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Identity, Sexuality, And Gender: Perspectives From Self-Identified Sexually Fluid People, Mattilyn Wiseman

Psychology ETDs

Research on sexual fluidity has relied on categorical, gender-based measurement frameworks that prioritize quantifying change over exploring the lived experience of sexually fluid people. This study employed Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) to qualitatively and ideographically explore how self-identified sexually fluid people made sense of their own sexual identity, gender (more broadly), and attraction as it relates or does not relate to gender. Three participants completed structured interviews with open-ended questions. Participants unanimously made sense of identity as a self-constructed journey and tied to their social realities. Participants’ lived experiences of their own gender identities informed their sense-making of gender more …

The Concept 'Pollination' And Bee Pan-Trap Color And Uv Reflectance Determine The Taxonomic Compositions Of Bee Taxa Captures Across An Elevation Gradient And Seasons In The Jemez Mountains Of New Mexico, Esther A. Burton, Kelly B. Miller, Paul J. Watson, David C. Witherington, Steven Poe, David Lightfoot

Biology ETDs

This thesis examines the pollinator concept and tests how sampling methods shape bee communities. Chapter 1 provides a conceptual and philosophical analysis, arguing that pollination is a process and that pollinators are context-dependent functional roles rather than fixed taxonomic categories. It traces the concept’s development from natural history to ecological theory, introduces a dual-goal model separating plant reproduction from visitor foraging, and proposes a classification framework based on evidentiary certainty and pollination potential to resolve ambiguity in pollination research.

Chapter 2 applies these ideas empirically by evaluating how pan-trap color and ultraviolet (UV) reflectance influence bee assemblages across elevation and …

From Cranes To Clinics: Genomic Epidemiology At The Human-Animal Interface, Sarah Shrum

Biology ETDs

Emerging infectious diseases represent a significant, increasing threat to human life, economic stability, and global security. The One Health framework, which promotes human health and wellness through the understanding that animal, environmental, and human health are interwoven, is critical to understanding pathogen emergence and transmission. This is underscored by the fact that roughly 60% of all human pathogens and 75% of emerging infectious disease are zoonotic, meaning they are transmitted from animals to humans.

The work presented in this dissertation integrates genomic epidemiology, ecological analysis, and One Health Surveillance approaches to characterize cross-species circulation of opportunistic yeast pathogens (Candida …

Inherited By “Merit”: What Caste Carries Across The Indian American Diaspora, Aarushi V. Jaiswal

English Undergraduate Distinction Projects

This project traces the rhetorical formation termed “meritocratic nationalism,” a political vocabulary that makes national belonging conditional on moralized merit, converting structural advantage into the language of individual character. Meritocratic nationalism is traced across three political figures whose rhetoric represents successive moments in a single ideological trajectory. Reading Narendra Modi’s 2014 and 2018 Independence Day addresses and his 2014 Madison Square Garden speech to the Indian American diaspora as the formation’s originating texts, this project argues that Modi’s recurring moral tetrad of conduct, values, traditions, and ability translated the structurally concentrated advantages of India’s upper-caste professional class into a universalist …

From Body Positivity To Body Power: How Music Therapy And Body Liberation Intersect To Address Body Oppression In The Therapeutic Space–A Literature Review, Katherine M. Perkoski

Expressive Therapies Theses

With the rise of overt fascism, anti–fat bias, anti–intellectualism, anti–multiculturalism, anti–diversity, equity, and inclusion, and the persistence of white, capitalist, cisheteropatriarchy narratives around bodies, music therapists need to recognize how client and therapist bodies show up in practice. In this critical literature review, bodies will be sociopolitically and culturally contextualized, and the intersections of music therapy, body liberation, and body power will be discussed. Music therapists need to address the body oppression faced by sociopolitical identities such as race, gender, disability, age, body size, sexuality, neurodiversity, class, ethnicity, nationality, housing status, and immigration status. The music therapy field needs to …

Thoughts From The Pit: Can Raving Change The World? A Literature Review Exploring Rave Culture As Expressive Arts Healing, Marissa Rose Renella

