Digital Commons Network^™

Chinese Students, Jim Crow Schools: Navigating Education In A Black-And-White Society, Amanda Young

Senior Honors Papers / Undergraduate Theses

Previous research on the history of education in the Jim Crow South has largely focused on the effects of legal segregation on Black communities. However, there existed another group: the Chinese. In the seemingly bifurcated system, their intermediate status was particularly discernible in the school. After Lum v. Rice (1927) stipulated that Chinese people, as members of the “colored” race, should be excluded from white schools, Chinese families sought other forms of education, including private tutors and church-sponsored mission schools. Still, they remained steadfast in their commitment to accessing white public education. The Chinese reproduced, acquiesced to, and in some …

Empow{Her}: Architecture As A Tool For Healing, Dignity, And Collective Power In Underserved Communities, Miciah Norman

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

This thesis investigates the role of architecture as a catalyst for empowerment, healing, and social transformation within underserved communities, with a specific focus on the lived experiences of Black women. Empow(her) centers Black women as co-victims — individuals who are often forced to carry the emotional and economic weight of losing loved ones to gun violence, a crisis perpetuated by systemic neglect and ineffective gun legislation. These women, frequently overlooked in policy and design conversations, navigate generational trauma in environments that fail to support their healing or acknowledge their pain. Through the lens of feminist, trauma-informed, and justice-oriented design, this …

For All Ages: The Universal Appeal Of Bluey, Luke Hawley

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"I appreciate that balance of humor and sadness, which, to me, is what makes the best film and literature—great art manages to hold those two together in a way that feels authentic."

Posting about the television program Bluey from In All Things, an online hub that offers insight into maintaining and faithful and orthodox Reformed Christian worldview while fearlessly engaging in every aspect of contemporary life – until all is made new.

For All Ages: The Universal Appeal of Bluey

Emotional Labour In The Boundary Work Of Filipino Transnational Workers In Indian Cities, Jozon A. Lorenzana

Department of Communication Faculty Publications

This article examines the boundary work undertaken by Filipino transnational workers in globalizing Indian cities. While the ‘practice turn’ in boundary studies has shed light on boundary work's mundane and performative dimensions, the role of emotions in performing such work needs to be ascertained. To account for both the performative and emotional dimensions of boundary work, I present an ethnographic study on Filipino professionals in India that engages Hochschild's concept of emotional labour. Since the mid-2000s, local and multinational companies have hired Filipino professionals to set up businesses and manage operations. I examined their practices of boundary work through in-depth …

Christian Church Leaders’ Perceptions Of Improving Their Congregations’ Self-Efficacy, Well-Being, And Membership, Joseph M. Williams

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Declining church membership has reduced congregational engagement, and challenges in fostering self-efficacy and well-being have created significant concerns for Christian church leaders in the United States. Understanding how church leaders perceive and address these challenges is crucial for sustaining faith-based organizations and their impact on communities. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the Christian church leaders’ perceptions of improving their congregation’s self-efficacy, well-being, and membership in Westchester, New York. Bandura’s theory of self-efficacy and Seligman’s theory of well-being grounded this study. The participants comprised 10 Christian church leaders. Data were collected using semistructured interviews. Through Braun …

The Impact Of Focused Specific Phonemic Awareness Instruction On English Language Learners In The Kindergarten Classroom, Bethany Brewer

Dissertations

This study is about the impact of focused phonemic awareness instruction on English language learners in a Kindergarten classroom. The gaps in early literacy skills for students entering Kindergarten can create long-lasting deficits for students (NAEP, 2022). The purpose of this study is to determine if the engagement and performance of ELL students changes during whole group phonemic awareness and phonics instruction when taught specific skills in small group. The study took place in a Kindergarten classroom with students who have been identified as English Language Learners through ACCESS testing. This qualitative study used interviews with teachers to determine the …

Access To Justice For Deaf Defendants, Anna Zieba

Theses

Deaf individuals face systemic accessibility within the criminal justice system, which emphasizes the importance of the gaps in accommodations by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Inconsistent legal protection, limited access to interpreters, inadequate training for legal professionals, and a lack of technology resources obstruct effective communication for Deaf individuals. As a result, it prohibits achieving an effective and equitable legal outcome. This research paper will examine case studies, legal frameworks, and academic literature to highlight the critical need for reform, including mandatory Deaf culture training, standardized interpreting qualifications, and more resources to enable equitable access to justice.

