturgical Renewal And Mcdonaldization, Daniel Johnson

Grapho : Concordia Seminary Student Journal

What is McDonaldization? Imagine with me that it is the 1950s, and you are going on a road trip down Route 66. You get hungry, so you decide to stop for food. You pull off the side of the road and park in front of a classic American diner to get yourself a burger and fries.

Understanding Victim Experiences Within The Criminal Justice System, Carmen Hardin, Caron Lott

Journal of Criminal Justice and Law

This study explores crime victims’ perceptions of participation in criminal justice proceedings. In all, eight (8) interviews and 314 surveys of crime victims were conducted in Arkansas.  Among crime victims, 92% reported the crime to the police, 76% felt the case’s outcome served justice, 78% would be okay attending court again, 45% felt very safe in court, and 38% strongly agreed that their needs and wishes were considered in court.   Three main themes emerged from the interviews: 1) impact of crime victimization on individual needs, 2) perceived access to mental and physical well-being support, and 3) perceptions of crime victims …

Collaborating For Community Impact: Smart Parks, Natasha Rascon

2026 Spring Reports (Terre Haute)

Through collaborations with the City of Terre Haute, specifically the City Parks and Recreation, the following community issue was identified: Resiliency Education (RE-1) Smart parks - Sign designs, Web page design, a community survey to determine park attendance, ideas for ways to track park attendance, recommendations for improvements in high-risk parks, Finding and/or helping with grant applications. To address the identified community issue, students enrolled in Comm361 Small Group Communication partnered with the City of Terre Haute to promote three events: The ribbon cutting and block party for the Herz-Rose Community Center and Park, The Deming Park Easter Egg Hunt, …

The Spectrum Of Authority: A New Approach To Teaching Ai And Primary Source Literacies, Kristen Howard

Communications in Information Literacy

This article presents an information literacy workshop designed for undergraduate history courses that introduces students to generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) while strengthening primary source literacy. Anchored in the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education, “Authority Is Constructed and Contextual,” the workshop employs an innovative pedagogical device, the Spectrum of Authority, to help students critically evaluate information sources. Through comparative analysis and guided discussion, students increased their ability to assess credibility in information sources. Student feedback indicated increased confidence in analyzing primary sources and a greater understanding of GenAI’s capabilities and …

"An Open Mind And A Critical Stance": A Content Analysis Of Information Literacy Integration Into A Course About Poverty And Discrimination, Ashley Shealy, C. Rebecca Oldham, Clay Oldham, Tara L. Griffith

Communications in Information Literacy

The ACRL Framework argues that infusing curriculum with information literacy concepts can improve students’ attitudes and abilities to navigate complex information landscapes. This paper describes how a librarian and a faculty member integrated an information literacy curriculum into an undergraduate upper-division course about poverty and discrimination. Curriculum efficacy was assessed through directed content analysis of student responses to open-ended questions about engaging with news and social media, forming opinions, and having conversations about controversial topics. Responses were analyzed using a coding scheme based on course objectives derived from Framework dispositions and knowledge practices. Results indicated that exposing students to an …

Familial Roles In Grief With A Focus On Eldest Daughters In Latinx Communities, Julianna Falcon

University Honors Theses

The way in which grief impacts an individual is something that varies from person to person. However how grief impacts eldest daughters within the Latinx community and their familial roles is a subject that has had little to no research done thus far. The four participants in this exploratory study describe their own experiences with the shift in familial roles and their experience navigating grief. They all shared their experiences through semi-structured interviews. Where the findings displayed key themes surrounding expectations, support, proximity, and academic impacts within each of the interviews. More detail is provided within this study on how …

The Social Construction Of Risk: How Media Socially Constructs Risk Perceptions Surrounding School Shootings Among College Students, Natalie Jobe

University Honors Theses

Although school shootings are statistically rare events, public fear surrounding them has continuously increased across the United States. This thesis explored how college students perceive the risk of school shootings despite the relatively low probability of experiencing these violent events, with particular attention to the role of media framing, sensationalized reporting, and repeated exposure to violent social and digital media. In order to examine how media framing, social and digital media exposure, as well as ongoing encounters with violent content affect risk perception, this research conducted six interviews with traditionally aged college students from Portland State University regarding their experiences …

Grief, Silence, And Surveillance In Academic Settings, Rakhi Grey

University Honors Theses

This study examines how grief is silenced, monitored, and regulated within higher education settings. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with undergraduate students who experienced the death of someone significant, this study explores how institutional expectations surrounding productivity, professionalism, emotional control, and academic functioning shape grief disclosure, emotional expression, and help-seeking behaviors. Using a critical theoretical framework informed by concepts of disenfranchised grief, legitimacy hierarchies, and surveillance, findings suggest that grief within higher education is not simply individually experienced, but socially and institutionally regulated. Participants described academic environments that often left little space for ongoing grief, requiring students to compartmentalize emotional distress, …

