Digital Commons Network^™

The Effects Of Of Both Parent And Child Technology Use On Developing Literacy Abilities, Ava Mcmenomy

Honors Program Theses

This study explored the effects of both parent and child technology use on developing literacy abilities. Research is limited in this area, but is becoming increasingly important as technology continues to evolve and become more commonplace in the lives of both adults and children. This study aimed to determine if there was a correlation between technology use and decreased literacy abilities of children. This study also explored if increased technology use in conjunction with decreased quality of parent-child interactions resulted in decreased literacy skills. Research was conducted through a survey and 15 responses were analyzed. No decreased literacy abilities of …

Congolese Refugee Narratives Of Belonging, Grief, And Cultural Continuity In Appalachia, Kayla Davis

Theses and Dissertations

This research examines the communicative challenges that Congolese refugees face after resettlement, particularly as they strive to reconstruct a sense of belonging in the United States that reflects their experiences in either their home country or secondary countries where they endured protracted displacement in refugee camps. Narrative qualitative research methods were used to conduct interviews with five Congolese refugees in Appalachia. Through qualitative thematic and lexical analysis derived from the interviews, the study reveals patterns of linguistic isolation, community continuity, and emotional displacement. A key finding is that participants often conceptualize community not as a geographic entity, but as an …

The Effect Of Distance On Persuasion In International E-Mail Marketing Campaigns, Peter Magnusson, Stanford A. Westjohn

Marketing Faculty Publications

We investigate the relative effectiveness of different persuasive appeals in international e-mail customer acquisition marketing campaigns. We conducted three separate experiments, including two lab experiments and one field experiment, to examine the impact of different persuasive appeals on customers. Our research specifically focuses on consensus and authority-focused persuasive appeals. Our findings consistently show that when there is a small cultural distance between the seller and potential buyer, consensus appeals are more effective. On the other hand, when there is a large cultural distance, authority appeals are more effective.

Mercury Concentrations, Health, And Marine Food Consumption Across Four Eastern Caribbean Populations: Insights From A Novel Community-Based Study, Russell Fielding, Catherine Brown, Jessica Dutton, Martin S. Forde, Heather Harewood, Lisa Hunt, Catherine Macdonald, Cameron Mewhirter, Vincent Reid, Madison Smith, Holly Taylor, Katelyn Zimmerman

Gulf and Caribbean Research

Mercury (Hg), as an environmental pollutant, can have harmful effects on human health. A common way that people are exposed to Hg is through seafood consumption. This project was designed to investigate Hg exposure through seafood consumption and its health effects among adults in 4 Caribbean countries: Barbados (n = 117), Grenada (n = 90), St. Lucia (n = 126), and St. Vincent & the Grenadines (n = 77). We applied a novel, community—based method, which involved recruiting and paying local barbers and hairstylists to collect hair samples from their clients who consented to join the project as participants. Participants …

Bridging Digital Literacy Gaps With Ai-Driven Semantic Search Technologies, Bin Hu, Hong Xie, Ifrah Malik, Noman Sohail, Qiyang Chen, Razaz Waheeb Attar

Department of Information Management and Business Analytics Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

This study examined how digital literacy influences user interactions with artificial intelligence–driven semantic search engines compared with traditional keyword-based search systems. The authors assessed whether an artificial intelligence–driven search enhances efficiency, query quality, and user satisfaction across varying digital literacy levels, in particular complex information retrieval tasks. Sixty participants, categorized into three digital literacy groups (beginner, intermediate, and advanced) on the basis of the European Commission’s Digital Competence Framework, completed six search tasks (three simple, three complex) using both traditional and artificial intelligence–driven search engines. Performance was measured by task completion time, query quality, and user satisfaction. Statistical analyses (analysis …

Toward Sustainable Innovation: Digital Transformation With Ai Strategy, Yoshimasa Masuda, Taishi Sassano, Rashmi Jain

Department of Information Management and Business Analytics Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Sustainable innovation is one of most crucial and important elements for digital transformation in the alignment with artificial intelligence (AI) strategies these days. In this paper, the pathways of digital transformation with several case studies are explained and analyzed. On the basis of case studies with digital transformation and innovation, the AIDAF for promoting sustainable innovation is evaluated with efficient pathways of digital transformation and proposed for the near future.

