Digital Commons Network^™

Stepping Into Who I Fully Am: A Creative Exploration Of Autistic Menopause, Mx Rose Matthews, Christine A. Jenkins, Margaret Janse Van Rensburg, Miranda J. Brady, Rachel L. Moseley, Julie M. Gamble-Turner

Faculty and Staff Publications

Research suggests that perimenopause can compound existing struggles for some Autistic people, with potentially catastrophic consequences. Barriers to self-expression due to communication differences are also well-documented. Acknowledging this, our neurodiverse research team invited creative submissions themed around Autistic experiences of menopause, receiving works from six Autistic participants including paintings, poetry, and graphic works. Engaging with the six creative submissions, Autistic Community Researchers on our team produced reflexive, polytextual response works. Creative exploration of Autistic menopause encouraged emotional catharsis, self-understanding, and activism/artivism. Autistic Community Researchers noted transcendent, almost “magical” dimensions of connecting with other Autistic people’s lived experiences. Our creative emancipatory …

Ai‐Assisted Integration Of Computational Thinking: Pre‐Service Teachers’ Experiences In Early Childhood Mathematics Education, Hae Min Yu, Seung Kim, Hyeseong Lee

Education Department Faculty Articles

This study examined how pre-service teachers utilize artificial intelligence (AI) tools to integrate computational thinking (CT) in early childhood mathematics education. Through a qualitative case study guided by the TPACK framework, we examined 24 early childhood pre-service teachers enrolled in a mathematics methods course as they developed CT-integrated math lesson plans using AI assistance. Data sources included pre- and post-course open-ended questionnaires, CT exploration assignments, AI interaction documentation, lesson plans, and reflection papers. The findings revealed three patterns in how pre-service teachers leveraged AI as a scaffold: generating initial ideas for CT integration, refining these ideas for specific teaching contexts, …

Ddx323.1 Speculative Futures Example 4, Sae University College

Exemplars

Speculative design project focused on light pollution.

Ddx323.1 Speculative Futures Example 5, Sae University College

Exemplars

This project reimagines our relationship with the ocean by exploring speculative design to envision a future that caters for more-than-human.

Fort Hays State University Tiger Weekly, June 27, 2025, University Relations

Tiger Weekly Newsletters

No abstract provided.

Consumers' Choice Models For Food And Beverage Businesses, Haoran Yu

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation comprises two essays to investigate how consumers make purchase choices under product quality variation and macroeconomic volatility. The analysis employs both analytical modeling and empirical methods to help businesses and policymakers in their efforts to foster sustainable and resilient agriculture and food supply chains. In this first essay, we focus on food retailers who have to deal with imperfect produce. We define imperfect produce as produce with cosmetic imperfections but perfect nutritious quality. We develop consumer choice models and consider three common retailing strategies to manage imperfect produce: Discarding, bunching with perfect produce, and differentiating imperfect produce from …

It Was Always Designed To Kill Us: How Discrimination, Biopolitics, Necropolitics, And Orientalism Shape The Design Of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, Ash Cavalcanti

Theses - ALL

This thesis is an analysis of how necropolitics, discrimination, and Orientalism shape the design of the game Dragon Age: The Veilguard (2024). In examining how the game depicts race, gender, and sexuality, I explore the tension between the game’s intended progressive message and the design decisions that run counter to it. The first chapter explores how the game’s design shapes the player character and their allies into citizens and defenders of the status quo, and the problematic implications of connecting citizenship to humanity. This chapter goes into depth about how this defense of the status quo naturalizes some forms of …

The Accessibility Of Traditional Medicinal Food By Thais In Syracuse, New York, Siwapon Chotikasatein

Theses - ALL

Access to traditional medicinal food can be a challenge for immigrants and refugee populations. This study looks at how and where Thai immigrants and refugees in Syracuse, New York access Thai medicinal food and the challenges if any, that they have when attempting to access Thai medicinal food. Although the definition of traditional medicinal food is not strongly established, in this study I proposed that traditional medicinal food refers to food shaped by the sum total of knowledge, skills, and practices based on the theories, beliefs, and experiences indigenous to different cultures, can relieve hunger once consumed and, at the …

Exploring Self-Narratives Through Visual Art: How Young Female Artists Form Their Identity, Jingyang Zhou

