Digital Commons Network^™

Dipl 6130 International Security, Brandon Valeriano Ph.D.

Diplomacy Syllabi

International security is a broad focus in the international relations field on conflict, war, and instability as states and non-state actors alike struggle in an insecure world. This course will survey the major topics and themes in security including war, technology, and modern strategy, providing a gateway for those who wish to undertake advanced research in the field. The student will also be required to think and develop ideas like a policymaker confronted with an international crisis, seeking to provide solutions to the pressing questions of the time in geopolitics.

Dipl 4277 Aa Global Health, Bioterrorism, And International Security, Yanzhong Huang Phd

Diplomacy Syllabi

Global health issues have affected world history more extensively than most of us can imagine. As shown in the COVID-19 pandemic, international travel threatens transborder epidemics by transporting and spreading diseases globally at jet speed. The growing risk of exposure to infectious disease, coupled with the threat of intentional release of pathogens, creates a situation in which health and security are interacting with greater frequency and intensity. This development parallels efforts to redefine the concept of security to encompass new global challenges. This interdisciplinary course focuses on global health security by addressing the following questions: How did epidemics function as …

Dipl 4253 Wb Civil Conflict And Development, Omer Gokcekus Ph.D.

Diplomacy Syllabi

This course addresses one of the central challenges in post-conflict recovery, how to rebuild a viable economy that is able to meet the basic needs of the state and society. This course examines the economic consequences of civil wars and how states and international organizations have responded to the challenges of rebuilding post-conflict societies in light of weak national political institutions and economies with limited options. Students will appraise the possible tradeoffs that exist in forming governments that can protect property rights, reconstituting viable economies, and promoting peace across national territories. In evaluating the role of international actors (through foreign …

Dipl 4193 Na Eastern European And Post-Soviet Politics, Margarita M. Balmaceda Phd

Diplomacy Syllabi

This course provides a systematic introduction to the main issues in Soviet, post-Soviet and post Soviet-Bloc politics. Some of the topics to be considered are the following: (1) the legacy of Soviet nationality policies and the Soviet planned economy system on the creation and development of new political systems in the former Soviet republics after 1991; (2) the political and economic diversity which emerged within the ‘Soviet Bloc” starting in the 1950’s, and its effects on the development of new political systems after the fall of Communism; (3) the causes and consequences of ethnic conflicts in some of the countries …

Dipl 4115 Na Cross Cultural Negotiation And Conflict Management, Zheng Wang Phd

Diplomacy Syllabi

There is no time in history when the need for cross-cultural competence has been more critical. The ability to negotiate and manage conflicts across cultures is no longer an optional skill set in the worlds of international business and diplomacy. This course, built on cases, interactive exercises and theoretical frameworks, explores the theory and practice of cross-cultural communication and problem-solving. It is designed to help our students to meet the challenges of living in a world in which, the opportunity for cross-cultural interactions is greater than ever and will only increase in the future. This course will use multiple methods …

Dipl 3470 Cyber Security And International Relations, Brandon Valeriano Phd

Diplomacy Syllabi

This course explores the role that cyber security and cyber warfare play in intentional relations. It will examine the interactions, planning, history, and recent actions of states, the private sector, and the international community in cyberspace. We will explore how states and other actors leverage cyberspace to pursue goals and strategic objectives.

Identity And Alterity In A Comedy Series From Santa Cruz, Bolivia, During The Presidency Of Evo Morales, Anita L. Zandstra,

Dissertations

This dissertation explores the construction of social identity and social difference in and through Neo/Los Mismos, a Bolivian comedy series produced during the presidency of Evo Morales (2006-2019), the country’s first president to claim an Indigenous identity. These years were characterized by profound divisions between the Bolivian highlands, home to Morales’s base of support, and the opposition based in the lowlands department of Santa Cruz. This qualitative study takes an interdisciplinary approach to social identity and social difference during the Morales era, drawing on concepts from linguistic anthropology, literary criticism, and humor studies, and tracing connections between Neo/Los Mismos and …

Distorted Burden Shifting & Barred Mitigation: Being A Stubborn 234 Years Old Ironically Hasn’T Helped The Supreme Court Mature, Noah Seabrook

Journal of Law and Health

This Note explores the intricate relationship between emerging adulthood, defined as the transitional phase between youth and adulthood (ages 18-25), and the legal implications of capital punishment. Contrary to a fixed age determining adulthood, research highlights the prolonged nature of the maturation process, especially for individuals impacted by Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). The Note challenges the current legal framework that deems individuals aged 18 to 25 who experienced ACEs as eligible for capital punishment, highlighting the cognitive impact of ACEs on developmental trajectories. Examining cases like Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Billy Joe Wardlow, this Note argues that courts often bypass mitigating …

