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Places Of Life, Places Of Death: Caves In Pre-Hispanic Huachichil Conscience In Northern Mexico, Kate Prashby

Indigenous Studies

In 1931, a US geologist took ten skulls from a pre-Hispanic burial cave in historic Huachichil territory in northeastern Mexico and brought them to a US museum. To assist in repatriation efforts, this thesis uses ethnoarchaeology to suggest how ancient Huachichiles may have used caves and what they may have believed about those caves. Drawing from ethnographic accounts from the US Southwest, Aridoamerica, and Mesoamerica, this thesis establishes two possible models of belief that Huachichil cosmology may have followed regarding caves. A second pre­ Hispanic Huachichil burial cave and its surrounding caves are also examined using participant observation and interviews …

Electric Power Regulation For A Novel Riverine Hydrokinetic Energy Conversion System, Kawsar Ahammed

Engineering

Transportation of diesel fuel used to produce electricity for Alaska remote communities is highly expensive. Thus, people living in those remote areas pay a high rate for electric energy compared to the national average cost. The availability of renewable energy resources may help to minimize these high expenses. As many rural Alaskans live near rivers, hydrokinetic energy could be used as a renewable source of electric power. This renewable resource, if successfully harvested, has immense potential to help power Alaska remote communities and significantly reduce electric energy costs. This project aims to investigate the implementation of an energy conversion system …

From The Sea To The Classroom: Harmful Algal Blooms, Northern Sea Otters, And Engaging Curriculum, Emily Mailman

Biological Sciences

Harmful Algal Blooms (HAB) consist of a myriad of phytoplankton that can produce multiple potentially lethal biotoxins, which are ingested by shellfish as they consume algae in their diet. HAB events can occur when sunlight, nutrients, temperature, and turbidity conditions combine optimally. These bloom events are expected to increase as ocean temperatures continue to rise. The present study takes a multifaceted approach to evaluate the concentrations of paralytic shellfish toxins (PST), in northern sea otters (Enhydra lutris kenyoni), and provides a curriculum for students in grades 9-12 to support student’s conceptualization of microscopic phytoplankton and their roles in coastal ecosystems. …

Vegetation Analysis And Mapping In Evolving Ice-Wedge-Polygon Terrain Prudhoe Bay Region, Alaska, Olivia Hobgood

Biological Sciences

The Arctic is warming at an accelerating pace, and within the past few decades, ice-rich regions of the Arctic have undergone systemic changes. The subsidence of ground over degraded ice wedges has created new drainage networks and ponds within previously perpetually inundated areas, fundamentally altering ice-wedge-polygon landscape dynamics. Understanding the nature and distribution of these changes is crucial to determining potential impacts on climate, wildlife, and human society. We focus on an accessible and data-rich region within Prudhoe Bay. Although the changes caused by this shift in moisture regime are multi-faceted, we use vegetation as an easily measured proxy for …

An Exploration Of Panarctic Lake Formation And Methane Emission Since The Last Glacial Maximum, Laura Brosius

Biological Sciences

Polar ice cores show that atmospheric methane concentrations nearly doubled in response to rapid climate warming over the last deglacial transition. Since concentrations of this potent greenhouse gas are tightly coupled to the Earth’s climate system, understanding the climate­ ecosystem interactions that precipitated this event may help predict feedbacks to current and future warming. This work reconstructs panarctic lake areas and methane emissions to assess their contribution to global atmospheric methane budgets since the Last Glacial Maximum. In the first two chapters of my dissertation, I show that climate warming and deglaciation caused widespread lake formation across land surfaces poised …

Going “Back To Kindergarten” To Create Connection, Reduce Loneliness, And Build Resilience: A Community Workshop, Norie A. Mozzone

Expressive Therapies Theses

Having an embodied experience as a human being in the world in 2025 is stressful. The feelings of disconnection, loneliness, and anxiety that many have on a daily basis can reduce their capacity to feel sensations of safety, agency, ease, and empowerment. This thesis focuses on the development of a method to support adults in experiencing moments of interpersonal and intrapersonal connection in community by re-engaging with childhood rituals. Through the lenses of polyvagal theory, the expressive arts continuum (ETC), and therapeutic attunement the “Back to Kindergarten” methodology seeks to provide a structured and nourishing environment for adults to return …