Expressive Therapies Theses

This literature review examines the structural and philosophical commonalities between expressive arts therapy (EXA) and rave culture. Drawing on scholarship from anthropology, cultural studies, health sciences, transpersonal psychology, neuroscience, and expressive arts therapy, this review identifies five core principles shared between the two fields: transformational experiences, multimodality, entrainment and flow, containment and ritual, and community and social action values. Across each principle, the literature reveals not surface-level similarity but deep convergence — two fields that have, independently and through different lineages, arrived at the same understanding of what human beings need in order to heal, grow, and connect. To the …

Attachment Under Threat: Parental Cancer, Child Development, And Dance/Movement Therapy As An Embodied Intervention—A Literature Review, Victoria E. Groves

Expressive Therapies Theses

Parental cancer is a significant family-based stressor that can disrupt children’s attachment security and emotional regulation. This literature review examines how parental cancer can interfere with parent-child attachment processes and explores dance/movement therapy (DMT) as a potential intervention. Literature from attachment theory, psycho-oncology, trauma research, somatic psychotherapy, and DMT is synthesized into a cohesive conceptual framework linking caregiving disruption, neurobiological stress responses, and embodied patterns of regulation in children. Findings suggest that parental cancer is associated with increased attachment insecurity through changes in caregiver availability, emotional attunement, and children’s perceived attachment security. These disruptions contribute to the internalization of chronic …

Re-Painting Motherhood: A Community-Based Expressive Arts Project Exploring Motherhood’S Myths, Realities, And Hopes Through A Narrative Therapy Lens, Lauren Grignaffini-Morris

Expressive Therapies Theses

This thesis examines how socially constructed ideals of motherhood shape maternal identity, distress, and isolation, and explores the potential of addressing these experiences through a community-based expressive arts project. Drawing on motherhood studies, expressive arts therapy, and narrative therapy, the project highlights the potential benefits of utilizing expressive arts in a community setting to ease the tension between romanticized cultural narratives and the lived realities of mothers. Conducted with a support group for mothers in rural Vermont, the project used visual art, movement, creative writing, and collaborative mixed-media painting to examine problem-saturated motherhood stories, connect through embodied experience, and explore …

Playfulness And Awe: How Ecodramatherapy Can Facilitate The Experience Of Positive Emotional States To Reduce Perceived Stress, Corey Jennifer Maier

Expressive Therapies Theses

This paper investigates the question, “can a play and awe-based Ecodramatherapy intervention help to reduce levels of perceived stress in a group of food forest volunteers?” Methods for investigation and subsequent discussion of results draw from the Biophilia Hypothesis, Stress Reduction Theory, and Trait Activation Theory to guide conceptualization. Based on a review of the literature suggesting that playfulness and awe have an effect on both perceived and physiological stress, the author created an Ecodramatherapy intervention designed to evoke playfulness and awe for a group of 4 stressed food forest volunteers. The volunteer group was of mixed ethnicities and genders …

Exploring The Potential For Meaning-Making In Expressive Art Therapies Interventions In Treatment Of Complicated Grief For Gun Homicide Survivors: A Literature Review, Ash Landrein

Expressive Therapies Theses

Research shows that the violent nature of homicide and the extreme lethality of firearms in conflict lead to increased psychological impairment for survivors and communities affected. Black and Latinx communities are disproportionately affected by gun violence, yet are historically underresearched and underserved. Social constraints and systemic negligence complicate and stigmatize the bereavement process. This literature review examined culturally relevant grief practices, theories and components of meaning-making (MM) post-loss, and Expressive arts interventions for facilitating meaning, safety, and reconnection for survivors, through an intersection of race, ethnicity, gender, and age. Cumulative research shows that MM can help individuals experiencing complicated grief …

Becoming A Body-Centered Psychotherapist: Developing A Reflective Method For Navigating Dual Professional Identity In Dance/Movement Therapy Training, Emma Rose Barbosa

Expressive Therapies Theses

The field of mental health counseling frequently prioritizes verbal modalities, often leaving dance/movement therapists (DMTs) in training to navigate clinical environments that diverge from their primary movement-first modality. Without adequate preparation for this tension, emerging DMTs risk losing access to their primary treatment modality at a critical stage of professional development. The literature review highlights the mind-body connection as a theoretical foundation for somatic integration in clinical practice, examines the development of the internal witness through authentic movement practice, and explores selected current perspectives on DMT within individual counseling contexts. To investigate further themes, a heuristic study was conducted during …

