Digital Commons Network^™

Neuropunk: A Discursive Ethnographic Study Of The Do-It-Yourself Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Community, Erick Guzman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation seeks to understand the sociocultural contexts surrounding the do-it-yourself (DIY) use of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) devices. TDCS is a non-invasive method of brain stimulation which has a history of use in (1) human brain mapping for basic neuroscience studies, (2) neuropsychological rehabilitation and the treatment of psychological disorders in clinical populations, and (3) cognitive enhancement in healthy people. However, its validity and effectiveness across these uses remain open to debate. Since the early 2010’s, tDCS has attracted a number of lay individuals interested in using it outside of formal scientific and medical contexts. These DIY tDCS …

A Narrative Inquiry On The Parent-Child Relationships Of Higher-Weight Late Adolescents, Hien Anh Miguel G. Dang, David Rigel Dela Cruz Panes, Belle Beatriex' M. Alemania

Sinaya: A Philippine Journal for Senior High School Teachers and Students

Late adolescence is a crucial developmental phase marked by significant psychological and emotional changes as individuals transition from childhood to adulthood. However, the specific impact of parental influence on the body image of higher-weight adolescents remains underexplored. This narrative study aimed to examine the parent-child relationship of higher-weight Filipino adolescents, delving more into how parental opinions influence late adolescents' well-being and perception of their bodies. To answer the objective, a qualitative method through semi-structured interview was employed where four participants were chosen by conducting purposive and snowball sampling. Various themes emerged, mainly struggles with body weight acceptance and insecurities, internalizing …

Indigenous Metal: Rage, Rejects, And The Reconstruction Of Culture, Louis W. Asbury

Master's Theses

Metal music’s latest frontier is Indigenous metal, combining explorations of Indigenous identity with the heavy and aggressive stylings of the music genre. To explore this new subgenre, this study asks to what extent can metal music be used as a political tool and what are some of the broader effects of metal bands working to better their communities. This thesis utilizes case studies of two notable Indigenous metal scenes, the Rez metal scene in the Navajo Nation and the Māori metal scene in Aotearoa. By collecting data from these scenes, including lyrics, videos, interviews, and audience interactions, this thesis thoroughly …

Toward A Broader Theocentric Environmentalism, Melvin L. Otey

Duke Environmental Law & Policy Forum

No abstract provided.

The Evolution Of The University Of Al-Anbar Urban Planning Based On The Mental Picture's Diversity And The Contemporary Planning Spaces Filling, Ali Abdulsamea Hameed

Al-Esraa University College Journal for Engineering Sciences

This research concentrated on the role of environmental graphic design (EGD) and the place-making idea in the interior environment of Al-Anbar University. To develop an identity being visual for the University of Al-Anbar internal environment (IE) is this goal of project. The search sought to create and enhance the shape of the internal University of Al-Anbar vacuum by reviving the idea of place building. In order to build and filling the internal emptiness of the campus, the identity being visual must also be strengthened. The descriptive analytical approach was chosen since it was best suited to achieve the goal of …

Estranged Bodies, Race, And Sectarianism: An Historical Bioarchaeology Of Ottoman And French Beirut, Tony John Chamoun

Dissertations - ALL

Modern imperial formations involve a violent reconfiguring of difference that is inseparable from the everyday. Modern-world archaeology as a project that studies interlocking vicissitudes of modernity globally has done much to elucidate the varied social orders and politics of knowledge through which such reshuffling occurs. Yet largely missing from this conversation is the bioarchaeology of the Middle East and North Africa region; as such, the very bodies who shaped and were shaped by modern conditions in a major world circuit are also missing. To advance a more global and grounded investigation of modernity, I turn to the port city of …

Family Care And Health Behavior: A Sociocultural Perspective On Ebola Virus Disease Transmission In Sierra Leone, Abubakarr Jalloh

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

The 2013–2016 Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in West Africa was the largest and deadliest in the four-decade history of the disease. This study examined the sociocultural context of EVD transmission during the outbreak, with a particular focus on a high-risk behavior—caring for sick relatives. Guided by a sociocultural perspective on health, it specifically explored the role of family-based caregiving practices in the transmission of EVD during an outbreak. Utilizing a qualitative collective case study, I interviewed three Ebola survivors in Makeni, Sierra Leone. Content analysis resulted in two themes: (1) family care and perceived EVD transmission and (2) how …

Revisiting Territorial Sovereignty: Origins, Legitimacy, And Modern Implications, Henan Hu

