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Chaucer And Becket’S Mother: “The Man Of Law’S Tale,” Conversion, And Race In The Middle Ages, By Meriem Pagès, Daisy E. Black

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality

No abstract provided.

Mystics, Oracles, And Bones: Spiritual Resistance For Justice, Healing, And Resolution, Leah Hollis

Comparative Civilizations Review

This conceptual essay examines the enduring human impulse to seek meaning, justice, and healing through mystical traditions in response to suffering and harm. When traditional solutions through grievance, the law, or mediation fails, some individuals may turn to spiritual practices not as superstition, but as embodied strategies of survival, reclamation, and clarity. Comparing diverse traditions from a variety of cultures, including oracle bone divination in ancient China, the Oracle at Delphi in Greece, West African Ifá, Benin’s Voudou, diasporic Hoodoo, Celtic Druidic law, and Sufi mysticism, this paper explores how mystics have long served as interpreters of suffering and perceived …

Motherhood In K-Drama:, Rebecca Dewitt

BYU Asian Studies Student Journal

Memory is a funny thing. We look back on the past experiences in our lives and some appear crystal clear to us, others murky. The truth is, every memory is warped by time and shifting perspective, and it is rare that our memories are truly and entirely accurate to the actual events that occurred. The same can be said with history and peoples—–the collective memory of a group works much in the same way as the memory of the individual. Past events and experiences are somewhat warped through current ideas, emotions, and experiences. This is not wrong per se, it …

On Dark Skinned Jesus Of Nazareth: Why Color Matters, Nicholas Berkel

MA Theses

This thesis examines the historical, religious, and cultural consequences of portraying Jesus as white within Christian art. Although Western art has overwhelmingly depicted Christ with white skin, archaeological, and contextual evidence supports a dark-skinned Jesus rooted in the ethnogeography of first century Palestine. The persistence of a White Jesus has shaped religious imagination and perception for centuries, reinforcing racial hierarchy and legitimizing systems of white supremacy. Through an interdisciplinary analysis combining biblical studies, Christian iconography, ethnography of ancient Semitic, Greco-Roman, and Egyptian peoples, medieval symbolism, modern mass-produced imagery, and Black thought, this study demonstrates how Jesus’ original complexion was gradually …

Front Matter

Comparative Civilizations Review

No abstract provided.

Student Centered Approaches To Analyzing Engagement And Discourse, Kamil Hankour

Theses and Dissertations

Student engagement and participation in classroom discourse are widely recognized as powerful predictors of meaningful science learning, yet students’ own perspectives on the factors that shape their engagement and participation are currently underexamined. Prior research has established strong links between engagement, discourse and outcomes such as academic achievement (Bae & DeBusk-Lane, 2019; Fredricks et al., 2004; Sedova et al., 2019), but less is known about how students understand and interpret their experiences across individual, group-level and classroom contexts, particularly within historically marginalized populations (Cook-Sather, 2013; Schaefer et al., 2024). This three paper dissertation advances a line of inquiry integrating a …

There Is A Puddle In Stonehenge, Nathaniel Newcomb

Theses and Dissertations

I began by making what I called "furniture": finding discarded logs and using a chainsaw, I milled out slabs of wood far larger than any normal board or beam, and gave them the function of chair, table, shelf. Sometimes it was a "shelf" in name only, and was commentary on furniture. In my practice, using discarded wood is necessary for the sake of the earth; making original pieces is necessary for the sake of my soul. I am reminded of megaliths when I erect these enormous forms in wood. I make intuitively, and like the meaning of megaliths, obscured by …

Munajat: Design As A Dialogue With The Divine, Shawky Abdalla

Theses and Dissertations

Contemporary design discourse remains grounded in functional, seemingly user-centered paradigms, often neglecting what lies beyond the tangible within a human experience. This research challenges such frameworks by positioning design as a dialogue with what exceeds the physical, moving toward the experiential, where meaning precedes and informs form. Drawing on Islamic philosophy, particularly the relationship between zahir and batin (outward form and inward meaning), the study repositions design as a medium for remembrance (dhikr) rather than mere utility.

