Digital Commons Network^™

Equitable Siting Of Green Stormwater Infrastructure In Urban Areas For Flood Resilience In Vulnerable Communities, Elnaz Chitsazzadeh

Planning Dissertations

Cities face increasing pressure from rapid urbanization, aging gray infrastructure, intensifying rainfall, and uneven flood protection. In this context, green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) and other nature-based solutions are increasingly promoted as tools for climate adaptation, flood resilience, and environmental justice. Yet a central planning challenge remains: how to identify where GSI should be prioritized when flood-related physical burden, weak environmental protection, social vulnerability, and lower recovery capacity overlap. This dissertation addresses that challenge in Fort Worth, Texas, by examining how equitable GSI siting can support flood resilience in vulnerable urban neighborhoods.

Framed by urban resilience and environmental justice, the study …

Three Essays On Financial Social Media And Capital Market: Editorial Promotion, Authors’ Communicating Style, And Implications On Firms, Wenzhuo Zhao

2026

Financial social media platforms have emerged as an increasingly important source of information for investors, as illustrated by the role of Seeking Alpha, Reddit, X (Twitter), and other platforms in the 2021 “meme stock” episodes and the subsequent SEC report on equity market structure. While prior research has largely focused on the informativeness of social media content—asking whether social media sentiment predicts stock prices or trading activity—our understanding of how social media reshapes the broader capital market information environment remains limited. Using data collected from Seeking Alpha, a leading crowd-sourced financial research platform and one of the largest online investing …

Atomic Steps Toward Sustainable Learning With Open Educational Resources (Oer), Eng Ling Lynn Yeo

Research Collection Library

Open Educational Resources (OER) are gaining momentum globally as one of the tools to equitable and sustainable education. In an academic landscape shaped by rapid digital change and budget constraints, libraries must adapt to support sustainable learning.

This lightning talk will share how SMU Libraries has taken atomic, strategic steps to introduce and encourage OER adoption, aligning collection strategies with institutional goals for sustainability. It will highlight initiatives such as faculty workshops, participation in a regional OER special interest group, and efforts to integrate OER discovery into existing library systems. It will also share examples of leveraging existing collection workflows …

Perceptions And Practices Of Incorporating Student-Centered Menu Items In School Meals, Kristi L. Lewis Phd, Rdn

Institute of Child Nutrition, Applied Research Division

Student-centered menu planning prioritizes learners’ preferences, nutritional needs, cultural relevance, and engagement in the development of school nutrition program offerings. Menus that reflect student preferences and incorporate student input are associated with increased meal participation and consumption. This study examined school nutrition professionals’ perceptions, best practices, and strategies for incorporating students’ voices into school-based menu planning and modification.

Using a participatory research approach, school nutrition professionals, administrators, United States Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service representatives, and State agency staff participated as expert panelists and survey respondents. A literature review and qualitative expert panel responses informed the development of …

Meeting The Challenges Of Serving Scratch-Prepared Foods In School Nutrition Programs, Keith Rushing Phd, Rd, Ruaa Al Juboori Phd, Mackinsey Shahan Phd, Rdn

Institute of Child Nutrition, Applied Research Division

The increasing prevalence of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) in children’s diets presents a significant public health concern due to associations with obesity, metabolic disorders, poor cardiometabolic health, and reduced academic performance. Scratch cooking in school meal programs has emerged as a promising strategy for improving meal quality by emphasizing preparation from basic, minimally processed ingredients. Although research indicates that scratch-prepared meals can improve nutritional quality and student acceptance, implementation remains challenging due to operational, financial, and workforce barriers.

