Digital Commons Network^™

Let My People Go: A Biblical Theology Of Liberation In The Exodus Motif, Lou Ann Smith

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Liberation theologians view political liberation as the central theme of the historical Exodus event due to their interpretation of the text through the perspective of the oppressed and the oppressor. I reject the postmodern stance of liberation theologians, which overemphasizes political liberation and fails to consider the links between Yahweh’s supernatural actions on behalf of the Hebrews in light of Yahweh’s covenantal obligations to Abraham’s descendants. This study argues against the use of liberation theologies as the paradigm for interpreting the historical Exodus event and asserts that a biblical theology of the Exodus motif reveals “covenant” as the interpretive key …

Alumni Perceptions Of Formative Feedback During The Dissertation Process While Pursuing A Doctoral Degree In Biomedical Science At A Historically Black College And University: A Phenomenological Study, Shontell M.N. Stanford

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study is to discover through the perceptions and lived experiences of biomedical research Ph.D. alums who earned their terminal degree at a southern regional Historically Black College and University (HBCU) if the formative feedback they received impacted their dissertation process. Guided by Bandura’s social learning theory and it’s suggestions of how behavior cultivated by a mentor’s actions and feedback changes the mentee’s behavior and can mature into self-efficacy. This study sheds valuable insight through the lenses of this phenomenological qualitative research methodological strategy of one-on-one interviews, questionnaires, and document reviews. The findings not only uncovered …

Improved Data Quality And Statistical Power Of Trial-Level Event-Related Potentials With Bayesian Random-Shift Gaussian Processes, Dustin Pluta, Beniamino Hadj-Amar, Meng Li, Yongxiang Zhao, Francesco Versace, Marina Vannucci

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Studies of cognitive processes via electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings often analyze group-level event-related potentials (ERPs) averaged over multiple subjects and trials. This averaging procedure can obscure scientifically relevant variability across subjects and trials, but has been necessary due to the difficulties posed by inference of trial-level ERPs. We introduce the Bayesian Random Phase-Amplitude Gaussian Process (RPAGP) model, for inference of trial-level amplitude, latency, and ERP waveforms. We apply RPAGP to data from a study of ERP responses to emotionally arousing images. The model estimates of trial-specific signals are shown to greatly improve statistical power in detecting significant differences in experimental conditions …

Capitalizing On Crime Stories: Unveiling The Connection Between Sensationalism And Commercialization In True Crime, Maryalyce R.G. Cornett

Honors Capstone Projects and Theses

No abstract provided.

The Effectiveness Of Integrating Religious/Spirituality Beliefs Into Psychotherapy: An Integrative Review, Justina Anighoro-Okezie

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This comprehensive review explores how integrating religious beliefs into psychotherapy impacts mental health outcomes. Following a structured approach guided by Whittemore and Knafl's (Nov 2005) methodology, the review involves a systematic literature search across academic databases, identifying 25 studies with diverse methods. Results indicate significant enhancements in both psychological and spiritual outcomes when religious beliefs are integrated into psychotherapy, compared to no-treatment control conditions. Compared to alternate treatments, adapted psychotherapy demonstrates a small to medium effect. Particularly in an additive design, while there's no significant superiority in psychological outcomes, there is in spiritual outcomes, emphasizing the potential benefits of incorporating …

Others First: A Visual Roadmap 4 Transformation, Toby D. Wagoner

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Small rural churches tend to have an inward-focus mindset fueled by the need for self-preservation and survival. This transactional ministry mindset negatively impacts sharing the love of Christ with others, culminating in apathetic attitudes toward church functionality. The problem this DMin action research project sought to address is the inward focus of First Baptist Church of Ravenswood members. The church needs to improve its evangelism and discipleship efforts, embrace sharing their love of Christ with others, begin engaging guests on a meaningful level, and consider facility upgrades. Members were reminded of the importance of demonstrating their love of Christ to …

A Phenomenological Study Of Faith Community Culture Contributing To Domestic And Intimate Partner Violence, Tara D. Wallace

