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The Divine Comedy: A Work Of Medieval Mythology, Jamie Alexander

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Prior to The Divine Comedy (1308-1321), ideas about Purgatory were in the early stages of development. Purgatory had loose rituals surrounding its existence and it lacked depiction in written works. Yet in the following centuries, the fear of Purgatory and the practices of penance and indulgences reached a fever pitch, ultimately leading to the Protestant Reformation. Purgatory as a celestial location, and not just the “purgatorial fires” of the Bible, only began to develop in the twelfth century, but its fearful description and imagery in The Divine Comedy not only solidified previously nebulous understandings of Purgatory, but also increased anxiety …

Are Research Studies Too Boring?: Incorporating Gamification Elements In Mental Rotation For Children., Samantha Zakrzewski

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Many cognitive tasks are perceived as boring by children due to their redundancy, lengthy trials, and required cognitive effort. Children’s performance on these tasks might therefore be hampered, not by a lack of cognitive ability, but rather by a lack of motivation to complete these tasks. Mental rotation, a type of cognitive task, has been extensively studied, due to its prevalence in daily living, in activities such as loading a dishwasher or packing a car, and its relation to STEM success. However, similar to other cognitive tasks, mental rotation tasks often result in fatigue and boredom in children. Hence, the …

"Into The Womb Of Solipsism": The Spectrum Of Loneliness In Wallace's Infinite Jest, Michael Gieger

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Academic critics and casual readers of David Foster Wallace’s 1,079-page novel, Infinite Jest, have long ruminated over the book’s daunting physical size and wide narrative scope. This paper offers an argumentative interpretation of the novel’s immensity through an exploration of Wallace’s thematic preoccupation with solipsism and human loneliness. Building primarily from the critical works of Frank Cioffi and Casey Michael Henry, this essay makes the contention that the length of Infinite Jest behaves mimetically, simulating for its attentive readership a sense of perpetual emotional isolation—an isolation reflective of the epic’s untold lonesome characters. The argument further suggests that length of …

Lawrence As An Orientalist Figure Of Empire In David Lean's Lawrence Of Arabia, Leen Khashashina

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

In this thesis, I examine the character of Lawrence in David Lean’s 1962 film, Lawrence of Arabia. I seek to break apart the legend, examining his individual characteristics and interest in Arabia as well as his imperialist motivations, whether unconscious or not. Lawrence struggles to find his identity and this film is an exploration of that multitude. Many of the characters in the film have conflicting ideas about who Lawrence was because he did not even understand himself. The combination of Lawrence’s defiance of British orders and society as well as his obsession with becoming an Arab marks him as …

Symptoms And Displacements: Satan's Detachments In Paradise Lost, Rosemary Rodriguez

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

For my thesis I aim to examine the detachment that Satan has to his surroundings in John Milton’s epic poem Paradise Lost. Predominantly using psychoanalysis and Marxist theory as my main lenses for analysis, I intend to show the full extent of Satan's punishment and condemnation in the text. A standard close reading of this work shows how flawed and inconsistent Satan is in his disposition and beliefs. From boasting about being able to make a heaven of hell to considering asking God for forgiveness, the text shows him constantly changing. In other words, Satan's mental instability manifests itself in …

Decisions, Decisions: The Influence Of Anxiety On Decision Making, Allisun Romain

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

The purpose of the present study was to better understand the influence of state anxiety on decision making, including how constructs such as trait anxiety and emotional intelligence may moderate this relationship. Participants were randomly assigned to a state anxiety-inducing condition or a control condition. They were then prompted to complete a computerized dynamic decision-making task in which optimal performance requires exploring a novel decision environment and learning reward contingencies of the task. Prior to the experimental manipulation, participants also completed self-report measures of trait anxiety and emotional intelligence. Independent sample t tests were employed to measure differences between the …

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation And The Rtpj (Right Teaching Parietal Junction), Molly Skowron

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Theory of Mind (ToM) is conceptualized as the ability to infer the thoughts and feelings of others. Many studies have found that ToM abilities play a central role in collaborative communication between adults, and that teachers are more effective when they have high levels of ToM. One of the main brain regions implicated in ToM is the right temporoparietal junction (rTPJ), which is thought to be responsible for evaluating a person’s belief formation process. The current study had participants engage in a Lego model building task consisting of a director who instructed a builder on how to create duplicate models …

Synergistic Interactions And Emulsion Preparation Of Antioxidant Potential Of Cannabidiol And Cold Brew Coffee, Karina Rosa

