Digital Commons Network^™

Mailing It In: Due Process Requires Technology-Driven Safeguards In Public Benefits, Eric Lukoff

Celebrating WCL Student Authors

Due process in safety net public benefit programs requires agencies to employ modern technology in providing notice that is reasonably likely to reach participants. The Supreme Court has held that due process is dependent on the time, place, and circumstances in which it operates. Scholars have further argued that due process is adaptable to changing facts and circumstances over time. Yet, mailed paper notices remain the standard in providing notice to participants in public benefit programs.

Living in poverty today looks significantly different than it did nearly fifty years ago at the time of Mathews v. Eldridge, where the Court …

Labour Against The Law? Contesting The Restrictive Norms Of Industrial Legality Through Unlawful Strikes, Eric Tucker

All Papers

North American regimes of industrial legality provide workers with protected rights to organize, bargain collectively and strike. However, they also limit the freedom to strike. Trade unions commonly accept and enforce these limits, but at great cost to solidarity and militancy. This article examines the many ways law works against labour by restricting the freedom to strike and explores the practice of unlawful strikes in North America, including recent examples that resulted in successful outcomes. It concludes with reflections on the revival of unlawful strikes as a tactic for rebuilding and remobilizing the North American labour movement. While the article’s …

Beyond Catharsis: The Evolution Of Popular Tragedy In Video Game Narratives, Nicole E. Chancey

Master’s Theses

“Beyond Catharsis: The Evolution of Popular Tragedy in Video Game Narratives,” establishes a connection between traditions of Tragedy and video game narratives, arguing that the ways in which tragedy manifests within interactive media is an extension and development of previous, more formal understandings of Tragedy. Using Oxenfree (2016), Elden Ring (2022), and Baldur’s Gate 3 (2023), this thesis claims video games feature adaptations of traditional tragedy and catharsis that expand the genre. Through players directly instigating the action of the game, the allowances and limitations of the player’s agency, and the instances of misfortunate fates, interactive narratives translate tragic concepts—outlined …

Sexual Labor, United States Immigration Law, And México's Emerging Feminist Consciousness, 1875-1925, Narcedalia Ramirez

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is an intellectual, cultural, women’s, and transnational history between México and the United States that outlines the arguments over sex workers. At the forefront is how stories of sex workers intersect with the histories of moral and hygiene reform movements, and United States laws on immigration and morality during the years of 1875 to 1925. This body of work is in conversation with scholars such as Kelly Lytle Hernández. Susie S. Porter, and Diana Montaño.

Sources include United States legislation, Spanish written newspapers and studies on sex work from México, the Elena Torres Cuéllar Archives, the Margaret Sanger …

Queer Life In Nineteenth-Century America: A Historical Literature Review, Vivian Wright

SURF Posters 2025

In recent political discourses, queerness has often been treated as a modern phenomenon, and many people tend to think of queerness as a twentieth-century invention. Historians, however, have shown this to be false; an extensive amount of historical work details the lives of those who did not conform to sexual or gender norms in nineteenth-century America. This review surveys such works, analyzing nearly twenty different works spanning the course of nearly fifty years. By examining these works chronologically, the development of the field of queer history can be understood in the context of social and political developments occurring in the …

The Role Of Reason In Religion, Moses Morgan

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

In this work, I will argue that there is a proper place for reason within religion. I am primarily arguing against the claim that religions are sets of beliefs without reason, citing various thinkers who have made this claim. I will explicate and critique various conceptions of religion pulled from Muslim philosophers al-Farabi and Averroes and Catholic philosopher and theologian St. Thomas Aquinas. I will then provide an alternative position, synthesizing elements of each view, stating that religion is the primary way everyone interacts with reality in each moment. After establishing this concept, I will then argue for the extent …

Dismembering The Final Girl: Examining The Shifting Trope In Contemporary Horror Films, Abby Divine