Through a critique of modernist and postmodernist principles, the research proposes a series of objects that engage with memory, introspection, and transcendence in …

Centering Individual Well-Being In Learning Environments: Academic Stress, Psychological Safety, And Digital Discourse, Rachel Niemira Namboodri

Theses and Dissertations

Statement of Problem

How do we guide students through school while supporting their emotional and psychological health? This question lies at the heart of contemporary educational psychology research, as growing evidence demonstrates that students’ academic achievement and psychological well-being are deeply intertwined with their experiences in learning environments (Baumeister & Leary, 1995; Edmondson & Lei, 2014; Gopalan & Brady, 2020; Song et al., 2024; Spencer, 1995; Walton & Cohen, 2011). Decades of scholarship affirm that students’ academic achievement and psychological well-being are deeply intertwined with how they experience schools, classrooms, peers, teachers, and institutional structures (Baumeister & Leary, 1995; Edmondson …

Waxing And Waning: Hidden Interiors Of Grassroots Expression, Asmita Baskar

Theses and Dissertations

Concealed interiors historically emerged from necessity in response to dominant systems around surveillance, control, and visibility. These hidden spaces carefully regulated access, cultivated intimacy, and enabled self-expression within grassroots groups and marginalized communities. Operating free from surveillance and in contrast to surrounding architectural and urban systems, these concealed spaces were not formally “interior designed”, yet they reveal how communities activate the interiors they encounter to retain agency.

Scholarship on grassroots resistance is largely examined through sociology, anthropology, psychology, or political science, with limited literature directly linking interiority, interior design, and resistance within covert spaces. This thesis addresses the gap in …

"It's The People, Not The Place:" Queering Shared Space In Richmond, Virginia, Kathleen Brown

Theses and Dissertations

The intersection of queerness and planning is an understudied subject area that has implications for equity and access. Queer communities face real barriers to equitable access of resources that stem from a long history of legal, cultural, and economic marginalization. Experiences of shared spaces for queer groups and organizations is important to understand, as outward expressions of queerness are not always welcome in shared spaces, depending on sociopolitical context. Richmond, Virginia has a rich queer history both filled with challenges as well as examples of queer success and joy that makes it a prime case study selection.

This thesis utilizes …

The Specter Of Jury Nullification, Anna Offit

Faculty Publications

Attention to the trial of Luigi Mangione has renewed debate about nullification—the jury’s inviolate power to acquit a defendant contrary to the evidence presented. Jury nullification proponents hold that it is a mechanism of last resort for refusing to apply laws that conflict with the public conscience. Opponents, by contrast, argue that nullification undermines the law by diminishing its legitimacy. To prosecutors and defense attorneys, however, these arguments are immaterial: Jury nullification is part of the institutional landscape of the contemporary jury trial and thus must be treated as a potentiality—a feature of the agnostic, strategic, and ethical terrain of …

Plant Practices And Community At The Heart Of Hopewell: Paleoethnobotany At The Overly Site And Beyond, Abigail Deewaard

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Paleoethnobotanical analyses of Ohio Hopewell habitation sites in past decades have shed light on the subsistence practices, settlement patterns, and environmental management of Indigenous peoples engaged in what archaeologists describe as the Hopewell phenomenon. However, comparatively less attention has been paid to the social dimensions of plant use, particularly at habitation sites in the Scioto Hopewell region. Hopewell is an archaeological term that refers to the Middle Woodland (ca. 100 BCE–400 CE) network of interregional relationships across eastern North America characterized by long-distance exchange, monumental earthwork construction, and ceremonial practices including the honoring of ancestors. This thesis applies a social …

Nutritional Niche Separation Amongst Sympatric Threatened Lemurs: The Role Of Micronutrients In Food Selection And Implications For Physiological Health, Maire K. O'Malley

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Madagascar’s biodiversity is heavily affected by anthropogenic change and consequently, conservation management plans need to reflect current research to protect biodiversity. Primate nutritional ecology offers valuable insights into ecology, evolution, health, habitat requirements, social behavior, and conservation management strategies. Macronutrients (fat, carbohydrates, and protein) provide consumers with energy whereas micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) are essential to metabolic processes but are frequently overlooked. This study provides a novel examination of dietary niche separation by comparing mineral consumption between three sympatric species differing in feeding strategies: 1) Grey Bamboo lemur (Hapalemur griseus), a bamboo specialist, 2) Diadema sifaka (Propithecus diadema), a folivore, …

Shadow Of The Rising Sun: How Japanese Culture Was Transferred To The United States Via Foreign Policy, Alex Pearson

Masters Theses

Post-World War II U.S. economic foreign policy towards Japan aimed to revitalize the war-torn country’s economy and spread democracy to the East. The economic foreign policy enacted by the United States to revitalize the Japanese economy resulted in an increase and “normalization” of Japanese culture in America. This thesis explores the connection of post-war American foreign policy to the increase of American exposure to Japanese culture that sparked normalization. By focusing on the efforts of U.S. policymakers and the positive media coverage of Japanese culture in the United States, a clear correlation between economic foreign policy and the normalization of …

