Digital Commons Network^™

Towards Unbordered Worlds: Mutual Aid Amid Border Internalisation In New York City, Holly Maclean

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study explores the relationship between mutual aid and border regimes through the case of Tompkins Distro, a mutual aid group that organises a weekly food distribution in the East Village of New York City. It focuses specifically on two forms of border internalisation that have shaped the emergence and context of Tompkins Distro: welfare state bordering and interior border enforcement. Drawing on four months of participant observations, interviews with core organisers, and documentary analysis, the study examines how Tompkins Distro meets people’s needs each week through a framework of collective care that actively rejects border logics of deservingness and …

Maintenance Mode For Digital Dwellers, Maci Morris

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In an ever-expanding digital landscape that operates on the commodification of user-generated materials, whether through direct or “dark pattern” extraction, it becomes vital for educators to employ digital practices that normalize critical reflection about the creation and storage of digital content. These practices should create better understanding of the underlying infrastructure of content management and storage.

This capstone project, “Maintenance Mode for Digital Dwellers,” is an adaptable pedagogical guide that instructors can use to engage learners in strategies and systems for managing their personal digital materials. Participants are encouraged to engage with their digital maintenance and archival practices through a …

Reimagining Safety And Justice: Experiences Of And Resistance To Police Sexual Violence In New York City, Priscilla Bustamante

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In the era following both Black Lives Matter and #MeToo, police sexual violence (PSV) currently constitutes the second most commonly reported police complaint after excessive force. Police across the U.S. are caught for some form of sexual misconduct once every five days, with on-duty officers found to commit sexual assaults at more than double the rate of the general population. The gendered and racialized perpetration of sexual violence extends far beyond policing; however, it has been intensified within the masculine, militarized carceral structures designed to legally control and punish.

Accordingly, this dissertation utilizes an interdisciplinary, multi-method approach to offer what …

Marx And Engels On Prisons And Capitalism, James Parisot

Sociology Faculty Publications

This paper rethinks Marx and Engels’ comments on imprisonment and capitalism. While there has been a tendency to suggest the authors’ comments on crime and punishment were peripheral and secondary to their major projects, such as Marx’s Capital, this paper claims, in fact, their writings on incarceration were guided by their shared theoretical project which included historicizing systems of punishment as correlating with modes of production. Also, while more has been written on their ideas of criminality, instead, this paper excavates their thoughts on prisons, which have often been neglected. Overall, it shows there has been a tendency to …

How Do Social Isolation And Loneliness Vary By Age?, Jihye Baek, Cal J. Halvorsen

Harvey A. Friedman Center for Aging

Social isolation and loneliness, which are experienced by many older adults, can negatively impact health and well-being. Although often used interchangeably, social isolation is defined as an objective lack of social ties (e.g., number of close family members or friends) and loneliness as an internal sense of disconnection (e.g., feeling alone even when surrounded by others). Because social relationships, health, and life circumstances change as we age, patterns of social isolation and loneliness may differ by age group. Therefore, this research brief asks, How do patterns of social isolation and loneliness differ across age groups among community-dwelling older adults? 

Comparative Authoritarian Law, Madhav Khosla, Benjamin L. Liebman

Faculty Scholarship

In recent years, comparative constitutional lawyers have turned their attention to the study of democratic backsliding. However, such scholarship is yet to draw on the now extensive literature on traditional authoritarian systems. The bifurcation of regime type that has structured comparative legal research for decades — for comparative constitutional lawyers and for scholars of specific authoritarian regions — is now under strain. With the global rise of authoritarianism and the growing use of law by authoritarian states, the world is harder to neatly separate into two camps than it once might have been. This Article reflects on how we might …

Dual Self-Construal Integration (Dsci) And Romantic Relationships In Singapore: Enhancing Romantic Relationship Satisfaction Through Creativity, Kenneth Tan, Chi-Ying Cheng, Gloria J. Lai, Daniel Ho

