Digital Commons Network^™

Building On Rented Land: An Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis Of Black Women’S Digital Homeplace-Building On Tiktok, Monica Thompson

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) examined the lived experiences of seven Black women TikTok users, exploring how they describe and make meaning of TikTok as a space of digital expression amid algorithmic constraint and platform precarity. Grounded in Black Cyberfeminism, Critical Race Theory, and hooks’ (1990) homeplace theory, the study asked three questions: how Black women describe their use of TikTok; how they make meaning of the platform as a space of expression; and how they navigate platform instability, political threats, and content restrictions while maintaining authentic expression. Drawing on semi-structured Zoom interviews and analyzed using Smith et al.’s (2009) …

Bureaucracy, Bottlenecks, And Bots: Ai And Migrant Experiences At Germany’S Foreigners’ Authorities, Johanna Brusa

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

How can AI provide a meaningful tool in migration management for the German government? Seeking highly-skilled migrants and overburdened by mass migration, the German government is turning to AI to generate solutions to bureaucratic overload in the Ausländerbehörden (ABH, the Foreigners’ Authorities), the Federal Republic's administrative system for managing the processing of migration. AI promises to ease the bureaucratic burden on civil servants, but can it improve migrants' experiences in their interactions with the ABH? And, critically for the German state, could it help convince highly-skilled workers to make Germany their home? Analyzing 530 Google reviews of six different ABH …

Materializing The Interface: Personal Data Feeds Generative Art, Erin Livingston

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Materializing the Interface: Personal Data Feeds Generative Art is a data-studio capstone project that reconstructs elements of desktop and mobile interfaces as handmade mixed-media artifacts, then digitizes them as an interactive website where generative text and images are fed by personal data flows. Twenty-one paper collage windows — built from cardstock, risograph-printed paper, and mixed media — were photographed, digitized, and activated using code to become the interactive surface of a desktop view driven by browser history. A corresponding mobile view renders a corpus of 500 Instagram advertisement screenshots through a risograph print aesthetic, fed by a hand-tagged emotion and …

Aphrodite In Movement And Miniature: Knidian Statuettes Of The Ancient And Modern, Jacqueline M. Lewis

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis examines Hellenistic statuettes of the Knidian Aphrodite as independent works of art with distinct ancient contexts and modern collecting histories. Drawing on archaeological evidence from Delos, archival and public records from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and a comparative framework that places Hellenistic and modern collecting cultures in dialogue, this thesis aims to present the Knidia within the dynamic, interactive history of statuettes. Evaluated on its own terms rather than in relation to a lost original, Knidian Aphrodite statuettes illuminate both the richness of Hellenistic domestic religious life and …

“A Chill Wind Sweeps The High Places”: Audre Lorde’S And June Jordan’S Black Feminist Pedagogies For Remaking Higher Education, Maddie Albanese

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In this paper, I center the University as one site for radical pedagogy towards social justice.  This paper examines texts written on anti-racist, anti-sexist educational movements within the City University of New York, as well as archival materials from CUNY professors on the topic of radical, social justice-oriented learning. Conor Tomás Reed’s 2023 book New York Liberation School is one recent text on how CUNY activists dismantled the distinction between the University and its surrounding community, inextricably linking academic work with social-political activism. I take his extensive history of CUNY in tandem with various pedagogies developed by CUNY feminist educators …

An Absolute Manner Of Seeing: Flaubert, 1848, And The Development Of Modernist Style, Nicholas Olson

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation examines Gustave Flaubert’s Sentimental Education as a key work in the emergence of literary Modernism from the tradition of Realism. I begin by exploring the intellectual background of Realism in the works of Honoré de Balzac and the ties between this aesthetic theory and the theory of representative government: here I discuss the work of François Guizot, Friedrich Schiller, Friedrich Schlegel, J.W. Goethe, and Walter Scott as well as later thinkers like György Lukács, Pierre Bourdieu, Jürgen Habermas, and Jacques Rancière. From this, I demonstrate a commonly held theory of the social as a discreet totality, which makes …

Whitney Extension Problem For Fractional Sobolev Spaces And Besov Spaces, Han Li

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In the dissertation, we go through the development of the Whitney extension problem and prove a type of results for the Whitney extension problem for homogeneous fractional Sobolev spaces and homogeneous Besov spaces.

This dissertation consists of four chapters:

Chapter 1: We recall the history of the Whitney extension problem and talk about some early works which have been done for the Whitney extension problem. We also mention our new results.

Chapter 2: We introduce some basic notations, definitions and preliminary results.