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This research explores gender representation in horror films as it moves away from representation shaped by the male gaze and, instead, showcases social values related to current feminist movements. While the horror genre is largely considered to be lacking complex messages or social commentary, many contemporary horror films actually utilize well-known tropes to cultivate a larger discussion on social issues. With the rise of the slasher film in the 1970s and 1980s, the character of the Final Girl was popularized. These final surviving female victims are usually defined by a constricting set of rules; however, newer trends in horror films …

An In-Depth Review Of Euthanasia-Related Practices, Arguments For/Against Them, And Proposed Solutions For Their Most Glaring Legal/Ethical Problems, Macon Plecha

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This paper’s goal is to cover the topic of euthanasia-related practices at great length. Terminology, history, and current programs around the world are discussed first, with the last point covering a wide geographical range: Colombia, Japan, Israel, and Africa, to name a few outside of the Western world standard. Arguments for and against euthanasia-related practices are explored. Within these arguments, several pressing legal and ethical issues arise, and the most severe of these are expanded on through the offering of potential solutions: how to handle stand-alone psychiatric cases, how to improve advanced directives and poor reporting rates, and how to …

Geochronology And Geomorphology Of The Brule Spillway Of Glacial Lake Duluth, Madeline Josephine Laaksonen

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

During the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene, a series of dyssynchronous advances and retreats resulted in the evolution of the Upper St. Croix River Valley. Proglacial lakes forming at the margins of the retreating ice within the Lake Superior Basin and subsequent multiple drainage events through the Brule Spillway have also drastically shaped the landscape. As a result, the Brule Spillway and broader St. Croix River valley presents an important case study to spillover processes occurring in proglacial landscapes and the reorganization of regional drainage networks and creation of a new hydrogeomorphic regime. While prior literature on the Spillway exists, …

Parents In Action For Change, Faisuly Correa Rojas

Education | Graduate Culminating Projects

This handbook offers a structured framework for parents in Marin County’s advocacy group, aimed at informing them about special education and bullying prevention practices to better advocate for their children's education.

Hands That Speak, Zoe M. Huxtable

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

For my Honors Project I created Hands That Speak, a visual installation of media in the College of Arts and Sciences on the 3rd floor. I designed this visual installation to introduce the students and staff at the University of Akron to Deaf culture, ASL (American Sign Language), and the significance that Gallaudet University has in both of those things. The installation brings together my own education in ASL and Deaf culture from the University of Akron, and my personal experience going to Gallaudet University, and puts it into a multimedia visual display that's easy for the community at the …

Prosecuting Families, Anna Arons

Faculty Publications

Hundreds of thousands of parents are prosecuted in the family regulation system each year. Their cases are investigated by family regulation agencies and prosecuted by lawyers employed by the government—family regulation prosecutors. Like police and prosecutors in the criminal legal system, this family regulation prosecutorial team wields immense power, particularly over race–class subjugated communities. Yet even as scholarship on criminal prosecutors and on the family regulation system has proliferated, the role of family regulation prosecutors has gone underexamined and undertheorized.

This Article offers a critical examination of the role of these family regulation prosecutors. Drawing on a variety of primary …

Identifying Barriers To The Utilization Of Translation Services Among Immigrant Populations With Limited English Proficiency, Adama Barry

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Background: The number of patients with limited English proficiency (LEP) has increased in the United States, indicating the growing importance of addressing their healthcare needs. Aim: To examine existing translation services and explore the challenges healthcare providers encounter in their use.

Methods: A mixed-methods cross-sectional survey was conducted among providers, registered nurses, and medical assistants at a diverse urgent care clinic in a city in Washington State.

Results: Interpreter availability, technological disruptions, training gaps, and interpreter accuracy emerged as significant barriers.

Implications for Practice: Comprehensive improvements in interpreter service accessibility, technological reliability, and cultural competency training.

