Digital Commons Network^™

Frightened Birds: An Exploration Of Insecurity And Its Artistic Expression, Chenyu Wang

Theses - ALL

This thesis aims to examine the root causes of human insecurity and to explore how to live with insecurity, both theoretically and visually. The nature of insecurity is further explored by analyzing it in a philosophical sense and making an analogy with Albert Camus’ understanding of “absurdity.” As a universal feeling, insecurity has enormous potential to be explored as an artistic topic. Creating and thinking from this feeling can trigger the audience’s emotional resonance and inspire more thinking in response. Insecurity is about meaning, about human longing and expectation, about the absurdity that one cannot escape. By analyzing insecurity, one …

Love Or Control? Analyzing Emotional Expression Within East Asian Family Through Artworks, Wenyi Qian

Theses - ALL

The author's own spirited and unconventional childhood defied societal norms, challenging conventional expectations for a young girl. In the name of love, their parents endeavored to guide them towards a more reserved and compliant path. Drawing from these personal experiences, this research aims to unravel the intricate fabric of emotional expression within East Asian families and its profound impact on familial relationships and individual psychological well-being through the lens of artistic works. These themes of love and control frequently surface in the creations of East Asian artists, providing a unique perspective to deepen our understanding of the complex emotional dynamics …

Analysis Of Dilemmas And Self-Expression In The Highly Sensitive Person, Zixiao Song

Theses - ALL

This thesis primarily analyzes the definition of the highly sensitive person (HSP), the psychological issues this personality trait may cause, and coping mechanisms. It explores the experiences and challenges of HSPs, as described by psychologists and authors with extensive research in this field, such as Dr. Aron, to explore the inner world and coping mechanisms of highly sensitive individuals. Subsequently, through analyzing classic films and picture books such as The Perks of Being a Wallflower and All Too Much for Oliver, I observed how certain characters display the behavioral traits and psychological activities of HSPs from an artistic perspective. Finally, …

Under The Lychee Tree: A Journey To Resurrect, Reanimate, And Reflect One’S History, Jasmine Veronica Whitmore

Theses - ALL

In this paper, Under The Lychee Tree: A Journey to Resurrect, Reflect, and Reanimate One’s History, I discuss the history of my relationship with my mother in regard to my artistic practice. This paper is divided into chapters that discuss my influences and the work I’ve made about myself and my mother in relation to the themes of resurrection, reanimation, reflection, care, and memory. I use photography, video, installation, and our family archive to articulate these ideas.

Towards Dignity: Understanding The Relationship Between Food Banks & The Right To Food In The United States, Marguerite Leek

Theses - ALL

In the United States, there is no legal right to food. The right to food is more than food security, it encompasses dignity, access, choice, financial security, and more. Rather than addressing food insecurity through a human rights-based approach, the US relies on a complex system of emergency food providers, including food banks. Food banks most often take a charity approach to providing individuals with food, failing to meaningfully recognize or address the structural causes of hunger and poverty. In recent years there have been increased efforts made by civil society to move conversation and state level policy in the …

6847 Miles, Ze Tian

Theses - ALL

In this paper, 6847 Miles, I discuss how my time in graduate school and developing my artistic practice has led me to my thesis project. The paper is divided into chapters that discuss how I gradually made my work about myself and my family in relation to themes of self-discovery, self-reconstruction, and acceptance of the fragility and contradiction of familial love. I use photography and video to articulate these themes and my vulnerability.

Digital Deception: Geographies Of Crisis Pregnancy Centers Post-Roe, Patricia Simone Yoxall

Theses - ALL

Anti-abortion groups have opened thousands of ‘crisis pregnancy centers’ (CPCs) across the country that deceive pregnant people in order to discourage or outright prevent them from accessing abortion. Amidst tightening state restrictions, those seeking abortion are increasingly looking online for legal guidance, resources, and care itself. Activists and scholars have celebrated the possibility that the Internet might promise enduring access to abortion care through online pill provision. However, the two papers presented here provide evidence that CPCs are also increasingly adopting a new arsenal of digital strategies to identify and reach those they label “the abortion-determined,” interrupting new geographies of …

Electrospun Shape Memory Fibers For Chronic Wound Surveillance, Avery Gunderson

Theses - ALL

Approximately 6 million patients suffer from chronic wounds each year. These wounds are highly susceptible to infection and subsequent biofilm formation. Biofilms are difficult to dislodge due to their protective extracellular matrix. Antibiotics cannot penetrate the biofilm matrix, so wound healing is often compromised. Current surveillance and treatment options, such as swabbing or dressings, are ineffective and often painful to the patient. Our approach is to employ a bacterial protease-responsive shape memory polymer (SMP) that combats biofilm formation and helps the healing process proceed. To aid in protease penetration and enhance wound dressing comfort, electrospinning can be used to produce …

