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A Gift For The Emperor DawāʾIr Al-ʿUlūm Wa-Jadāwil Al-Ruqūm, A Mediaeval Graphic Encyclopaedia Of The 19th Century, Juan Acevedo, Inês Bénard Da Costa

Abdou Filali-Ansary Occasional Paper Series

The recent discovery of a 19th-century Arabic manuscript in the Gulbenkian Museum, Lisbon, initiated a period of intense collaboration between the Museum and the Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon, culminating in the 2023–24 exhibition ‘Power of the Word V: Circles of Knowledge.’ The first part of this article describes the manuscript, while the second part looks at its contents, a striking visual encyclopaedia, mostly from Safavid sources, entitled Tuḥfat al-Khāqān: Dawāʾir al-ʿUlūm wa-Jadāwil al-Ruqūm (A Gift for the Emperor: Circles of Sciences and Tables of Numerals). Its sections range from cosmogony and alphanumeric cosmology to geography, geomancy and the …

How The Walls Talk & How To Keep Them Talking: A Lidar-Based Spatial Analysis Of Two Roman Mithraea, Sarah York

Theses & ETDs

No abstract provided.

Elizabeth Gibson Drinko Honors Convocation, Honors College

Honors Convocation

The Elizabeth Gibson Drinko Honors Convocation Awards Program for Spring 2026, Marshall University, Huntington, West Virginia.

The Quiet Persistence Of Dreams: Searching For Belonging Within The Latino Student Journey, Isveydi Moreno Vera

Theses & ETDs

This thesis explores the tension between belonging and aspiration among first-generation Latino students navigating higher education. Through a series of surreal and symbolic paintings inspired by memories, transformation, and cultural imagery, I visualize the emotional negotiation between personal identity and societal expectations. Rather than portraying “The Dream” as a singular goal, my work reimagines it as a space where belonging is continually shaped, questioned, and redefined. Drawing inspiration from artists such as Tanya Arguiniga, Tony Ortega, and Yvette Mayorga, I build upon their use of storytelling, surrealism, and materiality to express complex cultural experiences. My series aims to honor the …

The Relationship Between Media Use, Identity, And Attitudes Towards Women, Kelly A. Summers

Psychological Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Pornography’s popularity among college men is widespread, with degrading content being common in top-selling pornography (Bridges et al., 2010; Foubert et al., 2011). Research has shown higher consumption of degrading pornography is associated with more negative attitudes towards women, greater acceptance of rape culture, more sexist beliefs, and greater likelihood of engaging in aggressive and dominant behavior during physical intimacy (Bridges et al., 2023). “Incels” (a term meaning involuntarily celibate) are individuals who have not yet had a sexual debut despite an interest. Relatively little research exists on this population, but the little that has been conducted suggests incels have …

Between Home And Hallway: Does School Discipline And Parental Incarceration Moderate Academic Outcomes Among Justice Involved Youth?, Morgan M. Hamer

All Theses

This study examines the relationship between parental justice contact, school disciplinary action, and academic performance of juvenile justice involved youth. Prior research has found youth with parents with justice system contact and juvenile justice involved youth to be vulnerable populations. Specifically, this study examines how a youthful offender with at least one parent with justice system contact performs academically, and if this relationship is moderated by school disciplinary action. Using quantitative data from the baseline wave of the Pathways to Desistance Study (Mulvey et. al, 2004), an ordered logistic regression analysis was employed to assess whether parental justice contact predicts …

Polydactyl Precursors: Insights Into Early Tetrapod Locomotion From Polydactyl American Alligators, Trevor P. Brewington

All Theses

Several of the earliest tetrapod lineages exhibited polydactyl limbs, with seven or eight digits per limb rather than the typical five or fewer seen in extant lineages. How these digit configurations might have been used during terrestrial locomotion is unclear, given the lack of living models in which their performance can be studied and limited evidence from fossil trackways. However, polydactyly occasionally appears in natural populations of American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis), animals with body plans that broadly resemble those of early tetrapods. To test how polydactyl limbs similar to those of early tetrapods might have functioned on land, …

An Assessment Of The Basihyal And Its Functional And Ontogenetic Relationships To The Masticatory Apparatus In Primates, Parker Mitchell Taylor