Address The Gap In Nursing Knowledge Regarding Patients At End Of Life In An Inpatient Oncology Setting, Sala Oh, Tracey Trinh

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Background: Nurses often lack the knowledge of providing end of life (EOL) care and do not feel adequately prepared to confidently provide care. Identifying barriers to providing quality care could demonstrate improved symptom management for EOL patients and nursing confidence.

Aims: To identify knowledge gaps for oncology nurses working with EOL patients, develop nursing education, and ultimately improve patients’ symptom management.

Methods: This was a needs assessment of nurses (n=79) working in an inpatient oncology unit. A survey was distributed to obtain barriers in nursing knowledge and an educational module was created. A quality improvement study was then performed to …

Unmet Perinatal Mental Health Needs Of Racially And Ethnically Marginalized Pregnant Birthing People, Courtney Sholar

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Background: The negative impacts of perinatal mental illness are vast, including impaired physiological health of the birthing parent and child, impaired bonding, poor childhood socioemotional development, and financial burden. Although birthing parents of all racial and ethnic backgrounds can experience such outcomes, racially and ethnically marginalized birthing parents and their children are subject to compounded risk for poor outcomes. Little to no studies have specifically and solely examined perinatal mental health needs and preferences of racially and ethnically marginalized birthing parents in the Seattle area. Examination of such needs are necessary to implement interventions downstream that effectively reduce the perinatal …

Blood Pressure Self-Monitoring Intervention Among Low-Income Pregnant And Postpartum Individuals In Nurse-Family Partnership: A Qualitative Program Evaluation Assessing Self-Efficacy And Health Literacy, Sherilynn Soo, Antonia Powicki

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Background: Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) are a leading cause of maternal morbidity and mortality in the United States, disproportionately affecting low-income and marginalized populations. Blood pressure self-monitoring (BPSM) has emerged as a promising intervention to support management of HDP. This study evaluated the impact of a BPSM program on self-efficacy and health literacy among low-income, first-time pregnant and ostpartum individuals enrolled in Snohomish County’s Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) program.

Methods: This qualitative program evaluation involved semi-structured interviews with 10 participants enrolled in the BPSM program. Interviews were conducted via secure video conferencing, transcribed, and analyzed using inductive thematic analysis supported …

Exploring Prenatal Care Providers' Perceptions Of Barriers To Physical Activity During Pregnancy: A Survey Of Obstacles And Attitudes, Tania Nambo-Escobar

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Despite the well-established benefits of physical activity during pregnancy, most pregnant individuals in the United States fail to meet recommended guidelines. The aim of this quality improvement project, conducted through Seattle University College of Nursing, was to explore prenatal care providers’ perceptions of barriers to physical activity counseling during pregnancy. Using the Exploration, Preparation, Implementation, Sustainment (EPIS) framework, a mixed-methods survey was distributed to midwives and obstetric nurses at Neighborcare Health clinics. The survey assessed providers' beliefs, perceived barriers, and current practices related to physical activity counseling. Results showed that while most providers acknowledged the importance of physical activity, they …

An Integrative Approach To Diabetes Education In The Immigrant Somali Community, Bilal Kadri, Amina Osman

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease with numerous health and financial ramifications, especially for vulnerable populations like Somali immigrants. Effective management of diabetes requires adequate knowledge and management skills. Traditional diabetes education programs are ineffective for Somali immigrants because they do not account for their unique social, cultural, and traditional backgrounds. This study implemented a culturally sensitive, in-person, interactive education session for 14 first-generation Somali immigrants with type 2 diabetes. The effectiveness of the study was evaluated with pre- and post-education tests, as well as the participants’ self-confidence in managing diabetes. Mean test scores and a paired t-test were calculated …

Pain Versus Neuropsychiatric Symptoms In Residents With Dementia: A Nursing Staff Educational Training, Rebecca Hildreth

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

BACKGROUND: Pain assessment in patients with dementia is challenging due to cognitive and communication impairments, making the older adult population highly susceptible to poor pain assessment and treatment.

