Digital Commons Network^™

Environmental Migration And Governance Deficiencies - A Topic Worth Attention, Dr. Friedarike Santner

Future Journal of Social Science

No abstract provided.

Technology In International Relations: A Theoretical Perspective On Understanding Us-Chinese Tech War, Ahmed Elbassoussy

Future Journal of Social Science

The massive technological boom that the international scene has witnessed recently has contributed to rearranging the structure of the international system, as the importance of the technological factor in the equation of the relative power of the state has increased. This has led to an increase in the intensity of competition between the major international powers, especially between the United States and China, which has prompted many analysts to restore the concept of the US-China technological war, or what Known as “Cold War 2.0). In this context, this paper seeks to develop a comprehensive framework that combines the theoretical and …

Relationship Between Governments Spending On Education Sector And Economic Growth In Tanzania, James Daniel Chindengwike

Future Journal of Social Science

Investment of education for every government are very critical to promote economic growth for both reached and emerging countries. The study aimed to assess the relationship between government spending on education and Tanzanian economic growth from 1990 to 2024. The study used a time series research design (longitudinal data) using a quantitative technique. The research employed documentary review to collect secondary data from 1990-2024 (34 Observations). The data were analysed inferentially and descriptively statistics. The study indicated that government spending in education had a positive and statistically significant impact on short-term economic growth but no relevant impact in the long …

Awareness And Change In Socrates Political Thought, Mohamed Talaat

Future Journal of Social Science

The research paper explores the importance of public political awareness in Socratic philosophy in relation to societal and political changes that can happen as a consequence. By seeing how Socrates emphasized moral integrity, critical thinking, and pursuit of knowledge in order to achieve virtue. The research tests the hypothesis that an increased level of awareness can lead to a societal and political transformation. The research tackles some questions, such as the steps needed for a political change, the tools to increase awareness, and the role of philosophers and great thinkers in guiding their societies to such a path. Through analyzing …

Orca Annual Report 2024-25, Msu Orca

Steeplechase: An ORCA Student Journal

Quick Facts about ORCA in Academic Year 2024-25

• 12 slots filled for Posters-at-the-Capitol
• 346+ students presented at Scholars Weeks with support from 110+ faculty members
• 28 grants awarded totalling over $23,000
• Dr. Kelly Taylor named University Distinguished Mentor 2025

Shrink: Story Of A Fat Girl [Book Review], Jj Pionke

Disability in LIS (DisLIS)

Shrink is a graphic memoir and graphic medicine title that chronicles one woman's journey with her fat body. Along the way, she educates the reader about the politics, history, health, medicine, and perspectives of fatness.

Teacher Identity: A Phenomenological Study Of The Development Of Teacher Identity For Pre-Service Teachers, Maureen M. Gilman

Doctor of Education Program Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to determine how pre-service teachers perceive teacher identity and how it develops. Existing research emphasized the multifaceted nature of teacher identity and how it developed through technical, practical, and critical approaches. Research overlooked how social experiences and socially held beliefs outside the classroom shaped teacher identity development and contributed to pre-service teachers’ under preparedness for the realities of the classroom. Semi-structured interviews with five participants completing their field experiences in one of two public schools in Massachusetts suggested that the pre-service teacher participants had a limited understanding of teacher identity. The findings …

Modality And Quality Aware Feature Recommendation Using A Large Language Model, Saad Ansari, Mindy Brooks, Rachel Burrows, Ann Cao, Jessica Carless, Rod Graves, Ben Greenwood, James Gundersen, Allen Huang, Mårten Jönsson, Hyuniee Jung, Yuan Hang Li, Nikki Lu, Heather Mcgeachy, Laura Neiswander, Angie Park, Rebecca Salois, Patrick Squire, Artur Tsurkan