Theses - ALL

This paper focuses on exploring how female artists are able to develop their identity from research on self-narratives in their work. Many artist with a strong and unique voice incorporates aspects of their personality and perspective into their work (Robinson, 1985). Among them, I have observed that contemporary female artists in their twenties have navigated social changes and experienced psychological struggles while striving to understand themselves and find their role in the society. In this process, self-narratives have emerged as a vital and indispensable tool. In this paper, I will study the related theories, study the work of historical and …

Reparative Justice In Late Twentieth Century Africa: The O.A.U, Durban, And Accra Reparations Conferences, Franklin Donudenu Adorsu

Theses - ALL

This thesis explores the evolution of African-led transnational reparations campaigns from the final decade of the twentieth century through the early decades of the twenty-first. It examines how reparative justice initiatives have emerged in response to the enduring legacies of slavery, colonialism, and systemic racial oppression, and how these campaigns reflect both historical memory and contemporary demands for justice by Africans and people of African descent worldwide. While early reparations discourse often centered on the diaspora, this research argues that recent mobilizations on the African continent in attempts to seek redress for historical injustices, particularly the 1993 Abuja Conference, the …

Lives And Dreams: A Study Of The Entrepreneurial Journeys Of Bosnian Immigrants In The Startup World, Elvis Avdic

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation explores how Islamic faith, moral endurance, and community-based values shape the entrepreneurial practices of Bosnian immigrant entrepreneurs in the United States. Through three interrelated qualitative studies, it challenges dominant models of individualistic, profit-driven entrepreneurship by centering faith-informed ethics, relational motivation, and structural constraint. The first paper draws on Self-Determination Theory (SDT), Islamic ethics, and critical theories of endurance to examine how entrepreneurs navigate their motivations across the business lifecycle. It finds that religious duty, family obligation, and social responsibility often blur the line between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, giving rise to a distinct moral logic of endurance grounded …

A Future Better Than The Familar: Development From A Passive Observer, Monae Kyhara Sims

Theses - ALL

Not only are humans disconnected from each other, they are even more so disconnected from themselves. Now more than ever the progression of technology, anti-progressive ideology and policy has impacted modes of communication, community, and our consciousness. Using empirical research based on self-experience and evaluation, mass social studies, and reviewing media such as The Body Keeps the Score, The Black Ball, Casablanca, and many other articles and short form videos, this writing argues that capitalism is the true puppet master of the growing failures in our communities; outside of the known financial struggles that come with it. Dating apps and …

Disinformation Attacks And Nonprofit Communication Strategies, Elise Lael Kieffer, Kevin M. Carr

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

This study explores how disinformation attacks on social media can affect nonprofit organizations, a topic that has received limited scholarly attention compared to similar impacts in the for-profit sector. Through a review of existing literature and two in-depth case studies—Save the Children and the American Red Cross—this research analyzes how nonprofit organizations are uniquely vulnerable to reputational damage in the face of disinformation. The case studies highlight different motivations behind disinformation campaigns, including political agendas and deliberate efforts to harm brand credibility, and assess the effectiveness of various response strategies, including denial, debunking, attacking the source, and public education. Findings …

Demanding More From Distance Learning: The Virtual & Democratized Futures Of Legal Education, Antonio M. Coronado, Gabriela Elizondo-Craig

Seattle University Law Review Online

Antonio M. Coronado and Gabriela Elizondo-Craig examine the transformative potential of online legal education through their work at Innovation for Justice, where they lead virtual legal training programs for community-based justice workers. They trace the development and limitations of ABA Standard 306, highlighting how the COVID-19 pandemic exposed both the rigidity of traditional legal education and the possibilities of technology-enabled learning. Drawing on adult education theory and best practices in online pedagogy, Coronado and Elizondo-Craig challenge prevailing critiques of distance legal education and advocate for a learner-centered, accessible, and inclusive model. Their experience demonstrates how online legal education, when intentionally …

Partner-Inclusive Prenatal Intervention To Promote Parenting Readiness: Results From A Pilot Trial, Rachel J. Herman, Diego I. Barcala-Delgado, Christina A. Rowley, Alexandrea L. Craft, Marsha Kline Pruett, Nancy Byatt, Maureen Perry-Jenkins