The Sea Of Sorrow Has No Shore: A Note On Grief And The Radical Practice Of Grief, Fatemeh Kazemi

Theses - ALL

This paper explores grief through both a personal and cultural prism, specifically focusing on the Iranian context. Intertwining together personal narratives with scholarly discourse, it aims to illuminate the nuanced relationship between individual experiences of sorrow and the broader fabric of collective memory. Notably, it is examining how artistic practice and the visual culture of grief intersect, tracing my own journey through studio work that melds traditional and contemporary representations of mourning. This investigation is bolstered by insights drawn from psychology, sociology, and cultural studies, offering a comprehensive, multidisciplinary understanding of mourning practices in addition to their profound impact on …

Burning Calories, Burning Ocean: Metabolic Rate In Bivalves As A Predictor Of Extinction Selectivity Through Time And During Rapid Global Warming, Siddharth Gavirneni

Theses - ALL

Organismal metabolic rate is linked to environmental temperature and oxygen consumption, and as such, may be a useful predictor of extinction risk during major climate- driven crises. However, metabolic attributes can be quantified in many ways, highlighting differing aspects of organisms’ ecology. Here, we estimate resting whole-body and mass-specific metabolic rates in post-Carboniferous bivalve taxa using body size and seawater paleotemperature to assess how metabolic rate determines survival both during and outside of intervals of rapid climate warming, or ‘hyperthermals’. Accounting for the effects of geographic range size, we find a pattern of preferential extinction of bivalves with lower total …

Hollers, Hills, And Buckshot : Anthologies Of Appalachia, Jessica Codell Mcclanahan

Theses - ALL

The works and thesis I present are in the spirit of reclaiming what it means to be a Hillbilly. Within this thesis I examine and demonstrate how decades of stereotypes play a role into how people and environments of Appalachia are devalued for the benefit of extractive industries. Showcasing that these industries are in direct opposition to the traditions of life in the area. Appalachia, being traditionally a land based economy and way of living, presents unique folkways demonstrated with worldviews that correlate life and land treatment. Crafts, folkways, and folk arts of the area highlight these views and history. …

Non-Compressible Grade 4 Hemorrhagic Liver Injury Model For Assessment Of Shape Memory Polymers As A Hemostatic Agent, Shi S. Dong

Theses - ALL

Uncontrolled hemorrhage is a leading cause of trauma-related deaths, particularly in combat situations. The most administered treatment is gauze and tourniquets, which are shown to be ineffective for up to 80% of wounds, including non-compressible hemorrhage sites, such as those in the torso region. Shape memory polymer (SMP) foams have been shown to be an effective hemostatic dressing for traumatic wounds due to the tunability of their rapid clotting, mechanical properties, biocompatibility, biodegradability, and drug-loading abilities. The SMP foam design can be characterized with animal models, and a porcine liver injury is the current ‘gold standard’ animal model. To address …

“We Are Men”: Constituting The Prisoners’ Rights Movement Through Prison Writing, Emily Kathryn Iknayan

Theses - ALL

In this thesis, I investigate how the discourse of incarcerated writers responds to the Attica Prison Uprising across time and geography in prison newspapers and poetry. I first argue that the rhetorical responses of incarcerated writers in the first six months after the uprising construct Attica as an Event, a moment characterized by intense difference where everything becomes possible. A scrutiny of the Event requires dwelling in the moment before clear meanings have been solidified, so conceptualizing Attica as an Event in the writings that are temporally and geographically close to Attica requires speculation. By the time the first-year anniversary …

Consumer Spaces, Objects, And Bodies, Olivia Dovorany

Theses - ALL

Consumer Spaces, Objects, and Bodies is an exploration of consumerism and a study of objects, delving into the different marketplaces and products designed to influence our behavior. Using methods of collecting and image making, I question the relationship to my own consumption and challenge how I am programmed to respond as a consumer.

Performance As Preservation: Constructing Queer Love In Public Memory, Aevyn Barnett

Theses - ALL

Abstract This thesis explores the intersections of queer vernacular photography, queer history, and performance as a means of preservation. The artifacts that are analyzed include a selection of vintage, queer, vernacular photographs (VQVPs) that come from three published collections, as well as The Gay Gala, a performance installation that took place on February 13, 2024, at Syracuse University. The Gay Gala offered a gallery style installation with original photographs and recreated photographs, as well as costume pieces and an area for attendees to recreate their own photographs. Anonymous, written feedback was gathered from attendees during the Gala, which is used …

Diplomacy And The Dead: Authenticating The Sacred In Early Modern Spain, Caroline Barraco

