Digital Commons Network^™

Cartographies Of Black Diaspora And Foster Care Diaspora: Arguments Toward Abolition In The Aftermath Of Partus Sequitur Ventrem, Alicia Boyce

CGU Theses & Dissertations

In this dissertation I argue that global foster care and adoption systems should be abolished because they are trauma inducing and grief producing state apparatuses that cyclically act to destabilize Black and “Other” subaltern populations from one generation to the next. Global foster care and adoption systems have become as common sensical as enslavement and chattel slavery all were as these systems are considered widely socially acceptable, common modes of domination and methods for controlling Black and “Other” populations. I coin a diaspora of community and cultural destabilization called the foster care diaspora (FCD), a theory and framing device that …

Mentoring Latinas On Doctoral Journeys: Testimonios Of Cultural And Gender Identity, Jacqueline Rangel

CGU Theses & Dissertations

In the United States, Latinas are underrepresented in obtaining PhDs that lead to high level professional careers and academia. This may be due, in part, to patriarchal academic institutions and approaches that have historically devalued the cultural experiences and identities of marginalized populations, including Latinas in higher education. However, research suggests that mentorship can support Latinas in successfully obtaining PhDs and disrupt institutional norms and practices. Framed by LatCrit, Mestiza Consciousness, and Mujerista Mentoring, this study sheds light on the experiences of twenty-four Latinas who earned PhDs-with or without mentors during their doctoral journeys. As such, the purpose of this …

The Whispered Crimes Of Sexual Violence In The European And Pacific Theater Of World War Ii, Channing N. Morrison

History Theses

This thesis addresses sexual violence in World War II in both the European and Pacific Theater. Often, the violence of these War Crimes tends to be overshadowed and not talked about. This thesis examines the stories of women, children, and men who suffered from sexual brutality in World War II and how nations try to hide or justify acts of rape and violence. By using as case studies the nations of Japan, Germany, the United States of America, and the Soviet Union, and how they either committed sexual acts of violence or handled rape cases when it came to the …

Wait, Who Did You Say We Are? The Effects Of Self-Uncertainty And Leadership Rhetoric On Group Identification, Samantha Gardner

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Uncertainty identity theory (e.g., Hogg, 2021a) posits that when feelings of self-uncertainty arise, we are motivated to reduce those feelings, and one way we can do this is to identify with a distinctive group that has a clearly defined identity. In these circumstances, we look to the group’s leaders to provide an identity message, and to do so in an unambiguous and affirmational manner. This analysis generates a hypothesis that has attracted partial support (Gaffney et al., 2019), but requires more rigorous testingin conditions of high self-uncertainty, identity-affirming rhetoric used by leaders increases (a) group identification, (b) perceived group entitativity, …

Effects Of Identity, Uncertainty, And Language Contact On Intergroup Relations, Heather Tamzyn Stopp

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Despite sixty years of research examining both direct (Allport 1954; Pettigrew & Tropp, 2006) and indirect forms of contact (Wright et al., 1997), less is known about the power of contact with an outgroup language to shape intergroup relations. To address this lacuna in the research, the two current studies examined two potential contextual factors that may impact whether outgroup language contact worsens or improves attitudes and action tendencies toward Latinos in the United States. Specifically, whether or not an outgroup is viewed as having status and power as a distinct group and whether this perception as a distinctive group …

Mobile Food Displacement And Formalization: A Case Study Of Portland’S Block 216, Marcello Ursic

Pomona Senior Theses

Portland has been on the cutting edge of American mobile food for over fifteen years, becoming a critical darling in the popular and academic press for its role in trailblazing progressive mobile food policy buttressed by broad-based civic engagement. In recent years, Portland’s mobile food landscape has begun shifting as downtown development has picked up post-recession, displacing some of the oldest and most prominent city center food cart pods with others likely to follow. Meanwhile, a new breed of formalized, purpose-built food cart pods has gained ascendancy. Called “food courtyards,” their armored, insulated, and bourgeois character is distinct from traditional …

Reducing Short-Chain Pfas Levels In California Water Supplies, Manu Prabandham

Pomona Senior Theses

This thesis proposes twelve specific policies based on precedents set by prior regulation of persistent organic pollutants (such as PCBs), the costs and benefits of short-chain PFAS, technologies available to remove and destroy short-chain PFAS, and the roles and limitations of California’s regulatory institutions. The twelve policies are chosen to be politically and financially feasible, effective at removing short-chain PFAS from water supplies, and equitable towards lower-income and minority Californians, who suffer the most from the consequences of PFAS and other environmental pollutants. The new definitions, education campaigns, studies, taxes, bans, standards, testing, and filtration systems proposed are intended to …

