Digital Commons Network^™

Living Archaeology: A Comparative Perspective On How Archaeologists Can Study And Document The Present, Alia S. Moran

Honors Capstones

Archaeology has long remained a social science that has tended to exclude sustained consideration of contemporary societies in the analysis of material culture. In recent decades, approaches such as ethnoarchaeology and the archaeology of the contemporary have expanded the field to include the study of present-day societies through material culture. Inspired by my involvement in the Thais in Illinois Project, which focused on documenting the Thai American immigrant experience in the greater Chicago area to produce an oral history collection, alongside other goals, this thesis intends to further explore how archaeological practice can be used to understand everyday issues in …

Invisible Shipwrecks And Neurological Endangerment: The Trade-Off In Seeking Asylum - Reframing The Neurobiological Cost Of Forced Migration, Eisha Giran

CISLA Senior Integrative Projects

Forced migration along the Spain–Morocco route represents one of the most visible humanitarian crises of the twenty-first century, yet its neurological dimensions remain insufficiently examined. This paper investigates how prolonged displacement and trauma reshape neural systems involved in stress regulation, memory, and emotional processing. It introduces the concept of neurological endangerment, defined as a condition of prolonged and inescapable threat exposure during forced migration in which stress-response systems remain chronically activated, opportunities for recovery are structurally constrained, and cumulative neurobiological risk persists beyond the period of immediate danger.

To address the gap between biological measurement and lived experience, this paper …

Phenomenological Philosophy Of Psychedelics: Psychedelic Experience In The Modes Of Saturation And Flesh, Michael V. Kramer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This work seeks to develop the nascent sub-field of the phenomenological philosophy of psychedelics. Beginning with a general overview of key aspects pertinent to psychedelic studies, the focus then turns to a general disciplinary discussion of current approaches within the philosophy of psychedelics, as well as psychedelic philosophy—a distinction which is technically deployed. Special consideration is given to the specific approach known as the “natural philosophy of psychedelics,” which is taken as the philosophical foil to the preferred approach of phenomenological philosophy. A survey of the extant literature regarding the implementation of phenomenology within psychedelic discourse is then provided …

Barriers To Accessing Mental Healthcare Among Refugee Populations In Southern New Jersey, Paul Cardillo, Hijab Zaidi, Jacob Trainer, Alison Mancuso Do, Facofp

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

This project examines barriers to accessing mental healthcare among refugee populations in Southern New Jersey, with a focus on individuals with limited English proficiency (LEP). Using a narrative review of peer reviewed studies and government reports, key challenges were identified, including language barriers, cultural stigma, and limited familiarity with the U.S. healthcare system. Findings show that refugee populations experience significantly higher rates of mental health disorders, including PTSD and depression, driven by trauma, structural inequities, and social disadvantage. Effective interventions emphasize culturally competent care, integration of bicultural staff, and community based approaches. Addressing these barriers is essential to improving equitable …

Parlache: The Spread Of Narco(Tics) Slang And Its Impact On The Colombian Lexicon And Culture, Savannah E. Taylor

The Corinthian

The current paper details the emergent use of Parlache, a unique Colombian urban slang, which has become popular among the low-income barrios, or slums, of Medellin and other cities in Colombia. Parlache was born largely out of the necessity for the Medellin Cartel to remain undetected by law enforcement, in conjunction with a major socioeconomic crisis that tore through urban sprawl in the 1980s. Much of its vocabulary is comprised of code words born in the cartel, however, has also been incorporated into popular urban culture in written and spoken form, such as songs, TV shows, day to …

Examining The Relationship Between Teachers’ Attitudes And Efficacy For Inclusive Classroom Practices, Dike Ibiam Dick

Journal of Innovation and Teacher Professionalism

This study examined the relationship between teachers’ self-efficacy and their attitudes toward inclusive education in Ondo State, Nigeria. A descriptive survey research design was adopted, and data were collected from 500 primary and secondary school teachers using two standardized instruments: the Sentiments, Attitudes, and Concerns about Inclusive Education Revised (SACIE-R) Scale and the Teacher Efficacy for Inclusive Practice (TEIP) Scale. Data were analyzed using Pearson Product-Moment Correlation, Multiple Linear Regression, and one-way ANOVA. The findings revealed a moderate positive relationship between teachers’ attitudes toward inclusive education and their self-efficacy in behavior management and collaboration, while a weaker positive relationship was …

