Digital Commons Network^™

Finding Direction: Using Trauma Stewardship And Drama Therapy To Support Nurses In Hospital Settings, Julianne Kusmierczyk

Expressive Therapies Theses

Compassion fatigue and burnout, post-COVID-19 pandemic, are still significant factors in the departure of nurses from the healthcare profession. Despite the identification of the causes of burnout and compassion fatigue in the workplace, and the identification of mental health practices that would support healthcare workers like nurses, healthcare organizations are doing little to provide the necessary resources. Drama therapy would provide a therapeutic framework to develop trauma stewardship, the practice in which individuals and organizations tend to the hardships and trauma faced in today’s world. Only a few studies exist that identify the benefits of using drama therapy to support …

The Pastoral Implications Of John Calvin's Genevan Psalter For Church Music Ministry In Hong Kong, Sze Man Symantha Leung

Doctor of Pastoral Music Projects and Theses

The aim of this thesis is to interpret the pastoral meaning and function of Calvin’s Genevan Psalter and to illustrate how it can be applied to Hong Kong church music ministry today. Through the Genevan Psalter, Calvin advocates congregational and vernacular psalm‑singing in Reformed worship. He emphasizes piety, Scripture, congregational participation, and the shaping of daily spirituality beyond Sunday worship. The pastoral insights drawn from the use of the Genevan Psalter in Reformed worship offer five valuable implications for music ministry in Hong Kong today: Spirituality, Unity of the Church in Faith, Theological Education, Liturgical‑Musical Interrelationship, and Inclusiveness.

In addition …

"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 …

Synecdoche: Archiving Violence In Schools, Jillian Whitney

Art Theses and Dissertations

K-12 Educators often find themselves thrust into a swamp of politics they never asked to enter. It is in this swamp that educators strive to meet students’ social, emotional, and educational needs. However, issues such as school shootings, racism, and gender inequality all make it difficult for schools to be what they should be: an equalizing, safe place where children can learn. These problems weaken the school system and harm public interest while leading to teacher burnout.

Synecdoche: Archiving Violence in Schools is a body of paintings and experimental artist books that responds to the everyday experiences of the educators …

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 …

On Thursdays, We Wiggle, Beth Evers

Doctor of Ministry Projects and Theses

Churches of all stripes, including Roman Catholic, mainline Protestant, and non-denominational churches, have early childhood learning centers (sometimes called daycares, preschools, or child development centers) as part of their ministry profiles. Many of these churches are missing an important opportunity to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ by not intentionally ministering with the children and adults of their early learning centers.

In September 2019, University United Methodist Church in Fort Worth, Texas, began a worship gathering specifically designed for the infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and adults of their Child Development Center. While the specifics of University UMC’s decision to begin Wiggle …

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 …

The Church As Provider Of Pastoral Care: Relational Presence, Narrative Listening, Preaching, And Advocacy In African American Missionary Baptist Churches In Southside Fort Worth, Texas, Michael R. Timberlake

Doctor of Ministry Projects and Theses

Abstract

Michael R. Timberlake, Sr.

May 1, 2026

THE CHURCH AS PROVIDER OF PASTORAL CARE: RELATIONAL PRESENCE, NARRATIVE LISTENING, PREACHING, AND ADVOCACY IN AFRICAN AMERICAN MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCHES IN SOUTHSIDE FORT WORTH, TEXAS

The purpose of this research project is to restore and maintain the resiliency in the African American Missionary Baptist churches in the Southside of Fort Worth, Texas. The research identified a high level of importance for African American churches in Fort Worth to resemble the historic legacy of spiritual leadership, communal care, and social advocacy while ministering within contexts marked by racial and economic marginalization. Enabling practical …

Predictive Natural Language Metrics Of Alzheimer's Disease And Cognitive Decline Trend Analysis, Zerui Ma

Computer Science and Engineering Theses and Dissertations

Inspired by Dr. David Snowden's Nun Study, which linked early-life Propositional Idea Density (PID) to later-life Alzheimer's disease, this thesis investigates two questions: whether fine-tuned Transformer-based large language models (LLM) can detect cognitive decline from patient speech transcripts with meaningful feature attribution, and whether longitudinal PID trends are observable across large-scale internet and academic text corpora. We evaluate dementia prediction on the DementiaBank Pitt Corpus and conduct an exploratory longitudinal PID analysis across seven diverse datasets spanning up to 29 years and over 12.6 million documents. This work suggests that linguistic ability metrics, traditional PID metrics and novel LLM-based analysis, …

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 …

Torá: A Description Of A Dormant Chapacuran Language From Legacy Materials, Akasha Synclair

Linguistics ETDs

Torá, an Amazonian language of the Chapacuran family, went dormant as the Torá people survived colonization. Yet, in the early 1920’s, over 600 Torá words, phrases, and sentences were documented. Despite interest by today’s Torá community in language revitalization, no comprehensive analysis of the data has been undertaken. This project used methods of linguistic reconstitution, cross linguistic comparison, and the creation of an open-access database to produce a phonological and morphosyntactic analysis of Torá. Phonological findings of particular interest include evidence for vowel harmony and variable oralization of nasals. In structure, Torá is very similar to related languages, displaying a …

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 …

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 …

Where Is Home: Finding Belonging In God Through Expressive And Drama Therapy Processes Among Chinese Diaspora International Students, Minmin Pan

Expressive Therapies Theses

Being an international student for 12 years in the United States, this research engages with personal reflection and literature around international student identity formation situated in the current social and political context of increasing visa and employment uncertainty. International students’ ongoing movement across cultural spaces, limited representation of cross-cultural narratives and supportive spaces in academic settings, can contribute to fragmentation in experiences and identity that are shaped by dominant narratives and social positioning, thus further leading to disconnection from self and surroundings.

