Digital Commons Network^™

“Some Small Kiss From Your Sweet Lips”: Navigating Hierarchy In Eastern Roman Letters, Nicholas Elijah Raffington

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The presence of homoeroticism in the letters of elite Byzantine men was both the product of long-term literary developments and was employed for many purposes. As a medieval society which saw a unique level of social mobility, an individual’s connections and how they managed and negotiated them within the competitive elite milieu was of utmost importance to their relevance. Letters naturally emerge as a suitable literary genre to affirm and recognize relationships, to ask for favors, or introduce a new member to the group. As the evidence suggests, homoeroticism was employed within the male-centered world of business and politics as …

Attitudes And Perceptions Toward The Qassimi Dialect, Fahad M. Alwehaibi

Theses and Dissertations

This study explores attitudes and perceptions surrounding the Qassimi dialect within Saudi Arabia. It addresses two primary questions: What are the attitudes of Qassimi speakers toward their own dialect? and What are the perceptions of non-Qassimi Saudi citizens regarding the Qassimi dialect in terms of stereotypes and its speakers? To investigate these questions, the research employed two population-specific surveys—one for Qassimi speakers and another for non-Qassimi participants—alongside semi-structured interviews with selected Qassimi individuals to gain deeper qualitative insights. The findings reveal that Qassimi speakers generally express strong pride and a positive emotional connection to their dialect, viewing it as a …

Understanding The Influence Of A University-Based Reading And Literacy Center Literacy Tutoring Program On Students’ Literacy Behaviors, Beliefs, And Skills: Stakeholder Perspectives, Wanda D. Turk

Theses and Dissertations

A convergent mixed-methods study designed with a networked systems theory framework investigated the influence of a university-based reading and literacy center literacy tutoring program on students’ literacy behaviors, beliefs, and skills. The study examined stakeholder perspectives of changes in students following their participation in the literacy tutoring program. A convergent mixed-methods design collected and analyzed quantitative and qualitative data separately before merging for interpretation. Quantitative data came from students’ pre-assessment scores and post-assessment scores. The results indicated that students’ scores increased, decreased, or remained the same from pre-assessment to post-assessment. Qualitative data came from tutor interviews and parent surveys. The …

Listening To The Body: Attunement And Advocacy In Women's Experiences Of Endometriosis, Rebekah E. Greenslaugh

Theses and Dissertations

Endometriosis is a chronic, inflammatory condition in which tissue similar to the endometrial lining grows outside the uterus, leading to severe pain, fatigue, and other debilitating symptoms. Despite its significant impact on daily life, many women with endometriosis report that their symptoms are dismissed in medical encounters, as their pain is minimized or normalized as an inherent aspect of womanhood. This medical dismissal, combined with a lack of definitive diagnostic tools and effective treatments, leads many to turn to online support communities to make sense of their symptoms, share experiences, and develop ways to cope with the condition. Drawing on …

Slovakian Migration In The Aftermath Of The Velvet Revolution: A Qualitative Study Exploring Gender Relations Through Migration To The United States, Taylor A. Kanuk

Theses and Dissertations

Two million Eastern European immigrants have come to the U.S. in the latter part of the twentieth century, yet there is little research exploring their experiences. Slovakian immigrants represent one group whose presence in the U.S. has not been studied. This thesis investigates how Slovakian immigrants navigate their immigration experience in the aftermath of what is known as the Velvet Divorce, focusing on economic-driven and family-driven migration and transnationalism. Using a qualitative approach, data were collected through ten semi-structured interviews with Slovakian immigrants within the greater Chicago area. The informants in this study recalled their reasons for leaving Slovakia, which …

Investigation Of The Human Temporal Styloid Process As A Bony Indicator Of Speech, Sommer A. Martin

Theses and Dissertations

The temporal styloid process in humans serves as an attachment point for the styloglossus, stylohyoid, and stylopharyngeus, which are involved in tongue movement and deglutition. I hypothesized that the length of the ossified styloid process in humans is the result of selection for increased musculature that would support tongue movements involved in speech. This hypothesis assumes that the relative length of the ossified temporal styloid process is unique to humans. A comparative analysis of the presence or absence of the temporal styloid process was conducted on ten genera of Old-World primates, and it was found that the length of this …

The Body Is On, Kitty F. Davies

Theses and Dissertations

THE BODY IS ON is a visual art exhibition that considers queer embodiment, pervert as political identity, the arriving climate catastrophe, and difficulty in artmaking. I make use of various concepts from Deleuze and Guattari to interconnect my own with the primary goal to ask: what does futurity look like or mean in these climates (in both a literal, warming sense and an increasingly fascistic, political one), and how do we actualize that future?

