Digital Commons Network^™

Shared Equity Leadership In An Offshore Medical School: Distributing Responsibility For Equity, Vishal B. Surender, Sreekrishna Penna, Oluwabusola Osimosu

Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education

This essay applies the Shared Equity Leadership (SEL) framework to an offshore MD program at a private Caribbean medical school where students complete basic sciences on an island and clinical clerkships across multiple international sites. Using SEL scholarship and de-identified institutional data, we ask how equity work is currently distributed, where gaps emerge in assessment, remediation, and mobility for historically underrepresented students in medicine, and how responsibility for equity might be more deliberately shared. The Woven model of SEL provides a lens to map existing structures like curriculum committees, CQI dashboards, advising systems, and clinical site partnerships. We propose a …

Reimagining Global Dei Through Adaptive Leadership: A Framework For Advancing Racial Equity In International Higher Education Partnerships, Briana C. Edwards

Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education

Abstract

As internationalization in higher education expands through transnational research, global curricula, humanitarian training programs, and faculty mobility, discourses on diversity often remain Western-centered and detached from lived realities of structural inequity. This paper argues that adaptive leadership, grounded in mobilizing communities to confront systemic challenges in complex and uncertain environments, provides a useful pathway for rebuilding global DEI with racial equity at the center (Heifetz et al., 2009). Drawing from practice-based insight in global health, humanitarian workforce systems, HBCU models of global engagement, and higher education HR structures, the paper interrogates how colonial legacies, racial hierarchies, anti-DEI political climates, …

Knowledge Dilution And Tinted Pedagogical Dissemination: A Call For De-Colonizing Commercial Textbooks In Teacher Education For International Students, S. A. N. Zaidi, Cherian, F.V.

Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education

Abstract

This qualitative study examines how commercially produced textbooks mediate professor agency and shape the racialized and epistemic positioning of international students within a Canadian Teacher Education program. Situated within the internationalization of higher education, the study interrogates how textbook-driven curricular practices reproduce racial hierarchies, Eurocentric knowledge systems, and epistemic exclusion. The study responds to ongoing debates on race, racism, and racialization by examining how knowledge production and dissemination in classrooms may marginalize the lived experiences and intellectual contributions of international and racialized students. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and document analysis in programs serving racialized and international students. …

Resistance, Rebuttal And Risk: Exploring Black International Students’ Perceptions Of Racial Justice Organizing In Western Canada., Prof-Collins Ifeonu

Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education

Based on 40 interviews, this study develops a three-fold typology that captures the heterogeneous nature of Black international students’ political engagement. Drawing on diasporic consciousness, I show how students negotiate their relationship to racial justice movements through race, ethnic identity, nationality, and temporary legal status. The findings underscore the need for a more nuanced understanding of Black students’ political subjectivities and brings attention to the incessant striving for personal belonging that these students undergo in their experiences of foreign study.

Contradiction And Critical Consciousness: Engaging Canadian University Students In Racial Dialogue On Anti-Chinese Racism, Dan Cui

Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education

This study examines how Canadian university students perceived and engaged with anti-Chinese racism during the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on grounded theory and interviews and written reflections from 28 undergraduates at a predominantly White university, the study analyzes students’ contradictory understandings of racism shaped by media, national narratives, and prior educational experiences. Informed by Bourdieu’s concept of habitus, it conceptualizes these tensions as a contradictory racialized habitus, in which awareness and denial, empathy and distancing, coexist. Three themes emerged: contradictory orientations toward anti-Chinese racism, the transnational influence of U.S. political discourse, and the limited transformative impact of a social justice course. …

Old Wine New Bottles: Racial Microaggressions Experiences Of Black African International Students In England, Solomon A. Zewolde

Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education

Despite increasing attention to inequality in higher education, the everyday experiences of Black students and how they navigate racialized environments remain underexplored. This study examined Black African international undergraduates’ experiences of racial microaggression and their coping strategies in the context of higher education in England. Drawing on Critical Race Theory, a qualitative approach was used to analyze the accounts of 16 undergraduates studying in 11 English universities.  Findings indicate that students experienced racialized challenges along two interrelated dimensions: identity-based marginalization (including assumptions of poor/inferior previous education in Africa and pathologizing discourse) and social exclusion (including devaluation of classroom contributions, invisibility, …

The Prevalence And Landscape Of Accent Reduction Programs At Us Institutions Of Higher Education, Sandra Greene, Katie Hopkins, Melissa Whatley, Christina W Yao

Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education

Many institutions offering accent reduction programs claim they help international staff and students modify their accent, thereby helping them be more successful within the context of higher education. Despite accent reduction programs being labeled as predatorial, deficit-laden, and pathologizing of accents, programs continue to proliferate on college campuses while perpetuating English language dominance, linguistic racism, and the hierarchization of Englishes. Yet, there is limited research on the scope of these programs within higher education. This descriptive study, informed by QuantCrit, adds to the existing literature by highlighting the landscape and characteristics of the approximately 9% of institutions of higher education …

Inter(Sectional)(National): Modeling Belonging And Campus Climate Among Asian International Students’ Identities, Yun-Han Weng, Ionell Jay Terogo, Laura S. Dahl

Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education

International students’ belonging in U.S. higher education is shaped by institutional climates that are both racialized and internationalized, yet few quantitative studies model these dimensions simultaneously. Using data from the Assessment of Collegiate Residential Environments and Outcomes, we examine how campus nationality and racial climates relate to Asian international students’ sense of belonging, and whether these relationships vary by intersecting identities. We examine how campus nationality and racial climates relate to Asian international students’ sense of belonging (n = 763). Measurement model comparisons empirically supported a two-factor solution separating nationality and racial climates once reverse-worded items were removed for improved …

“It’S Very Racialized And Very Politicized”: International Educators Recount The Campus And Local Climate For International Students, Amanda R. Corso, Gaurav Harshe, Chrystal George Mwangi, Christina W Yao

Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education

International educators have served as the primary support system for international students and are responsible for supporting international students through navigating racist encounters often without feeling adequately prepared (George Mwangi et al., 2025; Yao et al., 2019). With a diverse learning environment model as our framework, our study explored how international educators in the United States make sense of their racialized local and campus contexts, specifically in their work with international students. Using a three-dimensional approach to narrative inquiry, we interviewed 31 participants from New York, Massachusetts, California, and Michigan who worked in international student and scholar offices. Our findings …

Transnational Racialization: An Exploratory Case Study Of Asian International Students In U.S. Higher Education, Jia Zheng, Kristyn Lue

Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education

This exploratory case study examines the transnational racialization experiences of 14 ethnically diverse Asian International Students (AIS) studying abroad in the U.S. Using International Student Critical Race Theory to foreground the contexts of participants’ home countries, we ask: What are AIS’s experiences with transnational racialization? Findings suggest that AIS are socialized to the racial dynamics of the U.S. through: (1) the different contexts of their home countries, (2) their specific social positioning within these contexts, (3) the influence of Western narratives across the globe, and (4) their academic communities in the U.S. Our findings advance theoretical perspectives on racialization in …

Inclusions And Illusions: Transnational Matrix Of Subordination & The (In)Visible Hierarchies Among Racialized International Students In Ontario Universities, Shamiga S. Arumuhathas

Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education

This study critically examines the (in)visible racial hierarchies experienced by racialized international students (IS) within Ontario’s (HE) education landscape amid populist, anti-immigration backlash and expanding internationalization. Guided by Critical Race Theory (CRT) and intersectionality, this research employed narrative inquiry with 14 self-identified racialized IS at 2 public universities. Core research questions include: How do racialized IS experience belonging, racism, and institutional EDID (Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Decolonization) in present-day Ontario? How do EDID and internationalization policies obscure or reinforce racial hierarchies? Findings reveal a transnational matrix of subordination: White IS remain proxies for institutional belonging, while racialized and domestic students act …

Decolonizing Raciolinguistic Ideologies In Institutions Of Higher Learning, Chantelle M. August-Mowers, Samantha M. Hoffman

Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education

This article examines how raciolinguistic ideologies shape global higher education (HE), highlighting the intersection of language, race, and systemic inequalities. English often functions as a gatekeeper, privileging certain knowledge systems while marginalizing students and faculty from the Global South (Flores & Rosa, 2015; Pennycook, 2007). Structural inequities persist in faculty recruitment, international student selection, and academic publishing, reflecting colonial legacies and epistemic injustice (Canagarajah, 2013; Quijano, 2000). Racialized and linguistically marginalized students experience exclusion, microaggressions, and limited mobility, revealing contradictions between diversity rhetoric and institutional practices (Sekaja, 2022; Enslin, 2024). The study advocates decolonial and multilingual interventions, including translanguaging, inclusive …

Race, Racism, And Racialization In International Higher Education: A Transnational And Mobility-Aware Approach, Benjamin Denga, Louise Michelle Vital

Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education

Race, racism, and racialization are increasingly recognized as central to understanding inequality in global higher education. Yet dominant frameworks in comparative and international higher education remain nationally bounded and citizenship-centered, offering limited insight into how race operates under conditions of mobility, legal temporariness, and transnational governance. As internationalization intensifies through student mobility, cross-border partnerships, and global knowledge circulation, racialized experiences are shaped by visa-dependent status, differential protection, global racial imaginaries and discourses, uneven or unequal geopolitical relations and institutional logics of internationalization (including marketization, risk management and revenue extraction). In this conceptual article we argue that race and racialization in …

A Rare Sight: Isolated Third Nerve Palsy As The Sole Presentation Of A Non-Functional Pituitary Adenoma, Jorge A. Aboytes, Jose J. Loayza, Ivan Mogollon, Ismael Cantu

Research Colloquium

Introduction: Hypopituitarism results from insufficient pituitary hormone production, often due to adenomas—accounting for ~15% of intracranial tumors. Non-functional adenomas, typically affecting older adults, may present with visual field deficits, headaches, or cranial nerve palsies when extending into the cavernous sinus. Isolated oculomotor (third nerve) palsy is a rare initial manifestation.

Case: A 46-year-old man with uncontrolled type 2 diabetes presented with acute right-sided headache, diplopia, ptosis, and right leg weakness. He had right ptosis, a fixed dilated pupil, facial droop, and right leg weakness. Given concern for stroke, he received thrombolytic therapy with partial leg improvement, but persistent diplopia and …

Beyond The Clot: A Rare Case Of Extensive Dvt And Pulmonary Embolism Revealing May-Thurner Syndrome, Jorge A. Aboytes, Jose J. Loayza, Ivan Mogollon, Daniel Pena, Michelle Lopez

Research Colloquium

Introduction: Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in young adults is uncommon and typically associated with identifiable risk factors. In cases where DVT occurs without apparent provocation, congenital anatomical anomalies should be considered. May-Thurner Syndrome (MTS), a vascular compression disorder involving the left iliac vein, is a frequently overlooked cause of iliofemoral DVT in young individuals, particularly women.

Case Presentation: A 28-year-old woman with no significant medical history presented with acute left leg swelling, pain, and discoloration, along with new-onset dyspnea and chest discomfort. She had recently transitioned to a contraceptive patch and reported reduced mobility due to fatigue. Imaging confirmed left …

Quantitative Mapping And Mitigation Of Light Pollution At Erau, Desireé Robinson, Marcus Flesher, Axon Deadrick, Conner Callahan, Jarrett Usui, Josef Kaelin, Douglas Griswold, Raiden Keefer, Harrison A. Zimmermann, Cole Gresham, Maya Curtis, Ahnika Gee

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

Light pollution is an increasingly urgent environmental and public safety concern that affects energy costs, astronomical research, ecological systems, human health, and aviation. At Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU), artificial lighting from campus infrastructure and adjacent airport operations contributes to elevated skyglow, limiting the performance of the university’s 1-meter telescope and degrading the nighttime environment. This project seeks to quantitatively map and analyze light pollution across the ERAU Daytona Beach campus using custom-built Sky Quality Meters (SQMs) integrated with environmental sensors and mounted on an unmanned aerial system (UAS). By collecting calibrated sky brightness measurements at multiple altitudes and geospatial coordinates, …

Contrasting Coastal Dune Environments In Chile, Aurora Christianson

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

Emerging coastalization and urbanization threats to the prehistoric Concón Dunes and Humedal de Mantagua coastal area of Chile is being investigated by researchers via uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) in "Contrasting Coastal Dune Environments in Chile." Four UAS were utilized: Anzu Raptor T, DJI Mavic 3E, DJI Mavic 3M, and DJI Air 3 to collect various images of the coastal dunes. Multispectral and RGB cameras gather images by photogrammetry to create orthomosaics and monitor vegetation indexes in Pix4Dmapper. Thermal cameras provided images in rainbow, white hot infrared, and black hot infrared schemes to monitor wildlife and vegetation. The normalized difference vegetation …

Bioinspired Lightweight Lattices For Thermal Management And Structural Stiffness: A Simulation Study, Shivani Pandit, Vinay Kenny, Salil Bapat, Ajay Malshe

MMRL-XMO Industrial Seminar

The evolution of lightweight biological structures for thermal regulation and structural stiffness, driven by multifunctionality requirements and ecological environments, provides a valuable blueprint for the development of lattice structures capable of both heat dissipation and mass reduction. Biological systems such as butterfly wing scales, weevil exoskeleton, toucan beak, pomelo peel, and other hierarchical porous morphologies exhibit highly optimized geometries that balance thermal management, mechanical performance, and lightweighting. Engineering lattice structures, including both strut-based and surface-based lattice topologies, offer analogous design strategies that can replicate these biological functionalities while remaining tailorable to not only the functionality and application-specific requirements but also …