Music Therapy And Cerebral Visual Impairments (Cvi) In Early Childhood: A Literature Review, Katie Hock

Expressive Therapies Theses

Cerebral visual impairment (CVI) is the leading cause of visual impairment in children within the United States, and results from neurologic impairment to areas of the brain responsible for processing and interpreting visual input. Due to the brain-based nature of this impairment, improvement in functional vision is possible through the process of neuroplasticity and development of compensatory strategies to improve personal access to the environment and surroundings. Intact vision provides access to information about the world around us, and without this sense children are highly susceptible to developmental delays in the areas of cognition, motor skills, communication, and social functioning. …

The Neuropsychiatric Value Of Expressive Arts Therapy Integrated With Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy In Treating Alzheimer's Disease And Related Disorders (Adrd), Alicia C. Hesse-Cleary

Expressive Therapies Theses

Neurodegenerative conditions, including Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease, and other dementias, are progressive disorders that lead to white matter damage in the brain, resulting in structural and functional consequences that disrupt neuronal pathways and contribute to significant cognitive and behavioral impairments. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form and a leading cause of death among older adults. Nearly 97% of patients experience neuropsychiatric symptoms, which are incredibly challenging to treat effectively as the disease progresses and, in some cases, may be untreatable with pharmaceuticals. This situation significantly increases caregiver burden and healthcare costs. Traditional pharmacological treatments for these conditions have …

Heartscape Resonance: A Psychophysiological Coherence-Based Expressive Arts Therapy Intervention For Quantum Healing Of Emotional Dysregulation, Pragati Jaiswal

Expressive Therapies Theses

This feasibility study examines the concept of Psychophysiological Coherence-Based Expressive Arts Therapy as a method for improving emotional regulation and aiding trauma recovery in psychiatric inpatient groups. The intervention developed for this study, termed Heartscape Resonance, integrates quantum healing, somatic heart coherence practices, and expressive arts therapy into a model that combines heart-centered breathing, bilateral stimulation, and artistic expression. The intervention was implemented four times across three units at an inpatient hospital in Massachusetts, USA. Self-report data collection methods that utilize embodied awareness, coherence ratings, and Heart Rate Variability (HRV) testing were employed, with the facilitator’s data forming the basis …

How Does An Art Therapist Build Rapport With Socially Isolated Older Adults?, Elizabeth L. Levering

Expressive Therapies Theses

This study was done to explore the fundamental aspects that are woven into the report-building process and the therapeutic alliance with socially isolated older adults. Research has been done on the effects that social isolation and loneliness have on this underserved population, however report building is less researched and can be translated into the mental health field. Person-centered therapy, developmental stages of older adults, and the growing field of art therapy and its benefits are also well documented. This qualitative arts-based study takes the intersectionality of these topics by observing three sessions with two separate residents and analyzing the results. …

Moving With The Fluidity Of Water: An Ecosomatic Community Engagement Project To Address Burnout In Therapists, Auriane Vacher

Expressive Therapies Theses

Therapists frequently report experiencing burnout which is correlated with a decline in both physical and emotional health. Burnout affects the quality of care that therapists can provide, rendering self-care essential for ethical practice. Because the experience of burnout affects not only the cognitive experience but the somatic one as well, self-care to prevent and address burnout must address the body in addition to the mind. One avenue for this is through the use of dance/movement therapy (DMT). DMT is well positioned to address the symptoms of burnout as one of the fundamental tenets of DMT is that the mind and …

Hope-Centered Art Therapy Exploring The Emergence Of Relational Narratives In Nurturing Resilience In Children, Niloofar Ojani

Expressive Therapies Theses

This review examines the importance of hope and resilience in art therapy interventions for children by synthesizing current research on how art therapy can foster hope. The data were collected by reviewing published peer-reviewed journals, book chapters, reflective writing, and artmaking—arts-based research methods. The beginning sections delve deeply into the definition of hope and resilience in the context of adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs. Art therapy acts as a creative medium for fostering these qualities. It is discussed that creative expression contributes to emotional regulation, utilizes therapeutic intra- and inter-relationships as a source of hope, and connects the child with …