Boys Build, Girls Glam: An Examination Of Adult Language Use In Informal Steam Education Settings, Alexandra Horton

Theses and Dissertations

Research on STEAM education has primarily focused on formal education settings such as schools, with more research needed in informal or non-traditional education settings. As children frequently engage with informal and non-traditional education settings, it is important to understand how we can transmit information in these settings to bolster and further the learning process and increase engagement. STEAM fields have been plagued by racial and gender inequities that have led to these groups being marginalized and excluded (Blair et al., 2017; Eaton et al., 2020; Martin, 2018; Martin & Phillips, 2019; Miller et al., 2018; Newall et al., 2018, Sheffield …

Warriors Of Faith Vs Passive Men: Gender Binarism And Performance In Evangelical Christian Masculinity, Alexander Koch

Theses and Dissertations

My thesis examines communications and reflections of self (gendered and religious) in Midwest Evangelical Christian men. The focus was on how these groups perform their gender and religion with each other, and the tactics that were used to reinforce an acceptable notion of masculinity. Drawing upon literature on gender and masculinity studies, feminist philosophy, and hierarchical systems, my project aimed to analyze acceptable gender performance pushed by patriarchal gender norms and evangelical Christian groups. I incorporated multiple settings in my ethnographic study across the Midwest. Methods included semi-structured interviews and participant-observation of men’s conferences and Christian men’s groups, while reflecting …

From Attention To Action: Advancing Inclusivity In The Landscape Of Anatomy Education, Siobhan M. Moyes, Lily Evans, Katie Snow, Aiden Jayanth

Peninsula Medical School

Conversations about inclusivity in anatomy education are at a critical juncture. While the need for a more equitable discipline is widely recognised, significant challenges remain. As this project aimed to reimagine what a truly inclusive learning experience could like and how it might be best achieved, an inclusive approach to research methodology was essential to ensure robust and representative results. Due to the paucity in anatomical literature on this topic, the authors applied concepts from sociological research methodology and innovative methods of demographic data collection to their own discipline.

The study utilised questionnaires and focus groups to collect diverse data …

Rethinking Trust In The Refugee Resettlement Process: How Service Providers Can Enable Refugee Agency Through Diasporic Connections, Mahfoudha Sidelemine, Emily D. Campion

Political Science & Geography Faculty Publications

Current guidance for refugee resettlement agency workers encourages the simultaneous pursuit of trust-building and administrative tasks (e.g., housing, transportation and employment). This dual goal is resource-intensive, and focusing on the former may come at a cost to the latter. The purpose of the current research is to challenge the importance of trust-building by resettlement agencies. Drawing from our qualitative data from in-depth interviews with resettled refugees (N = 20) and agency workers (N = 15), we adopt a grounded theory approach and find that the burden of responsibility for both caregiving and administrative responsibilities can overtax agency workers …

Working With Similarities And Differences: Relational Processes In Transdisciplinary Qualitative Research With Diverse Teams, Michael S. Dao, Soma De Bourbon, Melissa Mcclure Fuller, Miranda Worthen

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Transdisciplinary research and research teams are becoming increasingly valued in academic spaces. The potential of transdisciplinary research is that the diversity of thought and experience can create robust research processes from project inception, methodological protocol, data collection, data analysis and reporting output. Yet, transdisciplinary research teams can also bring about complications pertaining to conflicting epistemological perspectives, areas of expertise, and objectives for applied impact. In noting the benefits and downsides of transdisciplinary research, this article aims to detail how a transdisciplinary research team navigated a qualitative and participatory longitudinal research project. Drawing from a larger community-based participatory research project, the …

Leveraging Strategic Information Systems For Competitive Advantage: A Case Study Of Veolia As A Multinational Enterprise, Sohail Nawaz Sabir

ASEAN Journal on Science and Technology for Development

Instead of examining several components that link planning and strategy implementation, researchers have focused on the alignment of IT and business, as well as the Strategic Information Systems Planning (SISP) process. The goal of this study is to examine several approaches that can close the gap between IT project planning and execution. Therefore, the primary objective of the proposed study is to examine SISP implementation strategies that can be theorized in the context of Veolia, a global multinational corporation (MNC). The primary aspects influencing the SISP for this study are the frequency of planning, the function of IT/business managers, assessment …