Generative Ai For Decision Making In The Manufacturing Systems, Xingyu Li

MMRL-XMO Industrial Seminar

Manufacturing systems increasingly demand real-time, multi-objective, and human-aligned decision-making that existing approaches cannot provide. In this study, we introduce the Generative Manufacturing System (GMS), a paradigm that reframes manufacturing decisions as samples from a learned conditional distribution, replacing inference-time search in the existing optimization-based approaches. Two instantiation examples are presented in manufacturing decision-making, including layout design and production scheduling, using domain-adapted diffusion models conditioned on operational constraints and human preferences. Experiments demonstrate 100% feasibility, near-zero objective matching error, and 25x decision making speed gain, establishing generative AI as a scalable, efficient, and human-centric decision-making engine for modern manufacturing systems.

Convergent Manufacturing Of Smart Metallic Structures, Jinhan Ren, Shinan Huang, Sazedur Rahman, Fotis Kopsaftopoulos, Johnson Samuel, Semih Akin

MMRL-XMO Industrial Seminar

Smart Metallic Structures (SMS) featuring embedded sensing capabilities have gained significant attention for mission-critical applications. Despite the growing importance of this emerging field, achieving reliable and efficient fabrication of SMS remains a challenge. This study presents a convergent manufacturing pathway for producing smart structures with integrated sensing capabilities. By leveraging Wire-Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) as the primary additive process and combining it with complementary subtractive machining, sensor embedding, and metallization techniques, the developed approach enables the fabrication of multifunctional metallic components tailored for advanced structural monitoring SHM). To demonstrate this concept, a structural beam made of Al-5356 was designed to …

Myoelectric Transradial Prosthesis Motor Control With Temporal Convolutional Neural Network Signal Processing, Carolyn Ascha Richardson, Katherine Clark, Francis Genco, Hope Lea, Tobiah Rosser

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

Transradial (below-the-elbow) amputees account for more than half of all upper limb amputations. Myoelectric prosthetic arms, which use electromyography (EMG) sensors on the surface of the forearm to convert electrical signals from residual limb muscles and mimic hand movement, are popular options for these amputees. However, these prostheses are limited in residual muscle detection and movement accuracy. The objective of this project is to affordably manufacture an externally-powered transradial prosthesis prototype through EMG time-versus-voltage readings collected with six Delsys Trigno Avanti and eight Thalmic MYO EMG sensor channels placed along the extensor digitorum, extensor carpi radialis, extensor carpi ulnaris, flexor …

Fatigue And Circadian Disruption In Long-Haul Ferry Pilots: Human Factors Challenges And Mitigation Strategies, Parneet Makkar

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

Fatigue and circadian rhythm disruption present significant human factors challenges in long-haul aviation operations, particularly for ferry pilots (pilots responsible for transporting aircraft long distances between locations) who often travel across multiple time zones before beginning flight duties. Circadian rhythms regulate the human sleep-wake cycle and are closely tied to cognitive performance, alertness, and coordination. Rapid travel across time zones can disrupt these rhythms, producing symptoms commonly associated with jet lag such as sleep disturbances, fatigue, and reduced cognitive functioning. For ferry pilots, long travel periods and irregular schedules may increase the likelihood of fatigue before flight operations even begin. …

Isolation Of Lavender Compounds Via Steam Distillation, Emma Norris, Gwendolyn Flippin

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

Steam distillation was used to extract (R)- Linalool, Linalyl acetate, and Camphor from lavender during the steam distillation experiment. The compounds were extracted via a steam distillation apparatus. A 250 mL two-neck round-bottom flask, a thermometer adapter, 25 mL a thermometer, a condenser, a distillation head, a vacuum adapter, lab jacks, and clamps made up the apparatus. Then the lavender was massed out and added to a beaker with 100 mL of water. Over time, the distillate is collected in a vial to be analyzed. (R)- Linalool is a nonaromatic alcohol containing two alkenes with the chemical formula C_10 H_18 …

Drug Seizures, Entry Points, And Social Vulnerability In The Us, Taryn Eddy

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

Drug trafficking into the United States remains a significant homeland security challenge, shaped by transportation infrastructure, border dynamics, and community vulnerability. This study conducts a spatial analysis of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) drug seizure activity in relation to major transportation entry points and county-level social vulnerability. Using ArcGIS Pro, drug seizure data are mapped by CBP Field Office and overlaid with key infrastructure layers, including land ports of entry, international airports, seaports, and interstate highway corridors. County-level Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) data from the CDC/ATSDR are incorporated to assess whether areas experiencing high seizure activity are also characterized …