Opening Space For Joy: Play As A Pathway In Dance/Movement Therapy With Adults In Addiction Recovery, Brittany M. Walsh

Expressive Therapies Theses

This literature review examines the cultivation of joy through play in dance/movement therapy (DMT) for adults in addiction treatment. Substance use disorders (SUDs) and addictive behaviors are complex, multifaceted conditions influenced by biological, psychological, social, and systemic factors; however, treatment approaches often prioritize symptom reduction and traditional talk-based models. Although necessary, these approaches often fail to honor the whole person, and can inadvertently reinforce shame, stigma, isolation, and dehumanization. Drawing on trauma-informed, neurobiological, relational, and decolonizing frameworks, this review positions joy as a fundamental aspect of human experience and an affirmation of dignity. Playful processes in DMT have the potential …

Exploring Immigration-Related Trauma With Trauma-Informed, Culturally Relevant Creative Processes, Alexandra Gadway

Expressive Therapies Theses

The Latinx population is one of the fastest growing racial and ethnic groups in the United States, yet there is still a great need for culturally appropriate training tools and screenings to support folks experiencing immigration-related trauma. This study explores ways art therapy can foster connection and empowerment for a Latinx child impacted by immigration-related post-traumatic stress, if only the field considers expanding its culturally relevant and trauma-informed creative-based processes. Newer literature in trauma-informed expressive therapies suggests a bottom-up approach, wherein tapping into the kinesthetic and sensory levels of the Expressive Therapies Continuum (ETC) allows us to process through movement, …

Rhythms Of Hippocampal Function And Memory After Moderate Prenatal Alcohol Exposure, Lilliana May Sanchez

Psychology ETDs

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders involve morphologic and neurobiological abnormalities in offspring subjected to prenatal alcohol exposure. Although not as well studied as high exposure, moderate prenatal alcohol exposure represents the most common and undetected form in humans. While learning and memory deficits have been well characterized at the behavioral level in humans with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders and in animal models of moderate prenatal alcohol exposure, few studies have determined the circuit or systems level mechanisms of the behavioral deficits. A complete understanding of the neural bases of memory deficits after moderate prenatal alcohol exposure is needed to ultimately identify …

"Oh That I Had A Dozen Voices": Accessible Music For Volunteer Church Choirs, Nicholas D. Klemetson

Doctor of Pastoral Music Projects and Theses

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted church music ministries across the United States. In an era during which church attendance and interest in organized religion are declining, churches were forced to shut their doors, which only deepened the worsening issues in the US and internationally. Most houses of worship in the United States are modest in size but contain a small but enthusiastic group of volunteers who find great fulfillment in sharing their musical gifts to express God’s love. Despite these churches being the majority, mainstream music publishers’ offerings cater overwhelmingly to larger music ministries with sufficient participation to present SATB …

When You Consider The Radiance: Sergii Bulgakov, Beauty, Personhood, Daniel Adam Lightsey

Religious Studies Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation’s primary interlocutor is Sergii Bulgakov (1871-1944), the prominent Marxist economist later turned Idealist religious philosopher and finally Russian Orthodox priest and dogmatician who was forcibly exiled from his homeland in 1922 never to return. The thesis this manuscript pursues is that Bulgakov’s theology of beauty and metaphysics of personhood are inextricably enmeshed. Chapter 1 begins with beauty, specifically the problem or “tragedy of beauty,” a thematic to which Bulgakov consistently draws attention regarding the religious experience of postlapsarian persons. Chapter 2 assays Bulgakov’s chief rudiments of personhood as such, providing a kind of grammar for his metaphysical structuring …

Incorporating Principles And Wisdom From Hospital Chaplaincy And Pastoral Ministry To Create A Ministry Model To Address Social Isolation And Loneliness In Black Churches, Albert A. Kemp

Doctor of Ministry Projects and Theses

To address the growing and widespread epidemic of social isolation and loneliness, with special focus on Black churches, this dissertation developed a program with the following areas of application: 1) how healthcare trained chaplains can coordinate with churches to positively impact individuals identified as lonely and socially isolated with better social and physical health, 2) how principles of chaplaincy and pastoral care can mitigate and intervene competently when such people are identified, and 3) how the project’s model can be organized, taught, and incorporated into existing arenas of church ministry.