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Antioxidants play an important role in mitigating the damage caused by oxidative stress in the human body. Over time, the oxidative stress can lead to diseases such cardiovascular disease, neurodegenerative disorders and even cancer. Notably, both cannabidiol and coffee antioxidants. Purpose: To investigate the interaction between the antioxidant potential observed from the combination of CBD and cold brew coffee and compare it to their individual effects. Additionally, develop a methodology for emulsion preparation for analysis of antioxidant potential of a beverage made of cold brew coffee infused with CBD. Materials and Methods: Two cold brew coffee and two CBD oil …

The Accuracy Of Videos Related To Breastfeeding On Tiktok: A Content Analysis, Brianna Jack

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Breastfeeding is widely recognized as the best nutrition for infants, yet its rates remain below recommended levels due to various factors. One such factor is the dissemination of misleading information, often from online sources like social media. This study investigates the accuracy of information in TikTok videos related to breastfeeding and whether differences exist between the accuracy of videos and narrator identification, skin color, and gender. This study also aims to investigate the relationship between the accuracy and popularity of videos based on the number of views, likes, comments, and shares. A content analysis was used to code the most …

Relationship Between Marine Heatwaves And Diadema Antillarum Settlement In The Florida Keys, David Ogando Jr.

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Ocean warming can have profound impacts on benthic marine invertebrates through direct physiological effects. Yet, the impacts of ocean warming on the long-spined sea urchin (Diadema antillarum), a keystone grazer on western Atlantic and Caribbean coral reefs, has received little attention. In the summer of 2023, the Caribbean basin experienced a strong marine heatwave event with sea temperatures ~1–3°C above average and the warmest on record in southern Florida. An ongoing field settlement sampling program for D. antillarum in the Florida Keys provided an opportunity to examine the correlative relationship between thermal exposure and larval settlement. Thermal exposure was quantified …

The Influence Of Edaphic Factors On The Growth And Competitiveness Of Loosestrife (Lythrum Spp.), Martha Mahady

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Wetlands are important areas in the landscape, providing important ecosystem services. Purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria), native to Europe and Asia, invades wetlands in North America, outcompeting native wetland plants and disrupting ecosystem services. While purple loosestrife is invasive in North America, it is not in its native range. Winged loosestrife (Lythrum alatum), a North American native congener, is not invasive in North America. Purple loosestrife from Sussex County, N.J. U.S.A. and purple loosestrife from the United Kingdom, and winged loosestrife were compared in this study. Their response to soil edaphic factors, such as seed vernalization, soil nutrients, soil pH, water, …

Betrayal As A Moderator Of Covid-19 Exposure And Ptsd Symptoms, Karly Sara Weinreb

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been interest in understanding how individuals have fared regarding their mental health symptoms, such as symptoms of PTSD. Prior studies have established a link between COVID-19 and PTSD without considering how COVID-19 may relate to the four PTSD symptom clusters. Further, those who feel betrayed by either an individual or institution tend to have more severe PTSD (Martin et al., 2013). It is possible that individuals felt a level of both interpersonal and institutional betrayal towards other individuals or institutions for exposing them to environments in which there was a risk of …

Vulnerability Of Semantic Networks In Multiple Sclerosis: An Analysis Of Verbal Fluency Data, Sophia Lall

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Word finding difficulty is a frequently reported subjective cognitive concern among persons with Multiple Sclerosis (pwMS). Word-finding relies on several information retrieval processes, including search and retrieval from the conceptual store, the phonological store, the syllabary, as well as other stores of information. Neuropsychological assessments, including the semantic verbal fluency measure, can be used to measure word retrieval abilities. Despite this, the MS research literature shows that neuropsychological assessment of semantic verbal fluency yields mixed results in detecting word-finding difficulties. While some studies report finding statistically lower semantic fluency scores in pwMS relative to healthy controls (HC), others found no …

A Global Analysis Of Carbon And Nitrogen Stocks In Natural And Anthropogenic Soils, Shih-Chieh Chien

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

In terrestrial biomes, soils possess the highest amount of carbon and nitrogen stocks that regulate biogeochemical processes and provide ecosystem services. The amount of carbon and nitrogen stored in soils, as a balance of nutrient influxes and outfluxes, is controlled by various environmental and soil factors, while at the same time soil carbon and nitrogen stocks can be subject to anthropogenic impacts, like nutrient storage in urban soils. To inform a better, general understanding of carbon and nitrogen distribution in urban soils, the present dissertation gathers four articles (from Chapters 2 to 5, respectively) addressing different aspects of the issue, …

Evaluation Of Heavy Metal Pollution, Water Quality, And The Effectiveness Of Remedial Sediment Dredging In The Lower Passaic River, New Jersey, Oluwafemi Soetan