Theses - ALL

This thesis considers two case studies from the transnational Spanish relic trade at the turn of the seventeenth century. The first study is that of Don Guillén de San Clemente y Centellas, a Spanish ambassador active at the end of the sixteenth century who was a conduit for antique and medieval relics for elite collectors within Spain. The second is of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza, was a Spanish noblewoman who traveled to England at the beginning of the seventeenth century and retrieved, prepared, and transported the bodies of Catholic martyrs back to Spain as new relics. These case studies …

The Unmasking Journey Of A Neurodivergent Art Therapy Student Using The El Duende One-Canvas Process Painting: An Art-Based Heuristic Self-Inquiry, Celena Moulton

Theses - ALL

This study examines the unmasking journey of a neurodivergent art therapy student through an art-based heuristic self-inquiry. The rationale lies in understanding the challenges faced by neurodivergent individuals and exploring the process of unmasking within the context of neurodiversity and art therapy. Participants consisted of the researcher, a neurodivergent art therapy student, who utilized a qualitative approach. The art-based heuristic methodology involved the engagement in response art, the El Duende Process Painting, and journal reflections to document the author’s unmasking journey. Data analysis involved thematic analysis, with key findings underscoring the significance of safety, belonging, and authenticity in the unmasking …

The Girls: Queering The Family Archive, Kathleen Warren

Theses - ALL

My research and artistic practice explore how queerness can offer a liberatory framework for confronting intergenerational cycles of grief that reinforce the dual closets of emotional and sexual repression. Rooted in my own family’s history of traumatic loss, I explore the dialectics of memory and identity in my project The Girls. I explore how closeting operates in families and archives through several theoretical frameworks, with perspectives from Marianne Hirsch, bell hooks, and Michael Foucault’s History of Sexuality. By investigating the gendered roles imposed by the traditional family gaze, religion, and shame, the text examines how photography, archives, and performance can …

The New Negro Myth, Jaleel Blanchard

Theses - ALL

The New Negro Myth explores the ways minstrel entertainment has influenced the creation and building of the animation and comics industry. My practice explores worldbuilding and character creation that pays homage to the aforementioned industries while interrogating already existing narratives. These characters are created with the vestigial minstrel (a character that is reminiscent of the minstrel) and vaudeville acts in mind. I also discuss the theme of the “other”, which plays a big role in limiting black representation as it creates an opposing force to white hegemony. Characters have consequently fallen prey to the “other” and the minstrel tradition, making …

Dead Woman Walking: Articulating Historical Violence Toward The Femme Through Visual Art And Cultural Experience, Angelica Elizabeth Starcovic

Theses - ALL

Individual identity formation is a crucial tool in my artistic practice. I rely on articulating my experiences as femme to reclaim and denounce the signifiers of femininity invented and perverted by patriarchy. Using historical survey of instances and explorations of fear and violence through art and visual culture, my works reckon with how archaic gender beliefs still entrench themselves in our contemporary worldviews and their psychological results. The deconstructions of these facades uncover the violence and fear ingrained in feminine identity inflicted through bodily control in culture. Here I argue for her humanity against the abject violence culture and media …

A Thematic Analysis Of The Experiences Of Black Participants And Their Life Satisfaction In Relation To Living In Syracuse, Shalyce Wilson

Theses - ALL

Syracuse, NY has a long history of poverty, crime, and low academic performance, especially in communities that Black residents call home. A Thematic Analysis of the Experiences of Black Participants and Their Life Satisfaction in Relation to Living in Syracuse is an exploratory study that examines the life satisfaction of Black residents of Syracuse, NY, as well as what aspects of their lives most affect--and are most affected by--their overall life satisfaction. The theory that guided this research is the bottom-up life satisfaction theory, which states that overall life satisfaction is dependent upon how an individual weighs their own satisfaction …

Does Increased Productivity Ensure Food Security And Food Sovereignty? Case Study: Productivity, Food Security, And Gender Participation Within The Framework Of The “Sustenta” Project In Nampula Province, Mozambique., Arcenia Notilija Vilanculo

Theses - ALL

When food security and sovereignty are viewed from a gendered lens, critical questions arise concerning inclusive participation in food systems. While policymaking is pivotal in ensuring gender parity in these systems, the lack of stakeholder engagement and buy-in during the policy design process hinders governmental efforts to create and implement policies that effectively ensure food and nutritional security for all. This research examines agricultural productivity, food security, land tenure, and stakeholder engagement in the context of SUSTENTA project in Nampula. The methodology adopts a qualitative approach, incorporating data from semi-structured interviews, featuring predefined questions and topics and a thorough literature …

Examining The Effects Of Writing Interventions On Third-Grade Students’ Reading Comprehension, Monique Antoine