Chapter 3: We show the existence of a bounded linear extension operator for homogeneous fractional Sobolev space L …

Supramolecular Assembly In Short Peptide Systems For Selective Metabolite Recognition And Drug Nanoencapsulation, Maithreyi Ramakrishnan

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Short peptides can form adaptive supramolecular assemblies, and understanding how minimal sequences organize around neurometabolites or hydrophobic cancer drugs enables the rational design of functional materials. This thesis combines molecular dynamics with experimental validation to establish design rules linking peptide sequence to emergent structure and function. Chapter 1 outlines the molecular determinants governing peptide assembly. Chapter 2 reviews computational workflows that reveal sequence-dependent conformations and supramolecular organization. Chapter 3 applies these principles to Dynamic Peptide Libraries which identify tetrapeptides that selectively interact with neurometabolites. Chapter 4 extends the same interaction-driven framework to design tryptophan-rich pentapeptides that co-assemble with kinase inhibitors …

Le Féminin-Fantastique: Entre Construction Symbolique Et Figuration De L’Altérité. Étude Des Figures Féminines Surnaturelles Dans La Littérature Fantastique Française Du Xixe Siècle, Ivana Prelevic

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation examines the féminin-fantastique in nineteenth-century French literature, arguing that supernatural female figures—vampires, animated objects, and revenantes—form a symbolic system through which the century negotiates anxieties surrounding sexuality, materiality, subjectivity, capitalism, mortality, and historical memory. Drawing on theoretical frameworks including Julia Kristeva’s concept of abjection, Barbara Creed’s monstrous-feminine, Marxist analyses of commodity fetishism, Freudian mourning, Derridean hauntology, and Georges Bataille’s theory of eroticism, the study analyzes works by Gautier, Féval, Mérimée, Maupassant, Villiers de l’Isle-Adam, and Nodier. Through three thematic axes—the female vampire, the animation of feminine objects, and the female revenant—the dissertation demonstrates how the supernatural feminine destabilizes …

Reimagining Puerto Rican Sonic Identity: Musical Style And Creation After Hurricane María., Gabriel E. Bouche Caro

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation examines the manifestation of Puertorriqueñidad (Puerto Rican identity) in concert music composed after Hurricane María (2017), a catastrophe that catalyzed a profound shift in Puerto Rico's cultural consciousness. Focusing on four composers whose early careers were shaped by this period—Johanny Navarro, John Rivera Pico, Iván E. Rodríguez, and Christian Quiñones—the study combines close readings of scores and recordings with extensive original interviews to understand how musical identity is constructed in the wake of collective trauma. The analysis reveals that while the composers share a generational bond, their aesthetic practices are strikingly diverse: Navarro preserves Afro-Caribbean rhythmic structures, Rivera …

Que Tus Ojos No Se Cansen De Brillar, Gabriel E. Bouche Caro

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Que tus ojos no se cansen de brillar is a nine-song song cycle for soprano, saxophone, clarinet, percussion, electric guitar, violin, viola, and cello. Setting texts by Giannina Braschi alongside selected poems by Ángela María Dávila, Julia de Burgos, and Pedro Pietri, the work explores Puertorriqueñidad through musical hybridity. Drawing on Puerto Rican musical traditions and the island’s diasporic experience as core structural elements, the cycle constantly shifts styles, weaving together lyrical, experimental, and vernacular elements to reflect the resilience, fragmentation, and diversity of Puerto Rican identity across its literary, musical and experiential voices.

Contesting The Sacred: Ideology And Church Music Reform In Spain, 1850–1900, Francisco J. Legasa

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation argues that sacred-music reform in Spain between 1850 and 1900 was not a unified movement culminating in the 1903 Motu proprio, but a contest between two distinct and contemporaneous programs. The first, associated with Hilarión Eslava, affirmed musical expression and artistic progress, embraced stylistic eclecticism, and sought to rebuild musical institutions, modernize pedagogy, and forge alliances with civic life. It drew on Romantic thought that attributed to music a distinctive capacity to mediate religious experience. The second, aligned with Roman ultramontanism, held that Gregorian chant and Renaissance polyphony were the only legitimate models for sacred music and that …

Quiver Of Affine Monoid Of A Vector Space Over Finite Field, James Junie Chen Cleary

