Digital Commons Network^™

The After For What We Leave Behind, Cierra Marquardt

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

This creative thesis discusses how art has failed to depict death through the promise of an ideal or an absolute, which is why my speculative solution is to create art that builds out the spectrum of nuance not currently found. I critique the idea of death as a precise moment instead of a network of changes; in understanding death to be an endpoint, the function of death within larger cyclical processes is lost. Through the analysis of the Memento Mori genres of historical and contemporary art work, a methodology is created which informs the creation of a pair of paintings …

Artistic Embodiment: The Role Of Art-Based Research In Communicating Disability Experiences, Juliana Scheopner

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

Visual art has immense potential to communicate complex experiences of disability. As a disabled artist, I am interested in how disability has been portrayed in artwork, particularly in how other disabled artists choose to represent their lived experiences. Through art-based research, this study explores how disabled artists have used portraiture to depict their disability. Selected art includes work from Frida Kahlo, Deborah Padfield, Persimmon Blackbridge, and the author. Following an analysis of literature, selected artworks, and salient disability scholarship, emergent themes were identified. The focus on the complexity of disability experiences demonstrated the importance of considering a wide range of …

Landscaping The Exotic And The Ancient Through Picturesque: Reconsidering The Impact Of David Roberts’S Egypt And Nubia, Sophie Cooke

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis considers David Roberts’s use of picturesque art for imperial Britain and analyzes the ways Egypt and Nubia played an influential role in the cultural transmission of ancient Egypt. By confronting both antiquity and modernity, his Egyptian landscapes are evidence of how Western picturesque artworks influence historical narratives.

Affective Perception Of Color In Classroom Design, Emmalyn Burns

Interior Design Undergraduate Honors Theses

The physical environment of a classroom plays a crucial role in shaping how students learn, engage, and interact with their education. This study focuses on color’s influence on well-being, focus, and overall academic experience. Many higher education classrooms still rely on a standard that implements neutral colors, which does not always align with student preferences. While prior research has shown that color can have measurable cognitive and emotional effects, its thoughtful application in university settings remains limited. Current architectural design processes often overlook ongoing user-based feedback past the pre-design phase, leaving students without input on the decisions for their learning …

Youth Programs Social Media Awareness Campaign, Noelia Fernandez

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Youth experiencing or at risk of homelessness often lack awareness of available support services, limiting their ability to access needed resources. This capstone project was completed at Community Action Board’s Youth Homeless Response Team (YHRT), a program that provides outreach, case management, and support services to youth in Santa Cruz County. The project focused on youth and young adults who engage with or could benefit from YHRT services. The purpose of the project was to increase awareness and engagement through a targeted social media awareness campaign. Implementation included planning and designing youth-friendly content, developing promotional materials, and collecting both quantitative …

“The Distance And Time Difference Aren’T Helping”: Family Communication Practices Of African Graduate Students Adapting To A New Country, Hummuh Abubakar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study examined how international graduate students maintained long-distance communication with family members while adapting to life in the United States. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with seven international students, the research explored how participants sustained emotional closeness, manage disclosure, and select communication media across geographic distance. Guided by Communication Privacy Management Theory and Media Richness Theory, the study analyzed how students regulated private information and strategically used video calls, voice calls, and messaging platforms to meet relational and emotional needs. Findings revealed four primary themes: reliance on digital communication technologies; the emotional and psychological functions of family communication; structural …

Branding The Protector And Helper: How The U.S. Army National Guard Presents Itself In Humanitarian Outreach, Aaron Otoo Acromond

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examines how the United States Army National Guard constructs and communicates its humanitarian identity during domestic disaster response through official social media. Addressing limited scholarship on how hybrid military institutions frame their roles in domestic crises, the research applies qualitative content analysis to visual and textual posts from official Facebook and Instagram accounts during three disasters: Hurricane Ian (2022), the Hawaii Wildfires (2023), and Hurricane Helene (2024). The analysis identifies three communication themes: operational preparedness and technical capacity, humanitarian assistance to affected civilians, and collaboration with civilian agencies. These narratives portray the National Guard as a professional and …

Undergraduate Design Spine For Biological Systems Engineering And Agricultural Engineering, David Mabie, Derek M. Heeren, Deepak R. Keshwani, Heidi A. Diefes-Dux, Nicole M. Iverson, Rachel Padrnos, Greg Bashford, Taryn King, Jenna Hefley, Curtis L. Tomasevicz

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Presentations and White Papers

Engineering education is undergoing a shift toward preparing graduates with demonstrated capabilities that integrate technical knowledge, durable skills, and the ability to adapt in a rapidly evolving professional landscape. This paper describes a comprehensive redesign of the undergraduate curriculum in Biological Systems Engineering (BSEN) and Agricultural Engineering (AGEN) at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The redesign is grounded in a “Design Spine” framework, which distributes and scaffolds design experiences across all four years of the program to support progressive development of problem solving, systems thinking, communication, and professional skills. The curriculum is organized around clearly defined capabilities and threads that connect …