Transforming Experience Into Practice: A Portfolio Of Growth, Identity, And Leadership, Ana I. Loli

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

This professional portfolio documents the integration of my academic learning, practicum experience, and personal transformation throughout the Master of Social Work program at the University of Montana. Drawing from trauma‑informed, anti-oppressive, and culturally responsive frameworks, I demonstrate competency across micro, mezzo, and macro levels of practice, with particular emphasis on ethical decision-making, ADEI engagement, community assessment, policy analysis, research-informed practice, and collaborative leadership. Through narrative reflections and applied artifacts—including case analyses, simulated clinical sessions, community-based research, organizational evaluation, and leadership implementation—I illustrate how meaning, context, power, history, and possibility shape my approach to social work. This portfolio highlights my development …

Teaching And Technology: Diagnostic Abilities Of Chatgpt For English Article Usage Errors In Turkish Esl University Students’ Academic Writing, Daniela Hong

Senior Honors Theses

This study examines how the large language model (LLM) ChatGPT can support teachers of Turkish learners of English as a Second Language (ESL) in addressing one of the most persistent cross-linguistic challenges in academic writing: the misuse of the definite article “the.” Because Turkish lacks a grammatical article system entirely, Turkish learners frequently omit or misapply the definite article in ways that reflect deeper structural differences between English and Turkish rather than simple errors. Writing samples were elicited from two proficiency levels of English in Turkish university English courses and analyzed through ChatGPT to determine whether AI could accurately diagnose …

The Priene Synagogue Community And Jewish Diaspora Prominence In Late Antique Cities, Amari Pavati

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The late antique synagogue of Priene, like other synagogues in the region and potentially beyond, acted as an “urban center” for the community it served. I argue that the urban context of diaspora synagogues like the Priene synagogue has been under explored, and that analysis of Jewish communities within their changing urban contexts reveals the place of Jewish communities within late antique society. Synagogues served multiple functions for their communities, some visible from archaeological evidence and other known from textual evidence. The Priene synagogue, for example, was laid out and artistically decorated to mark the central, sacred nave as separate …

Narratives Of Cultural Wealth: Understanding What Works For Underrepresented Minority Students In Stem, Grace Long

LMU Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study examined the lived experiences of underrepresented minority alumni from Galileo STEM High School who are pursuing STEM degrees at four-year universities. Guided by Yosso’s (2005) Community Cultural Wealth (CCW) framework, the study focused on what worked for underrepresented minority groups (UMG) in STEM. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted to learn a) what factors contributed to their STEM development and identities, b) what forms of cultural wealth were leveraged in high school and in the first years of college to pursue and persist in STEM studies, and c) experiences from Galileo STEM High School that cultivated and affirmed …

Improving Semantic Precision In Text-To-Image Diffusion Models Via Latent-Space Optimization And Semantically-Parsed Evaluation, Mohammad Rouie Miab

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Text-to-image diffusion models can produce visually impressive images from natural-language prompts, but they often fail to satisfy the detailed semantic constraints expressed in compositional prompts. Typical failure modes include omitted objects, merged entities, incorrect quantities, incorrect attribute binding, and leakage of one entity's attributes onto another. This thesis studies the problem of semantic precision in text-to-image generation: how faithfully a generated image satisfies the structured meaning of its prompt.   The thesis makes two linked contributions. First, it presents a training-free inference-time refinement method for diffusion-based image generation. The method operates directly in latent space during denoising and uses noun-phrase-aware cross-attention …

Interpreting American Sign Language: A Literature Review Of Assistive Technologies, Natalie Louise Paradiso, Emma Grace Kochenderfer

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

American Sign Language (ASL) is a visually elaborate, spatially oriented linguistic methodology that relies on combinations of hand movements, body positioning, facial expressions, and motion/spatial perception, aspects of which make interpretation difficult for automated machine recognition. Current assistive technology approaches to ASL interpretation are generally within the categories of computer vision models (including deep learning, multi-focus image fusion, and keypoint tracking) and wearable, multimodal/sensor-based approaches (such as smart glasses and inertial-sensor gloves). Within controlled environments, computer vision models perform well. However, when applied to conditions such as non-manual signs/features, signer variability, and rapid assimilation, they falter in processing all aspects …

Propasafe-Hybrid: A Text-Based Hybrid Propaganda Detection Tool, Thomas Kimmeth, Avijit Roy, Vivek Sharma