The purpose of the project was to create a ministry …

A Hospital Spiritual Care Volunteer Program: Embodying Vocation And Decreasing Social Isolation And Loneliness In Adults Sixty-Five And Older, Stacy L. Auld

Doctor of Ministry Projects and Theses

Social isolation and loneliness have become familiar terms since the COVID-19 pandemic, but the problem did not start there. We have seen a steady rise in the number of people who face social isolation and loneliness over the past fifty years, and now research shows that this problem is impacting people’s health, especially in adults sixty-five and older. These social diagnoses are being addressed by public policy and in health care settings, but they should also be addressed by United Methodist clergy in their care for their parishioners. Therefore, I am writing this dissertation to my clergy colleagues to raise …

Machine Learning And Formal Methods In Quantum Chemistry: Theory And Application, Ishna Satyarth

Computer Science and Engineering Theses and Dissertations

In recent years, the progress in inter-disciplinary application of machine learning and artificial intelligence (ML/AI) have truly transformed various fields, from weather forecasting and drug development to medical diagnostics, energy, and sustainability. Computational chemistry uses computational tools to model, predict, analyze, and explain chemical phenomena, while the Quantum chemistry specifically uses techniques based on quantum mechanics (as opposed to classical mechanics or empirical models). Quantum chemistry or Computational chemistry has also observed a momentum in application of ML techniques over the past decade significantly accelerating results and providing valuable insights into vast datasets, often surpassing traditional methods.

This dissertation explores …

Characterizing A Potential Cbp/P300 Histone Acetyltransferase Homolog In Tardigrade Germline Specification And Development, Brittney Michelle Hartshorn

Honors Projects

Germline specification is a fundamental process that ensures the proper development of germ cells. Germline specification occurs either through germ cell determinants maternally inherited through the mechanism of preformation or through induction, where cell interaction and epigenetic modifications direct specification. Determining how these mechanisms evolved and diverged remains an important question in developmental biology. Despite research on germline regulation in model organisms such as Caenorhabditis elegans or Drosophila melanogaster, such regulation remains poorly understood in many other animal groups. Tardigrades are an emerging model system for investigating developmental mechanisms due to their phylogenetic placement and experimentally tractable embryos. CBP/P300 is …

Hybrid Densenet-U-Net Framework For Automated Grading Of Renal Cell Carcinoma, Rohini Jadhav, Banani Mohapatra, Bhavnish Walia, Sital Dash, Kailas Patil, Shrikant Jadhav, Ishwari Rohit Raskar

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Introduction: Precisely grading renal cell carcinoma (RCC) through histopathology slides is a requisite to predict the cancer prognosis and select treatments, however, there is a considerable variability in the assessment between observers. While some AI systems mainly rely on transformer-based and nuclei-centric models, they are computationally very demanding so their clinical use is thus limited. Hence, there is a need for practical and easy-to-understand solutions that can be integrated into digital pathology workflows. Methods: We built a hybrid framework that integrates U-Net-based tumor segmentation, convolutional feature extraction, nuclei-aware descriptors, stain normalization, and attention-based multiple instance learning for slide-level RCC grading. …

Limited Long-Term Changes In Tree Physiological Function Despite Shifts In Forest Stand Structure Following Moth (Lymantria Dispar L.) Outbreak And Drought, Diane Radwanski, Tomer Duman, Kenneth L. Clark, Dirk W. Vanderklein, Karina V. R. Schäfer

Department of Biology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Introduction: In this study, we investigated forest stand dynamics and leaf gas exchange of co-occurring oak and pine species in an oak-pine forest in the Atlantic Coastal Plain in the Northeastern United States following defoliation by a moth (Lymantria dispar L.), and severe drought.Methods: We used forest stand inventory and leaf gas exchange data spanning from 2005-2015 to analyze the effects of drought and defoliation.Results and discussion: The defoliation and subsequent drought caused great mortality in a selected group of species and moderate mortality in others. Investigating these dynamics on a decadal time scale (2005 – 2015) revealed a shift …

Mapping Homogeneous Configuration States For Learning Based Motion Planners, Yazied Hasan

