Digital Commons Network^™

The Crimmigrators, Juliet P. Stumpf

University of Colorado Law Review

No abstract provided.

Borders And Belonging: Keynote Address At The 2025 Ira C. Rothgerber Jr. Conference On Immigration & National Borders, Hiroshi Motomura

University of Colorado Law Review

No abstract provided.

Attachment Policies In Immigration Law, Stephen Lee

University of Colorado Law Review

No abstract provided.

On Probation, Ji Seon Song

University of Colorado Law Review

No abstract provided.

Cultural Genocide’S Surrogates, Anne-Marie Carstens

University of Colorado Law Review

No abstract provided.

Defending Imperfect Victims From Self-Managed Abortion Criminalization: Why Evidence Of Intimate Partner Violence Matters, Sara L. Ainsworth, Leigh Goodmark

University of Colorado Law Review

No abstract provided.

Unconstitutional Cyberpunks: The Dubious Conspiracy Backdoor To Federal Cybercrime Venue, Connor Hagan

University of Colorado Law Review

No abstract provided.

Cyberattacks, Modern Sovereignty Violations, And The Disadvantage To Developing States, Colleen Garcia

University of Colorado Law Review

No abstract provided.

Hyena Den Distribution, Human-Hyena Interactions And Mitigation Strategies In The Greater Amboseli Ecosystem, Katherine Elizabeth Davis Matczak

Honors Theses and Capstones

The Spotted Hyena (Crocuta crocuta) is a prevalent predator across Africa, recognized for their noticeable gait and powerful jaws which enable them to maul and scavenge on prey. Due to human population growth and encroachment onto wildlife territory, the overlap between human settlements and hyena den sites has become a growing concern, particularly regarding livestock predation. Livestock is intrinsic to livelihoods across Africa, with most individuals deriving their livelihoods from pastoralism. This paper provides an evaluation of den proximities to communities, hyena diet preference, human-hyena conflict/attitudes, and mitigation strategies used to protect hyenas, livestock, and the people. Results …

Elena Ferrante: A Borderless Identity, Alexander James Hankins

Honors Theses and Capstones

This thesis examines the concept of identity in the works of Elena Ferrante, arguing that her fiction presents identity not as an isolated, self-contained construct, but as something relational, fluid, and deeply shaped by environment. Focusing primarily on The Neapolitan Quartet, the project introduces “boundaries” as a central framework, drawing on relational-cultural theory to explore how identities are formed through connection as much as separation. In Ferrante’s Naples, the setting functions as a microcosm of broader social forces — class disparity, gender inequality, generational tension, and political ideologies — that collectively shape individual experience.

At the core of this analysis …

Gendered Coverage In Sports Media: An Analysis Of Espn’S Representation Of Women’S Sports, Abigail C. Leonard

Honors Theses and Capstones

Despite growing participation in women’s sports, media coverage continues to reflect significant gender disparities. This thesis examines how ESPN, as a leading sports media network, contributes to the construction of gendered narratives through its coverage of women’s sports and female athletes. Drawing on framing theory, agenda-setting theory, and social identity theory, this study analyzes headlines, visuals, language, narratives, and broadcast patterns to explore how meaning is constructed in sports coverage.

The findings suggest that while coverage of women’s sports has increased, it often remains positioned as secondary to men’s sports. Female athletes are more frequently described using language that emphasizes …

"That She May Bear On My Knees:" An Adoption Ritual In The Hebrew Bible, Claire Ellen Hobbs

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

Flood Damage And Social Vulnerability In Coastal New Hampshire, Mitchell S. Berry

Honors Theses and Capstones

This study investigates the relationship between flood-induced building damage and social vulnerability in coastal New Hampshire, with a focus on communities increasingly affected by sea-level rise, storm surge, and high tide events. Using a dataset of 2,528 single-family homes, the analysis integrates flood depth maps (coastal, pluvial, and fluvial), building-level damage estimates, and a housing-burden-based metric to assess how physical and social factors interact to shape flood impacts. Results show that flood depth is the primary driver of building damage, with the most severe impacts concentrated in coastal areas experiencing deeper inundation. However, when buildings are grouped by vulnerability, higher …

Novel Socially Assistive Robot For Alzheimer's And Dementia Home Care; Lived Experiences Of Families, Audrey V. Downs

Honors Theses and Capstones

Informal caregivers for individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) typically experience high levels of subjective caregiver burden due to strenuous role demands, notably the need to provide frequent reminders and 24/7 monitoring to address care recipient cognitive decline. The purpose of this study was to understand the lived experiences of informal caregivers using a novel Socially Assistive Robot (SAR) to care for individuals with ADRD in a home setting and evaluate SAR impact on caregiver subjective burden. SARs are autonomous, interactive devices that can provide timed reminders and monitor home environments, potentially alleviating some caregiver role demands and …