Defensive Publications Series

Computing devices provide multiple applications that may incorporate similar functionality. Recommending a particular application for a current user task is necessitated when a user relies on the operating system or a virtual assistant to recommend the application to use. Current feature recommendation techniques rely on predefined descriptions and criteria, which can be rigid and inaccurate. Such techniques also do not take into account user preferences regarding interaction modality for the tool to use. This disclosure describes techniques that leverage a large language model (LLM) to provide feature recommendations (app recommendations) accurately and that take into account user preferences regarding modality …

Does The Organization–Employee Relationship Matter? Linking The Organization–Employee Relationship With Employee Well-Being And Performance, Deepti Pathak, Gaurav Joshi

Economic and Business Review

The study examines the relationship between the organization–employee relationship (OER), well-being, and work performance of remote workers who were mandated to work from home because of the uncertainties and health risks brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. This study focuses on the work performance of the employees contributed through positive psychological well-being and positive OERs. A comprehensive nationwide survey was undertaken, involving a sample size of 1289 full-time IT employees in India, with the objective of determining the impact of well-being on individual work performance. Results from the analyses indicate that though the employees with limited experience of work from …

St. Louis, Missouri’S Gayborhood And Washington, Dc’S Black Lives Matter Plaza: Revealing The Healing Potential Of Resistance Stories That Are Grounded In Place, Ryan R. Lindsay, Lotte I. Lent, Ackesha J. Patrick

Dissertations

Oppressed people resist, even when facing severe consequences for doing so. At the core of systemic oppression—genocide, slavery, racism, and sexism—is a drive to control and dehumanize. Resistance, however, can serve as a powerful act of rehumanization. From enslaved individuals fleeing plantations to LGBTQ+ individuals risking arrest to gather in mid-20th-century bars, resistance reclaims power and autonomy under oppressive regimes. This study applies South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) “four truths” framework—comprising forensic, personal, social, and healing truths—to the interpretation of contested heritage sites. We argue that sites commemorating resistance hold transformative potential for individual and community healing. Using …

Variable Natural Language Translator For Video Games, Gabriel Bernini, Cole Propach

Computer Science and Engineering Senior Theses

In the field of video games, developers work to immerse players in a variety of ways. In one genre of video games, 2D exploration, or Metroidvania as its colloquially known, developers try to immerse players by letting them explore large worlds with the hope to overcome isolation. Often these worlds are sparse or dead worlds where the player is alone, but by exploring more of the world familiarity with the space is achieved and this isolation can be overcome. We hope to innovate in this genre by utilizing a new way to simulate and overcome this isolation, through language learning. …

2025 Denominational Survey Results, Calvin University

CRCNA Denominational Survey Results

As part of the denominational ministry plan, Our Journey , the CRCNA has contracted with DataWise Consulting to administer an annual denominational survey. The results from the 2025 survey have now been compiled.

All CRC-affiliated adults and older youth are welcome to respond to this survey as they are led. However, in order to ensure a healthy number of responses to the survey each year, CRC leaders have randomly assigned every CRC church to one of five “cohorts.” Each cohort includes about 20 percent of all active congregations, and each congregation will be asked to engage in active recruitment of …

Lindenwood Faculty Awards Recognize Connection And Academic Passion, Lindenwood University

Archived Lindenwood Press Releases

No abstract provided.

The Efficacy Of Open Educational Resources On Achievement Outcomes In Different Higher Education Institutions, Angela Grace Findlay

Theses and Dissertations

Students suffer from achievement gaps in higher education. Achievement gaps refer to differences in graduation rates, retention rates, persistence rates, and student's grades. Achievement gaps may negatively affect students who are culturally or ethnically diverse and/or have a lower socioeconomic status. The use of open educational resources (OER) may mitigate achievement gaps as OER assists student success through higher academic performance and cost savings for students. Average quiz scores were obtained at different higher education institutions using an Introduction to Psychology OER. The scores from each course were analyzed using hierarchical linear modeling. Colleges were nested by demographics to evaluate …

Compliant Mechanisms For Scalable Systems And Precision Deployment, Jared Rodney Hunter

