Digital Commons Network^™

Item 1: Syllabus: African American Women In Us History, Lisa Bratton

Lisa Bratton, African American Women in the United States

This course, African American Women in the United States, explores the complex and often painful lives and legacies of African American women in the United States. Though often relegated to the margins of history, African American women have been involved in every facet of life in America—from its very inception. In this course, we will examine their African origins, their survival of the terrorism of enslavement, the struggle for basic human and civil rights to the African American women of today. This course will be beneficial for both races and all genders as the story of African American women is …

Item 6: Activity: Information Literacy And Advocacy Groups, Natascia Boeri

Natascia Boeri, Advocacy in Action: Civic Engagement Through Social Sciences

This activity guides students in reviewing an advocacy organization. Using critical information literacy skills, students will evaluate the organization’s mission, activities, leadership, and funding, analyzing how it presents information. Students will also consider the role of power in shaping the information presented by the organization, examining how power dynamics may influence the framing of an issue and the strategies used for advocacy.

Item 4: Activity 3: Nurses Of World War Ii, Lisa Bratton

Lisa Bratton, African American Women in the United States

No abstract provided.

Item 3: Assignment: Advocacy Context Report, Natascia Boeri

Natascia Boeri, Advocacy in Action: Civic Engagement Through Social Sciences

This assignment is one component of the advocacy project and aims to help students develop foundational analysis skills, emphasizing the need for a thorough understanding of a topic before engaging in advocacy. Students will gather and synthesize information to inform their advocacy efforts.

Item 1: Syllabus: United States Government, Parakh Hoon

Parakh Hoon, United States Government

This is an adaptable syllabus for an introductory US Government and Politics course. It provides learning outcomes, an outline for seven 2-week modules, and the spacing of in-class activities and other assignments.

Item 2: Assignment 1: Polarization, Identity, And Democratic Voice, Parakh Hoon

Parakh Hoon, United States Government

This capstone assignment invites students to critically analyze the 2024 US election cycle using civic and policy lenses. Students examine voting outcomes, campaign strategies, demographic shifts, and broader public engagement trends. They submit recommendations for political parties and policymakers based on historical patterns, political behavior research, and public opinion data. Students may choose their output format (e.g., essay, infographic, podcast) and optionally use generative AI, accompanied by a structured AI Use & Reflection Report. The assignment is designed to integrate civic reasoning, historical context, and action-oriented political learning.

Item 4: Activity 1: The Relational Syllabus Gpt – A Faculty Tool For Inclusive Civic, Parakh Hoon

Parakh Hoon, United States Government

This faculty-facing GPT tool supports inclusive, equity-based course design by helping instructors create assignments and syllabi that engage students in civic learning, democratic reasoning, and ethical AI use. Drawing from Universal Design for Learning (UDL), Transparency in Learning and Teaching (TILT), and Action-Oriented Competency Didactics (AOCD), the GPT scaffolds syllabus revision, integration of civic learning outcomes, and multimodal assignment redesign. The tool includes templates for AI use and reflection, accessible tone adjustments, and civic-based learning progression. It is designed for faculty across general education, political science, and interdisciplinary humanities, and supports both AI-assisted and AI-free learning paths.

Item 5: Assignment 2: Integrated Final Assignment – Analyzing The 2024 Election Analysis Through A Civic Lens, Parakh Hoon

Parakh Hoon, United States Government

This assignment invites students to analyze the 2024 US election as a civic and political event. Students will use real-world data, media sources, and course concepts to evaluate election outcomes and their broader civic significance. The activity replaces a traditional final exam and centers evidence-based thinking, civic identity, and democratic reflection. It is designed for use in political science, civic engagement, or interdisciplinary general education courses.

Item 7: Activity 2: Civic Engagement Warm-Up Discussion: How Do You Show Up In Civic Life?, Parakh Hoon

Parakh Hoon, United States Government

This low-stakes discussion activity introduces students to the broad and inclusive concept of civic engagement. Before analyzing legal frameworks, case studies, or public policy, students begin with a personal lens. This activity helps them activate prior knowledge, identify with civic values, and recognize that engagement comes in many forms. It works well in the first 1–2 weeks of a course and is adaptable for online, hybrid, or in-person settings.