Deaf Space 2.0 - Adapted And Scaled To Large Urban Infrastructures, Youngjin Yi

Theses

This thesis investigates how DeafSpace principles can be adapted and scaled beyond interior environments to operate effectively within large urban infrastructures. While DeafSpace has been successfully applied in controlled, building-scale contexts, its potential at the scale of sidewalks, transit hubs, and public circulation systems remains underexplored. Contemporary urban environments rely heavily on auditory cues to communicate movement, safety, and orientation, creating barriers for Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals and limiting clarity for the public at large. Through architectural observation, spatial analysis, and scenario-based evaluation conducted at the Rochester Institute of Technology campus and downtown Rochester, this research examines how architectural form, …

Beyond Moving Hands: Narratives Around Deaf Education, Sara Simpson

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative narrative study explored the experiences and perspectives of deaf educators and educational interpreters working in high school settings. Participants shared narratives about their professional experiences, training, and roles in deaf education. By considering their professional histories, backgrounds, and cultural perspectives, this study examined how these experiences shaped participants’ perceptions of the current state of deaf education.

Using a qualitative narrative research design, three participants with experience working in high school deaf education settings were interviewed individually and later participated in a focus group discussion. The interviews and focus group centered on participants’ perspectives regarding key issues in deaf …

Improving Patient Satisfaction Through Enhanced Communication Strategies, Kiranjot Kaur

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Patient satisfaction reflects more than the technical quality of healthcare; it represents patients' perceptions of communication, respect, and emotional trust throughout the care experience. Ineffective communication contributes to poor comprehension, reduced treatment adherence, preventable readmissions, and disparities in patient outcomes. Conversely, clear, culturally responsive communication improves patient engagement, safety, and satisfaction. This project proposes a leadership-driven communication improvement initiative for a mid-sized acute-care hospital located in Southern California serving a culturally and linguistically diverse population, including Hispanic, Asian, and limited-English-proficient patients. The initiative is guided by the Patient-Centered Care Model and Hersey and Blanchard's Situational Leadership Theory. These frameworks position …

Public Art And The Future Of Remembrance In Contested Spaces, Rebecca Ann Munoz

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation examines the memorial landscape of El Paso, Texas as a contested site of public memory, cultural identity, and community representation. Situated at the U.S.-Mexico border, El Paso functions as a palimpsest of layered histories shaped by colonization, militarization, and ongoing negotiations of belonging. Drawing on memory rhetoric and composition studies, and art history, the paper raises critical questions about community engagement, representational equity, and the politics of visibility in public art processes. The paper ultimately calls for a deeper examination of the rhetorical strategies and institutional frameworks that shape memorial meaning-making at the local level, with broader implications …

Marvelous And Disturbing: Surreal Imagery, Elaboration And The Limits Of Persuasion In Women's Health Journalism, Shelby Elizabeth Gill

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Since the 1930s, surrealism has lent its abstract hand to journalism, offering a visual language for topics that resist literal depiction. Given its historical and often fraught association with the female form, surrealist imagery has found a natural home in editorial coverage of women's health, most recently in reporting on endometriosis, a condition whose invisible, stigmatized and difficult-to-articulate experience makes conventional photojournalism an inadequate representational tool. The present study experimentally compared surreal imagery, realistic imagery and a text-only control condition to assess their effects on knowledge acquisition, comprehension, attitudinal responses, perceived risk and behavioral intentions related to endometriosis in a …

The Houston Eclipse, Korey Hans

Theses

The Houston Eclipse is a sports branding project for a fictional WNBA team, built on the idea that design can shape the fan experience. In a market where consumer attention is constantly being fought over, the brands that stand out are the ones that make people feel something. Sports already carries that emotional weight, but most fan-facing products don't take full advantage of it, often reducing team identity to a logo placed on top of a product without regard for the form it's applied to. This project approaches branding as a full system rather than a single mark. Drawing on …

Child-Centered User Interface Design For Early Language Learning Applications: A Qualitative Comparative Study, Fenie Fedora Wijaya, Shienny Megawati Sutanto

Jurnal Pendidikan dan Pembelajaran

Background: In the digital learning era, user interface (UI) design plays an important role in shaping how children engage with educational applications, particularly in early language learning contexts. however, many applications are not fully aligned with children’s cognitive, emotional, and developmental needs. Objective: This study aims to examine how UI design in child-centered language learning applications can be optimized to support children’s cognitive and emotional needs while enhancing learning outcomes. Method: This study adopts a qualitative comparative approach, integrating a literature review, visual analysis of two English-language learning applications (Duolingo ABC and BOOKR Class), semi-structured interviews with three design experts, …