Publications and Research

Propagandistic content increasingly circulates through online news and social media, where readers often encounter it with limited scrutiny, highlighting the need for reliable and fine-grained detection. This paper introduces Propasafe-Hybrid, a sentence-level system that integrates a fine-tuned transformer classifier with LLM-based technique classification to identify, label, and explain specific propaganda strategies. The pipeline generates actionable outputs, including highlighted sentences, technique assignments, and concise rationales, so users can immediately understand why a sentence was flagged and how each label was determined. To control inference cost, Propasafe-Hybrid employs a cost-aware pre-filtering stage that forwards only high-likelihood sentences to LLMs, reducing token usage …

Stance Detection On Social Media: The Impact Of Doping On Athlete Reputation, Connor O'Neill

Theses

Doping scandals can have a lasting effect on both athletes' and organizations' reputations, causing athletes to lose money and fans to lose trust in the organizations that govern their favorite sports. This paper investigates the impact a doping scandal can have on an athlete's reputation by  conducting a case study on Jannik Sinner, one of the top tennis players in the world, who ultimately accepted a suspension after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs, despite being unintentionally exposed. Using data sourced from YouTube comments on tennis-related videos, a fine-tuned Mistral-7B-Instruct-v0.3 model with a classification head was used to carry out stance …

Gender Symbolism, Emmanuel Joseph Okechukwu

Theses

This thesis, Gender Symbolism, explores how contemporary ceramic practice can be used to challenge colonial ideas of gender and reclaim African perspectives on identity. Drawing from personal experience growing up in Nigeria as someone who did not conform to rigid expectations of masculinity, this work examines how gender has been historically constructed, policed, and misunderstood within both African and Western contexts. Through research into pre-colonial Nigerian societies, this thesis argues that gender was once understood as fluid, situational, and socially defined, rather than fixed within binary categories. The imposition of colonial rule, Christianity, and Western legal systems introduced rigid gender …

The Narrative Style In Abdo Khal’S Novel “Throwing Sparks”, Saeed Hadi Saad Alqahtani

UB Journal for Humanities

This study investigates the narrative configuration of Throwing Sparks by Abdo Khal through a contemporary narratological lens, employing the analytical framework of Gérard Genette. It addresses a critical gap in Saudi novel criticism, where thematic approaches predominate at the expense of systematic analysis of narrative techniques. Adopting a qualitative narratological methodology, the study examines temporal structure (order, duration, frequency), spatial construction, characterization, focalization, and linguistic style to uncover the mechanisms through which meaning is generated. The findings reveal a complex narrative system structured around layered temporal disruptions, spatial binaries that encode social hierarchy, and sustained internal focalization through a morally …

Belief That God Believes In His Servants As Described In The Prophetic Tradition "An Objective Study", Ahmed Bin Mashi Bin Awda Al-Anzi

UB Journal for Humanities

This research explores Manifestations of God’s sufficiency for His believing servants as mentioned in the Prophetic Sunnah. It highlights that this sufficiency represents one of the highest levels of trust (tawakkul) and faith in Allah. The study explains that Allah’s sufficiency covers all aspects of a servant’s life—religious, worldly, sustenance, protection, victory, and the prevention of harm and attainment of benefit. The paper analyzes various hadiths that demonstrate Allah’s sufficiency for those who rely on Him, such as the saying: “Hasbunallahu wa ni‘mal wakeel (Allah is sufficient for us, and He is the best disposer of affairs),” and the famous …

A New Age Dawns On First Street: The Supreme Court’S Use Of Loper Bright During The October 2024 Term, Ryan P. Mulvey, Michael Pepson

Liberty University Law Review

This Article analyzes the impact of the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, which overruled Chevron deference and redefined judicial review of legal questions in the administrative-law context. Specifically, the Authors explore how the Court operationalized Loper Bright throughout the October 2024 Term to emphasize the importance of independent, de novo review, as well as the robust use of traditional canons of statutory interpretation to reach the original public meaning of statutes. The Article also explores the implications of the Court’s recent use of Loper Bright for related doctrines like so-called “Skidmore deference,” the …

The Impact Of Vision 2030 On The Translation Movement In Saudi Arabia - A Qualitative Study, Saad Salem Alshamrani