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Research has shown that independent vs. interdependent self-construals are largely shaped by culture and can predict the endorsement of distinct relational schemes when dealing with close others. Intriguingly, individuals exposed to both Eastern and Western cultures can develop both independent and interdependent self-construals and possess the two seemingly conflicting self-construals simultaneously. What is less explored is how different management of both independent and interdependent self-construals influence individuals' navigation of relational schemas in their romantic relationships. The current research examines the influence of how one's dual self-construal integration (DSCI)—an individual difference measure that captures the degree to which individuals perceive independent …

Misjudging A Reasonable Jury: Evidence That Courts Dismiss Meritorious Harassment Claims, Elizabeth C. Tippett, Jamillah Bowman Williams

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Courts assessing summary judgment motions in Title VII harassment claims commonly grant the motion on the basis that the alleged harassment is insufficiently “severe or pervasive” to meet the legal standard. This mixed-methods study empirically tests whether there is a gap between how judges and potential jurors assess the same set of facts on the severe or pervasive element of a Title VII harassment claim. We presented study participants with facts from 80 federal harassment cases. In each case, the defendant employer moved to dismiss the case, arguing that no reasonable jury would find the alleged harassment sufficiently severe or …

Soci 439.50: Advanced Criminological Theory, Jackson M. Bunch

University of Montana Course Syllabi, 2026-2030

No abstract provided.

February 2026 Nh Ece Research Consortium Newsletter, Evan England, Jess Carson, Harshita Sarup

New Hampshire Early Care and Education Research Consortium

The February 2026 NH ECE Research Consortium Newsletter features a spotlight on the NH Child Care Scholarship Program. Also find the latest data, research publications, Consortium resources, upcoming events, opportunities, and more.

Voices In Transit: Intersectionality, Silence, And Political Engagement In Ride-Sharing, Soran Tarkhani

Commonwealth Review of Political Science

Abstract This study examines Uber as a digitally governed “third space” for political discourse. Based on 4,716 ride observations from Louisville–Southern Indiana—3,676 collected in 2023–2024 and 1,040 in 2025—it uses a mixed-methods design combining multinomial logistic regression and qualitative observation. Political conversations are defined as discussions of parties, elections, policies, or major social issues. Results show that White and male passengers were most likely to initiate such talk, while African American and female riders often remained silent, consistent with Noelle-Neumann’s spiral of silence. African American women faced the strongest intersectional constraints. Women and LGBTQ passengers leaned liberal, while men displayed …

From Care To Capital: Rethinking Resilience In The Philippine Labor Export System, Alexa J. Abendano

Senior Theses

Global migration has been a defining feature of the neoliberal world economy due to its ability to transform how nations manage care, labor and survival across borders. Within this system, the Philippines stands out as a country that has institutionalized labor migration as a development strategy since the 1970s. This paper examines how the Philippines states labor export policy shapes the vulnerability and resilience of migrant care workers, specifically those employed as domestic helpers in Hong Kong. By drawing on scholarship about global care economies, remittances, precarity, neoliberalism and resilience, this paper analyzes how emotional and reproductive labor are commodified …

Grmn 317l.01: Introduction To Multicultural Literature In Contemporary Germany, Hiltrudis M. Arens

University of Montana Course Syllabi, 2026-2030

No abstract provided.

The Correlation Between Racial Inequality And Rent Stabilization Apartments In New York City, Juan G. Mayancela

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The federal, state, and local governments have enacted policies to address housing issues in New York City. But have African Americans and Latinos benefited from these policies? To explore this, we conduct a case study of the history of rent-stabilization policy and use data from New York City agencies to contextualize these developments. We also apply Claire Jean Kim’s racial hierarchy framework to examine how White supremacy has shaped housing policy and its effects on communities of color. Our analysis shows that African American and Latino communities face disadvantages both in the number of rent-stabilized units and in access to …