Spartan Daily, May 6, 2025, San Jose State University, School Of Journalism And Mass Communications

Spartan Daily, 2025

Volume 164, Issue 41

A Work[Play]Ce For All: Working Hard And Playing Hard Shouldn't Be This Hard, Mary E. Caldwell

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

62% of the United States Labor Force goes to an office every day. That means that nearly 6 out of every 10 Americans spend most of their days experiencing an ordinary office environment every week. Children, on the other hand, spend most of their days in school, where they are constantly given playful and enjoyable tasks to promote their learning. Why does this concept of promoting pleasant emotions in a person’s everyday life seem to disappear as we become older and our everyday life becomes more critical to well-being? Imagine if offices were designed to promote pleasant experiences.

This thesis …

Using Sustained Silent Reading In The Secondary English Language Arts Classroom To Increase Reading Engagement, Hannah S. Burwell

Dissertations

Reading scores have dropped precipitously over the past twenty years, and English Language Arts (ELA) teachers are looking for in-school academic interventions to mitigate this decline. This descriptive case study explored classroom experiences and student engagement with reading in a choice-based Sustained Silent Reading (SSR) program in a high school. The study examines student experiences through Expectancy-Value Theory (EVT). EVT suggests that a student’s engagement with reading will increase when they find the task valuable and believe success is achievable. The study explores how providing students with the independence to select their reading materials influences their experience in class and …

"You Know The Rules": A Dramatic Experiment In Aromantic Literary Theory, April Chronowski

English

This paper proposes a new literary theory framework based on the zine "an aromantic manifesto" by yingchen and yingtong, as well as the work of Erving Goffman, using theater as a device to examine romantic relationships. Blending English and sociology, I focus each chapter on a different literary period and examine two plays each: early modern (Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus and William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing), modern (Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and Djuna Barnes' "To The Dogs"), and contemporary (Caryl Churchill's Cloud 9 and Margaret Edson's W;t). In tandem with analysis of formal elements---like …

School Resources And Teen Suicide Risk, 1991–2016: A Longitudinal Analysis At The State Level, Megan Thiele Strong, Javier Corredor

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Purpose: Research shows that teachers’ salaries influence educational and non-educational outcomes. And still, too few studies explore whether teacher compensation patterns correlate with student mental health outcomes. This research attends to this gap and asks: at the state level, does the average K-12 teacher salary predict teen suicide risk? Design/methodology/approach: We use an original panel time-series dataset which includes average teacher salary, teen suicide rate and economic, religious and sociocultural control variables at the state level. We analyze this data using two analytical strategies. First, we build mixed models with teachers’ salaries and the covariates as fixed effects and state …

Communication And The Environment, Maudie Kunst, Nieske Witlox

Communication Research Trends

Part 1 and 2 combined:

1 - Communication and The Environment
by Maudie Kunst and Nieske Witlox
University of Amsterdam

2 - Supplement: Book Notes

Your Accent Sounds Tough: Exploring Shifting Indexicalities Of Appalachians Through The Lens Of Citizen Sociolinguistics, Sarah Ramsey

Honors Theses

This study investigates how Appalachian English is perceived in online discourse, focusing on the intersections of dialect, identity, and ideology. In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene’s 2024 devastation across Southern Appalachia, YouTube became a site of unexpected metalinguistic and cultural commentary. A citizen sociolinguistics framework is used to examine how outsiders engage with perceived Appalachian English, especially through discussions of class, gender, and accents.