"God Has Given Women All Kinds Of Opportunities To Serve": How Media Discourse On The Ordination Of Women Constructs Understanding Of The Role Of Women In Church And Society, Ilva Skulte, Kristīne Briede

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The representation of a particular topic in the mass media not only forms the understanding of this topic at a particular moment of time, but also contributes to the cultivation of values and norms in a particular culture that go far beyond this topic. The discourse in media establishes relations of power between particular social groups and (re)structures the way people see the roles of those groups. This is why discussion of a particular case of denying ordination to women in the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELCL), the biggest church in Latvia, is determined by and has an impact on …

The Impact Of Climate Change On Montanans’ Mental Health, Phoebe Bean

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Climate change poses many threats to human health, from vector-borne illnesses and food shortages to injuries and premature deaths related to extreme weather events. Less understood outcomes include the consequences of climate change for mental wellbeing; although the field of psychology examining these effects is growing, gaps in the literature regarding climate-related distress persist, particularly regarding the diverse ways in which people experience climate change-related psychosocial impacts and how they cope with distress. Thus, this study examined the impact of climate change on mental wellbeing through a comprehensive survey that sampled Montana residents across the state (n = 247). Results …

Developing A Model To Predict Bleeding Areas In Asphalt Pavements Using Artificial Neural Network, Rami Khalifah, Mena I. Souliman, Pratik Lama, Omar Elbagalati

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Bleeding can have a negative effect on the performance of a pavement, as the layer of asphalt on the surface can become slippery, reduce skid resistance, and lead to premature wear and tear. Therefore, predicting the bleeding area in asphalt pavements will help in maintaining better pavements, increasing the safety of the drivers, and delivering timely maintenance. The aim of the study is to develop a model using a highly sophisticated analysis tool called an artificial neural network (ANN) to predict the bleeding areas in asphalt pavements as output, with one hidden layer and several neurons and using several independent …

‘Somos Bilingües’: Translanguaging Socialization Of Dlbe Teachers During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Grace Jue Yeon Kim

Faculty Journal Articles

After the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, the disruption of in-person schooling has significantly affected many students including emergent bilingual students. Designed as an ethnographic study, this research study examines two Spanish-English dual language bilingual education teachers’ implementation of translanguaging pedagogies and language socialization during the pandemic through the following research questions: (1) What adjustments did the teachers make to their teaching and curriculum to support the students as they navigated the pandemic times? (2) How did the teachers and students use languages in their interaction in blended learning environments? Findings from the 2^nd grade Spanish Language Arts and 4^{th …}

Cooking In The Past And For The Future In Latin America, Clare A. Sammells

Faculty Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

‘People With Disabilities,’ ‘Disabled People,’ Or ‘The Disabled’: A Corpus Analysis Of Disability Labeling Constructions, Eliza Forrest

Linguistics ETDs

The way language shapes perceptions about disability is a complex and long-debated topic within popular disability discourse. With the rise of “person-first” language in recent decades, this debate has shifted toward a grammatical, rather than lexical one, contrasting forms such as people with disabilities, disabled people, and the disabled. While these different construction types—prepositional, attributive, and nominalized, respectively—refer to the same entity, the purported connotations of each have been highly contested. Despite this, research on the topic has been limited and mixed, particularly for studies focusing on actual usage. By analyzing these constructions in the Corpus of …

Incorporating Global And Latin American Sounds In The Classroom, Latin American And Iberian Institute

K-12 Lesson Plans

No abstract provided.

A Spanish Language Educator’S Guide To Radio Ambulante, Episode 27: Boom/Colapso, Latin American And Iberian Institute

K-12 Lesson Plans

No abstract provided.