The Radical Political Possibilities Of Asexuality And Aromanticism, Kirty Singh

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study explores the radical political potential of Asexuality and Aromanticism within queer theory, emphasizing their roles in destabilizing normative constructs of sexuality and romantic relationships. Employing mixed methods, including literature review, digital ethnography of online communities, and analysis of graphic narratives, the research examines how these identities challenge systemic systems such as compulsory sexuality, amatonormativity, and racialized discourses. Findings reveal that Asexual and Aromantic communities utilize flexible definitions and taxonomies to assert their identities, disrupt hegemonic gender and sexual norms, and foster coalitional politics that advocate for systemic change. The study underscores the importance of recognizing Asexuality and Aromanticism …

Culture And Its Discontents: Versions Of Matthew Arnold From The 1860s To The 1980s, Jarrett Moran

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Between the 1860s and the 1980s, the concept of culture articulated by Matthew Arnold provided a widespread and persistent language for making claims about who was ready for inclusion in British politics and identity and who was not yet ready or even incapable of being included. Scholarship on Arnoldian culture has often focused on presenting just one version of Arnold, whether as a cultural elitist, a progenitor of literary studies, or proponent of “doing away with classes.” This dissertation instead shows that Arnold’s concept of culture was so pervasive and persistent because he could be appropriated and redefined by people …

Typeface: Machine-Viewing Gentrification On Storefront Imagery In Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, Alexander Mcquilkin

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Gentrification—broadly, the replacement of a less powerful group by a more powerful one in an urban context—is oft-discussed in the popular press, but its definition is much-debated in the urban planning literature. Furthermore, academic treatments of displacement understandably focus on measurable yet fairly abstract indicators like changes in rent or income, whereas neighborhood change is often registered by residents on the ground using visual, but difficult-to-quantify markers like retail turnover. This project uses image recognition technology on a set of storefront photos to index the visual streetscape of a neighborhood, as well as to track changes to that portrait over …

At The Margins Of History, The Body Moves And Knows: Carmen As Myth, Flamenco As A Fugitive Form Of Knowledge Transmission, Inmaculada Zanoguera Garcias

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

My research, grounded in decolonial historiography and performance studies, examines how Spain has historically relied on the exoticized Other for the construction of its national identity. At the center of my analyses is Carmen, the eponymous protagonist of French writer Prosper Mérimée’s 1845 novella Carmen. Through this dissertation, I attend to the process through which this fictional character turned into the enduring myth of Carmen—the Orientalized, quintessential Spanish woman—and the consequences that upholding this myth has on the real lives of women, historically and contemporarily. I depart from the assumption that this myth-making process emerged in response to Spain’s inability …

Voces Of Teachers And The Politics Of Literacy: A Case Study Of Multilingual Kindergarten In A Midwestern Urban District, Rachel Chapman

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The United States is home to more international immigrants than any other country in the world with about a quarter of its children learning two or more languages while growing up. This study explored teachers’ experiences with children's home languages as they learned English for the first time in a kindergarten classroom. In kindergarten, children build their emergent literacy skills as they enter the beginning stages of reading, when children use letter sounds to decode words. Because teachers have largely been left out of the debate about policy formation and curriculum on teaching reading, this study focused on teachers’ experiences …

Good Mothers: Black Disabled Mothers & The Family Policing System, Siobhan Pokorney

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Good Mothers: Black Disabled Mothers & the Family Policing System is a qualitative study utilizing 16 in-depth individual interviews with mothers who broadly identified as Black, disabled mothers who had at least one interaction with the family policing system as adults in or around NYC. The study examines the work these mothers engage in to navigate their identities and strategically present themselves as good mothers while facing state surveillance and oppressive systems (specifically the family policing system) which automatically frame them as “unfit mothers.” It traces their experiences and the identity work that they engage in through the anticipatory trauma …

Phl 506.01: Philosophy Of Law, Soazig Le Bihan

University of Montana Course Syllabi, 2026-2030

No abstract provided.

Soci 101s.50: Introduction To Sociology, Jacobs W. Hammond

University of Montana Course Syllabi, 2026-2030

No abstract provided.