Findings show that Appalachian identity is more favorably received when speakers minimize regional dialect features and align with urban, mainstream ideals. In contrast, speakers who are strongly marked as Appalachian, especially the rural and working class, …

Mapping And Examining Recreation In Indian Creek, Bears Ears National Monument, Elisabeth Currit, Neil Hansen, Brigham Daniels, Alex Long, Katy Merritt, Mary Proteau, Sam Spackman

Utah Space Grant Consortium

Recreation is growing in desert areas of the western United States, and mapping the expansion of these activities is vital to management and conservation efforts. Desert ecosystems provide many critical ecosystem services, including carbon storage, and the growing popularity of outdoor recreation in Western US desert regions poses a threat to these ecosystems. Unregulated recreational activities can harm desert plant and soil health, including the functioning of biological soil crusts. This research project focuses on mapping several types of popular recreational activities in order to monitor and evaluate the impact of these activities within the Indian Creek areas of Bears …

Standardization Or Modification? Uk Firms' Marketing Strategy In Africa, Maktoba Omar, A. Vindelyn Smith-Hillman

Journal of African Policy Studies

The paper aims to identify those factors that influence UK multinational corporations' policy of standardisation within African economies. This is an important strategic issue as foreign direct investment within Africa represents a small but growing proportion of total FDI inflows. Regression analysis reveals that political risk is statistically significant as are cultural factors, whilst regulation proved to statistically insignificant.

Sustainable Agricultural Development In Nigeria: A Question Of Biotechnology, Environmental Conservation, Or Indigenous Knowledge?, Emmanuel O. Oritsejafor

Journal of African Policy Studies

Nigeria, like most developing countries, depends on agriculture primarily for subsistence and export revenues. However, Nigeria is confronted with food security challenges. Several factors have contributed to this problem, such as demographic trends, crude farming methods, deforestation, the oil boom and public policies that are not consistent with the socio-economic and political realities of the state.

Given these challenges, this inquiry will examine the socio-economic and environmental implications of recent recommendations by development agencies such as the United Nations Development Agency (UNDP), which has prescribed the use of biotechnology to address Africa's food security problems. This recommendation appears to be …

Cover And Table Of Contents, Institute On African Affairs

Journal of African Policy Studies

No abstract provided.

Fertility Decline In Sub-Saharan Africa: Introduction, Charles M. Becker

Journal of African Policy Studies

No abstract provided.

Cover And Table Of Contents, Institute On African Affairs

Journal of African Policy Studies

No abstract provided.

External Debt And Secondary Education In Sub-Saharan Africa: A Dynamic Analysis, Gladys B. Mutangadura, Judith R. Blau, Vicki L. Lamb

Journal of African Policy Studies

Debt burdens associated with structural adjustment policies have created severe hardships in many sub-Saharan African nations and may be especially detrimental to educational enrollments. This paper considers the possible deleterious effects of external debt on access to and participation in secondary education in sub-Saharan Africa. It provides a pooled cross-national time series analysis to assess the impact of external debt on secondary education enrollments. Findings indicate that external debt burden has a negative effect on secondary school enrollments. Since human resource development is crucial for the advancement of a nation and the well-being of its people, we conclude that debt …

Zimbabwe's Land Reform And Environmental Dilemma, Smile Dube

Journal of African Policy Studies

This paper examines the evolution of thinking in the World Bank on development land reform in Zimbabwe. It argues that the evolving and broader definitions of land reform in Zimbabwe must consider the conditions necessary for the attainment of economic development that encompasses sustainable development, poverty alleviation, capacity building, gender equality, good governance and now conflict prevention and resolution. The paper explores an economic model of political power derived from Mancur Olson's work relating power and prosperity in both transition and developing economies. The model is applied to Zimbabwe after independence, under one ruler and one party — Robert Mugabe …