Item 8: Activity 3: Civic Engagement In The News – A Scaffolded, Multimodal Discussion Assignmen, Parakh Hoon

Parakh Hoon, United States Government

This civic inquiry activity invites students to select a recent news story and analyze how individuals or communities engaged civically in response. Students assess strategies, barriers, and power dynamics using a structured template. They may submit work in written, audio, or visual formats. Peer replies are scaffolded to support civic discourse and listening. Optional AI-supported paths allow students to brainstorm or organize their ideas using generative tools, followed by a required reflection on their AI use. Designed for asynchronous, hybrid, or in-person delivery, this assignment aligns with civic learning goals and general education outcomes.

Item 6: Assignment 1: Book Review, David Hubert

David Hubert, Introduction to U.S. Government & Politics

This is a multi-step writing assignment designed to engage students with a substantive book about politics, political actors, or political issues. It helps them work with long-form writing and helps them practice their own formal writing.

Item 7: Assignment 2: Reactions To Constitution, David Hubert

David Hubert, Introduction to U.S. Government & Politics

This is a critical reading and reflection assignment designed to have students closely read politically-relevant documents, answer questions about arguments and evidence, and reflect on them.

Item 1: Syllabus: Civic Leadership: Theories And Action, Kara Dillard

Kara Dillard, Civic Leadership: Theories and Practice

Civic leadership involves students learning key skills to foster collaboration across differences, embracing complex decision-making in dialogue with others, and valuing pragmatic solutions that advance the common good. This class answers questions such as: “What are the essential traits, key skills and mindsets of a civic leader?” “How do history, legal frameworks, and socioeconomic theories shape the way civic leaders should approach solving wicked issues?” “How might civic leaders harness technology and design thinking to improve civic life?” “What are models of civic engagement that work and how can civic leaders implement them in real communities?” “How can James Madison’s …

Item 3: Activity 2: Practicing “Hot Takes” (Aka Hot Takes Speed Friending) File Name: Dillard_Activity2, Kara Dillard

Kara Dillard, Civic Leadership: Theories and Practice

This short activity gives students an opportunity to speak and listen to the views of their classmates about a variety of topics. In rotating pairs, students will give their take on a variety of issues ranging from easy to complex. By the end of the class, students will have experience sharing their views, listening to others, and meeting several classmates.

Item 2: Identifying Local Nonprofit Organizations & Volunteer Opportunities Activity, Fatima Sattar

Fatima Sattar, Soc 1100 - Introduction to Sociology with a Civic Engagement Emphasis

In this small group/paired activity, students will use the internet to identify a local nonprofit organization, its mission, its work/services (what it does and why), volunteer opportunities, populations served, and the social issues/problems it seeks to address. They will use this information to create a visual about the nonprofit organization. Next, they will present their findings to the class by taking the position of the organization to discuss the significance of their work and try to recruit volunteers. Students will then vote on which organization they would like to (potentially) volunteer with as a class!

Item 5: Immigration Story Project, Fatima Sattar

Fatima Sattar, Soc 1100 - Introduction to Sociology with a Civic Engagement Emphasis

The United States has a long history of migration. Immigrants and refugees have experienced unique challenges throughout their migration trajectory from origin to settlement in a new society. The purpose of this assignment is an opportunity to practice civic engagement by learning about an immigrant’s challenges from an immigrant themself. Students will be interviewing an immigrant and creating an MS PowerPoint recorded audio presentation about their story. Presentations will be shared with classmates.

Item 6: Sociological Imagination And Civic Problems Essay Assignment, Fatima Sattar

Fatima Sattar, Soc 1100 - Introduction to Sociology with a Civic Engagement Emphasis

In this assignment, a short-written essay, students will be using the concept of the “sociological imagination” (introduced by sociologist C. Wright Mills) to examine a local civic problem reported in the news. Mills introduces this idea of “personal troubles” versus “public issues” by explaining that although individuals tend to perceive their problems as being “personal troubles,” these problems are “public issues,” stemming from the structures and culture of society. To effectively engage in civic engagement, we must understand how societal structures, culture, and practices impact our everyday lives and problems we experience. This can then help us work collectively on …