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The hyoid is central to many important functions such as feeding, vocalization, and breathing. However, primate hyoid morphology has been widely understudied compared to other aspects of craniofacial morphology. This dissertation aimed to bridge gaps in the current understanding of primate hyoid morphological variation and the hyoid’s relationship with mandibular morphology. Using microCT, diceCT, and three-dimensional geometric morphometric methods, this work details broad taxonomic variation of basihyal shape, resting hyoid position, and suprahyoid muscle architecture in primates, and assesses such variation for the effects of phylogeny, allometry, and covariation between these elements and mandibular shape. These analyses were also conducted …

Across The Pond And Veil: Spiritualists, Female Mediums, And Ghosts In The Nineteenth-Century United States And Britain, Allison Tucker

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines how women mediums in the late nineteenth-century United States and Britain shaped Spiritualism and interpreted their respective social landscapes. Spiritualist mediums claimed the ability to communicate with spirits in the spirit world. These conversations with ghosts allowed mediums to speak on recent events, traverse social boundaries, and assume positions of authority. Drawing on trance writings, spirit-authored books, newspaper articles, and the performances of women mediums, this study compares the development and practices of Spiritualism in both countries. This thesis argues that proximity to violence significantly shaped Spiritualism during its formative years. The Civil War placed Americans in …

Misusing Mariátegui: The Strategic Use Of José Carlos Mariátegui By Peru’S Sendero Luminoso, Shaylee Luedders

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Peruvian Communist Party - Sendero Luminoso (SL) was a violent communist guerrilla group that was active in Peru in the 1980s and early 1990s. SL’s guiding ideology was “Gonzalo Thought,” named for the Party’s leader, Abimael Guzmán, who was known to his followers as Presidente Gonzalo. Greatly inspired by Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, Gonzalo Thought also drew heavily from the work of José Carlos Mariátegui, an early 20th-century socialist Peruvian intellectual. One of Mariategui’s key ideas held that the Inca Empire was communist and that living Indigenous Peruvians retained this pre-modern “communist spirit.” For him, this meant that authentic Peruvian institutions and …

Between The One And The Many: Considering Community And Individualism - Opening Essay, John Schmalzbauer

eJournal of Public Affairs

This issue had its genesis thirty years ago at a campus lecture, a lecture that helped launch Missouri State University’s public affairs mission. Speaking on the “moral crisis in American public life,” sociologist Robert Bellah criticized the toxic individualism of the global elite, calling for a renewed commitment to the common good. Addressing an audience of 1,700 students, faculty, and local residents, Bellah ignited a community-wide discussion that reverberated across university classrooms, Ozarks congregations, and in the pages of the Springfield News-Leader.

Bellah’s questions remain no less relevant today: How can we balance individualism with our shared commitments? How …

Cultural Authenticity And Commercialization: The Journey Of Southwest Indigenous Jewelry, Kaytlin M. Dwyer

Anthropology Undergraduate Honors Theses

Introduction Today, Southwest Indigenous jewelry exists at the intersection of cultural expression and commercial exchange. Drawing on interviews with Native artists, this study focuses on the lived experiences of those who design, produce, market, and curate Indigenous jewelry to argue that authenticity is not defined by visual appearance alone, but by the cultural knowledge, community relationships, and generational practices embedded in each piece. As Native silversmiths navigate increasing pressures from mass production, appropriation, and global markets, they actively work to maintain both artistic integrity and cultural authenticity. At the same time, this paper explores the tension between appreciation and appropriation. …

An American Railroad Revival: A Proposal For Train-Reliant Music Touring, Abigail Waisler

Standard Theses

A proposal for train reliant music touring for environmental resilience and a cultural deceleration of the music industry.

The Conceptual Practitioner, Tincuta Heinzel

DRS Summer Meetings

No abstract provided.

The Transdisciplinary Practice Of Design, Alejandra Poblete Perez

DRS Summer Meetings

No abstract provided.

Perspectives On Design Education, Object-Based Learning, And 4e-Cognition, Arlene Oak

DRS Summer Meetings

No abstract provided.