AIM: The purpose of this project is to accurately identify the cause of agitation in residents with dementia. Specific aims include 1) to collect background demographic data on residents, 2) to educate nursing staff on pain assessment in dementia patients, and 3) to educate nursing staff about the risks associated with antipsychotic medications to prioritize using non-pharmacologic interventions to treat agitation.

METHODS: A chart review of residents residing in a suburban, Pacific …

Exploring Barriers And Opportunities For Formally Integrating A Compensated Community Health Worker Program To Manage Hypertension Into The Healthcare System In Puno, Peru, Miye Dittmann

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Hypertension is the leading cause of preventable mortality worldwide. Community health workers (CHWs) can be potential aids in managing hypertension in Peru. CHWs in Peru are currently not formally practicing or compensated for chronic disease management. Effectiveness of CHWs for hypertension care is being assessed in the The Addressing Hypertension and Diabetes through Community-Engaged Systems (ANDES) Trial. Through semi-structured interviews with healthcare providers and healthcare administrators, this study aims to understand scalability and feasibility integrating CHWs into hypertension management into Peru’s national healthcare system. Following transcription of interviews, inductive and deductive analysis identified key themes and subthemes. Participants described a …

Undergraduate Nursing Students’ Perceptions, Knowledge, And Barriers To Accessing Student Mental Health Services, Margot Sprague

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Background: While improving the mental health of college students is a worldwide goal of the World Health Organization, programs to address student needs in the United States are underresourced, complex to access, and frequently confusing. In 2024, the National College Health Assessment found that 21% of college students scored high in severe psychological distress, 50% were positive for loneliness, 11% reported self-injury over the previous 12 months, and 28% scored positive on suicidal screening. Nursing students have increased levels of depression, anxiety, sleep disturbances, stress-related illness, and suicide. Aim: The first aim of this project was to identify perceptions, knowledge, …

Treating Social Media Addiction In Adolescents: A Scoping Review With Implications For Music Therapy Practice, Roman D. Swain

Theses and Dissertations--Music

With the rapid expansion of online connectivity, concerns have emerged regarding the influence of digital interactions on adolescents’ real-world relationships and mental health. Social media use can expose adolescents to harmful content and disrupt the brain’s pleasure centers, increasing the risk of developing addictive patterns of use. Such disruptions may interfere with daily functioning and contribute to negative mental health outcomes. Given the impact of music on the brain’s reward system, music therapy may offer a beneficial approach for helping adolescents develop mindfulness of social media use and strengthen offline social connections. This thesis presents a scoping review of current …

Examining The Adjustment, Acculturation, And Well-Being Of International Arab Students In The United States: Implications For Policy And Practice, Hassan A A Kh A A Arab

Wayne State University Dissertations

This paper explored Arab international students studying in the United States to see whether they face acculturation stress, adjustment, or well-being issues. I found that my sample (N=95) experienced moderately high well-being distress and acculturative stress. However, the sample showed resilience and positive adjustment in all aspects, psychological (M=34.7), social (M=38.5), and academic (M=37.4). Moreover, well-being score from a modified GHQ survey came with high SD, indicating some students were dealing with serious mental issues, while others were doing well (M=42.92, SD=5.52). The majority of my participants were males (74.7%), single (75.8%), and graduate students (50.5%). Chi-square analysis found a …

Talking About Cancer And Tobacco (Tact) Study With Lgbtq Patients And Their Care Providers, William Bowling

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Due to multilevel factors, including a high prevalence of tobacco use, the burden of some cancers is disproportionately higher in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community than the general population. Evidence-based tobacco treatment delivery with high rates of tobacco cessation would be a powerful tool for secondary cancer prevention in the LGBTQ community, yet few studies have explored this issue. The current study aimed to 1) uncover both positive and negative aspects related to the lived experience and treatment of LGBTQ cancer survivors who use tobacco, 2) elucidate barriers and facilitators of tobacco treatment and cessation, and …