Theses and Dissertations

Compliant mechanisms offer advantages in precision applications where size, scaling, and environmental effects render traditional mechanisms inadequate or likely to fail. However, designing compliant mechanisms and integrating them into larger, more complex systems remains a challenging problem. This thesis presents work that addresses this issue with analytical models and experiments on flat springs, scalable compliant mechanisms, and origami arrays. Storing and releasing energy in tiny, flat compliant mechanisms opens the door for the design of innovative actuators and products in space-constrained situations. Scaling compliant mechanisms allows novel systems to be made that can operate across scales. By designing for scalability …

Accessible And Inclusive Pathways To Higher Education: Outcomes From A Pilot Feasibility Study Of Irish Transition-Year Student Participation With University Pre-College Courses, Susan Lynott, Charlie Cullen, Kevin Mellon

Irish Journal of Academic Practice

The TYDE programme is a college-in-school initiative which aims to develop partnerships between Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin) and local schools. It provides second-level students with an authentic experience of what is required to succeed in university programmes within the familiar environment of school. This experience supports students in transitioning from secondary school to university life, encourages participation, and supports good college and career choices. Transition-year students (15–16 year-olds) take core university modules from engineering programmes running at TU Dublin. The students get to experience first-year modules under the same conditions as college students. In this paper we present the …

Human Gut Commensal Alistipes Timonensis Modulates The Host Lipidome And Delivers Anti-Inflammatory Outer Membrane Vesicles To Suppress Colitis In An Il10-Deficient Mouse Model, Ethan Older, Mary K. Mitchell, Andrew Campbell, Xiaoying Lian, Michael Madden, Yuzhen Wang, Lauren E. Van De Wal, Thelma Zaw, Brandon N. Vanderveen, Rodney Tatum, E. Angela Murphy, Yan-Hua Chen, Daping Fang, Melissa Ellermann, Jie Li

Faculty Publications

Correlative studies have linked human gut microbes to specific health conditions. Alistipes is one such microbial genus negatively linked to inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). However, the protective role of Alistipes in IBD is understudied, and the underlying molecular mechanisms remain unknown. In this study, colonization of Il10-deficient mice with Alistipes timonensis DSM 27924 delays colitis development. Colonization does not significantly alter the gut microbiome composition, but instead shifts the host plasma lipidome, increasing phosphatidic acids while decreasing triglycerides. Outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) derived from Alistipes are detected in the plasma of colonized mice, carrying potentially immunomodulatory metabolites into the …

Preserving The Past: Creating And Keeping An Archive Of The History Of Park Hill Baptist Church In North Little Rock, Arkansas, Jessica Ann Gates

Theses and Dissertations

An archive serves as a custodian of history, preserving materials such as records, documents, and objects that offer insight into people, organizations, and places. Park Hill Baptist Church, located in North Little Rock, Arkansas, was founded in 1947 and celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2022. This paper explores the process of creating a well-organized archive to transform the church's cluttered History Room into a valuable resource. Starting with minimal knowledge of archival practices, I conducted research on how to organize, preserve, and make accessible historical materials, including decisions on what to keep, why it matters, and how to ensure its …

Hollow Choices: The Choice Neighborhood Initiative (Cni) And The Performance Of Participation, Lena Kufferman

Geography Undergraduate Senior Theses

Since HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros' pledge in 1995 to “end public housing as we know it, ” the United States has seen the rapid depletion of public housing stock. Alongside this mass demolition, a new redevelopment paradigm emerged: a community-oriented planning model that requires resident participation. HUD’ s shift toward participatory planning began with HOPE VI in 1992, which sought private investment to demolish public housing, and was formalized in 2010 through the Choice Neighborhoods Initiative (CNI). This thesis examines a CNI planning phase—a stage overlooked in existing scholarship, which largely stresses post-occupancy outcomes like displacement, (im)mobility, socioeconomic integration, and …

Legal Geographies Of Mapuche-Williche Ancestral Waters: Real Estate Development And Contested Jurisdiction In Riparian Areas, Adamari Benavidez