Did You Know That Having A Deaf Mom Can Be A Social Issue?, Cameron Hayden-Davi

Celebrating Writers and Writing in our Communities

No abstract provided.

Occupying All Sides Of The Desk: A Feminist Methodological Approach To Teaching, Research, And Mentoring, David Powers Corwin, Siri Lalukota, Angelica Lovelace, Lindsay Lowry

Journal of Feminist Scholarship

This article focuses on a curriculum research collaboration among students (high school, undergraduate and graduate) and faculty to create college-level courses that focus on feminist media studies. As a reflection and extension of our work, we tell our polyvocal story of this collaboration while arguing that this work is a feminist methodology that could be used in pedagogical and other academic and public contexts.

A Conversation On Feminist Digital Humanities, Jessica Frazier, Tamar Carroll, Shweta Sachdeva Jha, Leandra Zarnow

Journal of Feminist Scholarship

The forum below came into being out of a curiosity to learn more about feminist scholars’ creation and use of digital humanities projects, platforms, and media to forward their research and teaching. Participants discussed the possibilities and perils of feminist digital humanities projects as they shared their unique experiences and perspectives. Larger trends in the conception, design, and operation of feminist digital humanities are visible in the conversation that follows—notably all three participants expressed a desire to work with digital media as a means of producing and sharing feminist knowledge and resistance narratives with broader audiences.

Feminist Digital Center: Building An Online Hub For Undergraduate Feminist Scholarship, Julie Shayne, Tessa Denton, Denise Hattwig

Journal of Feminist Scholarship

This paper is about The Feminist Digital Center (FDC). We begin by briefly theoretically situating our project in discussions of feminist and open pedagogy, high impact practices, and digital scholarship. Next, we discuss how the FDC came to be, institutionally and digitally, with particular emphasis on the assignments students did to fill the site. We close with why the site matters. We hope readers will attempt some version of this project at your institutions and find value in the model we share.

Death And Inheritance: How Meanings Of Money Are Drawn From Everyday Life, Kendall Coney

Sociology Honors Projects

Probate is a legal process to distribute a deceased person’s assets involving a personal representative who administers the estate on behalf of the deceased. It is uniquely situated in the intersection of a procedurally exhaustive process and the deeply emotional experience of losing a loved one, where legal procedures are imposed on relational contexts. I draw on in-depth interviews with personal representatives from four counties in Minnesota to expose the dissimilar way personal representatives understand the meaning of inheritance money, which in turn influenced how they understood and navigated the probate process. The lack of a clear pattern found in …

Records Of The American Society Of Missiology Arc2017-003 - Finding Aid, Ats Special Collections And Archives

Finding Aids

No abstract provided.

The Role Of Post-Cloacal Gland Biofluorescence In Male-Male Communication In Plethodon Cinereus, Kasey Watterson

Masters Theses

Biofluorescence is increasingly recognized as a potentially important form of visual communication across a wide range of taxa, yet its ecological and behavioral function remains largely untested in many terrestrial species. In the red-backed salamander (Plethodon cinereus), fluorescence is a sexually dimorphic trait most strongly expressed in males, particularly around the cloacal region and ventral side of the tail, areas that are often displayed during territorial contests and courtship. Rival males also direct behaviors like cloacal investigation toward these fluorescent regions, suggesting a potential signaling function. Since fluorescence is often displayed during territorial contests, I hypothesized that fluorescence in male …

Latina Triunfadoras: Testimonios And Consejos Of Latina Superintendents In California, Marisela Kinn

LMU Theses and Dissertations

The current dissertation examined the leadership of six Latina leaders in the executive role of the superintendency, presenting valuable testimonios (M. A. Martinez et al., 2017) that detail the early educational and familial experiences shaping the Latina superintendents’ journeys to the superintendency. The qualitative study used the community cultural wealth framework (Yosso, 2005) and a feminista perspective grounded in Chicana/Latina feminist epistemology (Delgado Bernal, 1998) and Latina leadership (Bordas, 2013, 2023) to explore the leadership principles employed by the six superintendents. The study revealed three significant findings. First, Latina superintendents’ parents instilled a work ethic of perseverance, hard work, and …

Blue Light, Eliza Lehman

Celebrating Writers and Writing in our Communities

No abstract provided.