Evaluating The Acceptability Of Ptsd Treatment Among Justice-Involved Women In Kentucky With Histories Of Opioid Use, Jesse P. Mccann

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Rates of trauma and PTSD as well as histories of opioid use are high among justice-involved women, particularly in Kentucky. However, there are many barriers to receiving treatment. There is a pressing need for brief, trauma-focused interventions that can be more feasibly delivered in jail or prison settings as well as by community clinicians serving women on probation or parole. This study explores the acceptability of treatment for PTSD, particularly Written Exposure Therapy (WET), among justice-involved women on probation or parole with a history of illicit or nonmedical prescription opioid use. The research aims to deepen our understanding of factors …

A Dual Process Model Perspective On Associations Between Parent And Offspring Problem Drinking, Karallyn E. Fitisone

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Parental problem drinking (PPD) is a well-established risk factor for adolescent alcohol use, yet the complex mechanisms involved remain underexplored. The present study addresses this critical gap by examining how PPD, parent emotion socialization, and emerging adult problem drinking are associated within the framework of the Dual Process Model of Substance Use. Participants were 2,036 undergraduates who completed an online survey assessing PPD, retrospective reports of parental reactions to their negative emotions in childhood, and students’ current levels of problem drinking, negative urgency, negative emotional reactivity, and emotion-regulation difficulties. Structural equation modeling was used to clarify the roles of emotion-related …

What Might Contract Theory Be?, Gregory Klass

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Few contract theories begin with so comprehensive a discussion of method as does Stephen Smith’s book, Contract Theory. In the first chapter, “What Is Contract Theory,” Smith describes an interpretive approach guided by four goals: fit with the existing law, internal coherence, moral attractiveness, and transparency to legal actors.

This chapter in Understanding Private Law: Essays in Honour of Stephen A. Smith, does a deep dive into Smith’s description and defense of those goals. Smith pictures the contract theorist as an observer standing outside legal practice, interpreting the law but not participating in it. That picture results in …

Enhancing Faculty Self-Efficacy In Student Retention Through Teas Reading Comprehension Score Education, Katina A. Ennis

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Student retention remains a persistent challenge for Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) programs, with significant implications for the nursing workforce amid a national shortage. Faculty self-efficacy in interpreting and utilizing academic readiness data, particularly ATI TEAS reading comprehension scores, is often limited, leading to missed opportunities for early intervention. This Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) quality improvement project evaluated whether a targeted educational intervention could enhance faculty self-efficacy in using TEAS reading comprehension scores to support at-risk students and improve retention strategies.

The project employed a quantitative pre- and post-intervention design using the validated Teacher’s Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES) …

Nonfiction Forms In Contemporary Poetry By Black And Asian American Writers, Elizabeth J. Mitchell

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Writers experiment with form inside poetry for various reasons, including a desire for play. Creating poetry is a creative process that involves experimentation. This research highlights poetry that adapts established nonfiction forms into poetry forms, examining poetry published in 2000-2024 by Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander American (AANHPI) writers and Black writers (writers of African ancestry) within the United States. For writers of color especially, nonfiction forms can provide a different way of entering into conversations about race, ethnicity, gender, identity, power, privilege, and authority. This research examines poetry by A. Van Jordan, Franny Choi, Alison C. Rollins, …

Teacher Professional Development Related To Emergent Bilinguals: Teacher Perceptions And Experiences, Courtney Simko

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

As of 2021, the National Center for Education Statistics reports that there are 5.3 million students whose first language is one other than English, or are emergent bilinguals (EBs), in the United States. If teachers are not prepared adequately, they are not able to meet the needs of students appropriately. The following study sought to determine whether or not public school elementary teachers in Southeastern Michigan felt prepared to teach EBs, as well as their perceptions of the training they received. This information is important, as it is necessary to identify gaps in professional learning by determining whether teachers feel …