Análisis Neutrosófico De Las Actitudes Hacia La Máquina De Experiencia De Nozick, Maikel Yelandi Leyva Vázquez, Jesús Estupiñán Ricardo, Noel Batista Hernández, Ricardo Sánchez Casanova, Florentin Smarandache

Branch Mathematics and Statistics Faculty and Staff Publications

This paper presents a neutrosophic study on attitudes towards virtual technology, with a special focus on the "Experience Machine". Employing a methodology that incorporates the theory of indecision and neutrality into response analysis, the perceptions of 50 university students were investigated. Opinions and feelings were transformed into neutrosophic numbers to calculate contradiction and conduct a detailed analysis. The results indicate a predisposition towards agreement with virtual technology, although notable indecision and a significant presence of neutral attitudes were detected. The correlations and clustering methods applied reveal a complex dynamic of attitudes, challenging binary interpretations and highlighting the need for more …

Two-Dimensional Steady Squeezing Flow Over A Vertical Porous Channel With Free Convective Heat/Mass Transfer And Invariable Suction, Zeeshan, Waris Khan, Taoufik Saidani, Florentin Smarandache, Muhammad Shahid Khan, Hamdi Ayed, M. Modather M. Abdou

Branch Mathematics and Statistics Faculty and Staff Publications

This research reports on the combined effects of heat and mass transfer (HMT) under the influences of the Soret and Dufour in natural convection steady 2D magnetohydrodynamic flow through the boundary layer in a porous vertical tube or duct. The current study is motivated by the significant applications of HMT in engineering processes such as casting and welding. The goal of this framework is to explore the assisting and opposing movements with HMT above a vertical porous channel under the influence of invariant suction and fluid dissipation which have not been reported in the earlier studies. The governing flow equations …

Progress In Physics: Twentieth Year Of Publication, Florentin Smarandache, Andreas Ries, Pierre Millette, Ebenezer Chifu

Branch Mathematics and Statistics Faculty and Staff Publications

The journal Progress in Physics was created in January 2005 on behalf of many influential scientists with whom we were in correspondence. The main reason was that publications in other journals were allowed only if the submitter was affiliated with a scientific institution or research organization. Given this situation, many working scientists finding themselves partially employed or unemployed, such as in between research grants, find themselves unable to publish their research results. Even e-print archives such as Cornell’s arXiv required scientific affiliation and still follow this policy.

A Few Lessons From Venezuela: Introducing A New Path Of Appropriate Farming And Appropriate Renewable Energy, Victor Christianto, Florentin Smarandache

Branch Mathematics and Statistics Faculty and Staff Publications

In development economics literatures, there is a known term for developing countries which tend to mismanage natural resources, that term is called natural resources curse. And two examples which have been discussed quite often is Venezuela and Norway. Here we also discuss other countries as well, including Argentina and a few lessons for Indonesia in choosing the next course of development path, especially with appropriate farming and appropriate renewable energy.

The Paradoxist Movement, Precursor Of Neutrosophy, In The Shadow Of A Totalitarian Regime, Victor Christianto, Florentin Smarandache

Branch Mathematics and Statistics Faculty and Staff Publications

Physics thrives on precision, but paradoxes in set theory reveal limitations in our understanding of well-defined boundaries. Neutrosophic logic, challenging the excluded middle principle, introduces the concept of "betweenness" and partial belonging. This article explores, among other things, what is less known, i.e., Paradoxism emerged as a radical artistic and literary movement in Romania during the late 1980s and continues even today. It arose within the stifling and highly controlled environment of Nicolae Ceaușescu's socialist regime, offering a rebellious outlet and a means to subvert the prevailing ideology. Understanding the Paradoxist Movement necessitates a contextual understanding of the Nicolae Ceaușescu …

Multi-Criteria Group Decision-Making With Electre-Iii Method For Selection Of Female Spouse In Pythagorean Neutrosophic Environment, Rajesh Kumar Saini, Ashik Ahirwar, Florentin Smarandache, Mukesh Kushwaha

Branch Mathematics and Statistics Faculty and Staff Publications

Selecting a female partner in the 21st century is more challenging as compared to the 20th century. The globalized world, changing societal norms, and technology have increased the pool of potential partners, making it harder to find a compatible match. The prevalence of social media and online dating has also changed how people interact, leading to new challenges in establishing genuine connections. This paper presents a novel Multiple-Criteria Group Decision Making (MCGDM) model for selecting a female spouse using the ELECTRE-III method in a Pythagorean neutrosophic environment. The proposed model takes into account multiple criteria and addresses the challenges of …

Act Chapter 29: Art And Science And Theology In Dialogue, V. Christianto, Florentin Smarandache

Branch Mathematics and Statistics Faculty and Staff Publications

Where does a sparkling idea come to us, so out of the blue? Divine inspiration? I want a scientific explanation... Maybe, at present, with our current level of science, we are not able to understand the paranormal, or what we think is fantastic, but in fact it is real. A reality that we cannot reach with understanding, because of our low level... Are we not perhaps relevant and do we understand the incomprehensible? Some are connected to the universe better than others, do they have extra senses? How can we “gather” ideas from “air”? How does the spark in the …