Computer Science ETDs

Reinforcement learning (RL) excels at solving complex tasks, but training times can become prohibitively large for challenging motion-planning problems. Methods that address this cost often require additional training or tuning, counteracting the goal of reducing training time. A more effective approach is to exploit inherent task equivalences: many elements of the state space, dynamics, or structure are functionally interchangeable, enabling simplification or knowledge reuse. We present learning solutions that leverage these equivalences to enhance the RL process. First, we leverage the symmetry of homogeneous multi-agent teams to simplify the task to a single strategy. Second, we map correspondences between distinct …

What Is Mine, Yours And Ours: Bodily Metaphor And Neuropsychology, Alicia K.E Parham

Art Theses and Dissertations

Mapping the landscape of the brain has taken human lifetimes to navigate, both structurally to understand how our biological functions interact and functionally as our thoughts and emotions shape our existence. Neurological stimulus and response inform our reality, shape our thinking, and affect our bodies in profound physiological ways. Our nervous system acts as a bridge from what we experience physically to what we feel emotionally, through the sending of electrical signals to all parts of our body.

My art practice explores the interactions of neuroscience with outside stimuli. It is rooted in the personal: learning that a neurological condition …

The Effect Of Acute Hypoxia Exposure, With Exercise, On Bone Metabolic Biomarkers, Alyssa Bailly

Health, Exercise, and Sports Sciences ETDs

Hypoxic environments, resulting from decreased atmospheric partial pressure of oxygen, reduce oxygen availability in the blood and tissues, leading to a mismatch between supply and demand. This elicits several physiological adaptations and may influence bone metabolism. Although evidence suggests that hypoxia can modulate bone remodeling through hypoxia-inducible pathways, findings remain mixed, with most data derived from chronic hypoxic exposures in animal and cell culture models. Exercise, an essential stimulus for bone health, may exacerbate hypoxic stress; however, the skeletal response to acute hypoxic exposure combined with exercise remains unclear. We propose that intermittent exercise in hypoxia may increase negative markers …

Shaping Emergent Competitive And Cooperative Behaviors In Multi-Agent General-Sum Games, Ethan F. Erickson

Honors Projects

Reinforcement learning (RL) algorithms can train agents to solve problems in environments using complex behaviors that are not explicitly programmed, known as emergent behaviors. The goal of our research is to investigate how different RL reward values influence the emergence of competitive and cooperative behaviors in games with teams of multiple agents. Specifically, we focus on general-sum games, in which the sum of gains and losses of each team may be non-zero, allowing situations for agents to mutually benefit or mutually fail. Using Unity’s ML-Agents Toolkit to train agents with RL self-play in bounded 2D environments, we identify high-level behaviors …

Efficacy And Equity In Type 2 Diabetes Care: Comparing Glp-1 Therapy And Dietary Interventions Through Clinical, Social, And Ethical Lenses, Makayla Bogle

Honors Projects

Objective: Explores the clinical and sociocultural dimensions regarding type 2 diabetes (T2DM) care, comparing GLP-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1 RA) therapy and dietary interventions for adults with T2DM. Part I consists of a narrative literature review examining clinical outcomes such as glycemic control, insulin sensitivity, and weight management for the two compared treatment methods. Part II conducts a narrative literature review examining the structural and social determinants that influence access to diabetes treatments. The review evaluates how social determinants of health (SDOH) shape the real-world implementation of both GLP-1 RA therapies and dietary interventions. The discussion highlights differences in measurable clinical …

Ab Initio Method Development For Electronic Structure Response And Symmetry Quantification, Duc Anh Lai

Chemistry Theses and Dissertations

Electronic structure provides a fundamental framework for understanding molecular properties and reactivity, as it encodes the spatial distribution of electrons and their response to external and internal perturbations. This dissertation develops theoretical and computational frameworks to characterize and manipulate electronic structure through two complementary directions: the response to oriented external electric fields and the quantification of symmetry regulation in electron density.

First, a rigorous theoretical and computational framework is established for treating electric fields with arbitrary orientations relative to molecular structure. The concept of the rotational potential energy surface is introduced to characterize the dependence of molecular energy on field …

Undergraduate Commencement Exercises Program, May 16, 2026

Bryant University Commencements

No abstract provided.

Musical Methods For Nonverbal Emotional Expression, Carrie Uddenberg

Music: Student Scholarship & Creative Works

No abstract provided.