School for Social Work: Faculty Publications

Structural inequities in the United States limit access to prenatal parenting education and supports for many pregnant people and their partners. This pilot trial aimed to evaluate the impact of a novel partner-inclusive intervention on new parents’ knowledge of developmentally appropriate early parenting practices. Forty-two participants were assigned to the 6-week group intervention and 38 participants were assigned to a usual care comparison group. The sample was racially and ethnically diverse and participants were required to meet study income restrictions. Participants were interviewed at three time points: Time 1 (pre-intervention; 12–18 weeks gestation), Time 2 (post-intervention;18–24 weeks gestation), and Time …

Facial Sexual Dimorphism And Attractiveness Perception In High Autistic Trait Individuals, Farid Pazhoohi, Leilani Forby, Alan Kingstone

School of Psychology

Perceiving and recognizing faces are vital components for social interactions among humans. Extensive prior research has shown that facial sexual dimorphism, a nonverbal social signal, contributes to perceived facial attractiveness for neurotypical individuals. However, there has been no research investigating if that might also be true for high autistic trait individuals. The current study investigates the facial qualities that high autistic trait individuals find attractive in others. In Study 1, faces with altered levels of sexual dimorphism were presented for five seconds, and the gaze behaviour of high and low autistic trait participants was recorded while they rated the attractiveness …

Belonging, Identity, And Reintegration In India: Two Generations Of Us Women Return Migrants, Jenna Sikka

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation examines how generational differences among Indian returnee women shape their experiences of reintegration into Indian society, highlighting how migration and return are embedded in broader socio-historical, cultural, and gendered contexts. Focusing on two cohorts- women who migrated before India’s 1991 economic liberalization and those who migrated after- the study draws on qualitative interviews to explore how returnees navigate the tensions between values acquired abroad and the social expectations they face upon returning. The older cohort of returnee women, many of which were influenced by Gandhi’s ideals, often view their reintegration as a process of reconnecting with familiar values, …

Landowners And Class Struggle: Life, Law And The Social Rent Relation In North Dakota, Chad Chambers

Dissertations - ALL

In the United States, land may be owned by governments, private landowners, corporations, tribes, etc. The rent relation involved in oil and gas extraction on private lands, however, remain largely unexplored in energy geography, and geography more broadly. In this dissertation, I explore the rent relation between the landowning class and oil capital in North Dakota. I argue rent is a class struggle where the interests of oil capital collide with the private landowning class over the capture of surplus-value. My analysis of class struggle is grounded in the social-historical relations that shaped private property and the rent relation in …

Advancing Situation Awareness In Safety-Critical Systems: The Role Of Multi-Modal Wearable Augmented Reality, Jean-Philippe Rancy

Dissertations - ALL

Augmented Reality (AR) is emerging as a transformative tool for enhancing multi-modal interaction and situational awareness in safety-critical environments. This dissertation investigates the impact of wearable AR interfaces on maritime navigation, examining their effects on operator performance, cognitive workload, and operator communication. This research evaluates AR’s role in supporting multi-modal information processing and decision-making in high-risk operational contexts. This work is structured around three studies. The first study quantifies how wearable AR displays influence navigational accuracy, cognitive load, and situation awareness, revealing both efficiency gains and cognitive trade-offs. The second study explores multi-modal AR’s impact on operator mobility and communication, …

Curating Climate Change: Information Flows Across And Within Social Media Platforms, Yiran Duan

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation explores how climate change information spreads on X (formerly Twitter) and what content from YouTube travels to X, focusing on climate change related tweets posted during November 2022. Using content analysis, machine learning, and case studies, about 114,000 tweets and their embedded YouTube videos were analyzed. The findings show that not all climate-related content is equally shared, some information is more likely to spread than others. The findings also indicate that users with a moderate number of followers are the ones connecting YouTube and X, rather than those with the highest follower counts on X. The findings are …

Sparse Recovery Using Scale And Signed Permutation Invariant Functions, Jianqing Jia

Dissertations - ALL

Recovering sparse signals from limited and noisy measurements is an important problem in modern data processing. Traditional methods, which often rely on convex relaxations such as the $\ell_1$ norm, struggle in scenarios with high coherence or large dynamic ranges. A major challenge in these settings is to develop a unified and computationally efficient framework that can accommodate a broad class of sparsity-promoting functions. In this dissertation, we overcome these challenges by introducing a general framework for all scale and signed permutation invariant functions. This dissertation has three main parts. In the first part, we introduce the $(\ell_1/\ell_2)^2$-model for sparse recovery …