Decision Making In The Case Of Confirmed Data Neutrosophic Linear Models To Choose The Advertising Medium, Maissam Ahmad Jdid, Florentin Smarandache

Branch Mathematics and Statistics Faculty and Staff Publications

In light of the great development witnessed by our contemporary world, it has become necessary to focus on scientific methods and use the quantitative method to reach more accurate decisions, appropriate to the surrounding circumstances and factors. The process of decision-making and choosing the optimal alternative depends on the type and quality of data that describes the issue for which the decision is to be made. Regarding it, in this chapter we present a study of the issue of determining the ideal advertising medium to display a company’s products. This issue is considered one of the issues of decision-making in …

The Controversy Of Teaching World Literature And The Importance Of Translation In The Field Of English Studies, Samirah Almutairi

English Faculty Publications

For literary texts to be taught in World Literature courses in the Departments of English Literature, they must be translated into English as a general rule. Some scholars advocate for translating literary texts, and others believe that translation as a methodology does not do justice to these texts. This study aims to lay out the arguments for each position and evaluate them. The significance of this study is to show that World Literature remains an essential field and to highlight the importance of translation. This study questions the modes and purpose of translating literary texts. The result of this study …

Community Building At The Programmatic Level: Arguing For The Implementation Of The Pars Model In A Distance Learning Graduate Program, Julia Romberger

English Faculty Publications

Distance learning graduate programs in technical communication can work at building community at the programmatic level as well as the course level. This work might be best done by leveraging the position of the faculty member tasked with administering the program, often called the Graduate Program Director. Through the scholarship on community of practice, this article makes a case for the GPD to take on this role and recommends as a starting point the PARS – personal, accessible, responsive, and strategic – framework developed by Borgman and McArdle (2019) for community building in distance learning courses.

The Flesh And Silicon Mesh: A New Materialist Conception Of Advanced Digital Machines, Joshua Nieubuurt

English Faculty Publications

Digital machines, including artificial intelligence (AI), have long been held as potential agents of social change. From their binary role in cultural productions to the real-world implementation of such, digital machines have typically been considered within the Heideggerian “readiness-to-hand” category of Being. This paper seeks to alter conceptually this dynamic through the use of new materialism and Morton’s concept of the “mesh” to provide a new understanding of the social and pragmatic roles advanced digital machines play in ecologies in which they dwell and continue to emerge. Through briefly tracing the complex intermingling of advanced digital machines in the realms …

Introduction: Autoimmunities In The Wake Of Covid-19, Travis Alexander, Nishant Shahani

English Faculty Publications

Our introduction and the essays collected in this Special Section address themselves to the ruins, creations, and legacies of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. More precisely, we ask how our notions of immunity and especially autoimmunity have changed over the last three years. We theorize autoimmunity in the wake of COVID-19 through approaches that consider the material and experiential phenomenology proliferated by the longue durée of both the experience of COVID-19 infection and the pandemic itself. In this way, we connect our inquiries both to the history of recent epidemics—most notably HIV/AIDS—and to broader philosophical and cultural investigations of what immunity …

Profiles Of Activism In The Lives Of Writing, Rhetoric, And Literacy Studies Scholars, Ruth Osario

Women's & Gender Studies Faculty Publications

[Introduction] When I was an undergraduate student, I dreamed of being a badass scholar-activist like Angela Davis the way that young kids dream of being a princess or a dragon. As a baby feminist and scholar, I admired Dr. Davis for her powerful writing and speaking on Black feminism and class struggle, and her impeccable style. When I decided to apply to graduate school, I did so with Angela Davis in mind, imagining a future career where I meandered in a labyrinth of books one day and shut down the streets in a protest the next.