Evaluation Of The Stigmatizing Attitude Towards Mental Illness Among A Group Of Egyptian Nonpsychiatric Physicians, Mohamed Elhasanein Elshehedy, Mahmoud Ahmed Elwasify, Ibtihal Mohamed Aly Ibrahim, Roshdy Mohamed El Gamal

Mansoura Medical Journal

Background Stigmatizing attitudes toward persons had mental illness remain a major barrier to effective mental healthcare. While psychiatrists’ perspectives have been studied extensively, less attention has been paid to non-psychiatric physicians, whose attitudes significantly influence early detection and referral. Objective To evaluate stigmatizing attitudes toward mental illness among Egyptian nonpsychiatric physicians. Methods This cross-sectional research has been performed on a sample of non-psychiatric physicians in various Egyptian events and occasions, including the Mansoura University conference, the Ain Shams University conference, and the Alexandria University conference over the year 2023. Participants completed a socio-demographic questionnaire and the Mental Illness Clinicians’ Attitudes …

Resilience Among Undergraduate First-Year Students: The Differential Effects Of Gender, And Socioeconomic Status, Sahanowas Sk, Santoshi Halder

Journal of Educational and Psychological Studies

Resilience, as a multidimensional psychological construct, may vary with respect to personal characteristics such as gender and social context like socio-economic status, particularly in the Indian context. The researchers aim to explore the effects of gender (male and female) and socioeconomic status (low, moderate & high) on resilience and further investigate whether the effect of gender is independent of different levels of SES. The quantitative survey study included 490 first-year undergraduates (M = 18.97, SD = .83) from three districts of West Bengal. The questionnaire comprised socio-demographic data and the adapted Bengali version of the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC). The …

“Regression To The Mean”: The Confluence Of Eugenics And Statistics In The 19th And 20th Centuries, Emrys G. King

Pomona Senior Theses

The work of this thesis is twofold — first, qualitatively characterizing the confluence between the British eugenics and statistics movements in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and second, quantitatively analyzing the effect of this foundation on pedagogical materials in the growing field of statistics between 1880 and 1970. Towards the first goal, the history of the method of least squares, state statistics, and positive and negative eugenics are outlined, followed by a close reading of the foundational texts authored by Francis Galton and Karl Pearson that introduced linear regression. Towards the latter goal, English-language statistics textbooks published between …

On Emerging Technologies: The Old Regime And The Proactivity, Ran Xi

Cardozo International & Comparative Law Review

Nowadays, emerging technologies are revolutionizing nearly every facet of human life, shaping legal, cultural, political, and technological landscapes. Despite various breakthroughs, emerging technologies have also brought to society legal and regulatory challenges, such as the pacing problem, regulatory silos, and the black box issue. However, existing state-centric regulation on emerging technologies results in fragmented, inconsistent, and ineffective statutes and policies. The traditional regulatory regime, due to its reactive mindset, incremental approaches, and tools of modest efficacy, fails to mitigate associated risks and harms, sometimes even impeding technological innovation. To tackle this dilemma, this Article proposes a proactive law approach with …

Assessing The Selection And Impact Of Completeness In Technical Measure Sets In Systems Engineering, Casey Eaton

Dissertations

Technical measurement is foundational in large-scale complex engineered systems (LSCES) design and contract awards due to the state of practice of systems engineering. Although technical measurement is ubiquitous in systems engineering practice, the selection and assessment of the impact of a set of technical measures is often heuristics-based, rather than based on empirical evidence or theory. Current technical measure set selection has been observed to be subject to many challenges which, in turn, can degrade system outcomes. Two main thrusts comprise the research: selection and impact. Motivated by the potential impacts of a poor set of technical measures, a significant …

A Rubber-Band System For Dynamic Incentivization Of Parallelized Gamified Objectives, Nicholas Diliberti

Dissertations

With the advent of videogames as the world's first mass-market interactive media, gamification has emerged as the premier way to harness powerful behavior-affecting gamified elements and place them in other contexts, such as education, fitness, and rehabilitation. This transposition, however, ignores a key tenant of user engagement: reward ought to be aligned with effort. Most, if not all, current gamification systems dispatch static reward allocations for their spread of gamified behaviors. In this paper, an alternative is presented: dynamic gamification. This dynamic gamification reads the user's current gamified state for indicators of aptitude, dynamically remaps rewards with a tuneable evaluation …