Evaluating The Use Of Precision Technology To Understand Differences Between Ketotic And Non-Ketotic Jersey Cows, Emily Kathryn Palermo

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

Exploring Biopsychosocial Influences On Hookup Culture And Disrupting Compulsory Behaviors In Emerging Adults: A Multidisciplinary Analysis Of A Contemporary Public Health Concern, Catherine Benjamin

Honors Theses and Capstones

Multidisciplinary analysis, including biology, psychology, and sociology, to better understand the compulsory Hookup Culture that exists as a contemporary public health concern among the age group defined as emerging adults. Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) diagnoses are steadily rising in the United States and disproportionately affecting college students. Early socialization and current educational resources that contribute to shame and stigma are discussed to explain how lifestyle and social conditions can act as risk factors for individual health outcomes.

Enhancing Nursing Education To Improve Care For Women Experiencing A Substance Use Disorder During Pregnancy, Sadie Caddell

Honors Theses and Capstones

Introduction: Nursing education prepares students to care for patient populations by enhancing knowledge of clinical pathophysiology and applying foundational nursing skills to tailor to the unique care requirements of each patient. When analyzing the nursing course curriculums as guides for what is included in nursing education, it is essential to consider relevant patient populations to ensure adequate representation in lectures. Inclusivity of relevant patient populations within curriculums equips students to encounter a variety of patients in a clinical setting. Perinatal substance use has prevalence in the local community of this university, with 6% of all births in New Hampshire in …

Μmodules: A Low-Cost, Eurorack-Compatible Modular Audio Synthesis System, Nolan K. Juneau

Honors Theses and Capstones

The modular audio synthesizer is one of the fastest-growing industries in contemporary music technology. Unlike a traditional audio synthesizer, a modular synthesizer allows for the user to directly control the signal path and effects of the synthesized sound, allowing for a workflow that is completely customizable to an individual musician and their creative vision. However, the modules and cases currently in production for the common “Eurorack” design standard can be prohibitively expensive to new users, often costing thousands of dollars for even a small system. The µModules project aims to eliminate this financial barrier to modular synthesis by using inexpensive …

Metabarcoding Ixodes Scapularis To Characterize Feeding Behavior In Comparison To Pathogen Carriage And Geospatial Distribution, Adrianna Kate George

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

Zero-Shot Segmentation Of Estuary Mudflats Using The Segment Anything Model, Jaren Unzen

Honors Theses and Capstones

Estuary mudflats are ecologically sensitive environments that require consistent monitoring. Traditional satellite-based classification workflows are often constrained by the high cost and labor-intensive nature of manual data annotation. This study evaluates the utility of Segment Anything Model 3 (SAM 3), a foundational computer vision model, to automate mudflat segmentation without domain-specific fine-tuning. By leveraging the model’s text-prompting capabilities alongside specialized pre- and post-processing techniques, we generated segmentation masks in a zero-shot framework. Our approach achieved an F1- score of 0.51, demonstrating the inherent challenges of spectrally complex coastal features. Despite this, the results highlight a promising pathway for adapting large-scale …

Blens: Biomedical Literature Extraction And Scoring System, Tyler J. Simone

Honors Theses and Capstones

Systematic reviews and meta-analyses represent the gold standard for evidence synthesis in healthcare, yet their manual execution remains labor-intensive, time-consuming, and vulnerable to human bias. With the exponential growth of biomedical literature, traditional literature screening and analysis has become increasingly unstable and noncomprehensive. This thesis presents the development and validation of an automate literature gathering and review system that integrates multiple scientific databases through a unified desktop application. The platform combines APIs from PubMed (NCBI Entrez), ClinicalTrials.gov, bioRxiv and medRxiv to enable simultaneous, standardized searching across peerreviewed and preprint sources. Built in Python with a PySide6 graphical interface, this standalone …

Retention Time Of Microplastics In The Purple Sea Urchin (Arbacia Punctulata), Alexandra Shore

Honors Theses and Capstones

Marine ecosystems around the world are facing the problem of plastic pollution. Large pieces of plastic eventually degrade into smaller microplastics that are suspended in the water column and sink to the seabed. Sea urchins are exposed to microplastics as they graze on the sea floor and can accidentally consume these pollutants. Sea urchins are ecologically important animals because they physically alter their ecosystem via grazing and are integral part of marine food webs. To better understand how sea urchins interact with microplastics, purple sea urchins were exposed to microfibers and microspheres in a laboratory setting, and the retention time …

After The Impact: Balance Function In Women With Repeated Concussions, Caroline M. Stack

Honors Theses and Capstones

Balance deficits following repeated mild traumatic brain injuries are well documented, yet research examining the delayed outcomes specifically in college-aged women remains limited. The present study investigated whether women with a history of two or more mTBIs exhibit lasting balance impairments compared to women with zero or one prior mTBI, tested at least six months after their most recent injury. Thirty-four English-speaking women (ages 18-30) recruited from the University of New Hampshire were assigned to a repetitive mTBI group or a control group. Balance was assessed using the Balance Error Scoring System and a MetaMotion inertial measurement sensor positioned on …

Beyond The Stream: Valuing Music Catalogs As An Alternative Asset Class, Amelia Jade Magay

Honors Theses and Capstones

This thesis builds a quantitative valuation framework for music catalog transactions and tests its limits systematically. The goal is not to produce a formula that perfectly prices every deal. The goal is to identify where streaming-based financial analysis is a useful underwriting tool, where it breaks down, and what categories of value investors appear to be pricing beyond publicly available streaming data.