Scientific Journal of King Faisal University: Humanities and Management Sciences

This study examines the impact of Saudi Vision 2030 on the translation ecosystem in Saudi Arabia. It employs a qualitative document based analytical approach to investigate the developments in the translation activity and institutional support under the Vision framework. The study indicates an expansion and diversification of the translation practices across cultural, literary, tourism related and institutional contexts. However, it also identifies that the rear persistent challenges related to training, quality assurance, coordination and professional readiness. Furthermore, the study highlights the value of integrating policy and academic perspectives to understand translation as a developing professional and cultural field in Saudi …

Genai Agent For Automated Analysis And Personalization Of Drug Prevention Campaigns, Mohammed Aljaafari, Shaymaa E. Sorour

Scientific Journal of King Faisal University: Humanities and Management Sciences

This study introduces a generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) agent designed to autonomously evaluate, optimize, and personalize drug prevention campaigns across Facebook, Reddit, Instagram, and Twitter (X) using a 45,000-post multi-platform awareness corpus. Five state-of-the-art large language models, GPT-5-mini, Claude 3.5, Gemini 2.0, Qwen 2.5, and Mixtral, were examined under six structured prompting families, including Original, Role-based, Two-Stage Explicit Sensemaking, and Case-Based Adaptive Reasoning in short and long variants. Model outputs were assessed using a tri-metric framework comprising the Educational Rate (Edu-R), Violation Rate (Vio-R), and Misleading Awareness Score (MAS), supported by classical discrimination and agreement measures, including ROC-AUC and Cohen's …

Book Review - Language Education In Saudi Arabia - Integrating Technology In The Classroom, Hajar Khalifa Al Sultan

Scientific Journal of King Faisal University: Humanities and Management Sciences

This review explores the contribution of Language Education in Saudi Arabia: Integrating Technology in the Classroom, edited by Al-Hoorie, Mitchell, and Elyas, emphasizing how its collected studies reflect current pedagogical practices while offering valuable directions for future research. Bringing together corpus analyses, case studies, systematic reviews, and practitioner reflections, the volume provides context-sensitive insights into technology-enhanced language education in Saudi Arabia, with a focus on tools such as ChatGPT, flipped learning, and virtual writing platforms. A unifying theme across the chapters is that technology's effectiveness depends on teacher support, critical reflection, and contextual awareness. While the editors frame the volume …

The Rise And Fall Of Fansubbing Communities - The Case Of Autrjim And Subtitling Social Media, Bandar Altalidi, Zafer Tuhaitah

Scientific Journal of King Faisal University: Humanities and Management Sciences

This study investigates the development, workflow and institutional structure of Autrjim, a volunteer fansubbing community that subtitles educational YouTube content into Arabic. The study explores how such online communities manage translation projects, engage members and adapt to digital challenges. Situated within the frameworks of institutional translation and communities of practice, the research highlights the significance of fansubbing as a socially driven, collaborative form of user-generated translation in the Arab digital space. A mixed-methods approach was adopted, comprising a structured interview with the project’s administrator and a questionnaire completed by 58 members. The findings revealed Autrjim’s structured workflow, reliance on digital …

The Impact Of A Metaverse Environment On Technological Concept Development Among Depressed Students, Ibraheem Abdullah Alzahrani

Scientific Journal of King Faisal University: Humanities and Management Sciences

This study aimed to explore the impact of a Meta verse-based learning on the development of technological concepts among university students diagnosed with depression, as measured by Beck's Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II). The research involved 22 students (11 male, 11 female) from the College of Education at Al- Baha University, using a quasi-experimental approach single group design. Depression levels were assessed with BDI-II, and an achievement test administered to measure students' understanding of technological concepts. The findings highlighted the importance of selecting e-learning tools that aligned with students' psychological conditions to ensure effective participation in learning. The study showed that meta …

Auditors' Narcissism And Audit Report Readability - The Moderating Role Of Auditor Specialization, Samir Ibrahim Abdelazim

Scientific Journal of King Faisal University: Humanities and Management Sciences

The current research examines the impact of Auditor’s Narcissism (NARC) on the level of Audit Report Readability (ARR). Furthermore, investigates the moderating role of Auditor Specialization (SPEC) on the relationship between NARC and ARR. To ensure a robust analysis, this study utilizes a balanced panel dataset (2018-2023) encompassing all non-financial firms listed on the Egyptian Stock Exchange. Multiple regression techniques will be employed to comprehensively explore the relationships between the variables of interest. The analysis revealed a positive association between NARC and ARR, suggesting more NARC is linked with higher readability. Notably, SPEC presence moderated this association, strengthening the positive …