The purpose of this study was to identify challenges school nutrition professionals face when offering scratch-prepared meals, assess the national prevalence of these …

Show Your Work: Assessment In The Age Of Ai, Kevin Yee, Laurie Uttich, Elizabeth Giltner, Anastasia Bojanowski

UCF Created OER Works

The fourth book from a team of college instructors who have been in the trenches of AI and higher education since the beginning, Show Your Work: Assessment in the Age of AI is a practical, discipline-spanning guide for educators who are ready to redesign their assignments for a world where AI is a given. Organized around three approaches—co-creating with AI, writing without it, and finding alternative AI-resistant assessments—this book offers more than 50 concrete strategies that faculty can mix, match, and adapt to their own courses and contexts. Whether you want to integrate AI as a learning tool, build assignments …

Commencement Program (Spring 2026), Csusb

CSUSB Commencement Programs

No abstract provided.

2025 Sumner Canary Memorial Lecture: Perspectives On Judicial Restraint In Modern Originalism, Honorable Patrick Bumatay

Case Western Reserve Law Review

No abstract provided.

Balancing The Barre: Judicial Approaches To The Analysis Of Copyright Infringement Claims Of Choreographic Works, Sylvia R. Ofoma

Suffolk Journal of Trial and Appellate Advocacy

No abstract provided.

The Voices Of Women Politicians: Media Representation And Its Influence On Identity, Gender Bias, And Self-Presentation, Ariana J. Hernandez

Communication Theses

This study examines how women in politics view and respond to media representation, shifting the focus from analyzing content to understanding the personal experiences and strategic choices of the politicians themselves. Through semi-structured interviews with 15 women in political roles, the research looks at the mental and emotional effort needed to navigate a media landscape shaped by gender.

The findings highlight a significant gap between how these women see themselves and how the media portrays them. They often feel that professional credibility must be built over time rather than being granted automatically. Participants pointed out common gendered portrayals, such as …

Cultural Logics In Agriculture: A Critical Christian Perspective, John Hill Price, Travis Ryan Pickell, Paul Capel, Kyungsoo Yoo, Dominic Christiensen, Marie Culhane, Tyler Dick, John Deen, Erik Watkins

Faculty Publications - George Fox School of Theology

Imagine a precocious, driven, and empathetic undergraduate student. She has discovered a passion and a talent for biochemistry, and wants to apply to graduate school to pursue agronomy, with the goal of returning to her rural community home after graduation. She loves science and nature; she is also a committed Christian. She has a vague sense that these things are connected, but she isn’t sure how. And to be honest, the people around her in college do not always believe these two parts of her identity are compatible. Nevertheless, she plans to pursue graduate studies and hopes her faith will …

Navigating Yellow Zone Sexual Misconduct Cases: Exploring Title Ix Administrators’ Discretion, Angela E. Hobbs

Educational Leadership & Policy Studies Dissertations

This study examines how Title IX administrators exercise discretion when responding to ambiguous sexual misconduct reports referred to as yellow zone. The 2020 Title IX Rules and Regulations introduced a more restrictive definition of sexual misconduct, requiring behavior to be severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive (SPOO) to meet the threshold for formal institutional response. Despite the practical challenges these cases present for institutions, there is limited scholarly understanding of how Title IX administrators make decisions when responding to them. Guided by street-level bureaucracy theory (Lipsky, 1969, 1980, 2010), the study explored how institutional actors exercise discretion in response to regulatory …

Advancing Lipidomics Through Fluoroalcohol-Induced Multiphase Fractionation And Orthogonal Lc×Lc–Ms Detection, Md Al Amin

Chemistry & Biochemistry Dissertations

Comprehensive characterization of the lipidome remains a significant analytical challenge due to the immense structural diversity, wide dynamic range, and complex physicochemical continuum of lipid species. Conventional extraction methods, such as those by Bligh–Dyer and Folch, and one-dimensional liquid chromatography (1D-LC) often fail to resolve this complexity, leading to chromatographic overlap, severe ion suppression, and limited coverage of low-abundance or highly hydrophobic species. This dissertation addresses these bottlenecks by establishing a separation-driven analytical framework that integrates novel fluoroalcohol-induced multiphase systems (FAiTPS) with orthogonal multidimensional liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC×LC–MS).