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Toxic metal pollution is a leading environmental concern for aquatic systems globally and remedial dredging has been widely employed to mitigate its harmful impacts. In terms of the short-term impacts of remedial dredging, mixed results are reported in several studies. Despite its immediate negative impacts including saturation of water with toxic metals, increased turbidity, and sediment resuspension, positive impacts can be recorded over a stabilization period of 6 – 24 months after dredging. Nevertheless, the sustainability of these recorded positive effects cannot be ascertained as some studies have reported long-term regression in remediated sites’ conditions. Evaluation of success determinants, site-measure …

Enacting Disability Studies In Education: Pedagogical Reasoning During Lessons About Disability, Ashley Pollitt

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

In some U.S. states, student learning standards mandate that teachers engage students in lessons about disability, yet there is a notable lack of disability-related curricular content in P–12 schools. There remains a particular need for natural studies in the field to investigate how teachers do teach lessons about disability. In this qualitative research study, I applied a Disability Studies in Education (DSE) lens to lessons about disability in secondary English Language Arts (ELA) classes. I examined the ways three ELA teachers of students with and without disabilities with expressed interest in DSE used pedagogical reasoning to make sense of and …

Peritextual Elements In Chinese Nonfiction Picturebooks, Sunah Chung, Jongsun Wee, Sohyun Meacham

Faculty Publications

The present work is a comparison of the peritext typology found across various nonfiction picturebooks focusing on Chinese people, including Chinese Americans. Nineteen nonfiction books were chosen following selection methods described in previous literature. Books were individually analysed to see which of five categories they fit under, and insider/outsider status for each author and illustrator was recorded as well. All five types were found in the surveyed Chinese nonfiction picturebooks; however, none of the books encouraged readers to take action for social change. We also found slight variation in peritext usage between the insiders and outsiders for authors and illustrators. …

The Adultification Of African American Girls: Perceptions, Experiences, And Impact On Behavior, Sherie Sara Sam

All Dissertations

Adultification occurs when adults treat children like they are more mature than they are. This is particularly likely to happen to African American children (Pope, 2022). Adultification in homes is the result of deficits in the adult figures; however, adultification outside of the family, cemented with implicit biases, has negative consequences for young African American children (Cooke & Halberstadt, 2021). These biases can negatively impact their self-concept. Furthermore, it may jeopardize their health, education, experiences with discipline, and likelihood of contact with the justice system (Koch & Kozhumam, 2022).

This qualitative descriptive study utilized focus groups of primarily young adults …

Forage News [2024-05], University Of Kentucky

Forage News

No abstract provided.

Cultivating Land And Love For God: Agrarian Life In Benedictine Women’S Communities In The United States, Mother Maria Evangelista Fernandez Osb

Yale Divinity School Theses

Using qualitative research within the discipline of Practical theology, this study explores the agrarian practices of five Benedictine women’s communities in the United States: the Abbey of Regina Laudis, Our Lady of the Rock Priory, the Abbey of St. Walburga, Immaculate Heart of Mary Abbey, and the Abbey of Our Lady of Ephesus. I focus on the interconnected nature of communal land cultivation and prayer while creating a conspectus of agrarian life for American Benedictine nuns in 2024. The paper unfolds in three parts: the first situates the research context and interpretive framework drawing on hermeneutic phenomenology within Practical theology. …

Wretched Refuse: Garbage And The Making Of New York City, Tina Peabody

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Wretched Refuse: The Making of New York City. is a social and economic history of waste management in New York City from the late nineteenth century through the 1990s. This dissertation uses waste management as a lens to examine the city’s social and economic life over the long twentieth century, and especially its class and racial hierarchies. Wretched Refuse argues that waste management was a critical part of New York City’s physical and economic growth over the course of the twentieth century. Sanitation was a public health problem that needed to be solved in order for New York to grow …

The (Dis)Obedience Politics Of Victorian Literature, Audrey Peterson-Mccann

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The (Dis)Obedience Politics of Victorian Literature argues that Victorian children learned thesocial valuation of themselves and others through the figure of the animal, and while this learning was often hegemonic, some Victorian authors subverted this form of didacticism, creating alternative pedagogies that extended subjecthood to those who were often excluded. While it is well-known that animals have historically been enlisted as teaching symbols, I contend that literary animals in Victorian fiction were used to critique, expose, and otherwise provide commentary and context for the potentially widespread disciplinary practice of childrearing as these practices defined and qualified subjectivity and objectivity. To …

Comparative Population Genomics Of Bloodstream-Derived Staphylococcus Aureus From Disparate Geographic Origins In The United States, Milan Pfister

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Staphylococcus aureus is a commensal and an opportunistic pathogen that causes a variety of diseases in humans, from minor skin and soft tissue infections to life-threatening invasive diseases. The emergence and spread of multidrug-resistant and methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) complicate treatment options, which can lead to significant morbidity and mortality of patients. In this study, we compared the clonal lineages and genomic features of bloodstream-derived S. aureus populations from different locations. We leveraged 957 previously published genomes derived from bloodstream infections across six hospitals located in Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, and New York, USA. We carried out pan-genome analysis, …