Author Biographies

Obsculta

No abstract provided.

Can We Ever Arrive At A Conclusive Interpretation Of Scripture?, Jarrod Julian Lee

Obsculta

The Church today is highly fragmented, with thousands of denominations. Unsurprisingly, there is much disagreement on how to interpret Scripture, even within the Catholic Church. This piece examines if an objectively right answer on how to interpret Scripture is possible, focusing on the Gospels, especially Luke’s, and three candidates that can play such an arbitration role between competing interpretations – historical truth, experts and the author’s intention. While no conclusive answer can be obtained, radical skepticism is not an inevitability; the broad parameter that is our community’s intuitions can play a ‘loose’ arbitration role.

The Impact Of Second-Year Teacher Mentoring, Jennifer Eaton

Dissertations

Teacher retention in the United States is an ongoing problem that is affecting students around the country. States, districts, and schools have used many strategies to try to alleviate the teacher shortages. One of the most common strategies utilized is mentoring first year teachers. This mentorship helps establish the teachers in the schools and gives more of an understanding of what teaching is like on a day-to-day basis.

This research specifically examined the potential impacts a second year of mentoring could have on the second-year teacher. In the United States, nine states have moved to mentoring models lasting longer than …

No Remedy For Colonization, Sigrid Vendrell Polanco

City University of New York Law Review

The United States purports to maintain a democratic relationship with its inhabited territories, yet the Supreme Court continues to uphold twentieth century laws that affirm rather than abrogate colonial policies. The gap between how the United States idealizes democracy and its real world application, especially in its five colonized territories (Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, the United States Virgin Islands, and American Samoa), is not just growing – it is becoming a chasm. These colonies are currently referred to as United States territories. In 2023, the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico experienced a controversial sovereignty challenge …

On The Wax: How Prosecutors Weaponize Rap Lyrics At Trial, Jasmine Ross

City University of New York Law Review

In the last few years news headlines have been filled with stories of high-profile trials in which celebrity rappers like Young Thug, Tekashi 6ix9ine (now “6IX9INE”) and Bobby Shmurda have been confronted by prosecutors with lyrics they wrote. Of course, the use of rap lyrics in these trials is no accident. Since the 1990s criminal defendants who happen to pen rap lyrics are increasingly likely to have their lyrics admitted against them at trial. This is happening all over the country—in federal and state courts—at every stage of criminal proceedings. This Note will focus on the use of rap lyrics …

Ukrainian Studies On Terrorism: Contemporary Overview And Thematic Classification, Lesia Horodenko, Yevhen Tsymbalenko

Journal of Strategic Security

This article presents the first systematic and reproducible map of Ukrainian academic scholarship on terrorism (2000–2024). It addresses three questions: what directions the field has developed, which methods prevail across periods and disciplines, and where the gaps lie. The central argument is that clarifying the boundary between media terrorism—amplification via media logics—and information terrorism—manipulative information operations—reorients the field under conditions of hybrid warfare. Methods: systematic search of national repositories and journals; mixed-methods content analysis with iterative thematic coding and periodization (pre-2014; 2014–2021; post-2022). Corpus: n=896 publications. Results: a post-2014 surge and a post-2022 consolidation around hybrid warfare strategies, information operations, …

Faculty And Student Perspectives On Course Collaborations Within The Communication Sciences And Disorders Discipline, Shanna R. Morrison

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Collaborative course (re)design (CCRD) allows faculty and students to redesign a course together that the faculty teaches and the student has previously taken. This process amplifies student voices and helps faculty better understand students’ perspectives. However, barriers such as faculty’s feelings of ownership, students’ hesitations to share feedback, and logistical challenges often discourage participation. This qualitative study explores the perspectives of students and faculty in the communication sciences and disorders discipline following their engagement in CCRD. Findings include shifts in participants’ teaching and learning perspectives, insight into partnership dynamics, logistical challenges of CCRD, and ideas for future CCRD implementation. This …

How Art Centers In Michigan Use Social Media To Communicate Mission, Alexandria Milot