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Acceptance of domestic and intimate partner violence is recognized as occurring in the lives of survivors of domestic and intimate partner violence when they are counseled to return to the environment where their abuse occurred. Acceptance is also recognized as occurring in the lives of perpetrators of domestic and intimate partner violence when their behavior is made known to anyone outside of their environment and the perpetrator’s behavior towards their victims is sheltered, protected, excused, or enabled. In both instances, no efforts are made to change, correct, or stop abusive behavior. Research indicates interaction with the faith community in response …

Exploring The Writing Center's Role On At-Risk Students' Self-Efficacy And Writing Performance: A Phenomenological Study, Lacey Sipos

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this qualitative transcendental phenomenological study was to explore the beliefs and attitudes regarding at-risk higher education students’ experiences with using their institution’s writing center services at a public state university in the Northwestern United States. The research was a transcendental phenomenological approach that used psychologist Moustakas's methodical data analysis procedures and guidelines to construct descriptions that captured the essence of the lived experiences of at-risk students who participated in the study. Bandura’s self-efficacy theory provided the theoretical framework for this study. Previous research continues to examine multiple factors that may contribute to at-risk student populations' underutilization of …

Digital Ministry In The Church: Strengths, Weaknesses, And Opportunities, Willie Charles Howard Garrett

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This qualitative phenomenological study explores how churchgoers and senior pastors who are servant-leaders perceive the effectiveness, drawbacks, and opportunities of employing digital ministry in their churches as they attempt to develop healthy virtual relationships that maintain personal connections. The COVID-19 pandemic caused a change in churchgoers attending services in person. The government instituted social distancing and closures of businesses, schools, and churches. As a result, senior pastors engaged in creative ways using digital ministry to continue spreading the Word of God. While digital ministry existed pre-COVID-19, an increase occurred in response to the need to suspend in-person attendance. The theory …

A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Study On The Common Core State Standards Implementation And The Influence On Academic Motivation Of Students In Middle School English Classes, Susan Diane Wright

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to describe the lived experiences of English teachers and determine how implementing Common Core State Standards has influenced student motivation for middle school language arts students at Smith Middle School. Since the implementation of increased testing, changes in curriculum, and mandated instructional strategies, student motivation has declined in secondary students. The theory guiding this study was Dewey’s theory of experience which explains that students should have individualized, challenging, real-world learning opportunities. Dewey’s theory connected to this study of how the Common Core State Standards have changed the school’s instructional model. The sample …

Does Behavior Evolve First? Correlated Responses To Selection For Voluntary Wheel-Running Behavior In House Mice, Rahim H. Khan, Justin S. Rhodes, Isabelle A. Girard, Nicole E. Schwartz, Theodore Garland Jr.

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

How traits at multiple levels of biological organization evolve in a correlated fashion in response to directional selection is poorly understood, but two popular models are the very general “behavior evolves first” (BEF) hypothesis and the more specific “morphology-performance-behavior-fitness” (MPBF) paradigm. Both acknowledge that selection often acts relatively directly on behavior and that when behavior evolves, other traits will as well but most with some lag. However, this proposition is exceedingly difficult to test in nature. Therefore, we studied correlated responses in the high-runner (HR) mouse selection experiment, in which four replicate lines have been bred for voluntary wheel-running behavior …

Recommendations To Improve The Practice Of Incorporating Emotional Intelligence Instructional Strategies Within The Marine Corps University Professional Military Education Continuum, Sarah Kirkland

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this study was to provide recommendations to improve the practice of incorporating emotional intelligence instructional strategies at Marine Corps University (MCU) in Quantico, Virginia. The problem was that emotional intelligence needs to be consistently addressed in the curriculum at MCU since research and strategic guidance indicate that it is a critical component of leadership. This study aimed to increase technically and emotionally competent leaders in decision-making and a more unified military that strives to lead effectively. Increasing military members' emotional intelligence is crucial because this may improve military leaders' capacity to deal with traumatic and stressful situations. …

A Phenomenological Study Exploring Pastors' Experiences Counseling Younger Congregants With Changing Lifestyles, Terry L. Skepple

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Societal norms are changing, and more young adults are cohabitating with partners before marriage, engaging in premarital intercourse, and embarking on second marriages. All these activities are contrary to historical interpretations of pastoral teachings. The problem is that pastors are challenged in adapting to provide family and marriage counseling for younger congregants. With societal changes occurring rapidly, the majority of the young generation feels that there is less relevance in pastoral teachings. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe Covenant Connections International’s mature pastors’ experiences counseling younger congregants in the Northeastern United States. Eight pastors living and working …