Prop-Oriented Make-Believe In Metaphor And Morality, Jordan Ray Alexander Corner

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

“Bill is such a bulldozer.” How does this metaphor mean what it does? How are we to understand how metaphors work with respect to meaning. In this work, there is an exploration of both of the answers that have already been given to these questions, as well as some reasons to think that those answers are insufficient. Importantly, Kendal Walton has put forward a prop-oriented make-believe account of meaning in metaphor. This account succeeds where others fail, though it is not without its own detractors. Elisabeth Camp and Catherine Wearing both object to Walton’s accounts and their objections require responses. …

Determining The Time Since Deposition Of Bloodstains Based On Vibrational Spectroscopy For Forensic Purposes, Alexis Renee Weber

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

At the scene of violent crimes, bloodstain evidence is one of the most frequently found and valuable types of evidence. Blood traces discovered at crime scenes can provide crucial information to an investigation. By obtaining a DNA profile from the bloodstain, the profile can be used to link someone to a crime scene, which can corroborate or dispute a witness's statement. However, the current analysis of bloodstains is still not able to answer a key question for investigators: how much time has passed since the criminal event occurred? In addition, an equally important aspect of crime reconstruction is the ability …

A Reimagined Periphery: Environment And The Construction Of The French Colonial Empire In North Africa, Tyson A. Luneau

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This dissertation examines the relationship between environmental knowledge and empire building in French North Africa during nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Since its 1830 invasion of Algiers, France engaged in a century-long conquest of the Maghreb, extending sphere of influence to the neighboring regions of Tunisia, Morocco, and the Soudan. Under the guise of the mission civilisatrice, colonialists stressed their conquest’s goal of spreading enlightened French civilization for the benefit of both the indigenous populations and the world at large. France’s conquest of North Africa was not, however, solely focused on the peoples and cultures of the region. Simultaneously, France engaged …

Maternal Experience-Driven Changes In Oxytocin Neuron Co-Localization With Crf Receptors In The Hypothalamus Of Mice, Katherine Parra

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The postpartum period is a time of adaptiveness for new mothers who have to not only maintain their own health and well-being, but also that of a brand-new life. In both humans and across various common laboratory species like rats, mice, and non-human primates, priorities must shift greatly for a new mother to now include initiation and maintenance of offspring-focused behaviors regardless of her circumstances.The neurobiology of this adaptivity includes a complex sequence of changes that amount to suppression of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity. Corticotropin-releasing factor receptor 1 (CRFR1) is a receptor involved with initiating the physiological stress response and …

Voices Of The Holistically Educated: Impacts And Outcomes Beyond Academics, Autumnjoy Felicidade Florencio-Wain

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This dissertation engages a multi-step process to identify and articulate the internally defined goals of prominent holistic pedagogies including Montessori, Waldorf, Democratic Free Schooling, homeschooling, and radical/progressive education. It gives voice to adult former students who speak to, and illustrate, the ways in which they were impacted by their holistic educational settings on each of six identified areas of intended holistic development: physical, creative engagement, intrapersonal, interpersonal, cognitive, and transpersonal. Eighteen participants, ages 19 to 71, from various holistic backgrounds in North America, participated in focus group meetings and interviews. They reflected on their current sense of self on each …

Survival Of The Optimist: How Emotion Words Are Processed Within The Survival Paradigm, Dailyn Quinn Clark

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Memory for words encoded for their fitness relevance is enhanced compared to memory for words encoded based on relevance to other scenarios (Nairne et al., 2007). Much of the work examining emotion within the survival paradigm has focused on the presented scenarios (Bell et al., 2013; Kazanas & Altarriba, 2017, 2018; Kroneisen et al., 2022). However, no work has yet to focus on the emotionality of the information that is being encoded. A possible contributor to the advantage may be the emotional valence of the encoded items, as emotion has been known to have effects on memory (Dev et al., …

Advancing Learning Models For High-Dimensional Data: From Molecular Modeling To Motion Planning, Tuan Nguyen Anh Tran

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Processing and analyzing high-dimensional data, particularly in domains like protein research and robotics, introduces unique challenges. In protein analysis, high-dimensional data often arises from complex molecular structures and their interactions. Analyzing protein data involves intricate computational models and algorithms that must deal with the large size of molecular datasets and the need to extract biologically relevant information. This makes it challenging to discern significant protein structure-activity relationships, understand complex biological interactions, or predict protein behavior accurately. Similarly, in robotics, high-dimensional data is prevalent when dealing with sensory inputs, the dimensionality of the robot, or the complexity of the operational environments. …