Belonging To Self: Moments Of Body-Oriented Expressive Arts Psychotherapy & Inpatient Trauma Recovery, Arielle N. Ruggeroli

Expressive Therapies Theses

Expressive therapists have reported difficulty working in inpatient settings due to the gap between what the expressive modality theoretically offers and what is possible in practice due to both acute patient symptomology and limitations of the institutional setting. Early career clinicians especially contend with finding meaning in their clinical work, belonging among the clinical team and exploring how their expressive modalities are applicable or not to the systemically established treatment goal of stabilization. Concerns that excessive restriction upon patient expression inhibits possible aspects of recovery beyond stabilization, such insight or creativity, are explored. The subgoal of increasing momentary …

How Can Tattoos Be Understood As Intermodal Expressive Arts Therapy?: Integrating Visual Art, Personal Narrative, And Embodied Experience: Development Of A Method, Rachel S. Hall

Expressive Therapies Theses

This paper explores the inherent intermodal nature of tattoos through the lens of expressive arts therapy, demonstrating how tattoos integrate visual art, personal narrative, and embodied experience. A group intervention was designed and implemented in an outpatient setting, drawing on existing literature and the Expressive Therapies Continuum (ETC) to examine how tattoos function as therapeutic tools that support identity formation, emotional healing, and self-expression. The intervention guided participants through an intermodal process that began with reflective writing on identity-forming experiences, followed by visual art-making and somatic engagement. This approach illuminated the transformative potential of tattoo conceptualization within a therapeutic context, …

A Proposal For The Theoretical Integration Of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy And Dance/Movement Therapy, Sarah Crain

Expressive Therapies Theses

A recognized integration of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and dance/movement therapy (DMT) has not been developed because the concept currently lacks a strong philosophical and theoretical background. Observations from adjacent integrative expressive therapies and clinical practice provide encouragement that these models may provide a unique contribution to the field of psychotherapy. CBT would support the field of DMT toward better establishing an evidence-based theoretical background and framework. It is proposed that a well-supported approach to CBT and DMT should be built from a theoretical integration that upholds integrity of both models while identifying connective philosophical roots. This literature review initiates …

Nurturing Across Generations: Exploring Expressive Arts With An Emphasis On Collaboration, Reciprocity, And Accompaniment In A Community-Engagement Project For Psychosocial Development, Kavya R. Jayaprakash

Expressive Therapies Theses

This thesis explores how intergenerational connections within communities, facilitated through expressive arts, can promote psychosocial development across the lifespan. It is grounded in the theoretical frameworks of Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory and Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological systems Theory, and reviews prior studies based on these theories that highlight the benefits of nurturing intergenerational relationships and collective artistic engagement, but few examine their combined impact, and its elements that lead to an individual's development through community interactions. This project responds to that need through a community-based expressive arts intervention in Greater Boston, involving diverse participants of various ages in collaborative singing and storytelling sessions. …

How Can Art Therapy Be Utilized To Support Emotional Communication For Autistic Individuals With An Alexithymic Profile?, Kathryn L. Cohen

Expressive Therapies Theses

The expressive nature of art therapy can aid those with communication and sensory processing differences. Art making allows for the individual to access and emote in a way that spoken language cannot. This literature review will investigate and explore the features of the processing differences related to autism, interoception and alexithymia. The findings from the research explore the effectiveness of utilizing art therapy as a method to expand emotional communication. There are many challenges pertaining to emotional regulation and communication for autistic individuals. Accessing mental health resources and service providers familiar with communication differences is another challenge for this population. …

Emotional Pathways: A Literature Review Of Emotion Process In Emotionally Focused Therapy And Drama Therapy, Chiao-Ting Yuan

Expressive Therapies Theses

This capstone thesis explored how emotionally focused therapy (EFT), and drama therapy (DT) could be integrated to improve emotional regulation, self-awareness, and mental healing. Based on attachment theory and emotional process framework, how these two different but complementary interventions could increase emotional participation and transformation was explored. This literature review indicated that although EFT’s structured and verbal approach is different from DT’s creative and embodied skills, the two approaches share common goals and target the same emotional process. In DT, several techniques can be found that are closely related to EFT’s emotional process. These techniques can provide a unique and …