Fundamentalist Disorientations For Queer Subjects: Narrative And Theory, Betty Canoso

University Honors Theses

This thesis examines disorientation experienced by queer people who were raised in high-cost fundamentalist Christianity–people like me. Disorientation is a philosophical concept useful for examining specific intersections of human experience, like queerness and fundamentalism. Philosophers such as Sara Ahmed (2006) and Ami Harbin (2016) have been exploring the intersection of queerness and disorientation. Psychologists, sociologists and researchers from other disciplines are analyzing the interrelatedness of queerness and religion, and disaffiliation and deconversion from high-cost or high-control religions is another ongoing area of interest. Yet, despite widespread interest in these concepts, few have looked at instances of disorientation as they pertain …

Who Keeps Us Safe? Youth Resistance And Security Regimes At The Neoliberal University, Arwen Hansell

University Honors Theses

In a political climate shaped by surveillance, labor precarity, policing, and immigration enforcement, questions of (in)security increasingly organize everyday life. Governments justify security measures through the language of public safety, even as many people experience insecurity surrounding housing, healthcare, employment, and the future itself. Although critical security studies have examined policing, militarism, and surveillance extensively, youth are often overlooked as political actors despite their central role in social movements. This study addresses that gap by focusing on student labor organizers and activists navigating (in)security. Using collaborative ethnography, I conducted fieldwork at protests, labor organizing meetings, workshops, and demonstrations connected to …

"I Still Care About Her": Ambiguous Loss And Social Death In Substance-Affected Relationships, Margaret M. King

University Honors Theses

Substance use creates a ripple effect, affecting the individual as well as their family members. The struggles associated with problematic substance use result in feelings of ambiguous loss towards the substance using individual, a type of loss in which a person is still living but either psychologically or physically unavailable. This research explores the experiences of ambiguous loss in college students with loved ones struggling with substance use, examining how they are thrust into caregiving roles, experience support, and find meaning within their loss. Seven semi-structured interviews were held with adult college students who identified as having a loved-one struggling …

Moving Beyond Traditional Cost Containment For Glp-1 Coverage Within Oregon's Proposed Universal Health Plan, Manoj Rajesh

University Honors Theses

In 2022, Oregon voters passed Measure 111, constitutionally mandating access to affordable health care. As the Universal Health Plan Governance Board (UHPGB) designs the state's proposed single-payer system, it faces an unprecedented financial vulnerability: the clinical demand for GLP-1 receptor agonists. These high-cost, indefinite-use medications for obesity and metabolic syndrome threaten to overwhelm fixed public budgets. Historically, both the Oregon Health Plan's Medicaid framework and commercial private insurers have relied on static cost-containment models—categorical exclusions, step therapy, and aggressive utilization management—that achieve short-term fiscal solvency at the expense of comprehensive preventative care. This thesis argues that to fulfill the mandate …

4‑H Efforts Toward Demographic Representation, 1980–2025: Next Directions (Part 2), Jeremy Elliott-Engel, Jeff Wayne Howard

Journal of Youth Development

This article builds on Part 1 of this study, a state-of-the-art review that synthesizes 45 years of scholarship (1980–2025) on 4-H’s efforts to equitably serve a demographically representative youth population (see Elliott-Engel & Howard, 2026). This article examines the findings that draw from the previously discussed 99 articles and provides the next directions for achieving a demographically representative 4-H program by synthesizing crosscutting themes from 45 years of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging scholarship. Despite meaningful progress, persistent gaps remain in participation, professional readiness, and systemlevel integration. Our review highlights the need for culturally responsive recruitment, familycentered engagement, and program …

Bridges: Youth Organizing In Memphis, Caitlin A. Caswell, Maddie Smith, Elizabeth Thomas

Journal of Youth Development

Youth organizing is a practice that enables young people and adults to work together towards individual thriving and community change. In youth organizing, young people identify and address social issues that affect their lives and lead change related to those issues. The objective of this case study is to illustrate one successful model for youth organizing grounded in positive youth development theory and youth-adult partnership, developed through the organization BRIDGES USA in Memphis, Tennessee. We discuss youth-adult partnerships and elaborate components and strengths of youth organizing. We then describe the history and context of BRIDGES, the cycle of work in …

Bridging The Divide: How Political Polarization Shapes Communication Among College Students, Kylie C. Gaynor

Communication Studies

The following study employed Social Identity and Affective Polarization theories to examine how political disagreement influences students’ willingness to engage in open dialogue within higher education during a time of polarization. This study employed a simple survey distributed to a sample of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo students from all colleges. The Qualtrics survey included multiple-choice questions assessing students’ political affiliation and examining how these affiliations influenced their willingness to engage in communication with individuals holding differing views, as well as their openness to developing deeper interpersonal relationships. The survey results were analyzed using SPSS statistical software. The results concluded …

Full Issue, Volume 21, Issue 2, Journal Of Youth Development

Journal of Youth Development

No abstract provided.