The Impacts Of Mentorship On An Asian American Female Pk-12 School Leader: An Autoethnography, Jessica Proctor

Education Dissertations

Asian American women remain significantly underrepresented in PK-12 school leadership roles in the United States, despite the rapid growth of the Asian American population. Existing research on women of color in educational leadership has primarily focused on Black and Latina women, leaving Asian American women’s experiences largely unexplored. This autoethnographic dissertation examines the experiences of an Asian American female leader in PK-12 education, with a particular focus on the role of mentorship in career progression and identity development. By analyzing personal experiences through the lens of historical and contemporary barriers, including racism, sexism, and limited access to networks, this study …

Msw Portfolio, Hailey E. Owens

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

Msw Portfolio, Steven Asire

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

This work encapsulates my progression both throughout my time in the MSW program as well as my practicum and professional experience working in the mental health field. The portfolio applies past work and describes my progression from a micro lense in practice to a more holistic approach, including mezzo and macro levels of focus and how these progressions will influence my future work.

Daughter Of A Lost Bird, Susan J. Schwidde

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

Spiriling Transcendence - The Integration Of Ideas, Ideals & Social Work Practice, Peter J. Donaldson

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

Span 338/704 Syllabus - Oer, Mark Hoff

Open Educational Resources

No abstract provided.

Campus Culture Of Hazing At James Madison University: A Mixed Methods Exploration Of Perceptions, Behaviors, And Policy Implications, Lauren D. Powell, Amanda K. Simmons, Alexandra E. Holt, Elizabeth M. Matthews, Mark D. Meadows

Doctor of Education Capstones

Hazing has been around for centuries and has become more prevalent with the rise in social media. This convergent parallel mixed method study sought to explore students, faculty, and staff perceptions of hazing and hazing prevention at JMU, examine what they define as reportable hazing behaviors, and identify what behaviors are currently being reported in organizational misconduct reports. Through content analysis of JMU organizational misconduct reports, a student survey, and interviews with faculty and staff, the capstone team collected data on hazing and determined seven key findings. Findings revealed that students, faculty, and staff acknowledge the risks of hazing, including …

The Permanent Supportive Housing Of Central Virginia’S Aged Out Foster Youths: The Permanent Supportive Housing Of Central Virginia’S Aged Out Foster Youths A Plan To Increase Regional Capacity, Fill Gaps In Service, And Identify Potential Sites., Matthew Snow

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Capstone Projects

As of 2024, Virginia’s Central Region continues to produce one of the highest rates of foster care emancipations in the state, despite having minimal infrastructure to support young adults transitioning out of care. Each year, dozens of foster youth in the region age out of the system without reunification, adoption, or other forms of permanency, disproportionately entering adulthood without the stability of housing, employment, or accessible services. Although permanent supportive housing (PSH) has emerged as a nationally validated model for housing and service integration, few PSH developments in Virginia are designed specifically for aged-out foster youth or their families.

This …

Senior Living Guide: Strategies For Aging In Place In Chesterfield County, Emma E. Tilley

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Capstone Projects

The Senior Living Guide: Strategies for Aging in Place in Chesterfield County provides a comprehensive framework to support the county's growing older adult population in maintaining independence and quality of life within their homes and communities while aging in place. This plan outlines demographic trends, housing conditions, and the needs of older residents, and offers actionable planning strategies to make Chesterfield County a supportive locality for those aging in place. Emphasizing universal design, accessible infrastructure, and integrated support services, this plan promotes a multi-disciplinary approach to ensure that aging in place is a viable and equitable option for all residents. …

Exploring The Role Of Government Funding And Policy Criteria In Greening Projects: A Case Study Of Southside Richmond, Destiny R. Brown

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Capstone Projects

This thesis explores how government and private funding structures and policy criteria influence community-based organizations (CBOs) engaged in urban greening projects, focusing on Southside Richmond, Virginia through a case study of a local CBO. Using a multi-method approach including document analysis, secondary data review, and autoethnographic reflection, the research suggests a gap between visibility and influence for CBOs, showing that their decision-making authority often varies while they are publicly recognized. The study also reveals that public documentation of funders' community engagement is often performative or symbolic rather than structurally embedded in decision-making processes. In addition, funding remains a barrier, with …

Review Of Call The Mothers: Searching For Mexico’S Disappeared In The War On Drugs, By Shaylih Muehlmann, Veronica Montes

Sociology Faculty Research and Scholarship

No abstract provided.