Item 1: Syllabus: English 3xx: Argumentation: “The Ballot Of The Bullet”, Sarah Rudewalker

Sarah RudeWalker, The Ballot or the Bullet

This syllabus for an upper-level undergraduate course in argumentation, rhetoric, or communication contains a course concept, assignment descriptions, and a detailed course schedule with readings centering Malcolm X’s provocative ultimatum of “the ballot or the bullet” as the way forward for African American liberation and a functioning American democracy. The first half of the course provides students with a foundation in core theories and concepts of argumentation, and the second half of the course asks them to apply them by participating in public address, deliberation, and debate in the class and out in the world.

Item 2: Assignment 1: Deliberation, Sarah Rudewalker

Sarah RudeWalker, The Ballot or the Bullet

This assignment gives students an opportunity to apply the concepts they are learning in a course on rhetoric and argumentation in the real world by organizing and facilitating a public deliberation event about an issue of their choice. Students choose the issue they would like to discuss with the community, compose an issue guide to overview and present approaches to the issue, and reflect after the event about their experience in a post-project report. The assignment can be adapted for courses in writing, communication, political science, civic education, and courses emphasizing social justice and practices of civic engagement.

Item 1: Shakespeare For Civic Action Course Syllabus (Upper-Level Undergraduate Course), Molly Slavin

Molly Slavin, Shakespeare for Civic Action Course Syllabus (upper-level undergraduate course)

This syllabus sets out a general overview for an upper-level literature class titled “Shakespeare for Civic Action.” The syllabus contains readings, a course schedule, and brief sketches of assignments. This syllabus would be useful for English or other literature professors who would like anywhere from a full-fledged syllabus to ideas and inspiration for how to incorporate civic education into a class on a canonical author. Five other deliverables (three activities and two assignments) are also submitted as part of this class/syllabus.

Keynoter, September/October 2025, Boise State University Association Of Office Professionals

Boise State University Association of Office Professionals - Keynoter

President's Message

Talent Show

Guest message: Prioritizing

Professional & Personal Development

Recipes

NAEOP

Enrichment Program

Treasurer's Report

Readership

PSP Certification

Membership

General AOP Info

Calendar

Utilizing Generative Ai To Counter Learner Groupthink By Introducing Controversy In Collaborative Problem-Based Learning Settings, Andrew Wiss, Mary Showstark, Kyle Dobbeck, Jennifer Pattershall-Geide, Elke Zschaebitz, Dawn Joosten-Hagye, Kirsten Potter, Erin Embry

Montclair State University Scholarship & Creative Works

This article highlights the foundational challenge of rapid interprofessional student team formation and the potential challenges that groupthink poses for newly-formed teams participating in collaborative problem-based learning activities. This article describes a mixed-methods study that addresses groupthink by introducing a generative artificial intelligence-based agent (genAI agent) into the small group processes of student teams engaging in a session of a well-established virtual interprofessional education methodology. The integration of this novel genAI tool into each student team was an intentional pedagogical technique, introduced in response to the challenges that newly-formed student teams may encounter as they rapidly come together and potentially …

Editor’S Note: Comparative Civilizational Turn: The Future Of The Iscsc In The Wake Of Geopolitical “Grey Rhino” Events, Greg Lewicki

Comparative Civilizations Review

The last few years seem to have brought some bitter realizations among political scientists, forecasters, and security analysts. Namely: they tend to err, and their forecasts too often remain off-target.

Premenopausal Transition In Neurodivergent Women With Musculoskeletal Syndromes: Mechanisms, Risks, And Neuroinclusive Therapeutics, Piper Hutson, James Hutson

Faculty Scholarship

Neurodivergent women with chronic musculoskeletal syndromes experience disproportionate premenopausal symptom burdens that are poorly characterized in extant clinical paradigms and practice. The compounded interplay of estrogen fluctuations in premenopause with sensory–executive differences and baseline nociception from joint or connective-tissue pathology yields intensified pain, mood dysregulation, and functional decline. Evidence indicates estrogen modulates nociception, neuroinflammation, bone remodeling, and monoaminergic signaling; premenopausal variability magnifies pain, affective lability, and cognitive drift—effects accentuated in autism and ADHD. Coexisting hypermobility, fibromyalgia, or connective-tissue disorders compromise joint integrity and proprioception, increasing susceptibility to estrogen-dependent changes in bone microarchitecture and tendon homeostasis. This article advances an integrative …