Soci 301e.01: Criminal Justice Ethics, Andrew J. Thompson

University of Montana Course Syllabi, 2026-2030

No abstract provided.

Re-Thinking The Composition Of The Business School Faculty, Michael A. Carrillo, Arthur Kraft, John Kraft

Business Faculty Articles and Research

Since the 1990s, the faculty of U.S. colleges and universities has shifted from a workforce dominated by full-time tenured and tenure-track positions to one in which contingent appointments predominate. According to the American Association of University Professors, contingent faculty grew from about 47 percent of the national workforce in 1987 to roughly two- thirds by 2021 (AAUP, 2023). Business schools faced the same pressures, including cost constraints, a shortage of doctorally qualified faculty, ranking competition, and revised accreditation standards, but they responded differently. Drawing on two decades of faculty data from 180 AACSB-accredited business schools and a subsample of 54 …

Cc Magazine Winter 2026, Connecticut College

Alumni News/Connecticut College Magazine

No abstract provided.

Legal Reform And Cultural Resistance: Examining The Role Of Law And Custom In Ending Fgm In Egypt, Souhaila Hafez Abo Seada

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the persistent gap between legal reform and social practice in efforts to end Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Egypt. Although FGM has been criminalized since 2008, with stronger penalties introduced in 2016 and 2021, the practice continues, revealing the limits of law when it operates alongside powerful social, religious, familial, and medical norms. Using a qualitative case-based approach grounded in legal pluralism and Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis, the study draws on 11 semi-structured interviews with participants from civil society, religious institutions, the legal profession, the medical sector, and communities where FGM persists, alongside legislative, demographic, and documentary …

The Social And Cultural Challenges Experienced By Children With Send Through Quasi-Inclusion Practices In Two Mainstream Primary Schools In Postcolonial Guyana, Lidon Lashley, Clevelon Gordon

IALS Journal

This ethnographic study investigates the sociocultural experiences of 36 children with SEND and two non-SEND peers in two rural mainstream primary schools in Guyana. Through interviews, observations, and situational analysis, the study explores how ableism, colonial legacies, prejudice, poverty, linguistic barriers, and inadequate educational support shape the experiences of children with SEND. Findings reveal persistent stigmatization, discrimination, marginalization, exclusion, and "fated failure" discourses that negatively affect learning, participation, agency, and wellbeing. The study concludes that teachers require greater support, training, and specialist resources to foster genuine inclusion within Guyana's mainstream schools.

Bad Bunny’S Super Bowl Performance Generated 892.8% More Social Media Mentions Than Kid Rock’S Halftime Show With Triple The Search Interest, Jin-A Choi, Bond Benton, Yi Lou

College of Communication and Media Scholarship and Creative Works

A study from Montclair State University faculty in the Joetta Di Bella and Fred C. Sautter III Center for Strategic Communication in the College of Communication and Media analyzed social media reaction to the NFL’s Super Bowl halftime show featuring Bad Bunny and Turning Point USA’s “All-American Halftime Show” featuring Kid Rock. Results suggest significantly higher interest online in Bad Bunny’s performance. Highlights from the study include 892.8% more posts on X about Bad Bunny’s halftime show performance with a 963.6% higher number of posts throughout Super Bowl Sunday. Additionally, there was triple the amount of search interest for “Bad …

The Impact Of Innovation Belief On Strategic Product R&D, Yan Zhou

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

In highly uncertain innovation scenarios characterized by long R&D cycles and high risks, how to continuously drive enterprises to develop market-competitive blockbuster products has become a critical issue of shared concern in both practice and academia. Existing research has mostly explained differences in blockbuster product R&D from perspectives such as resource allocation, organizational structure, or institutional incentives, while paying insufficient attention to cognitive and belief factors at the individual level. Based on this, this paper introduces the psychological and cognitive variable of "innovative belief" to systematically examine its impact mechanism on blockbuster product R&D capability.

Taking the R&D team of …

Light & Faith: February 2026, Taylor University

Light & Faith

No abstract provided.