Returning To Ourselves: A Literature Review Of The Expressive Arts And Healing Intergenerational Trauma Cycles, Analie Strecker

Expressive Therapies Theses

Intergenerational trauma can occur amongst any family and in any culture. This can emerge from any number of things, be it a cycle of abuse, displacement, or even natural disasters. Given its pervasive nature, it is important to explore how transgenerational trauma can be treated and processed. A literature review was conducted in order to research how expressive arts therapies could be a valuable treatment method for generational trauma and trauma-informed care. The review examined both psychological and epigenetic impacts of generational trauma to gain insight into the possible trauma symptoms that interventions using expressive therapies might address. Different modalities …

To Bear Witness: Analyzing Dmt As An Effective Trauma-Informed Approach For Treating Youth & Adolescents: A Critical Review Of The Literature, Jade Dennis

Expressive Therapies Theses

This literature review proposes dance/movement therapy (DMT) as a trauma-informed intervention for children and adolescents who have experienced psychological, emotional, or physical trauma. The project, inspired by internship experiences with young trauma survivors, explores the ways in which trauma manifests in the body, indicating that DMT may offer effective pathways toward healing. Many children exposed to potentially traumatic events exhibit emotional dysregulation, insecure attachment patterns, and behavioral or somatic symptoms that are not easily addressed through traditional talk therapy. As a body-based expressive arts modality, DMT engages the sensory, emotional, and relational aspects of trauma by supporting nonverbal expression, self-regulation, …

Therapeutic Qualities And Applications Of Clay In Expressive Arts Therapy: A Literature Review, Julia Caruso

Expressive Therapies Theses

This literature review investigates the therapeutic qualities and clinical applications of clay within the framework of expressive arts therapy (ExAT), with particular focus on sensorimotor, somatic, and developmental interventions. Drawing upon the expressive therapies continuum (ETC), this review synthesizes emerging research highlighting clay's kinesthetic and tactile properties as key mechanisms for facilitating emotional expression, accessing unconscious material, and promoting psychological resilience. Evidence is presented for specialized therapeutic modalities such as clay art therapy (CAT) and Clay Field Work, which engage the body-mind connection to support trauma integration and emotion regulation. Findings demonstrate that clay's inherent adaptability and sensory richness allow …

Dance/Movement Therapy And Attachment In The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit- Critical Literature Review, Weronika Rozwadowska

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Dance/movement therapy, out of all of the expressive arts therapy modalities, is most often used in relation to attachment because of its embodiment. While dance/movement therapy has been researched in relation to attachment, is it hard to find literature about dance/movement therapy supporting attachment in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). This critical literature review explored and examined the question of how dance/movement therapy can support parents’ wellbeing and its influence on the attachment with their infants in the NICU. A search for literature on the topic happened mostly online on several bibliographic databases. The majority of the sources were …

Exploring Predictive Factors For Enabling Behavior In Family Members Of Those With Problematic Substance Use, Joseph Lemieux

Counseling and Psychology Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to gain insight into the underpinning driving forces for enabling behavior in affected family members with loved ones engaged in problematic substance use. With improved clarity and understanding of the variables predictive of enabling behavior, clinicians may be able to treat family members with improved precision and efficacy. Specifically, this study inquired about the relationship between enabling behavior and several variables, including (a) trauma, (b) ethnicity/race, (c) gender, (d) social support, (e) household income, and (f) age. This study surveyed 100 participants identifying as affected family members. Surveys were completed online and consisted of …

Complementary Design Of Optical And Photochemical Systems, Joshua Plank

Chemistry Theses and Dissertations

The ability to manipulate chemical systems has been prized through history as the bridge between the macroscopic and microscopic worlds. As an example, the camera obscura has arguably existed since the earliest days of humanity; however, it was the discovery of early silver halide chemistry that lead to the ability to fix these images into the earliest photographs. In modern photolithography employed in electronics manufacturing, the primary resolution limits arise not from the chemistry of the molecules involved, but from the limits of the systems used to project light. Thus, as much as photochemistry advances, optical imaging and projection techniques …

Quantum Chemical Methods And Multiscale Modeling In Computer-Aided Drug Design, Hunter W. La Force