Reclaiming The Writing Process Using Ai: A Scaffolded Writing Assignment That Promotes Critical Thinking, Reflection, And Accountability, Hannah M. Schapiro, Manuela Tripepi, Julia Blackley

College of Life Sciences Faculty Papers

As the educational landscape changes with the widespread use of generative artificial intelligence (AI), we have made the deliberate choice to adapt with intention through the constructive integration of this tool within the curriculum. Writing assignments are often vulnerable to AI shortcuts, and therefore, we reimagined the project in our online microbiology lab to incorporate AI in a structured and pedagogically sound way that prioritizes both the writing process and the final product. Students must work with AI to create a script for a 5-minute video which they then illustrate and record on the differences between Staphylococcus aureus and methicillin-resistant …

Reimaging Wayang In The Digital Age; "The Sintren" Project And Cultural Commoning, Maya Purnama Sari, Nuning Yanti Damayanti, Irfansyah Irfansyah, Hafiz Aziz Ahmad

Wacana, Journal of the Humanities of Indonesia

Wayang, as a traditional performing art in Indonesia, continues to develop through various forms of experimentation. One example is the Wayang Lostang YouTube channel, developed by Samuel Indratma through the animation project Sintren, save the planet in collaboration with students from SMK Komputama Majenang. Distribution through YouTube indicates that the transformation of wayang is not merely visual but is also a collective cultural practice grounded in social relations, reflecting cultural commoning in the Indonesian context. This study aims to understand how these practices operate through production, social relations, and the formation of cultural meaning in digital circulation. The research employs …

Feast And Faith: An Ethnographic Study Of Communication And Culture In Noemuti's Fole Mako, Inosensius Enryco Mokos

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

This article investigates Fole Mako, a significant traditional communal feast in Noemuti, North Central Timor, Indonesia. The event is analyzed in the context of its deliberate timing to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish and the consecration of a new church. Using the Ethnography of Communication framework, a detailed analysis is provided of the intricate communication practices, profound cultural meanings, and vital social functions embedded within this elaborate feast. Data for the study were meticulously collected through direct observation and engaged participation. The findings reveal that Fole Mako is much more than a mere …

Virtual Caregiving And The Evolving Role Of Carers And Patients: Virtual Hospital Interview Analysis, Kanesha Ward, Tim Jackson, Jenna Bartyn, Shannon Saad, Sue Amanatidis, Owen Hutchings, Annie Y.S. Lau

Patient Experience Journal

Virtual hospitals are transforming healthcare by enabling remote monitoring and management of patients, improving accessibility and care continuity. As part of the transformation, there are changes to the roles and responsibilities of patients and their carers as they engage in virtual hospital care. The impact on family caregiving remains underexplored. Guided by Family Systems Theory, this qualitative study investigated how family caregiving roles adapt within a virtual hospital and identified opportunities to further support families. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with patients, carers, and healthcare workers from one model of care, at a metropolitan virtual hospital in New South Wales, Australia. …

Literacy Nonprofits And Social Media: Advancing An Understanding Of Message Functions And Communication Flows In Online Stakeholder Engagement, Diane M. Goodman

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Countless nonprofit organizations in the United States have worked diligently to increase adequate access to literature and to improve child literacy rates through supplemental programming. Revenue growth in a nonprofit depends largely on the relationships between the organization and the public, yet nonprofits face additional obstacles to achieving strategic organizational goals in comparison with their for-profit counterparts (McGee & Donoghue, 2009). Although the majority of nonprofit organizations have been addressing societal issues at a grassroots level (Carter et al., 2019), most community-based nonprofits have faced challenges expanding to other communities and difficulties in replicating effective stakeholder engagement strategies (Nardini et …

Revisiting Visualization Literacy: What Standardized Assessments Reveal And Conceal Across Instruments, Cultures, And Ai Systems, Saugat Pandey

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Data visualizations are now a primary medium for public communication, scientific reasoning, and decision-making. By transforming complex data into accessible graphical forms, visualizations are widely assumed to make information comprehensible to broad audiences. Yet the ability to accurately read, interpret, and critically evaluate a visualization, what researchers call visualization literacy, is neither uniform nor universal. It is a learned, multidimensional skill shaped by prior exposure, educational opportunity, and context. While the field has developed standardized instruments to measure visualization literacy, these tools were built under narrow assumptions: participants are typically paid, English-speaking, and recruited from Western online panels. When any …

3d Infographic Animation Series Unleashing The Mechanism Of Disease (Mod) Of Ventricular Tachycardias In Cellular And Molecular Levels: Afterdepolarization Subtypes And Triggered Activity, Yan Ning ‘Harmony’ Wong