How Academics & Policymakers Can Collaborate Effectively: Lessons From Using Behavioral Science To Improve U.S. Federal Government Policies, S. O'Flaherty, L. Martin, Syon Bhanot, C. Hall, S. Jilke, T. Simko, M. Steffel

Economics Faculty Works

The U.S. government administers many public programs and services. Creating programs that work requires an understanding of the psychological processes that influence behavior. To this end, policymakers may collaborate with academics who have expertise in behavioral science to generate ideas for improving existing programs, procedures, or policies; to test existing programs; or to design wholly new programs that address societal problems. Such collaborations also enable academics to test new or established theories in real-world settings. In this article, we draw on our collective experience in the U.S. Office of Evaluation Sciences, where we have worked on studies that evaluate various …

Assessing Parent And Guardian Outcomes For The Be Epic, Escape The Vape Program In Rural Southeast Utah, Ashley C. Yaugher, Christina Pay, Josie Hatch, Cris Meier

Outcomes and Impact Quarterly

Be Epic is a multi-component youth vape prevention program for rural youth, teachers, and parents. Annual parent/guardian events provide vape prevention education during a single session. Evaluation results showed that the program led to an increase in parents' knowledge and intention to talk with their youth about e-cigarettes.

Digital Frontiers In Aesthetics: Applying Dewey's Insights To Generative Ai, Malcolm F. Lathrop-Allen

Student Publications

The last few years have seen the emergence of ‘artificially intelligent’ systems en masse, which perform tasks which had previously only been possible by human intelligence. Arguably, the impact of ‘AI 2.0’ has been felt most prominently in the art world — artists have panicked as DALL-E, Midjourney, and other image generation algorithms manufacture pieces which previously required weeks of painstaking labor to create. This project seeks to develop a more critical framework for this novel mode of artistic creation and propose better ways of thinking about, using, and “becoming with” artificial intelligence in the domain of artistry. The first …

Quantum Realities: A Comparative Analysis Of Interpretations Addressing The Measurement Problem In Quantum Mechanics, Adib Kabir

Student Publications

This paper examines the measurement problem in quantum mechanics and evaluates three major interpretations: the Copenhagen interpretation, the Many-Worlds Interpretation (MWI), and the Pilot-Wave theory. The Copenhagen interpretation posits that particles exist in superposition until measured, at which point their wave functions collapse. MWI suggests that all possible outcomes occur in separate, non-interacting branches of the universe, eliminating wave function collapse but introducing an infinite number of unobservable universes. The Pilot-Wave theory reintroduces determinism through hidden variables, guiding particles along definite paths. The paper concludes that the Copenhagen interpretation is the most plausible, balancing empirical adequacy, ontological clarity, and simplicity.

Considering The Historical Houri In Early Islamic History, Vivek K. Rallabandi

Student Publications

This paper examines the question of how the houri (heavenly maidens in Islamic theology) figure into the historical context of early Islam. While the houri have been the subject of much discussion in terms of contemporary affairs, it is worth exploring how the houri may have played a utilitarian role in the growth of Islam. This paper conducts that analysis.

Contract Customization, Sex, And Islamic Law, Rabea Benhalim

Minnesota Law Review Vols. 106:2 onward (2021-present)

Common law has historically deemed marriage and sex outside the right to contract. Yet, couples increasingly use contracts to provide legal rights to the unmarried in a variety of contexts ranging from same-sex relationships to surrogacy. Islamic law, on the other hand, has always conceived of marriage and sexual relationships as exclusively under the realm of contract law governed by private actors. This Article brings Islamic law into the larger conversation on the use of contracts for sexual and relationship agreements. It further proposes that Islamic law has something to offer Muslims and non-Muslims alike by empowering individuals to use …

Platform Unions, Charlotte Garden

Minnesota Law Review Vols. 106:2 onward (2021-present)

How should we regulate social media platforms to prevent harmful treatment of users? Regulators, advocates, and scholars have grappled with this problem for years. Many proposed solutions, ranging from improving privacy disclosures, to promoting competition between platforms, to requiring platforms to pay users for their data, are at best incomplete. This Article begins from the premise that platform problems are collective problems and proposes a collective solution: empowering users to organize platform unions. Much like labor unions give employees a say in in their working conditions even when they lack individual bargaining power, platform unions would facilitate collective bargaining over …

Lindenwood Magazine, Spring 2024, Lindenwood University

Lindenwood Magazine (2017- )

Lindenwood University news magazine.