San Diego International Law Journal

The conventional linkage between territory and sovereignty in international law requires reevaluation, with territorial rights shifting from states to nations. Drawing on Anthony Smith’s theory of historical continuity between pre-modern ethnic communities and modern nations, this article argues that legitimate claims to territory are grounded in the historical consolidation of social, economic, and political ties by ethnic groups to specific lands. It traces the evolution of territorial rights from loosely defined ethnic living areas and fluid state boundaries to the modern conception of national territories under effective control. By distinguishing sovereignty as a construct of the state and territory as …

Homo Tropicus: A Yearning, J. Pilapil Jacobo

Kritika Kultura

Variations on the theme of the tropical diptych suggest a temporality whose percussion presents a counterpoint to the habit of symphonic time, that is, temperate time, one premised on a quadruple measure of exuberance (summer), descent (autumn), cessation (winter), and nascence (spring). What I am trying to introduce here is a sense of a choreography that may be akin to a primal fort-da —a kinesis that elicits at the same time that it donates an attunement to the earth that is more displaced than located. Hence I begin the utterance, even an ululation, of a desire to seek out what …

Ejfds_2024.4.1_0 Cover And Table Of Contents

European Journal of Food Drink and Society

No abstract provided.

“I Endeavored To Give A Pen And Ink Panorama Of The War As I Saw It”: Lieutenant E.W.B. Morrison In The South African War, Tim Cook, Hanna Murray

Canadian Military History

Employing eyewitness accounts to explore the experiences of Edward Whipple Bancroft Morrison, this article examines his wartime service in the South African War (1899-1902). A prominent journalist and later major-general in the Great War, Morrison served in South Africa as an artillery officer with D Battery, Royal Canadian Artillery. This article contextualises several of Morrison’s rare sketches from the collection of the Canadian War Museum, shedding new light on his service and that of Canadians in the long campaign.

Usant de témoignages pour explorer l’expérience d’Edward Whipple Bancroft Morrison, cet article se penche sur ses années de service militaire pendant …

Telling The Stories Of Airwomen In The ‘Forgotten Decade’: 1952-62, Rebecca Hartley, Allan English

Canadian Military History

The Royal Canadian Air Force’s centennial represents a time for reflection. While thousands of young women served in the RCAF during the 1950s, many of their stories have since been overlooked or forgotten. Joining the air force meant access to international travel, new social connections, and valuable vocational training — all of which were relatively unattainable for many women at this time. By studying the photographs, memoirs and collected paraphernalia of Leading Aircraftwoman Ruth Doreen Wright (née Tower), this paper reconstructs an airwoman’s typical RCAF career and her perceived value of her RCAF experience on the rest of her life.

Rethinking Total Body Wellness: Physical, Financial, Spiritual, Mental, Social, And Nutritional Health In Adults For Graceful Aging, Pierre Devoseur Elzie

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This phenomenological study aims to describe the lived experiences of participants’ graceful aging journey in West Tennessee, USA. This study is grounded in wellness theories such as Wellness and Lifespan Development, drawing on insights from theorists like Halbert Dunn, Bill Hettler, Alfred Adler, and Erik Erickson (globalwellnessinstitute.org, 2022; Kornadt et al., 2020; Meyers & Sweeney, 2007). Notably, their work is instrumental in understanding how health encompasses more than nutrition and exercise alone and involves a connection within the community (Clark, 2015; Meyers & Sweeney, 2007). The data for this research will be gathered from fifteen questions during the semi-structured interviews …

Disciplinary Variation In Curriculum Internationalization: Findings From A Global Pilot Study, Pouneh Eftekhari

Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education

No abstract provided.

The Civil Law And The Inner Self: Roman Iniuria And The Transformation Of The Private Sphere, Talya Deibel

Journal of Civil Law Studies

This paper focuses on the transhistorical nature of the protection of personality interests in the civilian tradition. It takes Roman iniuria as a key concept to analyze the legal protection of the “inner selves” of human beings. The legal framework of iniuria stands out as an illustration of how social and moral phenomena which belonged to the interior realm such as honor, dignity, emotions, and reputation carried legal value in Roman law. Starting from its origins in Roman antiquity, this paper views the inner self through the legal prism of personality protection and comments on how formative periods in history …

Nipping Crime In The Bud: The Spatial Relationship Between Crime And Meeting People’S Needs, Alicia Cerquone

LSU Master's Theses

The recent high-profile killings of people by the police brought attention to police violence, and prompted activists to call for an end to police violence. Drawing from an understanding of strain theory (Merton, 1938; Farnworth & Leiber, 1989; Agnew, 1992; Agnew, 2001; Agnew, 2008) and Tucker and Cadora’s (2003) ideas of justice reinvestment, this research was designed with the belief that police funding can be better used to help people meet their basic needs of housing, healthcare, and education. This research is concerned with the spatial relationship between crime and the quality of social infrastructure, or the programs in place …