The core of this research is the development and physicochemical characterization of …

Echoes Across Borders: Comparative Criminal Law And Justice In The Us Landscape, Alessandro Corda

Fordham International Law Journal

Despite its substantial promise to deepen understanding of domestic criminal laws and their operation, offer alternative approaches to policy challenges, and foster cross-cultural dialogue, comparative criminal law and justice remains only modestly visible in the United States—both in academic discourse and policymaking circles. After tracing the trajectory of comparative criminal law and justice in the United States and examining the primary factors contributing to its marginal status in legal scholarship and reform debates, this Article investigates the reasons for its limited prominence through an analysis of findings from a web-based survey of faculty specializing in criminal law, criminal procedure, and …

Cone Beam Computed Tomography For Endodontics: Incidental Findings And Respective Significance, Erin J Key, Nina K Anderson, Dan Colosi, Mina Mahdian

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence, distribution, and follow-up recommendations of incidental findings in cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) scans acquired for endodontic treatment.

Methods: This was a retrospective review of limited field-of-view (FOV) CBCT images for endodontic evaluation obtained at the Stony Brook University School of Dental Medicine between 2018 and 2022. All scans were reviewed by 1 oral and maxillofacial radiology (OMR) resident and all incidental findings were corroborated with the radiology report approved by 1 of 2 board-certified OMRs. Data extracted for each case included age, gender, and reason for scan; and …

Caribbean Sensibility, Olivia A. Davis

MA Projects

The Caribbean is a region with a complex history, from the displacement of Indigenous communities to the forced migrations of the transatlantic slave trade and the arrival of indentured laborers from Asia. This has produced a region where questions of identity and belonging remain constant. Caribbean Sensibility explores how artists form the Caribbean and its diasporas navigate these complexities, transforming histories of displacement into creative expression. The exhibition draws on Trinidadian scholar Patricia Mohammed’s concept of a “Caribbean sensibility,” an emotional and aesthetic orientation based in hybridity. It is “the dissonance between a seemingly imported religion and our homegrown private …

Comparing Treatment Options For Impending Axillobifemoral Bypass Graft Failure, Marcus Allan Alonzo

Bachelor of Science in Diagnostic Ultrasound Projects

An axillobifemoral bypass graft is an extra-anatomic bypass and is not the gold standard for peripheral revascularization treatment. The purpose of this case study is to determine the efficacy of alternative treatment options for graft stenosis. This case report follows a 77-year-old woman with an axillobifemoral graft presenting with claudication symptoms. An initial ultrasound duplex found near-occlusive stenoses at the anastomosis sites with moderate to severe ankle brachial index values. These findings influenced the decision to undergo an atherectomy to reestablish peripheral perfusion.

Ultrasound surveillance will be critical to maintaining graft patency and tracking stenosis development. Treatment with anticoagulation medicine …

Examining Leadership Accountability Standards And Protocols In The U.S. Church, Grace E. Emmert

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research project addresses the current condition of accountability standards and protocols in the U.S. church. This research focused on U.S. Protestant denominational and nondenominational churches. First, a review of the Scriptural mandate for leadership accountability was examined through a study of the specific impact accountability played in the leadership failures and successes in the lives of Kings Saul and David throughout Books of 1 and 2 Samuel. Second, a literary review examined current formal leadership accountability standards and protocols in the U.S. Protestant church. This review encompassed surveys and polls from the last fifteen years, church censuses, theological journals, …

Understanding And Avoiding Institutional Betrayal Of Congregants When Accusations Of Domineering Pastoral Leadership Are Made, Jonathon R. Hansel

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examines institutional betrayal within evangelical churches as experienced by congregants who reported concerns about domineering pastoral leadership and encountered minimizing or dismissive responses from church elders. Institutional betrayal, understood as harm that occurs when trusted institutions fail to respond protectively to wrongdoing within their own systems is examined as a distinct and compounding form of spiritual and relational injury.
The study employed a qualitative research design consisting of two primary data sources: (1) an anonymous online survey of congregants who self-identified as having experienced harm following reports of domineering pastoral leadership and (2) semi-structured interviews with church elders …