A Complicated History Of Mitogenome Introgression Among Luxilus Species (Teleostei, Family Leuciscidae) In The Ozark Highlands, David D. Duvernell, Carson Arnold, Shila Koju, Abby J. Wicks, Thomas E. Dowling

Biological Sciences Faculty Research & Creative Works

Hybridization is common among minnows and shiners in the family Leuciscidae, and mitonuclear discordance can reveal evidence of historical hybridization and introgression events that have shaped extant species and populations. We have identified a notable case of serial mitogenome replacement in populations of two shiner species, Luxilus zonatus and L. chrysocephalus, which are syntopic in drainages throughout the northern and eastern Ozark Interior Highlands of North America. These mitogenome replacement events involved L. zonatus acquiring the mitogenome of L. chrysocephalus, and populations of L. chrysocephalus acquiring the mitogenome of an allopatric congeneric species, L. cornutus. The latter species has a …

Auditory Cognition Lab: A Music Therapy And Speech-Language Pathology Co-Treatment For Military-Connected Populations With Auditory And Cognitive Impairment, Danielle Vetro-Kalseth, Rebecca Vaudreuil, Heather Morrison, Kathleen Howard, Hannah Bronson

Faculty Works

Military personnel are particularly at risk for auditory processing difficulties as their training, occupational, and combat experiences increase the likelihood of long-term damage to the auditory system as well as negatively impact physical, psychological, cognitive, and sensory functioning. This article introduces a music therapy and speech-language pathology co-treatment program, Auditory Cognition Lab (ACL), that treats auditory and cognitive deficits in military-connected populations (service members, veterans) with traumatic brain injury (TBI). ACL addresses auditory discrimination, temporal and binaural processing, and trains compensatory strategies related to auditory processing, cognition, and hearing function. ACL has been clinically implemented at multiple military treatment facilities …

The Fate Of Intra- And Extracellular Antibiotic Resistance Genes Through Advanced Wastewater Treatment Process, Celestene Adrianne Sebag

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

More areas across the globe are becoming affected by water stress or water scarcity. The decrease in available freshwater due to overconsumption reveals the direct need to consider other sources for necessities such as drinking water or food production. Agricultural irrigation uses 70% of the world’s freshwater, making the focus on safe and reliable reclaimed water for agricultural reuse imperative. However, contaminants of emerging concern (CECs), such as antibiotics and their resulting antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), can spread and affect human health if reclaimed water is not treated to the proper level. Antibiotics are widely used in human medicine and …

Strengthening The Rule Of Law In Ecuador: A Conversation With Jhoel Escudero Soliz, President Of The Constitutional Court, Jhoel Escudero, David Collins

Judicature International

No abstract provided.

Item 1: Syllabus: American National Government, 100-200 Level Introductory Course, Michael Williams Jr.

Michael Williams, American National Government 100-200 Level Introductory Course

This course explores American national government, balancing institutional standards with government beyond amendments. The course equips students to understand their roles as citizens. Key components include blended learning, a civic engagement letter project, and coverage of civil liberties, civil rights, public opinion, interest groups, the media, political parties, political campaigns, voting behavior, elections, the presidency, bureaucracy, the US Congress, the judiciary, and public policy. ThThis course explores American national government, balancing institutional standards with government beyond amendments. The course equips students to understand their roles as citizens. Key components include blended learning, a civic engagement letter project, and coverage of …

Item 2: Assignment: Letter Writing: Advocacy And Issues, Michael Williams Jr.

Michael Williams, American National Government 100-200 Level Introductory Course

This assignment cultivates students' civic engagement and enhances their communication skills. Its purpose is to empower students to become active participants in the democratic process by articulating their perspectives on public issues and advocating for change. A key learning objective is to teach students how to strategically target their advocacy efforts by understanding the structure of government. The assignment involves students in choosing a representative or government agency and a specific political issue, writing a persuasive letter, submitting drafts for feedback, and submitting a final physical copy.