Computer-Mediated Communication And Artificial Intelligence Strategies In Arts Entrepreneurship, Anna Blake

Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Education

This study analyzes the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) using computer-mediated communication (CMC) theory to prospect areas for innovation in an emerging field that is rapidly becoming integrated within our everyday lives as well as in the marketplace. In order to demonstrate how arts entrepreneurs can effectively and ethically leverage AI technologies to communicate with their audiences and stakeholders, I examine as case studies the work of individual artists including Grimes. The CMC framework is used to examine art as a form of communication, illustrate how AI changes the nature of art, challenge the extant concepts of identity and intellectual …

Fans In Ancient Egypt: Iconographic And Contextual Study Of Fans In The Predynastic, Old, And Middle Kingdoms, Nadra Zaki

Theses and Dissertations

A variety of fans existed throughout ancient Egyptian history. They had several forms and were made of different materials. They appear in two- and three-dimensional representations, as well as in texts. They relate to royalty and high officials and also feature in domestic settings, both out- and indoors. Fans were used for creating breeze, and providing shade in real life, and also during the journey to the afterlife, where they combined physical and metaphysical protection. Several names were associated with fans, depending on their functions, both in the secular and sacred world.

Earlier studies have either generally examined fans …

Jesus's Use Of "Woman" In The Fourth Gospel, Cori Mcgrew

Masters Theses

In John's Gospel, Jesus uses the word "woman" in surprising ways: to address his mother at the wedding in Cana and at the Cross, to address a woman in Samaria, in a parable about a woman giving birth in his Final Discourse, and finally, to address Mary Magdalene at the garden tomb. This thesis uses the unusual way Jesus addresses his mother in the Fourth Gospel as a catalyst to find a connection between all five uses of "woman" by Jesus in John's Gospel, concluding that these instances evoke creation imagery, in particular of Genesis 3:15. The allusion to Genesis …

Bridging The Governance Gap: Addressing Board Turnover And Team Building In Northern California Special Districts, Karin R. Freese

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The turnover of publicly elected or appointed board members in Northern California’s special districts poses a significant challenge to effective governance, impacting these local governments' strategic capabilities and mission accomplishment. Despite extensive research on governance, there is a notable gap concerning the effects of turnover and the role of formal training in building effective governance teams in special districts. This qualitative multiple-case study addresses this gap by investigating the governance dynamics following board turnover, focusing on the perspectives of both board members and general managers. Employing a flexible design, the study integrates interviews, document analysis, and archival data to examine …

The Emotional, Physical, And Mental Effects Of Physiological Entrainment And Heart Coherence In The Choral Ensemble, Nicole M. Mattfeld

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Despite endless studies on the benefits of music related to stress reduction and decreased anxiety, there is more in-depth research in the holistic health realm, which has yet to be applied, especially to music educators. Scientists have made groundbreaking discoveries in the last decade, proving that music can heal the nervous system; and guide one’s body into a state of physical and emotional coherence. This study gathered existing research and applied it through the lens of the choral music educator. Guided by the founders of the HeartMath Institute and additional scientific pioneers, this mixed-method study identified methods of holistic health …

A Study Of Thomas Oord’S Open Theism And Theodicy, Olaoluwa Apata

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Open theism’s opposition to the traditional Christian view and its rejection of the classical definitions of God’s attributes, character, and divine impassibility continually creates a point of contention between the two worldviews. As one of the leading voices in this movement, Thomas Oord offers what can be described as a refined argument in support of Open theism in contemporary theological and philosophical studies. His open theism holds that due to God’s kenotic act and uncontrolling love, his ability to know the future is limited and he cannot prevent evil. Oord introduces his version of open theism with the goal of …

The Commonwealth Of Israel: Overcoming The Doctrinal Divide Of Dispensationalism And Covenantalism Through Understanding Pauline Theology, Luke Newton Schier

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Beginning in the early part of the twentieth century, a notable theological schism began to emerge within mainstream Christianity which continues to divide evangelicals in the twenty-first century. Accordingly, adherents from both sides have systemized their theologies and developed labels to define their positions. New labels continue to evolve and change as sub-groups emerge into the conversation. Typically, the labels of dispensationalism and covenantalism are employed to identify the differing views; although covenantalism is also referred to as Reformed theology, replacement theology, or supercessionism. More recently, other labels have emerged such as progressive dispensationalism and progressive covenantalism as theologians strive …