Geography Undergraduate Senior Theses

In the Wallmapu (ancestral Mapuche territory) of southern Chile, river and lakefront real estate development is often promoted by state institutions and developers as conservation or eco-tourism. However, these inmobiliaria projects are part of a longer trajectory of settler colonial jurisdiction, historically materialized through the dispossession of Mapuche-Williche territory. In the Maihue–Ranco subwatershed, this encroaching development are sparking increasing conflict with Mapuche-Williche lof (community), as developers and residents engage in extralegal practices—diverting waterways, denying access to lakefronts, surveilling mobility—that are fundamentally incompatible with Mapuche territorial order (Azmapu).

In this thesis I ask: (i) What spatial and legal strategies …

Adolescent Preventive Care Outcomes Before And After Covid-19 Onset: What Is The Role Of Telehealth?, Sarah Hayden Knipper

Dissertations and Theses

Adolescents are a developmentally distinctive population with unique primary health care needs; they comprise about 10% of Oregon's population and more than half are covered by the Oregon Health Plan (OHP). This dissertation investigated significant declines in preventive care utilization (well visits and HPV immunizations) among adolescents enrolled in OHP during the COVID-19 pandemic and the relationship between the decline in utilization and the rise in telehealth availability. The study focused specifically on the role of race/ethnicity, geography, and access to health systems in mitigating or exacerbating decreases in preventive care. A mixed methods approach was employed to understand not …

The Idea Of Ethiopia: Heritage Tourism In The Land Of Origins, Hosaena T. Tilahun

Geography Undergraduate Senior Theses

Hosaena Tilahun's "The Idea of Ethiopia" explores how heritage tourism in Addis Ababa cultivates Ethiopian patriotism and exceptionalism. Through an in-depth, close reading of the National Museum of Ethiopia, Unity Park, and the Oromo Cultural Center, supplemented by observations at the Red Terror Memorial Museum and Dergue Prison, Tilahun examines how heritage sites shape the political memory of national resistance, revolution, and Black internationalist thought. Tilahun discovers omissions of Menelik II's role in the Red Sea Slave network, encountering museum and archival silences about the internal conquest of peoples peripheral to the northern Abyssinian empire. As these heritage site renovations …

Redeeming The Amazon: Development Discourses And Imaginaries In Manaus, Brazil, Beatriz Da Silva Falcao

Geography Undergraduate Senior Theses

In 1957, the Brazilian government approved Law No.1310, establishing a free port in the city of Manaus, the capital of the state of Amazonas. Politicians at the time argued that such a project was essential to help mitigate the unfortunate economic circumstances the state faced due to its geographical isolation. Ten years later, the military dictatorship that ruled Brazil expanded that mission through Decree No.288, thus creating what is now known as the Zona Franca de Manaus (ZFM, Free Trade Zone, or FTZ), an area with a series of fiscal incentives to foment industrialization in the Amazon region. The Zona …

Youth Activism And The City: An Urban Political Ecology Of Flooding In Porto Alegre, Brazil, Nadine Lorini Formiga

Geography Undergraduate Senior Theses

This thesis examines the catastrophic 2024 flooding in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil—locally known as "The Flood"—through the lens of young environmental activists' experiences in Porto Alegre. Drawing on urban political ecology, disaster studies, and climate justice frameworks, this research examines how colonial-era urban planning and infrastructure influenced the socio-environmental conditions that led to The Flood, how the disaster affected young activists' relationships with their city, and what climate justice might entail in this context. Through (auto)ethnographic fieldwork conducted from July to August 2024, including semi-structured interviews, participant observation, walk-throughs, and social media analysis, this study engages primarily with Eco …

Edc 3100 Social Science In Childhood Education Spring 2025 Syllabus, Ivana Espinet

Open Educational Resources

This course is designed to provide students with an introduction to the standards, curricula, and methods of teaching social studies in a childhood setting. The students will learn pedagogical strategies and develop critical thinking skills concerning curriculum content and the creation and implementation of classroom activities.