Mri-Based Estimation Of The Hip Joint Center In Infants Using Two Sphere-Fitting Methods, Victoria Melendez

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

Accurate estimation of the hip joint center (HJC) is critical for biomechanical modeling and clinical assessment. Common methods include predictive methods (e.g., regression equations) and functional methods such as sphere-fitting. In infants, femoral head-based methods are often limited due to incomplete ossification of the anatomy and poor visualization in computed tomography (CT) images. This study evaluates an alternative approach using MRI-based sphere fitting of the ossified acetabular rim, comparing its accuracy to traditional femoral head-based methods. MRI scans of three male infants (ages 10.7- 12.7 months) were used to manually place landmarks on the ossified acetabulum and the cartilaginous boundary …

Apical-Out Lung Organoids: A Platform For Spaceflight And Cf Research, Valeria Jimenez, Ally Schwennesen

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

A genetic condition known as cystic fibrosis (CF) is brought on by mutations in the CFTR gene, which results in chronic lung inflammation and impaired chloride ion transport. CF bronchial epithelial cells enable direct comparison of disease pathology, while normal human bronchial epithelial (NHBE) cells offer an essential model for researching airway physiology. Realistic modeling of respiratory tissue and its reaction to environmental stressors like microgravity is made possible by the creation of 3D lung organoids from these cells. In this project, we developed apical-out organoids, which expose the apical surface of epithelial cells to the external environment. These organoids …

Evaluation Of Antimicrobial Resistance In Pathogens Relevant To Long-Duration Space Missions, Natalie Brattain, Yegor Bushnev, Mikayla M. Dutkiewicz

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

Antimicrobial resistance is a growing global concern that necessitates the development of effective strategies for selecting appropriate antibiotics, especially in the context of future long-duration space missions, where infection control and treatment options are limited. This study employs the Kirby–Bauer disk diffusion assay to evaluate the antimicrobial susceptibility of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and other clinically and spaceflight-relevant bacterial pathogens such as Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, and Streptococcus pneumoniae. These pathogens will be tested with commonly used antibiotics and potential natural compounds.   The pathogens will be cultured and isolated onto Mueller–Hinton agar plates. Antibiotic disks, along with various flavonoids disks, such as …

Helio: Heliophysics Enhanced Learning For Intelligent Orbits, Kylie Nager, James Kirk

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

HELIO: Heliophysics Enhanced Learning for Intelligent Orbits   Satellite constellations operating in near-Earth space are increasingly vulnerable to space weather disturbances, such as solar flares, coronal mass ejections (CMEs), and high-speed solar wind streams, which degrade communications, destabilize attitude control, and accelerate orbital decay. These disturbances directly threaten mission continuity, constellation availability, and space asset survivability. Current protective approaches rely primarily on ground-based alerts and lack integration with broader space domain awareness, which results in programmed reactive protocols that are often initiated too late to prevent performance degradation and asset loss. The HELIO project addresses this gap by turning space-weather forecasts …

Metabolic Regulation And Immunity In The Spaceflight Environment, Graeme Grainger, Riley Dienna, Astrid Senko, Angela Cebula, Arden Rodriguez Arden Rodriguez

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

Long-duration spaceflight exposes astronauts to chronic ionizing radiation and microgravity that disrupts homeostasis in the immune system and cellular metabolism. While simulated spaceflight models demonstrate altered T-cell polarization and sex-dependent shifts toward regulatory phenotypes, the metabolic mechanisms driving these immune changes remain unclear. Immune cell function is tightly linked to metabolic programming, with effector T cells relying on glycolysis and regulatory T cells favoring oxidative metabolism, making them highly sensitive to shifts in nutrient availability and redox balance. Emerging research further suggests that neutrophils act as metabolic regulators capable of reshaping the immune microenvironment through oxidative stress, cytokine production, and …

Effects Of Human-Animal Interaction On Positive Youth Development: A Replication Study, Allison Pachunka, Jay Jeffries, Lisa Karr, Lena Luck, Bryan A. Reiling, Douglas H. Schultz, Jeffrey R. Stevens

People and Animals: The International Journal of Research and Practice

Interacting with animals can improve health and well-being across the lifespan. Some programs such as 4-H and FFA center around youth interacting with animals, potentially enhancing youth development. Mueller (2014) investigated whether these interactions and attitudes about animals influenced measures of positive youth development. The aim of our studies was to replicate Mueller’s methods and extend her work by evaluating whether membership in animal-focused youth programs moderate associations between interactions, attitudes, and positive youth development. We did not find strong relationships among human–animal inter-action and positive youth development, which failed to replicate Mueller’s findings. However, we did find relationships between …