'If I Can't Dance, I Don't Want To Be Part Of Your Revolution(S)': On Being Together In And Outside Of The Academy, Tracey Collett, Gayle Letherby

Peninsula Medical School

We have both, independently and with others, long been interested in collaboration within an institution that publicly supports such work whilst often working against it. Thus, in our daily working practices, we challenge (alone, with others and together) traditional definitions and myths of working, learning and being in higher education. In this article, through a focus on our relationship both in and outside of the academy, we critique and respond to the socio-political challenges of academic work. Through auto/biographical stories, we first show the general expectation on us (and others) to dance to ‘the dominant societal tune’ and second, focus …

Comradeship, Remolding, And Rectification In Norman Wilwayco's Gerilya, Laurence Marvin S. Castillo

Kritika Kultura

In this article, I examine the representation of the long-running Maoist national democratic (NatDem) revolution in Norman Wilwayco’s award-winning novel Gerilya (2008), which centers on the uneasy, often violent encounters between petty bourgeois revolutionaries from the city and revolutionary peasants in the countryside. By engaging with the issues of revolutionary errors, remolding, and rectification, I explore how the novel’s predominantly unflattering depiction of revolutionary guerrillas track the difficulties that underpin the process of revolutionary remolding and the formation of comradely relations. Such portrayal conceives of the revolution as a complex social process marked by the tension between, on the one …

Porno, Peera Songkünnatham

Kritika Kultura

This article consists of “Porno,” an English translation of a Thai short story titled “หนังโป๊” by Wiwat Lertwiwatwongsa, and an introduction explicating literary and cultural issues that arise from the translation process. First published in 2018 in an ad-hoc anthology to fundraise for families of Thai political prisoners, the story captures the atmosphere of political repression— masked as depression—in Bangkok after the death of King Bhumibol in 2016, as refracted through the character of an overseas Filipino worker named Angele, herself no stranger to political repression. The connection between Thailand and the Philippines begins at the story’s inception: the Thai …

The Erotic As A Marvelous Real Paradigm: Hurston And Conjure Feminism, Patricia Coloma Peñate

Kritika Kultura

The presence of conjuring in African American culture and artistic works in its relation to female identity has been recently addressed from an academic point of view as “Conjuring Feminism”: a term that centralizes its role as an intellectual tradition that works as a liberatory epistemology for women of African descent. In the definition of such term, Audre Lorde’s concept of the erotic has a central role. This paper analyzes Zora Neale Hurston’s works to explore how she engages in this tradition and its erotic nature. Lorde’s notion also functions as the paradigm at the base of Conjuring Feminism and …

The Forming Of Ethical Evaluation Of Shuihu Zhuan In The Context Of Guanxi Culture, Ruihui Han

Kritika Kultura

Shuihu Zhuan, a work of fiction with a perverse narrative of atrocities, has been criticized as a novel with serious ethical demerits. Yet, this novel remains widely appreciated within Chinese society, with many holding its morals in high esteem. This presents an apparent paradox when juxtaposed against the ethical criticisms directed at the novel. Understanding the forming of the ethical evaluation is pivotal, especially given the significant role of ethical references in literary commentary—a backdrop further intensified by traditional Chinese literary theory, which is deeply influenced by Confucian moral teachings. Since interpretations of Shuihu Zhuan should consider its context, this …

Transhistorical Connectivities Around The Indian Ocean: Western Colonialism And Climate Change In Amtav Ghosh's The Nutmeg's Curse, Maria-Sabina Draga Alexandru

Kritika Kultura

This article argues that Amitav Ghosh’s non-fiction book The Nutmeg’s Curse illustrates the ways in which the proto-global entanglement of chaotic colonial forces, which proliferates across space and time, has played an important part in the current climate change. Ghosh imagines the Indian Ocean as a melting pot of rhizomatic energies of imperial aggression and local resistance, but also of new emerging life, with the agency of nature playing a very important part in the latter. I aim to show this in a combined Deleuzian, postcolonial, and ecocritical reading, with elements of chaos theory meant to provide possible interpretations to …

Gurnah's Men: Rethinking Muslim Masculinities In The Indian Ocean World, Felicity Hand

Kritika Kultura

This article explores how Abdulrazak Gurnah illustrates the varieties of Muslim masculinity in the Indian Ocean world through an analysis of two of his youthful characters, Hassan Omar, from his debut novel Memory of Departure and Salim Yahya, from his more recent Gravel Heart. Both young men find themselves pitted against a more traditional male role which stifles them while, at the same time, encourages them to envisage a more fluid understanding of what it means to be a man in a predominantly Muslim society like Zanzibar. The fissures in the relationship that Hassan and Salim have with their fathers …