A Community Centered Culturally Responsive Evaluation Of Our Behavioral Health Team Using Program Theory, Debra Ann Fritz-Fanning

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to conduct a culturally responsive evaluation of our behavioral health team using program theory. This team consists of both school-based employees and community partners. The goal of this project was to evaluate our current behavioral health team practices to determine if we are improving the mental health of students at our school by intentionally connecting them with services. Program theory was used to design the evaluation, and members of the team engaged in six focus groups to create and evaluate the program. The team evaluated three areas of our work: organizational structures, resources, and …

Adaptation Of The Dangerous Decibels Program To Youth In Farming, Whitney Paige Hodges

Doctoral Scholarly Projects & Capstones

The prevalence of noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) among youth in farming communities is a pressing issue, primarily due to prolonged exposure to loud farm environments. Effective health communication techniques that focus on education and NIHL prevention are essential to convey critical health messages to young individuals in agricultural communities. The Dangerous Decibels program employs these techniques, emphasizing the identification of hazardous noises, understanding the consequences of noise overexposure, and promoting hearing protection measures. It is crucial to acknowledge that the effectiveness of health communication messages can vary among different social groups, necessitating a tailored program to effectively inform young individuals …

Accommodations And Resources For Audiologists With Hearing Loss, Joseph Thomas Kraus

Doctoral Scholarly Projects & Capstones

Hearing loss affects millions of people worldwide. The audiology profession strives to help all individuals achieve their communicative goals and needs, providing support and expertise to a deserving population. Audiologists themselves are not immune to the challenges of hearing differences themselves. This project has two main objectives to identify and discuss needs and challenges faced by audiologists, both within their professional field, as well as their educational upbringing, and to highlight specific accommodations that can enhance their professional success. The research phase of this project aims to develop a resource guide tailored to the needs of audiologists with hearing loss …

Safe Streets, Secure Futures: Preventing Violent Crime In The United States, Haley Aleman

Posters - 2024

Violent crimes inflict not only direct physical harm but can also foster cycles of fear and mental anguish throughout affected communities.

This atmosphere can hurt and impede economic and social development. Destruction of a community’s trust in law enforcement can infect other areas of life such worsening economic development. In this, we will continue our evaluation of factors contributing to violent crime rates by exploring the following hypothesis through additional study.

This hypothesis is as follows: There is a relationship between political affiliation and violent crime rates such that democratic states have higher rates of violent crime.

Imaging In The Fitness Industry: A Connection To Body Dysmorphic Disorder In Women, Joseliz Andujar Pimentel

Posters - 2024

Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) is a psychiatric illness characterized by distress and excessive preoccupation with perceived defects in physical appearance that are not at all, or only slightly, observable to others (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). BDD can be found in many individuals; among these individuals are women in the fitness industry. This is due to the idea that there is an “ideal” body image portrayed by fitness industries that provoke women to compare themselves. This study examined a variety of fitness websites consisting of fitness apparel websites and fitness websites, where the models used in each website were examined for …

The Relation Of Self-Compassion And Belongingness Among Adults From India Living In San Antonio, Tx, Usa, John Baptist

Posters - 2024

Self-compassion, a perspective of self-kindness, mindfulness, and common humanity, is a healthy way of relating to self and is correlated with psychological wellbeing (Neff, 2003). Baumeister and Leary (1995) defined belongingness as a fundamental human need for frequent, affectively pleasant interactions with a few other people in the context of stable, enduring, and affective concern for each other. Self-compassion was inversely related to perceived burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness among college students (Umphrey et al., 2021). A longitudinal study among Asian-American students found that thwarted belongingness and perceived burdensomeness contributed to higher interpersonal shame and depression. An increase in selfcompassion was …

The Impact Of Groupthink On The Common Good, Lizbeth Carbajal

Posters - 2024

Irving Janis’s concept of groupthink is “the idea that a collective desire for consensus overrides the realistic appraisals of alternatives and leads to poor group decision making.” This concept is found in most social science textbooks. (Pol, Bridgman & Cummings, 2022).