The Experiences Of Teachers Using Early Literacy Instruction Supporting Ell Students In A Low-Income School In Southern New Jersey: A Qualitative Study, Gia Sparacio Scarani

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand the experiences of early childhood education teachers at a rural, low-income, elementary school in southern New Jersey instructing literacy to ELL and low-income students at the Bridgeton Public School District. The theory guiding this study is Vygotsky’s theories on social-cultural interaction, the Zone of Proximal Development, and scaffolding. The methodology of the phenomenology study was to gain information from the teachers through interviews, journal keeping, and observations. The study will examine the experiences of literacy instruction methods by 12-15 teachers for low-income and ELL students in early childhood education. Focusing on …

The Influence Of Teacher Exhaustion On Attrition Involving Primary Teachers: A Qualitative Study, Carson Kleinknecht

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this single-case qualitative case study was to discover the perceived influence teacher exhaustion may have on educator attrition for primary school teachers in one urban school district in central South Carolina. Abraham Maslow’s theory of human motivation was utilized as the theoretical framework for this study as it explains how an inability to meet the needs of teachers can result in teacher exhaustion and an increase in attrition. Maslow’s theory assisted in understanding how the stress and exhaustion that teachers experience can influence teacher retention in primary schools. This qualitative case study utilized a central research question: …

2023 Rising Stars In Measurement Science, Shelley Minteer

Chemistry Faculty Research & Creative Works

No abstract provided.

Quit Using Acquittals: The Unconstitutionality And Immorality Of Acquitted-Conduct Sentencing, Brenna Nouray

Pepperdine Law Review

This Comment examines the phenomenon of acquitted-conduct sentencing—a practice that allows a sentencing judge to enhance a criminal defendant’s sentence due to conduct for which he has already been acquitted. Seventeen-year-old Dayonta McClinton is one of many criminal defendants who have unjustly suffered at the hands of this practice when he received a thirteen-year enhancement because of conduct for which he already received a verdict of not guilty from a jury. This Comment argues that acquitted-conduct sentencing is unconstitutional, as it violates both the reasonable doubt standard required under the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment and the jury …

Table Of Contents & Masthead, Sophie Nelson

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Mystical Perelandra: My Lifelong Reading Of C.S. Lewis & His Favorite Book By James Como, Eleanor Knobil

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

This article discusses the strengths and weaknesses of James Como's reflective analysis of C.S. Lewis's Perelandra.

Tolkien In The Twenty-First Century: The Meaning Of Middle-Earth Today By Nick Groom, Laura N. Van Dyke

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

No abstract provided.

The Archetype Of The Dying And Rising God In World Mythology By Paul R. Rovang, James Hamby

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

No abstract provided.

In Memoriam: Peter J. Schakel, Janet Brennan Croft

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Peter Schakel was a prominent Lewis Scholar and long-time member of the Mythlore editorial board.

Hell As An Exploration Of Sin: A Comparison Of Alan Moore’S Providence To Dante’S Inferno, Zachary Rutledge

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

In Alan Moore’s graphic novel Providence, Robert Black travels Lovecraftian New England and suffers a series of horrifying encounters—each an allusion to a Lovecraft story. These encounters contain direct references to various sins and taboos, thereby making explicit much of the sublimated sexuality in Lovecraft’s works. Therefore, Black’s journey constitutes not only a trip through Lovecraft’s mythology but also reads as a cataloguing of sins reminiscent of Dante’s passage through the levels of sin in Inferno. This paper identifies and explores the similarities between Dante and Black as examples of those who descend to the underworld along with a …

Timeless Moments: Russell Kirk, Charles Williams, And Stephen King On The Afterlife, Camilo Peralta

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

What happens to us after death is one of the oldest and most difficult questions. Even the standard response of many Christians, that we go to either Heaven, Hell, or Purgatory, can only partly satisfy, because while we experience the passing of time in a linear manner, those places are said to exist completely outside of time. How, then, can it make sense to speak of “going” to Heaven or Hell after death? Must we not always and forever be there—even during our lifetimes? Russell Kirk, a Catholic historian from Michigan who often speculated about the afterlife in his fiction …