An Introduction To World Art History: Course Curriculum, Skyler M. Bancroft

Theses

Art history as a field has inherent biases that are primarily rooted in Western traditions. A majority of the content which students are exposed to focuses on regions such as Europe and the Americas, with less focus on Africa, Asia, and the Pacific. The purpose of this thesis project is to develop a secondary school curriculum that approaches art history from a world perspective to foster students’ sense of cultural awareness and empathy, as well as the development of skills such as critical thinking and visual literacy. Students will leave this course with a greater understanding of art from various …

Coexisting In A Changing World: Humans And Insects In Urban Environments, Clover Smith

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

The urban environment is viewed as a space exclusively for humans, an idea that has been built into the structure of cities during the process of urbanization, which transforms the landscape in a given area for anthropogenic activity. The process of urbanization can be characterized primarily by the widespread use of asphalt and concrete, as well as the introduction of ornamental plant species, which leaves urban environments more vulnerable to impacts of climate change such as flooding and excessive heat. This transformation also negatively impacts the insect species living within these environments, leading to species extirpation from these spaces. As …

Investigating The "Party Consciousness": Gender Normativity & Affect In Woolf’S Party Scenes In “To The Lighthouse” & “Mrs. Dalloway”, Chelsea Goodman

English

In 1925, Virginia Woolf wrote in her diary, “…I should like to investigate the party consciousness…where people secrete an envelope which connects them and protects them from others, like myself, who am outside the envelope” (DIII 13). Woolf’s metaphor of the “envelope” reflects how parties have the potential to be places of community and, conversely, of alienation. In literary criticism, Woolf’s parties are often simplified and read as sites of communion. I argue that instead of a suspension of normativity across all characters, which one might expect in a party scene, Woolf’s domestic party scenes solidify, reflect, and enforce …

May 2026 Library & Learning Newsletter, Minnesota State University, Mankato. Library & Learning Dean's Office Communication Team

Library & Learning Newsletters

PDF version of the May 2026 (Volume 4, Issue 10) Library & Learning Newsletter.

Preserving The Past: Exploring The Last Frontier's Ecosystem Shifts And Biodiversity Of The Tallgrass Prairies, Gisell Maldonado, Amelia Villaseñor

Anthropology Undergraduate Honors Theses

In North America, grasslands are a cornerstone of the environment. Historically, the tallgrass prairie was expansive and reached from Manitoba in Canada to Texas. Today this unique ecosystem is highly fragmented and reduced, but it remains an important ecosystem for biodiversity and cattle management. While there are many complex ecological interactions in the prairie, recent research shows that large herbivores are vital in maintaining grasslands through grazing and other behaviors that reduce woody encroachment and support nutrient cycling. Here, we examine cow and bison dietary behaviors and connect these to the ecosystem services provided by these large herbivores. In the …

Sacred Spaces In The African Diaspora: Archaeology Of Praise Houses And The Cultural Preservation Of The Gullah/Geechee, Libby C. Holden

Anthropology Undergraduate Honors Theses

Historical archaeology is traditionally defined as the study of remains from past cultures and societies that have supplemental historical evidence, usually in the form of written records, with the rough timeline covering 1500-present.[1] African American archaeology is a relatively new subfield in historical archaeology. The first archaeological investigations focused in African American life occurred in the 1960s by Charles H. Fairbanks, a historical archaeologist of the U.S. Southeast based at the University of Florida.[2] The sudden uptick in interest of plantation archaeology and African American archaeology during this time is likely attributed to the passage of historic preservation …

Primate Craniofacial Trauma And Its Relationship To Socioecological Factors, Kaitlyn Harden R. Harden

Anthropology Undergraduate Honors Theses

Postmortem analysis of the skeleton can reveal patterns of trauma that have accumulated over an individual’s lifetime. Patterns of trauma within a species can also provide key insights into how that species lived and reflect aspects of their socioecology and life history. Research has been conducted often on postcranial trauma, but is rare regarding the craniofacial region and has not been examined broadly across primates. To fully understand patterns of trauma in primates, rates of trauma must be compared and placed into context of a variety of socioecological factors. To do so, I examined hypotheses including that species with higher …

From Feeling To Faith: How Affective Experience Gives Rise To Religion, Asia Wewel