Does The Number Of Individuals Present In The Water Affect Dolphin Activity Levels, Erika Aguirre, Xavier Castillo, Quinn Gallagher

Posters - 2024

Bottlenose dolphin behavior and complex social structures have interested humans over the years. Dolphin deviation in these behaviors has been measured many ways such as activity levels, space used, and time of day. A study was focused on dolphin interactions with humans, patterns of lagoon space utilization, and temporal factors. Data have been collected at the Roatán Institute for Marine Sciences (RIMS), which houses a diverse sample of 16-18 dolphins. No correlation was observed between increased human presence and levels of dolphin activity. Dolphins did display higher preferences for specific lagoon areas. This variability in lagoon space utilization suggests an …

The Acute Effects Of High-Intensity Functional Training On Inhibitory Control, Julia Daniel, Katarina Carrizales, Amaryllis Rubalcaba, Katie White, Amanda Galindo

Posters - 2024

Based on findings from systematic reviews and metaanalyses, acute exercise (e.g., aerobic or resistance exercise) improves inhibitory control. However, a popular fitness trend, CrossFit®, has not been widely studied regarding its effect on inhibitory control. CrossFit® is a high-intensity functional training (HIFT) program that stresses the cardiorespiratory and muscular systems through complex, multi-joint movement patterns with minimal rests in-between sets. 1Wilke (2020) found that a 15-minute HIFT exercise bout improved working memory. However, the effect of HIFT on inhibitory control remains unclear. The purpose of the current study was to assess inhibitory control after a single bout of HIFT exercise

Assessing Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops Truncatus) Behavioral Responses To Discriminative Stimulus During Dolphin Interaction Programs (Dips), Megan Davis, Hannelore Tampipi

Posters - 2024

Dolphin-human interaction programs (DIP) References have become a popular experience offering humans an opportunity to interact or swim with cetaceans, most often bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus).

● Previous studies on dolphin-human interactions have been centered on therapeutic results for humans (Brensing et al., 2005), guests’ future conservation efforts, and educational efficacy (Miller et al., 2013) rather than welfare or outcomes for dolphins (Smith, 1981).

● Under human care, trainers request behaviors from dolphins typically via a hand signal as a discriminative stimulus (SD).

● Resulting behavioral responses to these SDs during interaction programs may suggest willingness to participate (WTP), and …

Does Field Research Modify Academic Development?, Emily Eardley, Abigail Delarosa, Desiree Martinez

Posters - 2024

Undergraduate research experiences (URE) provide hands-on exposure to the research process but also aid in the development of self-efficacy and interest in research. In the study, students from distinct types of universities (two public and one private) were asked to take a survey before and after their URE. The results of the pre-and post were analyzed based on self-efficacy, interest in research, type of school, and gender. The results showed that there is no relationship between public and private school students and their research interests. The study's findings underscore the nuanced interplay between students' self-efficacy, gender, and engagement experiences, shedding …

Comparing Activity Levels Of Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops Truncatus) During Snorkels To A Swimming Researcher, Sabrina Drouin, Erika Aguirre, Charles Lares

Posters - 2024

Bottlenose dolphins under professional care are provided with a range of enrichments that have a variety of features and levels of complexity at various frequencies (Lauderdale et al., 2022). In a previous study conducted by Brensing et al. (2015), they found that dolphins seemed to be attracted to adult swimmers, but only if they had ample space to swim. The purpose of this study is to examine dolphin activity level under two different conditions with humans in the water. We hypothesize that dolphin activity level will be higher during snorkel sessions than a single swimming researcher because there are more …

A Descriptive Study Of Baseline Activity Levels Of Tursiops Truncatus, Brianna M. Erck

Posters - 2024

Well-being of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) has been measured in many ways, including activity levels. Activity levels are composed of behaviors that vary with intensity and range from floats, breaches, perimeter swims, and aerials. Deviations from baseline behavior or activity level may be indicative of changes in state of well-being. The purpose of this study was to assess the activity level of a large social grouping of bottlenose dolphins in human care during baseline observations. A total of 215 5-min observation sessions were collected for a population of 15 to 18 bottlenose dolphins located in Roatán, Honduras between 2019-2024. The …

How Do Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops Truncatus) Behave In The Presence Of A Swimming Researcher?, Brianna M. Brianna, Megan E. Davis

Posters - 2024

Longitudinal observations of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in managed care provide opportunities to assess behavior within different contexts, which may provide insights into individual and population wellbeing (e.g., Delfour et al., 2021; Serres et al., 2021). Since 2019, a longitudinal study on space use by bottlenose dolphins housed at a lagoon-based facility in Roatán, Honduras, has been conducted. Dolphin behavior and location data were collected with the goal of comparing behavior without humans present to varying contexts in which humans were present. The purpose of this descriptive study was to assess behaviors exhibited by dolphins in close proximity to a …