Orpheus And The Harrowing Of Hell In The Tale Of Beren And Lúthien, Giovanni Carmine Costabile

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Critics have observed that Beren and Lúthien’s tale is a Christian retelling of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. The “Harrowing of Hell” tradition is widespread in Italy as attested by the mosaic of San Marco among others, but it is in France that the Ovid Moralized reconnects it to Orpheus who descended into the Underworld to save Eurydice (an already late antique parallel) and therefore attests a happy ending version of the story that can be found in medieval England and also in various classical sources, perhaps even in the original legend of Orpheus. The apocryphal Harrowing is also …

Tolkien, Augustinian Theodicy, And 'Lovecraftian' Evil, Perry Neil Harrison

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

A number of scholars have commented upon Augustine of Hippo’s influence upon J.R.R. Tolkien’s portrayal of evil in his legendarium. However, in his seminal work J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century, Tom Shippey pushes back against this perception, noting that there are some forms of evil in the legendarium that do not adhere to the Augustine’s belief that evil is merely a “twisting” of good. This article argues that Ungoliant is one such exception to the Augustinian paradigm because of the uncertainty regarding her origins.This uncertainty complicates the Augustinian view of evil that permeates the legendarium and instead echoes …

Substance Abuse: The Symbolic Geography Of Hell In The Great Divorce, Richard A. Bergen

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Blake’s The Marriage of Heaven and Hell is a Romantic vision of evil energy that reaches to the heavens, a geographical representation of capacity and scope and perpetual cosmic change. On the other hand, Lewis’s vision of hell in The Great Divorce is that of a land without substance: a conurbation of addiction to mental maladies, an endless mental substance abuse, an emptying of presence, and a banal stasis to the journey of the soul. Many of Lewis’s sources and inspirations for The Great Divorce, similarly, portray hell as a land of paradoxical “seeming-largeness”, while having ontological smallness. Throughout …

Capa: Quality Control Testing Of Laboratory Plates, Div Galdi, Bryn Mallon

JCHP Collaborative Capstone and Research Exchange

Abstract

The purpose of a Corrective and Preventive Action (CAPA) investigation is to identify and address errors, deviations, and compliance issues to ensure the integrity, reliability, and quality of research and biomanufacturing. In the biotech industry, where identifying and rectifying root causes of errors is key to ensuring quality data and preventing future errors, CAPA plays a crucial role. The Jefferson Biotechnology (JBT) lab was asked to investigate the sterility of a biotech supplier’s microbiological agar plates, when a client reported contamination in their agar plates, suspecting contamination prior to sleeve opening. By attempting to reproduce our client's results through …

Optimal Pva/Starch Complex For Cryogel Development Intended For Artifact Cleaning, Mallory Warfield

Liberty University Research Week

This proposal furthers the research of Vanessa Rosciardi et al. who developed a poly(vinyl)-alcohol/ rice starch (PVA/RS) complex using cryogel synthesis in order to determine the ability of rice starch to form a larger polymer with PVA and to test the resulting gel in its effectiveness in cleaning artifacts. Rice starch, containing the biopolymers amylose and amylopectin, was chosen as rice is accessible worldwide, while PVA was chosen as the most produced water-soluble polymer. The purpose of their research was to understand if PVA/RS complexes would be a feasible and greener alternative to synthetic gels which pose environmental risk as …

Paying For Prison: Equal Protection Remedies For The United States' Wealth Discrimination Problem, Alexandra Smolyar

Georgia Criminal Law Review

The American dream promises wealth, mobility, and security, yet daily millions of Americans live in abject poverty. What’s more, state and local policies render low-income people uniquely vulnerable to criminalization, further lessening their ability to attain this purported American dream. These effects are not incidental. Rather, they reflect a complexly interwoven system of wealth-based discrimination oftentimes promulgated and perpetuated by government actors. Yet, most constitutional anti-discrimination measures do not reach wealth-based discrimination despite the horrific everyday effects felt by low-income communities nationwide. The criminalization of poverty compounds these problems to create a never-ending cycle of discrimination and collateral consequences whose …