Structural Analysis Of The Aileu Metamorphic Complex And The Laclo Fault Of Timor Leste, Banda Arc-Continent Collision, Emma C. Morrison

Theses and Dissertations

This study presents a structural analysis of the brittle and ductile features within the Aileu Metamorphic Complex of Timor Leste, located in the active Banda Arc–Australian continental collision zone. The deformation history of the complex is interpreted from the Permian–Jurassic deposition of sediments and basalts into intra-arc basins of Gondwana, through to the present- day collision of the Australian continental margin. This collision led to the development of the Wetar Suture and subsequent back-thrusting of the Aileu metamorphic rocks northward over the Banda forearc. Field evidence confirms that the Laclo Fault is currently active, with the most recent movement exhibiting …

Virtual Reality’S Impact On Tourist Attitudes In Islamic Religious Tourism: Exploring Emotional Attachment And Vr Presence, Eman Alkhalifah, Ramy Hammady, Mahmoud Abdelrahman, Alyaa Darwish, Ella Cranmer, Ons Al-Shamaileh, Aikaterini Bourazeri, Timothy Jung

All Works

This study explores the integration of immersive technologies, specifically virtual reality (VR), to enhance tourist experiences in the rapidly expanding religious tourism sector. Despite VR’s potential, limited research has examined its impact on religious tourism. This study addresses this gap by investigating the role of emotional attachment in influencing VR presence during pre-, on-site, and postexperiences of VR-mediated religious tourism. A quantitative survey was conducted with 201 respondents who participated in VR religious tourism activities. The empirical analysis, conducted using SPSS and AMOS structural equation modeling (SEM), assessed how VR-mediated religious tourism impacts VR presence and tourist attitudes before actual …

How Transitioning Autistic Adults Consciously Perform Neurotypical Communication, Makenna J. Allred

Theses and Dissertations

Using semi-structured interviews this research explored the experiences of transitioning autistic adults with online communication. Participants shared information about navigating online communication, highlighting specific challenges such as interpreting tone and sarcasm, managing unspoken social norms, like emoji use, and responding to ambiguous or unexpected interactions. Participants shared that misunderstandings do occur in their online communication and how they recognize those miscommunications and strategize around preventing and mitigating them. These findings reveal that while computer-mediated communication offers opportunities for connection, it also presents unique obstacles that can exacerbate feelings of frustration due to miscommunications or misunderstandings. To prevent these social frictions …

Holistic Student Discipline: How A Proactive Empathetic Approach To Discipline Combined With Restorative Practices Can Change The Discipline Landscape, Melissa A. Dunworth

Education Dissertations

Student discipline in the United States consists of a myriad of methods, including suspension, corporal punishment, isolation, seclusion, and restraint. Since the onset of COVID-19, students and staff have experienced an increase in trauma which has impacted the social-emotional skills of students and teacher burnout. Post-COVID student discipline requires a different approach to discipline combined with restorative practices, which can alter the discipline landscape. This qualitative case study investigates the impact of proactive empathetic discipline and Restorative Practices on student discipline, executive functioning, and school culture.

Grounded in Social Learning Theory, Self-Regulation Theory, and Respect for Children, this study examines …

Cinematic Dialogue Capture With Mobile Wireless Microphones: A Systems Approach To Blocking, Acoustics, And Set Dynamics, John Trevino

Theatre Faculty Publications

This paper presents a systems-engineering analysis of cinematic dialogue capture using mobile wireless microphones. Building on field observations and workstation-based evaluation conducted between June and August 2025, the study models the acoustic, timing, and blocking interactions that shape production-sound outcomes on narrative film sets. A multi-layer framework is proposed that integrates sound recording, cinematography, actor movement, and post-production requirements. Results indicate that mobile microphone systems, when operated within disciplined workflows, can deliver high-quality dialogue coverage with notable advantages in mobility, scene flexibility, and production efficiency.