The Effect Of Bike Lanes On Commuting Patterns And Non-Commuting Perspectives In Cities, Zhuoran Shang

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation studies how bike lanes affect cities on commuting and non-commuting margins. The first chapter analyzes the impact of bike lanes on commuting behavior, including mode shares, commuting flows, and travel times. Using data from Seattle spanning 2000 to 2012, this chapter employs several reduced-form estimations. Instrumental variable regressions reveal that the provision of bike lanes reduces car mode shares but does not significantly affect bike mode shares. By introducing a novel treatment variable that captures both the proximity and coverage of bike lanes, I find that bike lanes encourage more people to commute by bike, but also contribute …

The Problem Of Staffing In Employment, Karolina Czapska-Małecka

Studia i Materiały Wydział Zarządzania Uniwersytet Warszawski

Purpose: The main goal of the research is to attempt to comprehensively present the problem of staffing, which is the least common form of mobbing. The publication includes legal, psychological and managerial aspects of this phenomenon, as well as methods of counteracting this form of violence.

Methodology: The research scope of the article is the problem of mobbing and its variety, i.e. staffing. The source material consisted of the case law of the Supreme Court and the Courts of Appeal in the field of mobbing and staffing. The article also used statistical data, commentaries on the Labor Code, as well …

Sustainable Advertising And Brand Engagement: The Role Of Consumer Minimalism And Scepticism, Hesham O. Dinana, Donato Masi, Reza Marvi, Farbod Fakhreddin

Faculty Journal Articles

Recognizing the significance of sustainable advertising practices and their influence on consumer behaviour, this study explores their capacity to not only enhance consumer engagement with the brand but also strengthen brand reputation. Additionally, it examines how these practices can promote more conscious consumption patterns, contributing to broader sustainability goals. In this line, we propose a theoretical conceptual model highlighting how customers perceive sustainability-related activities and how these perceptions can influence brand engagement, ultimately enhancing brand reputation and fostering mindful consumption. Furthermore, we also investigated the moderating roles of consumer minimalism, scepticism towards advertising, and brand value congruence in relation to …

Ddx323.1 Speculative Futures Example 6, Sae University College

Exemplars

In this project I plan to explore the question, “What would our homes and cities look like if they were designed with birds, not just humans, in mind?”, and address the immediate need for more inclusive design.

Board Of Trustees Minutes, Jun. 27 2025, Indiana State University Board Of Trustees

Board of Trustees

No abstract provided.

Board Of Trustees Agenda, Jun. 27 2025, Indiana State University Board Of Trustees

Board of Trustees

No abstract provided.

The Political Philosophy Of Habitude: Conservatism Analytically Explained, Kyle S. Hodge

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Conservatism is both undertheorized and poorly understood in philosophical political theory; all extant theories have proven deficient. They either conflate what is contingently associated with conservatism with its essence, draw mistaken generalizations from apparently conservative behavior, or else are explanatorily incomplete.

To avoid these deficiencies, I develop a rigorous, theory-neutral groundwork for evaluating theories of conservatism. This groundwork utilizes both traditional methods of analytic philosophy and, for the first time in the field, historiometry. Philosophical analysis determines the formal requirements of a successful explanation while empirical, historiometric data determines the most salient conservative exemplars whom any such theory must explain. …

Beyond The Gray Ghost: John S. Mosby And The Power Of Legend, Kevin R. Youngberg

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Civil War generals are among the most celebrated figures of their time. In the post-Civil war era, many of these officers retreated to farms, and businesses and disappeared into obscurity. This was not the case with Colonel John Singleton Mosby, who quickly transformed into a figure whose legacy from the Civil war gave him a unique place in the American imagination as the legendary Gray Ghost of the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. He lived until 1916, a remarkable fifty years filling those decades with a host of accomplishments in public service both at home and abroad. His legacy is complex, …

Editorial: The Gendered Impact Of Covid-19: Communicating Risks, Hope, Opportunities, And Challenges, Satarupa Dasgupta, Sudeshna Roy, Marissa Joanna Doshi, Ruma Sen

College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.