The Effects Of Parental Involvement On A Child’S Educational Success, Samson Ghirmai

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The accessibility of education has opened doors for children to pursue interests and be prepared for their transition into adulthood. Education is a resource that opens doors, but it has been found that there are gaps in achievement. This opens the conversation on possible solutions to reduce this gap. Schools have been developing new systems and strategies to increase parental involvement, determining this as a possible solution towards bridging the gap. The purpose of this study is to determine whether the solution towards the achievement gap is identifying strategies to get parents more involved in their child's education. Research determined …

Family Factors And Adolescent Behavior: How Parenting Practices And Parent-Child Relationships Shape Internalizing And Externalizing Behaviors, Angela J. Spikes

Social Work Dissertations

Mental health challenges can emerge across childhood and adolescence, often manifesting as internalizing and externalizing behaviors. These outcomes are shaped by the complex interplay of environmental and contextual influences, particularly parenting practices and family dynamics. This study examines how parental practices and caregiver-child relationship quality influence adolescent internalizing and externalizing behaviors while accounting for key sociodemographic factors, including sex, race/ethnicity, maternal education, income, and household structure. Using a longitudinal design, secondary data were drawn from the Future of Families and Child Well-being Study. The analytic sample included adolescents and caregivers with data from Wave 5 (Year 9) and Wave 6 …

Objective Chance, Convulsive Beauty And The Marvelous Within Fashion, Ellen Silva

MA Projects

Objective Chance, Convulsive Beauty and The Marvelous within Fashion is an exhibition inspired by the early idea of Surrealism specifically how the concepts of objective chance, convulsive beauty and the marvelous are intertwined and represented within fashion in the 21st century. The audience will be able to witness for themselves the use of these themes throughout the Surrealist movement by viewing works of fashion and artwork side by side. Some of the references are unmistakable, but some of them must be viewed with more of a conceptual focus as Surrealism was not only an art movement, but originally a philosophical …

Uncovering The Keystone: Case Study Of The Ubs Art Collection Gift, Loan And Contemporary Voices Exhibition At Moma In 2005 - Twenty Years Later, Maria Glikman Yamarakov

MA Theses

This research aims to reconstruct foundational history of the Case, based on the publicly available sources. Using the established factual background to test the significance of each of the three major assumptions, referred traditionally as motivation behind the studied Case undertaking. Through critical analysis this Thesis targets to uncover the keystone of this Case and use it as the background to introduce the governance Duty of Stewardship concept in the corporate collection context. Assuming the introduced concept sustains initial analysis, assess its potential value for further strategic development of the corporate collections of the contemporary art.

Imagining The Inuit: Myth, Market, And The Making Of The Contemporary Inuit Sculpture Canon, Kristen Sara Davidson-Schwartz

MA Theses

This thesis explores how qallunaat institutions used sculpture to shape and define Inuit life. I argue that contemporary Inuit sculpture, as conceived of by outsiders to support Inuit economic enfranchisement and modernization, became a vessel through which qallunaat institutions circulated ideas about Inuit culture and Arctic lands. Although purported to reflect the voice of Inuit, the meanings attached to Inuit sculpture rarely reflected Inuit intention and consistently aligned to qallunaat priorities: a performance of primitive, ancient, and authentic Inuit life; a gesture of indigenous gratitude and cheerful participation in state-designed development programs; or a masterful expression of the formal concerns …

Integrating The Oriental Gaze: Japonisme And Kitagawa Utamaro’S Influence In The Parisian Art World Of The Late 19th Century, Wanda Irini Goudas