Assessing Global Citizenship Pathways In A Communication, Advocacy, And Global Citizenship Classroom In The Midwest, Satveer Kaur-Gill

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

To assess instruction in an undergraduate communication course titled Communication, Advocacy, and Global Citizenship, this qualitative inquiry examined how undergraduate students at a Midwest university engaged with global citizenship as a communicative process by conducting a content analysis of student assignments, guided by three key research questions formulated from four course objectives. The assessment found that place-based learning on global issues enhanced students' understanding of the meaning of global citizenship in a globalized world. Based on a qualitative evaluation of their key assignments, students successfully articulated threads and connections between local community concerns and issues as globally situated communicative phenomena. …

Neutralization Mechanisms In Protest-Related Vandalism: Implications For Psycholinguistic Crisis Communication, M. Agung Lyndardi

Jurnal Kriminologi Indonesia

Protest-related vandalism has become a recurring phenomenon in Indonesia’s democratic landscape, particularly during large-scale demonstrations involving students, labor groups, and civil society coalitions. Conventional legal approaches that define vandalism as a public-order violation are insufficient to explain why such actions persist, why they concentrate on symbolic state targets, and why participants frequently deny moral wrongdoing. This article analyzes protest-related vandalism in Indonesia through the framework of neutralization theory (Sykes & Matza, 1957), integrating perspectives from criminology, moral disengagement theory, collective action, political legitimacy, and public psycholinguistics. Using a structured literature review of international and Indonesian scholarship published between 1957 and …

Surgical Interventions For Treating Vesicovaginal Fistula In Women, Yoshiyuki Okada, Tomomi Matsushita, Takeshi Hasegawa, Hisashi Noma, Erika Ota, Bob Achila, Yasukuni Yoshimura

Obstetrics and Gynaecology, East Africa

Objectives This is a protocol for a Cochrane Review (intervention). The objectives are as follows:

To assess the benefits and harms of surgical interventions for treating vesicovaginal fistula in women.

The Backside Of The Pond, Wendy Murphy

Dartmouth College Master’s Theses

The Backside of the Pond is a collection of personal essays that braid lived experiences with academic inquiry, exploring a variety of themes and the transformative power of reflective writing. Anchored in the geography of Occom Pond, on the northside of the Dartmouth College campus, the collection uses this familiar landscape as both refuge and metaphor.

The thesis also examines the ethics and craft of writing creative nonfiction, considering the tensions between emotional truth and the fallibility of memory. The essays trace moments of clarity, frustration, humor, grief, and renewal. Together, they offer an inquiry into how humans create meaning: …

An Ethnographic Study Of First-Generation Alumni At Dartmouth College: Perspectives From Alumni, Faculty, Staff, And Administrators, Brittney A. Roden

Dartmouth College Master’s Theses

First- generation college students (FGCS) often face challenges adapting to the academic and social environments of elite institutions like Dartmouth College. Lacking familial experience in higher education, they must decode unspoken institutional norms, contributing to stress, social isolation, and barriers to accessing institutional support. This study examines how FGCS experience academic pressure, social belonging, and engagement with campus systems, and how these shape their personal and professional trajectories. Drawing on participant-generated audio diary journals with alumni, qualitative interviews with faculty and staff, and a review of existing literature, this research highlights the interplay of academic stress, coping strategies, cultural capital, …

Photogrammetry: Accuracy And Precision Analysis Of Color And Rim Diameter Utilizing Various Cameras, Christina Threlkeld

High Impact Practices Student Showcase Spring 2026

The goal of this paper is to test whether photogrammetry is a viable/affordable way to generate 3-D data sets suitable for research applications. Utilizing a sample of 10 ceramic rim sherds randomly selected out of 40 viable rim samples from the Rio Verde assemblage, I will generate 3-D models for 3 different technologies. From there I will test measurements by calculating rim diameters and consistency of color through Munsell readings The data collected will help determine what type of data can be extracted from 3-D renderings. In order to ensure accuracy, rim sherd diameter and Munsell data will be directly …

Constrained Freedom: Economic Strain, Time Control, And Perceived Autonomy In Life, Lorena E. Black

High Impact Practices Student Showcase Spring 2026

Autonomy is often framed as an individual capacity rooted in personal choice, discipline, and self-determination, with dominant cultural narratives positioning freedom as something earned through effort and responsibility. This study challenges that assumption by examining autonomy as a socially structured and unequally distributed condition shaped by material and temporal constraints. Drawing on classical and contemporary sociological frameworks—including Marx’s analysis of labor and material dependence, Weber’s account of disciplined rationality, and Antonio Gramsci’s concept of cultural hegemony—this research positions perceived autonomy as an outcome produced through economic and institutional arrangements rather than solely through individual will. While existing literature has extensively …