Theses - ALL

Writing interventions have proven to be effective in improving students’ reading skills (Graham & Herbert, 2011) but are generally underacknowledged. In the current study, data from a randomized controlled trial examined whether there were differences in third-grade students’ reading comprehension based on whether they received a Performance Feedback + Cover, Copy, Compare intervention (n = 47) or a Performance Feedback intervention (n = 48). Results indicated that students assigned to the Performance Feedback + Cover, Copy, Compare intervention did not improve their reading comprehension to a greater extent than the Performance Feedback intervention. No statistically significant differences were observed in …

Not Quite, But Not Quite Not, Markus Denil

Theses - ALL

Through this MFA thesis I embark on an exploratory voyage, not to find solid ground, but rather an exploration at sea, where the tides and currents of masculinity, transmasculinity, place finding, and self-identification ebb and flow. This expedition is less a search for answers and more an odyssey of asking questions that inevitably beget even more questions. Through a series of multimedia works, including sculptures, installations, and drawings, I begin to tease out the dissonant relationship between the trans narrative and conventional understandings of time and space. Time moves differently here.

Causes, Effects And Amelioration Of Mob Justice In Liberia: A Case Study Of Paynesville Joe Bar In Monrovia, Kronyan Nawin Jappah

Theses - ALL

Mob justice refers to acts of violence meted out against an individual or individuals alleged to have committed a crime. Studies suggest that the inability of states to ensure equity, fairness, and impartiality within judicial proceedings facilitate mob justice. This study aims to explore causes, effects, and amelioration of mob justice in Joe Bar Community, Paynesville, Liberia. Data were collected using a survey questionnaire, focus groups and interviews from 300 community residents and legal practitioners in the Joe Bar Community. The causes of mob justice in Liberia are multi-faceted. In addition to a weak judiciary, the country has a history …

Oral Health Education And Dental Care Access Of Families Of Children With Down Syndrome In New Mexico, Alayna Marissa Holcomb

Dental Hygiene ETDs

ABSTRACT

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the oral health education and dental care access of families of children with Down syndrome in New Mexico.

Methods: The data were gathered from a survey available to members of the Rio Grande Down Syndrome Network for 14 days containing 13 questions.

Results: The most reported age range for the individuals in care were 0-14 years at 41.6%. Most individuals with Down syndrome receive dental services every six months (62.5%) at a regular dental office (54.2%). Caregivers reported the individuals are taking 1-2 prescription medications (54.2%) and not aware of …

Wearing Endangered Species, Kylie Perry

Honors Theses

The biodiversity of our ecosystems is under constant threat every day; this makes public awareness of environmental issues incredibly important. Since this is such a time sensitive issue it is necessary to increase public awareness immediately. The constant threat was caused by humanity so we should be the ones to help save the endangered species before they are gone. My thesis focuses on how art can bring awareness to environmental issues and more specifically endangered species. This project involves linocuts printed on recycled paper on the topic of five species of endangered animals. Through the medium of printmaking, this project …

Explaining Geographic Disparities In Cardiovascular Disease Mortality: The Roles Of Physical Environment, Industry Structures, And State Policies, Yue Sun

Dissertations - ALL

Geographic disparities in cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality in the United States are significant and have grown over time. The overarching objective of this dissertation is to explain geographic disparities in CVD mortality from air pollution, counties’ industry structures, and states’ environmental policies. Understanding the associations between these physical environments and CVD mortality is important because it can help to inform strategies for reducing geographic disparities in CVD mortality and promoting population health. In the first empirical chapter, I examine the associations between air pollution and county-level CVD mortality for the years 2016 to 2018 and how these associations vary across …

Comparing Equivalent Face-To-Face [F2f] And Online [Ol] Delivery Formats: Observations Of Learner Interactions To Determine Instructional Quality, Garmondyu D. Whorway

Dissertations - ALL

Instruction, designed to impact learning, accentuates the quantity and quality of learner interactions. Theoretically, the higher the level or quantity of learner interaction within instruction, the higher the quality of instruction. Learner interactions are fostered through learner-to-learner (L2L), learner-to-instructor (L2I), and learner-to-content (L2C) experiences. Higher education graduate programs have advanced over the last few decades to enhance learner interactions by providing quality instructional experiences using technologies in multiple delivery options, ranging from traditional face-to-face (F2F) or residency options to various newer formats in a variety of online (OL) versions. Today, learners are often faced with the choice to enroll in …

Generating And Detecting Adversarial Examples For Increased Security And Privacy, Weiheng Chai

Dissertations - ALL

With the advancement of hardware and algorithms, Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) have become ubiquitous in various real-world applications, some of which are highly sensitive to security and privacy issues. These applications include perception systems in autonomous vehicles, indoor surveillance systems, and medical image processing. Recent years have seen an increased focus on understanding the vulnerabilities of DNNs and the development of various adversarial attack and defense methods. This thesis delves into the detection of adversarial examples and the utilization of these adversarial examples for data privacy protection. Adversarial examples pose significant risks to the deployment of DNN applications, encouraging researchers …