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

This paper argues that religion is the intelligible, structured response to distinct pressures arising from within human experience itself. Drawing on Schleiermacher, Otto, Kant, and Becker, the paper traces religion's emergence through four phases. The first establishes that religious feeling is pre-conceptual and categorically distinct from ordinary emotion. The second works through Otto's correction of Schleiermacher: the genuinely religious encounter is not dependence intensified but the numinous. The third shows that Kant, arriving from an entirely different direction, reaches the same destination: practical reason diagnoses a radical evil the will cannot correct alone, demanding an ethical commonwealth that mirrors …

Design For Global Health Research: Challenges And Future Perspectives, Claudia De Souza Libânio

DRS Summer Meetings

No abstract provided.

Significant Others: The Intersection Of Memory, Display, And Object Agency In Personal Material Culture, Molly Branham

Theses & ETDs

This thesis explores the complex, reciprocal relationship between individuals and their personal objects, framed through the interdependent network of display, object agency, and memory. Grounded in ethnographic fieldwork with young adults in Florida and Virginia, the research argues that domestic objects are not passive items but active participants that space a person’s identity and physical environment. Through the practice of display, individuals exercise agency by choosing what to exhibit and how to organize their space, which in turn regulates the visibility and emotional presences of the memories tied to those objects. The study further highlights how objects serve as physical …

Trinities In World Mythology: Why Separate Cultures Construct The Same Cosmology, Autumn Scott

Undergraduate Fellows' Research

Numerous cultures throughout the world construct mythologies and cosmologies which include a triad, triple deity, or three world cosmology. Specifically, this refers either to belief in a singular deity with three forms, belief in a distinct group of three divine beings with a common characteristic, or belief in three cosmic realms, such as the human world, underworld, and divine world. This phenomenon occurs within Europe, South Asia and East Asia, as well as North America. While many may be familiar with the Greek Moirai and the Christian trinity, this pattern appears well beyond the ancient and medieval cultures who inhabited …

Time Is A Tree: Arboreal Chronotopes & Reciprocal Dendrochronology, Alyssa Bernard

Theses & ETDs

This thesis proposes a framework for reciprocal dendrochronology, a decolonial approach to tree-ring science that shifts the role of the researcher from an extractive observer to a vessel for translating arboreal memory, and explores how trees function as chronotopes: material intersections where time and space are fused into a living record (Bakhtin 1981). By applying the structuralist frameworks of Claude Lévi-Strauss (1955) and Joseph Campbell (1949), it is argued that trees have long functioned as universal symbols of continuity and the axis of existence. This baseline is then brought into conversation with the chronotopic theory of Mikhail Bakhtin (1981) and …

Local Values, Global Standards: Understanding Aviation Safety Culture In The Middle East Region, Ernest N. Ogbozor, Jules Yimga, Nicholas Degarmo, Kathrine Lopez, Hana Marz, Michael Chrisman, Cedric Leon, Joao Souza Dias Garcia, Harrison Debrah, Mariateresa Sestito, Albert Obi, Chidinma Chidoka

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

This study examines the role of national cultural determinants in shaping aviation safety culture across the Middle East. Employing an exploratory research design that integrates a literature review and structured safety culture surveys, it analyzes how national, organizational, and traditional values influence safety attitudes, communication practices, and reporting behaviors. While the Middle Eastern countries, such as UAE and Qatar possesses advanced aviation infrastructure and regulatory systems, persistent Arab cultural norms, including deference to authority, collective responsibility, and avoidance of public blame, continue to shape safety management and organizational learning. The preliminary findings indicate that these values promote discipline, cooperation, and …

The Impact Of Community On Professional Identity In Computer Science Education, Ian A. Kollipara

School of Computing: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This thesis explores the application of Communities of Practice (CoPs) in Computer Science Education. The work consists of two qualitative studies examining related but distinct populations: (1) K–12 CS teachers and (2) undergraduate CS students. The first study presents a retrospective analysis of conneCTION, an online CoP for K–12 CS educators, identifying strengths, weaknesses, and design considerations that inform future platform development. The second study investigates how participation in a CoP can mitigate negative and exclusionary stereotypes in CS. This study was conducted in an under-explored context: a small, private, religious, Midwestern university, and examines an existing community, the Programming …