Tracing Evolution Through Teeth: Dental Morphology Of The Lagoa Santa Fossil Population, Kelsey Aaron

High Impact Practices Student Showcase Spring 2026

This study examines dental morphological variation among early South American populations, focusing on individuals from the Lagoa Santa region and coastal shellmound (sambaqui) populations in Brazil. Dental nonmetric traits were recorded using the Arizona State University Dental Anthropology System (ASUDAS), a standardized method for assessing crown and root morphology across populations (Qaqa et al., 2026). These traits are highly heritable and largely unaffected by environmental pressures, making them valuable for reconstructing population history, gene flow, and ancestry (Tinoco et al., 2016). Comparative analysis incorporates global dental variation and reference patterns associated with archaic hominins, including Neanderthals. Traits such as increased …

Winning Entry For 2026, Kiera Tallas

Library Research Prize

No abstract provided.

Open Wide: Examining Dental Narratives In The Age Of Tiktok, Steve Jacob

Honors Theses - Providence Campus

Over the past few years, TikTok has emerged as a major conduit for health-related information through its wide array of short, emotionally charged videos that shape public perceptions. Within that broader category, this thesis evaluated dental-related content. Studies have investigated educational dental-related content on platforms such as YouTube and Facebook; however, no literature has explored how TikTok’s unique, narrative-driven content characterizes dentistry. For this study, primary research was conducted via content analysis of recently uploaded dental-related TikTok videos across 10 popular oral health-based hashtags. Results underline the dominance of patient voices, the use of personal experience as a messaging format, …

Aadej Comm 12 1 2026

AADEJ - The Communicator

The Communicator is the official publication of the American Association of Dental Editors & Journalists (AADEJ), promoting awareness of the association’s activities and offering valuable insights for dental editors and journalists to enhance their publications. It is published quarterly, distributed digitally via email to members, and posted on the Association’s website at aadej.org, with archives on ADA Commons. Regular contributions from the Editor-in-Chief, Executive Director, President, and Associate Editor cover various topics.

This issue provides practical strategies for journal growth, such as building sustainable author pipelines and using digital analytics to increase content reach. Features include articles addressing ethical, …

Spirits Of Seva As A Dental Editor And A Journalist: My New Year Reflections, Cathy Hung Dds

AADEJ - The Communicator

This editorial examines the Hindu concept of Seva, or selfless service, through the author's visit to the BAPS Swaminarayan Akshardham temple. The author compares the 12,000 volunteers who built the remarkable structure to the teamwork involved in dental journalism. Just as the temple's detailed carvings required dedication, dental editing requires careful attention to punctuation, formatting, and content. The work of editors is portrayed as a collaborative effort that extends beyond monetary reward, ultimately producing a "masterpiece" that benefits the broader dental community.

A Neurophenomenological Perspective On The Self And Spirituality: The Role Of The Affective Core Self, Michael J. Winkleman, Andrew B. Newberg

Marcus Institute of Integrative Health Faculty Papers

The self is central to spirituality because the self is necessary for consciousness, and spiritual relations are fundamentally about the self. Diverse research illustrates the role of the downregulation of the right parietal lobe (rPL) in the spontaneous manifestation of spiritual experiences and during meditative practices. The functions of the rPL are central to the self, especially the embodied self. Disturbances of the rPL and embodied self-functions are associated with spiritual experience, exemplified in their association with “selflessness.” Many forms of self appear incompatible with spiritual and mystical experiences. An exception is the affective core self, the most ancient form …

Seeking Sofrito: Food Loss And Reconnection In The Puerto Rican Diaspora, Lisa Montalvo

IdeaFest 2026

This is an autoethnography about the impact of diaspora on cultural identity using foodways as a method of determination. I used embodied cooking, informal interviews and digital ethnography to survey the availability of puerto rican food sources in Northern California and explored methods of reconnecting to my Puerto Rican community and identity in the absence of those resources.

The Politicization Of Performance: How Rome Turned Ancient Greek Ritualistic Entertainment Into Political Propaganda, Ava Henderson

IdeaFest 2026

In this poster the topic of how Ancient Greek ritualistic theater was changed to fit the bloody and politically inclined ideals of Ancient Rome was discussed. It explores different theoretical frameworks such as the Ritual Theory, the Spectacle and Power Theory, and the Performance Theory. It also uses many different methodologies including comparative archaeological analysis, textual analysis, and socio-political contextualization. Using these different methods the poster is able to explore how Rome used both their spectacles and their architecture to promote their idealization of war while Greece used their performances and architecture to honor their Gods, specifically Dionysus who was …