Prince Basketball's Ambassadors: Virginia Union's "Dream Team" And The Origins Of Integrated College Basketball, 1938-42, Marvin T. Chiles

History Faculty Publications

This article explores the history of integrated college basketball in the United States, with a focus on the Virginia Union Panthers. The Panthers, known as the "Dream Team," broke the color barrier in college basketball in the 1930s and 1940s. The article also discusses the 1992 U.S. Men's Olympic Basketball Team, known as the "Dream Team," and its impact on race relations. It argues that the original Dream Team was actually the Virginia Union Panthers, who symbolized the defeat of white supremacy through athletic achievement. The article highlights the challenges faced by historically black college sports, such as lack of …

香港影視業勞工狀況終期研究報告2024, 嶺南大學政策研究院, 嶺南大學文化研究及發展中心, 嶺南大學「青年貧窮與就業」研究團隊, 潘毅, 梁仕池, 楊皓鋮, 蔡美琦, 鄧立賢

CCRD Research Report

推動影視業發展是港府近年的文創政策重心。影視業較為人注目的是黃金年代後票房積弱和創作自由的議題；而銀幕背後，從業員的處境則容易被忽略。本研究報告兼用定量和定質的調查，深入淺出地分析本地投身電影、電視、廣告、網片等影像製作的從業員的勞動條件，探討不合理待遇的成因，並按研究結果提出政策及行業倡議。

本研究以問卷調查了212為從業員的工作狀況，與44名從業員進行深度訪談，得出以下主要發現：

1）影視業以自由工作者為主，他們的僱傭型態零散，普遍沒有明文及完整合約便要開工，並容易面臨拖糧和其他形式的剝削（詳見第5部分）：

• 影視從業員以自由工作者為主，缺乏保障，面對多種危脆性（見p.26）
• 多數從業員開工前不會簽署正規協議（見p.35）
• 業內實際工作協議的完整度，比從業員理想的完整度有很大落差（見p.38）
• 行業零散度高，導致拖糧問題普遍（見p.47）
• 從業員容易面臨壓價和被資方轉移商業風險（見p.53）

2）影視業的生態和文化令從業員面對不公的操作和「行規」亦難以改變。這些因素包括：行業以人脈為重、行內層級文化較強、從業員願意為創作犧牲待遇、行內較缺乏團結及行動意識（詳見第6部分）：

• 從業員極度依賴人脈接觸工作機會。遇到不合理待遇時，顧慮到自己形象和開罪前輩的可能性，很多人都會忍氣吞聲，避免被行家覺得麻煩、小器，導致不獲重用。這無疑是製造了灰色地帶，讓掌握工作機會的人士和單位可以刻薄對待和剝削勞工，而毋須被問責（見p.58）
• 行內論資排輩的文化仍然存在，底層從業員要對前輩服從，表現出「肯捱」、願意「跟師傅學嘢」、甚至「任砌」等特質，難以反駁不合理要求，勞動尊嚴受損（見p.62）
• 從業員對藝術創作抱有熱誠，在商業製作中亦未必完全以金錢衡量自己的付出，因此容易陷入甘願「自我犧牲」的心態，導致被剝削（見p.64）
• 從業員若遇到不公平待遇，普遍不傾向團結行家一起尋求改變。主流的做法是在個人網絡傳播、私下聯絡對方追討、或放棄追究。多名受訪者歡迎行內發展出爭取權益導向的工會，惟他們認為現時並未有足夠條件推動（見p.65）

3）影視製作市道不佳，令製作預算壓縮，令長工時、職安意識不足問題亦更難有資源應對（詳見第7部分）：

• 拍攝現場有不少職安隱患，頗多從業員曾經歷或目睹工傷發生。從業員工時長、經常在疲勞狀態下工作；拍攝節奏趕急；現場未必有專業人員把關安全，僅靠經驗判斷安危等，都是造成職安隱患的原因（見p.77）
• 從業員連續多日超時工作的情況非常嚴重。受訪從業員認為行內有必要對作息時間有合理的規範，不應犧牲從業員健康（見p.74）
• 從業員認同需要專人負責監察片場安全，但對於如何實行並無共識（見p.81）
• 從業員普遍認為政府對行業的支援資源不足、不到位，應邁向更開放、不以商業效益為主要考量的方向改善（見p.84）

基於研究結果，我們對香港影視行業及政府提出以下倡議（詳見第8部分）：

保障自由工作者基本待遇（見p.87）

• 業界引入標準合約，推廣開工前先簽訂完整協議的文化
• 政府透過資助影像製作項目，推廣勞工友善措施
• 業界規範工時，減低超時、高強度工作的情況

改善工作條件及職業安全（見p.89）

• 業界和政府合作，設定適用於影視製作的職安課程、認證系統、作業指引
• 政府改善職安執法
• 從業員自我組織，維護及推動權益

支援業界發展（見p.92）

• 政府改善資助制度，支援各規模、多元創作
• 增加畢業生支援，輔助院校新晉人才與業界接軌