MA Theses

This thesis discusses the phenomenon of Japonisme in Paris, how it manifested in the market, its accompanying theoretical discourse, and its role in fostering artistic innovation. In 1853, Japan officially opened its borders for trade with the West, resulting in an unparalleled influx of objects and artwork from Japan. This generated a widespread fascination with Japanese material culture, culminating in the phenomenon known as Japonisme. Among the imported items, ukiyo-e woodblock prints or ‘images of the floating world,’ became very significant. Exhibited widely across Paris, their peculiar themes and unique formal qualities prompted theoretical discourse and inspired shifts in artistic …

Becoming Art Itself: A Study On The Generative Logic And Discursive Structure Of Disability Art Incubation Institutions, Gonghui Lu

MA Theses

This study employs “Becoming” as its core analytical concept to examine how disability art incubation institutions operate at the intersection of contemporary art history and social systems as mechanisms that continuously generate both art and subjectivity. Building on Deleuze’s philosophy of becoming and Guattari’s notion of the rhizome, the study constructs a generative model linking art, institutions, and discourse. Through comparative analysis of international cases, it discusses the shift in disability art from a representational logic to a generative logic, and the dynamic oscillation between deterritorialization and reterritorialization within institutional practices. The study argues that disability art should not be …

From Monasteries To The Market: The Legal And Spiritual Economies Of Himalayan Art In China, Hengshi An

MA Theses

In recent years, the Himalayan art market in China has shown a remarkable transformation, emerging as one of the most dynamic segments within the broader Asian art economy. While much of the global and domestic art market has stagnated, Tibetan and Himalayan artworks have achieved sustainable growth and high auction price with major collections been published, showing structural strength rather than speculative enthusiasm. This paper examines the drivers behind this phenomenon through a qualitative analysis of auction data, dealer networks, and collector behavior across key hubs in China such as Beijing, Chengdu, Shanghai, and Hong Kong. The findings suggest that …

Marc Chagall And The Jewish Experience: A Personal Modernism In The Parisian Avant-Garde, Samantha Desanctis

MA Theses

Marc Chagall and the Jewish Experience: A Personal Modernism in the Parisian Avant-Garde examines the interplay between Marc Chagall’s Jewish heritage and his engagement with the Parisian avant-garde of the early twentieth century. Chagall’s upbringing in the Russian Empire deeply informed his visual language, which persisted even as he explored the techniques and innovations of modernist movements. This thesis analyzes Chagall’s early works alongside close readings of key paintings such as I and the Village, 1911, Homage to Apollinaire, 1911–12, Self-Portrait with Seven Fingers, 1912–13, and Green Violinist, 1923–24, considering symbols, colors, compositions, and recurring motifs drawn from religion, tradition, …

The Language Of Value: Lot Note Complexity And Auction Performance In Abstract Expressionism, Artur Sharifullin

MA Theses

This thesis asks a simple question: does the language in lot notes relate to price and to whether a lot beats or misses its estimate? I study eight Abstract Expressionist artists: Ad Reinhardt, Adolph Gottlieb, Barnett Newman, Franz Kline, Joan Mitchell, Lee Krasner, Robert Motherwell, and Sam Francis because their works are less representational and often need supporting text to explain the context. The main sample includes only lots sold for more than $1 million at Christie’s or Sotheby’s in New York or London over the past ten years. I measure a small set of writing features that are easy …

Reconstructing The Surreal: Female Artists And The Transformation Of Surrealist Aesthetics, Erin Regan

MA Theses

This thesis examines the role and legacy of female artists who took part in the Surrealist visual art movement of the early 20th century. Canonical accounts have historically privileged the contributions of male artists, marginalizing women to the fringes of the movement by framing female artists as being primarily relevant as muses for their male peers. This study contests this historiographical misconception, relying upon visual analysis and archival research, as well as drawing from psychological, feminist, and postmodern theory, ultimately arguing that their artistic and theoretical innovations fundamentally restructured Surrealism’s visual vocabulary, theoretical objectives, and cultural legacy. This thesis is …