Concord Public Transportation Improvement Project, Jacob Holt

Honors Theses and Capstones

The capital city of Concord, New Hampshire, has been served by Concord Area Transit (CAT) since 1989. Despite continued population growth and economic development within the city, CAT’s fixed route bus system has remained unaltered since 2011. The purpose of this project is to rework the CAT system to provide service that better aligns with Concord resident’s current needs. A public survey was conducted to gather data regarding Concord resident’s needs, habits, and perception of the existing system, which was used in the development of the revised system. The project includes suggestions for both system-wide and route-specific modifications. Key changes …

Investigating A Nanoparticle-Assisted Approach For Localized Strain Engineering In Two-Dimensional Materials, Skye Martichuski

Honors Theses and Capstones

This work investigated a fabrication strategy for inducing localized nanoscale deformation and strain in transferred MoS2 flakes using gold nanoparticle-coated substrates as a potential platform for strain engineering in two-dimensional materials. Substrate type, nanoparticle concentration, drying conditions, cleaning procedures, and flake transfer methods were investigated using optical microscopy and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Au-coated SiO2 substrates produced improved nanoparticle coverage compared to bare SiO2, while passive air drying yielded the most favorable nanoparticle distributions. Salt crystals introduced during passive drying were successfully removed with a gentle deionized water rinse, and a 50% diluted gold nanoparticle suspension provided improved particle spacing …

Exploring Caring Pedagogy Through Self-Study: A Mathematics Educator’S Journey, Kien H. Lim

Departmental Papers (Math)

This self-study examines my efforts to cultivate a positive learning environment in a capstone mathematics course for preservice middle school teachers. Motivated by earlier negative course evaluations and guided by heart-centered pedagogy, I explored how my beliefs, emotions, and instructional practices evolved as I sought to integrate kindness, foster mathematical thinking, and support students’ well-being. Drawing on dialogue transcripts, reflective journals, and reconstructed tutoring notes, I analyzed tensions between content coverage and relational pedagogy, as well as between deficit- and strength-based perspectives of students. Through critical dialogue and reflective inquiry, I gained deeper insight into my identity as a caring …

Creating A Positive Learning Environment In A Math Course For Preservice Teachers, Kien H. Lim, Hilda Y. Sotelo

Departmental Papers (Math)

This study examines how a mathematics instructor cultivated a positive learning environment in a synchronous online course for 23 preservice teachers. Guided by self-determination theory, growth mindset, and mathematical caring, the course integrated high-cognitive-demand tasks, collaborative problem solving, flexible policies, and motivational supports. Data sources included reflection logs (Likert-scale items and open-ended responses) and a focus group; the instructor’s reflexive self-study informed result interpretation. Wilcoxon signed-rank tests indicated significant gains in students’ sense of inclusion and trust, though some instructor- related ratings declined late in the semester. Qualitative findings emphasized students’ appreciation for flexibility, encouragement, and growth-oriented feedback. Despite time …

Reforming Revocation By Physical Act, Barry Cushman

Journal Articles

From the Introduction

In a previous article, I documented the various problems that are created by the law’s recognition of the power of a testator to revoke his will in whole or in part by physical act. That article canvassed five different areas of law in which such difficulties arise: ineffective attempts at revocation; the presumption of revocation; partial revocation by physical act; dependent relative revocation; and revival. In this Article, I first explore the asymmetries within the law of wills created by the persistence of revocation by physical act. I then offer some reflections on possibilities for reform.

Generative Ai For Born-Digital Collections: A Case Study For Metadata Management In An Institutional Repository, Tang (Cindy) Tian

Journal Articles

This case study examines the application of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools, specifically ChatGPT-4o, ChatGPT-5, and Google Gemini 2.5 Flash, to streamline metadata extraction and creation for a born-digital collection within a digital repository environment. Testing four descriptive metadata elements—titles, abstracts, keywords, and full-text URLs—the study shows that AI improves efficiency in structured tasks but remains limited in semantic ones such as keyword matching. Results demonstrate that AI can streamline metadata workflows for small or resource-constrained institutions while emphasizing the continuing importance of human oversight and ethical responsibility in AI-assisted metadata workflows.