Theses

Ventricular arrhythmias (VAs) account for 75-80% of sudden cardiac deaths, causing 184,000 to 450,000 deaths annually in the U.S. VAs commonly occur in individuals with structural heart diseases, but idiopathic ventricular tachycardias (VTs) caused by delayed afterdepolarizations (DADs), early afterdepolarizations (EADs) and triggered activity, can also arise due to calcium ion discrepancies without apparent structural abnormalities. Despite advances in understanding abnormal impulse conduction, there is a paucity of visual aids that explain impulse formation anomalies of VTs. There are no 3D animations that link ECG interpretation to molecular dynamics in the cardiac EC coupling process. Moreover, ECG interpretation skills are …

Ar Bubble Car: A Cross-Vehicle Visual Social System For Autonomous Mobility, Bingchang Zhang

Theses

AR Bubble Car argues that in L4/L5 autonomous mobility, or high to fully automated driving, the car should be understood not only as a transportation device but also as a visible social interface in public space. As driving becomes less central, the role of the vehicle shifts from control and movement alone toward passenger experience, expression, and communication. In response, AR Bubble Car proposes a transparent visual bubble around compatible vehicles, allowing passengers to share lightweight content through window-based AR. Rather than treating the car as a private entertainment container, the system explores how vehicles might become moving social nodes …

The Abstraction Of Architectural Heritage In Contemporary Local Architecture: Abstraction In Contemporary Iraqi Architecture, Sura Kassim, Ibrahim Jawad Kadhim Al-Yousif, Ali Moussa Hussein

Iraqi Journal of Architecture and Planning

Abstraction is used in architectural and interior design and is based on abstraction with formal values, taking into account the functional aspect of architecture. Architectural heritage represents the cultural value that directly affects successive generations, and embodies cultural values to reflect the social, economic and political aspect that contributes to the advancement of human civilization, and architectural heritage is the basis of architectural thought in societies that have unity. Cultural. He found that the concept of the philosophy of abstraction has multiple views, whether Western and local and dependent on the nature of cultural, social and environmental thought, and for …

The Concept Of Fourth Dimension In Landscape, Sanaa Sati Abbas, Rawaa Fawzi Naom Abbawi

Iraqi Journal of Architecture and Planning

Landscape designer deals with three spatial dimensions, as well as with another dimension mentioned in design literatures. This dimension is the fourth dimension. Because of the absence of sufficient information about this concept, in the field of architecture, and particularly in landscape design . For the purpose of benefiting the landscape architects, and how to present and develop this dimension through the design process, and finding it in the final design. Search for this concept in different literature those specialized in research problem, so this research was aimed to clarify the concept of the fourth dimension briefly within the scientific, …

There’S No Place Like Home: A Wizard Of Oz Inspired Self-Portrait, Lana Webster

Imaginings: creative practice and inquiry

This project examines how lived experience shapes creative practice through a digital self-portrait inspired by The Wizard of Oz. Rather than positioning identity as subject matter alone, the work investigates how personal history informs visual decision-making, including posture, composition, colour, and symbolic environment. Using a creative practice research approach supported by autoethnographic reflection, the illustrated artefact and written exegesis operate as interconnected modes of inquiry. The project demonstrates how illustration can hold responsibility, emotional weight, and uncertainty without forcing resolution. It frames creative practice as a way of generating understanding, grounded in lived experience yet shaped through the viewer’s own …

The Rider (2026-04-27), Daniela Chapa-Reyes

The Rider Archives

Vol. 11, No. 28

Foundations Of Art: Materials, Methods, And Meaning, Elizabeth Mellott

Art OERs

This course provides an introduction to the tools, materials, and processes used across a wide range of artistic media. The focus is on understanding how different materials shape the way art is created and experienced. Attention is given not only to what artists make, but also to why particular media are chosen to communicate specific ideas, emotions, or perspectives. The physical qualities of materials, the methods used, and the cultural meanings attached to them all influence artistic decision-making.

The course surveys several major categories of artistic media. Pigment-based practices include painting, drawing, and printmaking, where color and mark-making form the …

The Intersection Of Visual Communications, User Experience, & Design Theory: A Case Study With The Dog Spaw, Jessica Miltner

Honors Projects

This project explored the intersection of visual communication, user experience, and design theory, focusing on researching design and UX principles and applying them in a real-world case study with The Dog Spaw from Celina, Ohio. The project resulted in a redesigned website that aims to influence user behavior by improving perceptions of trust, professionalism, brand consistency, and ease of use, and by examining how these perceptions, in turn, influence user action.

The Bison, April, 24, 2026

The Bison Newspapers

No abstract provided.