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In this paper, we study the quiver of the complex monoid algebra CAFF(n, q). There are n + 1 maximal subgroups of AFF(n, q), each isomorphic to AGL(k, q) for some 0 ≤ k ≤ n. Every irreducible representation of CAFF(n, q) arises from a character of CAGL(k, q) for a suitable k. Thus, we study two different approaches to classifying the characters of CAGL(k, q). Next, we compute the full quiver Q(CAFF(n, q)). Finally, we show that this quiver is a disjoint union of straight-line paths and that its basic algebra has radical square zero. Hence, it has finite …

Alive And Thriving: Ancestral Wisdom Usage Among Us Based Latine Clinical Social Workers In Psychotherapy Practice, Yaneth Lombana

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

At a time when the United States is rolling back protections to vulnerable communities, this dissertation investigates experiences of Latine clinical social workers in New York and New Jersey as it relates to the intersection of ancestral wisdom and their profession. It addresses how Latine clinical social workers, who incorporate ancestral wisdom in their practice determine when, with which clients and with which methods to do so. This work advances current scholarship on how clinical social workers can combat racism and white supremacy. It highlights resistance practices that have been critical in keeping people indigenous to colonized lands alive and …

Who Is Invited To The National Family? A Brazilian Autoethnography Of Being A Woman Under The U.S. O-3 Visa, Bruna Lauermann

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis lives in the borderlands between Brazil and the United States, during the nine years of my immigration to the United States. Using autoethnography, I analyze the O-3 visa as a tool that controls and alienates foreign women and devalues knowledge produced outside U.S. borders. This visa, for spouse or children of O-1 holders, which are people considered to have extraordinary abilities to work in the U.S. showcases the reasons why one is invited to be part of the national family and under what obligations and circumstances. A decision that is shaped far more by the interests of the …

Elite Manipulation Of Accountability Institutions: A Comparative Analysis Of Cicig And Maccih, Kevin E. Contreras

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Strong accountability institutions are expected to limit elite manipulation. Yet elites continue to manipulate them. This paper shows that strong accountability institutions are insufficient to prevent elite manipulation. A comparative analysis of Honduras (MACCIH) and Guatemala (CICIG) traces the relationship between institutional strength and elite manipulation. The findings indicate that this relationship is contingent on context. Preventing manipulation would require accountability institutions to sustain greater mobilization and institutional leverage than elites. Accountability institutions alone are insufficient to achieve this condition.

Exploring The Influence Of Ear-Level Devices On Adult Perceptions Across Professional, Social, And Educational Settings, Lucia R. Berry

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Background: The hearing aid market is continuously advancing to address the increasing prevalence of hearing loss and the barriers to obtaining hearing aids. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Apple AirPods Pro 2 devices to function as over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids. This is an alternative option to manage hearing difficulties; however, it presents secondary complications related to headphone use and stigma.

Objective: Limited research is available regarding attitudes towards individuals wearing Apple AirPods Pro 2 as OTC hearing aids. This study intended to analyze if people’s pre-established perceptions of Apple AirPods shift once they learn they are being used …

Computational Insights Into Nucleosome Dynamics In Epigenetics Using Molecular Dynamics Simulations, Rutika Patel

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Nucleosome core particles (NCP) are the building blocks that form a highly organized and compact chromatin structure. Nucleosomes package DNA in the nucleus of eukaryotic cells. The NCP consists of about 147 base pairs of DNA wrapped around the histone octamer, with 1.65 superhelical turns in a left-handed manner. The histone octamer is composed of two copies of H3, H4, H2A, and H2B. Together with histone H1 and linker DNA, they further assemble into a higher-order chromatin structure. The nucleosome complex is stabilized by electrostatic interactions between positively charged histone residues and the negatively charged DNA backbone. To effectively access …

Scaling Limits Of Critical Observables Through The High Dimensional Incipient Infinite Cluster, Pranav Chinmay

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

We give a general construction of the incipient infinite cluster in high dimensional percolation, and use it as a decoupling tool to rigorize geometric heuristics for analyzing the asymptotics of observables at criticality. Examples include demonstrating the limiting distribution of the chemical distance and full-strength asymptotics for k-point functions, which constitute foundational inputs for scaling limit results associated to critical clusters.