Beyond The ‘Berlin Conference/Oau Framework’: A Pan-African Analysis Of Africa’S Security Crisis, Boubacar N'Diaye

Journal of African Policy Studies

The analysis of the security, civil-military relations, and governance crises in Africa generally takes for granted the post-colonial arrangement and uses the nation-state as the unit of analysis. Invariably, the prescriptions never go beyond the confines of what could be dubbed the "Berlin Confcrence/OAU framework." The daunting security challenges Africa faces as the 21st century gets under way necessitate bold, "off the beaten path" analysis and solution that move beyond this framework and the restrictions of the antiquated principles and notions on which it is predicated: the sacrosanct national sovereignty and the "national" army as its symbol. In light of …

State Integrity And Democratic Governance: The Security Implications Of Liberalization Policies In Africa, Earl Conteh-Morgan

Journal of African Policy Studies

This article examines the levels of security/insecurity-related issues in Africa within the context of political and economic liberalization policies. It is argued that the interactive effects of internal and external systemic developments that characterize globalization processes have had serious "security" implications for governance in Africa. The indicators of insecurity and immiseration imply that Africa needs to reevaluate its approach to development in relation to the combined effects of national and international imperatives.

African Security In The Information Age, Uri J. Fisher, M. Shane Smith

Journal of African Policy Studies

This article examines Africa's place in the information revolution and the security implications that flow from this relationship. All states in Africa now have Internet access, although the continent is still characterized by a lack of infrastructure, resources, and technology. We examine the many initiatives underway in Africa aimed at enhancing information and communication technologies. The African Network Initiative, the African Information Society Initiative, and UNESCO's Regional Information Network for Africa are only a few of the many that are trying to increase the continent's connectivity. Increased African security in economic and military matters will be dependent on the continent's …

Geopolitics In Africa’S Great Lakes Region, Gilbert M. Khadiagala

Journal of African Policy Studies

This paper examines the civil war in the Congo since the late 1990s through regional and national lenses. It contends that Congo's problems are not unique; instead, they reflect a larger phenomenon of the lack of synergy between geography and politics in the Great Lakes region. The stabilization of power in geographical spaces is the puzzle of building institutions not just in the Congo, but also among its equally weak neighbors.

Public Policy And Social Welfare Programs In Zimbabwe: An Evaluation Of Esap, Robert Dibie, Saliwe M. Kawewe

Journal of African Policy Studies

No abstract provided.

Leading First-Generation College Students To Career Success: An Analysis Of Practices And Programs, Karyn E. King Fargo

M.S. in Leadership

The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of first-generation college students and examine how career development programs impact their career readiness and success. Despite their growing presence in higher education, support systems for first-generation college students remain insufficient, putting many at risk of not completing their degree or successfully transitioning into the workforce. The study used a qualitative methodology consisting of a comprehensive literature review and interviews with college administrators involved in career and student development programs. The study compared insights from existing literature with the perspectives of college administrators, identifying key programs and practices that contribute …

Speech Stigma: Exploring Predictors Of Attitudes Toward Nonspeaking Autistic Individuals, Kate Herrmann

Honors College Theses

Roughly 30% of autistic individuals are nonspeaking, meaning they do not (or very minimally) communicate with speech. Many nonspeaking individuals have the ability to communicate with others by using augmentative and alternative communication, such as speech-generating devices or communication boards. The purpose of this study was to examine the attitudes of speaking individuals toward nonspeaking autistic people through a survey measuring attitudes and stigma toward nonspeaking people, autistic people, and disabled people, respectively. Predictors of attitudes, such as contact, knowledge, gender, and psychological inflexibility were examined. It was hypothesized that participants who have more contact with and knowledge of nonspeaking, …

Ud Students Address Gendered Injustices Through Give Internship Program, Skylar Christian

College of Arts and Sciences Newsroom

Students in the GIVE internship program learn and teach about violent extremism in Ohio through a gendered lens.