The Semantics Of The Counterfactual Complementizer Law In Makkan Arabic, Jumanah Abdulwahab Abusulaiman

Scientific Journal of King Faisal University: Humanities and Management Sciences

This paper examines counterfactual (CF) structures in Makkan Arabic, a dialect spoken in the Western region of Saudi Arabia. It expands the study of CF structures beyond English. It also presents novel data highlighting the presence of a CF complementizer law that is lexically specified to invoke counterfactuality. The CF law interacts with past tense and perfect aspect in embedded propositions, contributing to ongoing debates in semantics about whether the past tense in such contexts is "fake" or "real." Within the framework of possible worlds semantics, the CF complementizer law enters the computation with a universal operator (∀) that quantifies …

The Role Of Optimism And Pessimism In Influencing Learning Engagement Among Saudi Efl University Students, Nada Alqarni

Scientific Journal of King Faisal University: Humanities and Management Sciences

The impact of psychological traits on learning engagement (LE) is a crucial area of research, particularly in the context of English as a foreign language (EFL). However, there is a notable lack of studies examining how optimism and pessimism, as two key psychological constructs, influence engagement in foreign language (FL) learning. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between optimism, pessimism and LE levels among EFL students. Specifically, it explored the association between these traits and the overall engagement of 131 Saudi EFL learners, focusing on their behavioural, cognitive, agentic and emotional engagement. A quantitative methodology was adopted for this …

The Grammatical Dispute Regarding The Attachment Of 'Kama' In The Qur'an And Its Impact On Tafsir (Exegesis) Literature, Abeer Abdulaziz Ibrahim Al Sheikh Mubarak

Scientific Journal of King Faisal University: Humanities and Management Sciences

The issue of the attachment of "Kama" is one of the matters that has occupied grammarians and exegetes; grammarians have differed regarding the attachment of "Kama" in several places in the Qur'an. This study is centered on the following " question: How does the grammatical disagreement over the attachment of "Kama affect the interpretation of the verses? This study aims to analyze the attachment of "Kama" in various Quranic contexts, present the grammatical disputes surrounding it, and explore the impact of these disputes on the exegesis literature. The goal is to propose a grammatical perspective that contributes to guiding the …

Exploring Educators' Perception Of And Readiness For Hybrid Flexible Learning In Technical And Vocational Education And Training (Tvet) In Higher Education, Muliati Sedek, Che Ku Nuraini Che Ku Mohd

Scientific Journal of King Faisal University: Humanities and Management Sciences

In Malaysia, technical and vocational education and training (TVET) focuses on equipping students with practical skills for specific careers, blending classroom instruction with hands-on training. Regarding hybrid flexible (HyFlex) learning, which integrates face-to-face and online instruction, TVET institutions face both opportunities and challenges in incorporating digital tools into practical training. This study explores educators’ perceptions of and readiness for HyFlex learning in TVET higher education. A quantitative survey was conducted with 30 purposively selected educators to assess their attitudes, beliefs, and preparedness concerning HyFlex implementation. The data were collected through an online questionnaire and analyzed using the SPSS v25 software. …

Ease Of Articulation In Selecting First Names, Alawiya W.I. Al-Siyami

Scientific Journal of King Faisal University: Humanities and Management Sciences

Investigating the ease of articulation in selecting names contributes to emphasizing the effect of articulatory features on speech perception and production. It explains why some names are distinctive among multi-semantic references and sociocultural dominance and are more likely appropriate for one sex than the other. This study explores how distinctive features of phonemes subconsciously derive our conception of first names, regardless of rich meanings or morphological endings. It argues that all selected names demonstrate articulatory-easy phonemes. Sex distinction is assumed to attribute phonemes of easier configurations to characterize girl names more than boy names. By inspecting a sample that exhibited …

The Position And Status Of Translated Manga In Saudi Arabia, Amal Rakan Alkhaldi

Scientific Journal of King Faisal University: Humanities and Management Sciences

Manga translations offer a valuable opportunity for studying the complex interactions and dialogues between different cultures and modes of communication. This study takes a multimodal approach and a comparative qualitative analysis to explore the translation of manga in the Saudi market, which started recently in 2021. The emphasis is on illustrating how the link between the verbal and visual modes may be used in the translation process and how much input translators, and perhaps publishers, have in it. The research also seeks to explore the status of this new genre in Saudi literary systems, employing Evan Zohar's division between central …