Enhancing Ecological Validity In Speech-In-Noise Testing: Integrating Virtual Reality For A Multisensory Audiological Experience, Paulina Lee

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Despite the remarkable advances in hearing healthcare technology, the speech recognition tests used in routine clinical audiological assessment have remained essentially the same for decades.  Monosyllabic word recognition tests in quiet, such as the Northwestern University Auditory Test No. 6 (NU-6; Tillman & Carhart, 1966), have served as the audiology field’s default measure of speech understanding.  Modern speech-in-noise (SIN) tests, such as the QuickSIN (Killion et al., 2004), have emerged, yet they remain auditory-only, leaving an unignorable gap between what clinical tests measure and how patients communicate in daily life.  The present study examined whether pairing a standard SIN test …

Imagination And The Self: A Cross-Cultural And Cross-Disciplinary Study, Qianyi Qin

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation is an interdisciplinary investigation of the imagination and the self that engages with cognitive science, philosophy of mind, Buddhism, ethical theories, and a variety of perspectives from Asian and Western philosophy. I address the following questions in three interrelated chapters. First, what does it mean for the self to appear in imagination? In Chapter 1, against certain narrow understandings of the self in philosophy of language, I build a multidimensional model of the self in imaginative experiences to capture the rich phenomenology, drawing on empirical findings on memory and imagination. Second, can the self be removed from imagination? …

Reducing The Complexity Of The Experimental Design Attenuates Trait-Level Effects In Threat Safety Discrimination Learning, Justin M. Lazzarino

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Trait measures of negative emotionality have sometimes been shown to play a role in shaping threat learning, but findings are mixed. For example, Johnson et al (2023) showed that the inhibitory and prospective subscales of the Intolerance for Uncertainty Scale (IUS) were associated with diminished and enhanced threat-safety discrimination, respectively, during the acquisition phase of a Pavlovian fear conditioning task. This finding was subsequently replicated in an independent sample (Kinney-Petrucha, 2024, unpublished). However, these findings and other trait-level fear acquisition effects have not been consistently observed in the broader fear learning literature. Variation in the complexity of or uncertainty inherent …

The Maghrebi Silk Road: A Medieval Exploration, Malak Ouammou

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The Maghrebi Silk Road: A Medieval Exploration is an interdisciplinary historical examination of a variety of intellectual and material cross-cultural interactions and connections between Asia and the Maghreb from 900 to 1492. It primarily revolves around agriculture, sericulture, and immaterial and material culture, with an emphasis on knowledge production and dissemination. In it, I focus on the Mediterranean endpoint of the Silk Road network, illustrating the Maghrebi Silk Road through an exploration of various case studies such as rice, silk, and storytelling that demonstrate the role of and the extent to which these “secondary” Silk Road routes existed and were …

The History Of The Constitution Is Our Future., Maggie Blackhawk

Michigan Law Review

The Constitution of the United States establishes a government; it also stands as the fundamental law of a people. It shapes daily life, distributes power, and sets a direction for the future. And yet when we ask about the reach and meaning of the Constitution, we are increasingly told to look backward. The answers to our future are said to lie in the past.

Jurisdictional Waters, Jamison E. Colburn

Michigan Law Review

A review of Waters of the United States: POTUS, SCOTUS, WOTUS, and the Politics of a National Resource. By Royal C. Gardner.

The Ethics Of Cultural Safety: Amish Healthcare, Culture, And Faith, Ellen Keyser

Presentations

Despite representing a substantial and growing patient population in the American Midwest, practices and cultural frameworks within the Plain, Anabaptist and Pietist traditions are often unfamiliar to clinicians in the US, resulting in cultural friction and ethical challenges. This Brown Bag Workshop aims to familiarize participants with practices and cultural frameworks within these communities, dispel misconceptions and provide space for exploration of questions. We will discuss the languages, cultures and broad diversity of these communities in the Midwest, and the minority experience of Amish and Anabaptist culture and faith in the healthcare space. Participants will explore their own experiences and …

4‑H Efforts Toward Demographic Representation, 1980–2025: Next Directions (Part 2), Jeremy Elliott-Engel, Jeff Wayne Howard

Journal of Youth Development

This article builds on Part 1 of this study, a state-of-the-art review that synthesizes 45 years of scholarship (1980–2025) on 4-H’s efforts to equitably serve a demographically representative youth population (see Elliott-Engel & Howard, 2026). This article examines the findings that draw from the previously discussed 99 articles and provides the next directions for achieving a demographically representative 4-H program by synthesizing crosscutting themes from 45 years of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging scholarship. Despite meaningful progress, persistent gaps remain in participation, professional readiness, and systemlevel integration. Our review highlights the need for culturally responsive recruitment, familycentered engagement, and program …

Tangerine, Owen Stokes

Intertidal

No abstract provided.

Memoir Of A Fruitfly, Arjun Ramanthan

Intertidal

No abstract provided.

My Bones, E J. C

Intertidal

No abstract provided.