Chemistry Theses and Dissertations

Computer-Aided Drug Design (CADD) leverages a diverse toolkit of computational methods to accelerate the discovery and development of novel therapeutics. Among these, quantum chemical calculations provide unparalleled accuracy in understanding molecular interactions, albeit at a higher computational cost. This accuracy is crucial for identifying and quantifying fundamental interactions that dictate drug efficacy and selectivity, as exemplified by our investigation of ruthenium polypyridyl complexes. These metal-based compounds are model systems for studying covalent coordination bonds between ruthenium and its ligands and noncovalent interactions with DNA and protein targets. Local Mode Vibrational Theory emerges as a powerful lens within this framework, enabling …

Causes Of Heterozygosity Excess: The Case Of Mexican Populations Of Populus Tremuloides, Javier Hernández-Velasco, José Ciro Hernández-Díaz, Sergio Leonel Simental-Rodríguez, Juan P. Jaramillo-Correa, David S. Gernandt, José Jesús Vargas-Hernández, Ilga Porth, Roos Goessen, M. Socorro Gonzáles-Elizondo, Matthias Fladung, Cuauhtémoc Sáenz-Romero, José Guadalupe Martínez-Ávalos, Artemio Carrillo-Parra, Eduardo Mendoza-Maya, Arnulfo Blanco-García, Christian Wehenkel

Aspen Bibliography

The presence of heterozygous individuals in a population is crucial for maintaining genetic diversity, which can positively affect fitness and adaptability to environmental changes. While inbreeding generally reduces the proportion of heterozygous individuals in a population, polyploidy tends to increase the proportion. North American Populus tremuloides is one of the most widely distributed and ecologically important tree species in the Northern Hemisphere. However, genetic variation in Mexican populations of P. tremuloides, including the genetic signatures of their adaptation to a variety of environments, remains largely uncharacterized. The aim of this study was to analyze how inbreeding coefficient (F …

The Lre Provision Of Idea's Impact On Deaf Students' Socio-Emotional Satisfaction In K-12th Grade Education, Shealyn Junge

Undergraduate University Honors Capstones

The education of Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) students represents a unique challenge in implementing inclusive practices that balance physical integration with meaningful language and communication access. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act’s Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) provision reflects a federal commitment to educating students with disabilities alongside their non-disabled peers whenever possible. This mixed-methods study examined how mainstream, co-enrollment settings, and Deaf schools shape the socio-emotional development of DHH students, including those transitioning between settings. While participants across placements reported increasing DHH identity pride, their social experiences diverged markedly: mainstream-educated participants universally reported loneliness by high school. Deaf …

Hybrid Graph-Recurrent Architecture For Citation Recommendation Via Future Embedding Forecasting, Mohammad Ausaf Ali Haqqani

Computer Science and Engineering Theses and Dissertations

The rapid expansion of scientific literature has intensified the challenge of identifying relevant citations, particularly for newly published or under-cited papers. Traditional citation recommendation systems typically model static relationships or respond to past citation activity, offering limited predictive power for emerging works. In response, this thesis presents a temporal modeling framework for citation recommendation that anticipates future scholarly relevance by forecasting the latent representations of academic papers.

Building on prior work that utilized Temporal Graph Networks (TGNs) to model dynamic citation flows, we propose Graph-Time, a hybrid architecture that integrates a Graph Transformer with a GRU-based time series predictor. The …

Undergraduate Commencement Exercises Program, May 17, 2025

Bryant University Commencements

No abstract provided.

Computational Identification Of Infiltrating T Lymphocytes Into Solid Tumor, Lin Zhong

Statistical Science Theses and Dissertations

T cells play a central role in cancer immunity. Successful anti-tumor immunotherapy relies on the effective infiltration of cytotoxic T cells. However, the tumor microenvironment presents physical and immunosuppressive barriers to prevent T cell entry. Here, we developed two novel computational tools, ReMITT and SIBERT, to search for migrating T cells and T cell entry regions (TERs) into the tumor core. SIBERT combines a novel change point detection method and a spatial imputation model to detect regions with signatures of recent T cell entry using the spatial transcriptomics data. Applying SIBERT to multiple human cancer samples revealed several TERs for …