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The use of social media for marketing purposes has become a widespread practice for nonprofit and for-profit organizations. Social media can assist in communication efforts in many ways, including communicating an art center's mission. However, with limited documentation of the use of social media marketing within these organizations, it can be challenging to know how current art centers are using social media and if their social media marketing strategy is reaching their intended audiences. This research explores how art centers in Michigan use social media to communicate their mission to their audience and if it matches the organization’s original purpose …

The Classic, Winter 2025, Public Relations

The Classic, 2020-present

Zwemer View: The Legacy of Standout Leaders; Around the Green: Enrollment Goals Shattered; A New Colenbrander; New Corner, New Chapter; A Fresh Name, a Timeless Legacy; On Call; Agape Anthem; Program Evaluator; Perfect PA Pass Rate; Lux Circle; Ideas for Impact; Tanya Vaas: Making Campus Feel Like Home; End Of An Era: Five Retire from NWC; Summer in the Lab; Giving to Northwestern College in 2024-25; In High Demand; Faith at Work: NWC Earns "Best" Again: Classier Classrooms, Team Builder, Servant-Leader, Faithful Historian, Thoughtful Teacher; Among the Region's Best; Standout Alumni; Stimulating Simulators; Endowed Appointment; New Academic Pathways; Best in …

Graduate School: Graduate School Policies And Processes (2025-2026)

Academic Affairs – Policy Library

No abstract provided.

Implementing A Remote Patient Monitoring Program To Improve Nutrition Status In Infant With Cystic Fibrosis, Jessica Jones, Stacie Hunter, Kelli Williams, Petrissa Ncomo, Rapheal Peeples, Alex Pottorff, Lauren Lazar, Meghana Sathe

2025

No abstract provided.

The Ill-Fated History Of Animal Protection Laws: Why Congress Must Create An Animal Protection Agency, Melissa Baines

Animal Law Review

Over the years, the United States Congress has passed several federal laws with the intention of protecting animals from being subjected to inhumane treatment by humans. Such laws have great potential to create positive change for animals, but all of these laws have been delegated to inappropriate government agencies for oversight and enforcement. It is time to finally remove the impossible task placed upon these federal agencies—who have been asked to carry out their own stated mandates while also promulgating rules that effectuate animal protection laws in conflict with those same mandates—by creating a federal Animal Protection Agency with the …

A Market-Based Approach To Effective Slaughterhouse Line Speed Regulation, Kailey Mcneal

Animal Law Review

The nature of animal agriculture in the United States is heavily industrialized and profit-centered. Industrial animal agriculture maximizes profits and production by employing low-wage workers to do significant loads of labor. Slaughterhouses’ implementation of faster line speeds reflects this tactic. As the industry continues to increase line speeds to boost profits, workers, animals, and the environment continue to face augmented risks to their health and safety. Nonetheless, slaughterhouse line speeds at the federal level remain largely un- and under-regulated. The current federal regulatory scheme is unduly influenced by industry interests, prioritizes profit over safety, and lacks effective enforcement mechanisms. Through …

Leaving Pawprints On Our Hearts: Bystander Recovery For Witnessing The Negligent Killing Of A Companion Animal, John G. Browning

Animal Law Review

According to the Pew Research Center, nearly all (97%) Americans with companion animals consider their “furbabies” to be members of the family. This is reflected in a number of other areas, from state and federal laws re-garding emergency management that recognize four-legged members of the family unit to divorce and custody laws in multiple states that require courts to treat companion animals not as property, but as family members. Soci-ologists and psychologists have also documented the expanding recognition of the “multispecies family.” However, the majority of states’ laws still view companion animals as chattel property, even as more and more …

Color And Cultural Functionality, Felicia Caponigri

American University Law Review

Can a brand own a color? Trademark says yes, with some caveats. A brand can own a color so long as the color points to the brand as the origin of the goods and is non-functional. One of these caveats, functionality, is increasingly relevant because of color's value for our pop culture. Color is a common cultural resource, and whether it is a pink Barbiecore summer or a BRAT green summer, the colors brands remix to communicate the origins of their goods become a part of consumers' expressions of identity and their links to communities and help embody consumer values. …