Relational spirituality literature suggests that one’s relational experience with God can deeply impact their interpretation of experiences, social …

Technical Advancements In Single-Molecule Spectroscopy For High-Throughput Measurement Of Long-Time Dynamics, Quyen B. Le

Chemical and Biological Engineering ETDs

Single-molecule fluorescence spectroscopy is a powerful technique for resolving transient biomolecular dynamics and quantifying free energy landscapes, kinetics, and binding interactions. However, two fundamental limitations restrict its broader application: slow, labor-intensive data acquisition and the limited observation time imposed by fluorophore photobleaching. These limitations hinder its use in drug discovery and biomedical engineering applications that require both high-throughput and access to long-time dynamics. In this work, both challenges are addressed through technical advancements. First, a simple, generalizable approach is introduced to automate data acquisition, eliminating manual intervention during experiments. This increases the acquisition rate by more than an order of …

Does Adjunctive Low-Level Laser Therapy Provide Additional Benefit Following Temporomandibular Joint Arthrocentesis With Hyaluronic Acid? A Randomized Clinical Trial, Moataz Bahaa, Abdelrahman Fahmy Dr., Hesham Morsi, Mahmoud Elfaramawy

Dentistry

Purpose This study aimed to evaluate whether adjunctive low-level laser therapy (LLLT) provides additional clinical benefit over an optimized arthrocentesis protocol with hyaluronic acid in patients with ADDwoR. Materials and methods From December 2022 to December 2023, a single-blinded prospective randomized clinical trial was conducted at The British University in Egypt’s Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. The study involved 40 female participants diagnosed with Anterior Disc Displacement without Reduction (ADDwoR). Following TMJ arthrocentesis, subjects were assigned to one of two parallel cohorts: Group A received ten subsequent sessions of low-level laser therapy (LLLT), while Group B served as the …

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 …

Pneumomlpred: Innovating Pneumonia Management With Guideline Adherence Review And Explainable Machine Learning-Based Mortality Prediction - A Single-Centre Retrospective Study, Kamel A. Samara, Hiba Jawdat Barqawi, Saryia Adra, Batool Aldaher, Drishti D. Kampani, Enad Haddad, Hebah Soudan, Islam Ibrahim Anwar, Mohamad Besher Adi, Omar Hamadi, Yumna Almour, Mohamed Nassef, Zaher Al Aghbari, Eman Abu-Gharbieh

Abington Jefferson Health Papers

Introduction: Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is one of the leading causes of death globally. Changing antibiotic resistance profiles, paucity of reliable CAP mortality prediction models, and ageing populations will increase its burden. This study aims to evaluate adherence to CAP management guidelines as well as develop an ML-based mortality prediction model.

Methods: This retrospective, chart review included all CAP cases between 2016 and 2021. Variables collected included patients' demographics, comorbidities, vitals, laboratory, imaging, and culture findings, as well as initial and targeted antibiotic regimens. Data was pre-processed and analysed in python-3. Adherence to the American thoracic society/infectious diseases society of America …

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 …

Beyond Brain Drain: H-1b Visas, Innovation, And Human Flourishing, Joel Wong

Honors Projects

High-skilled migration has become one of the defining features of the modern global economy, especially in technology, engineering, and research-intensive industries. While public debate surrounding the H-1B visa program often centers on its effects within the United States, less attention has been given to how these migration flows affect the countries from which workers originate. This question is important because many sending countries invest heavily in the education and development of highly skilled workers while also seeking long-term economic growth and innovation. This study examines whether increases in H-1B visa migration are associated with changes in innovation outcomes in major …

Undergraduate Commencement Exercises Program, May 16, 2026

Bryant University Commencements

No abstract provided.

Improving Health Literacy And Self-Management In Adults With Heart Failure: A Nurse-Led Virtual Intervention In Outpatient Support Groups, Vivian Efosa Osunde

Doctoral Projects

Heart failure is a leading cause of morbidity and hospital readmissions, with limited health literacy contributing to poor self‑management and adherence challenges. The purpose of this Doctor of Nursing Practice project was to evaluate the feasibility and preliminary outcomes of a nurse‑led, virtual education-intervention designed to improve health literacy, self‑care behaviors, and medication adherence among adults with chronic heart failure who participate in an outpatient support group. A quality improvement design was used. Convenience sampling yielded nine adult participants with a documented diagnosis of chronic heart failure who attended at least one virtual support group session. The intervention consisted of …

Whiny Women: How Medical Gaslighting Becomes Medical Trauma, Neena Marcus

Honors Projects

Background: The idea of “medical gaslighting” has been present since 1969, but it has increased in popularity in the recent century. Women in particular are at increased risk of being dismissed by their healthcare providers, as throughout history they have been deemed “hysterical” or untrustworthy when recounting their symptoms.

Methods: Articles were compiled from CINAHL Complete, Google Scholar, and the University of Washington library. A total of 33 articles were chosen and reviewed.

Results: Medical gaslighting results in lasting medical trauma, a decreased quality of life and detachment from standard healthcare. Six themes were recurrent in the papers utilized: sexism, …

Musical Methods For Nonverbal Emotional Expression, Carrie Uddenberg

Music: Student Scholarship & Creative Works

No abstract provided.

Agricultural Water Management, Farmer Decision-Making And Climate Adaptation In Dryland Agriculture: A Case Of The Middle Rio Grande Basin, Oluwatosin A. Olofinsao

Economics ETDs

Agriculture in dryland regions faces mounting pressure from climate change, water scarcity, and shifting land-use demands. The Middle Rio Grande Basin (MRGB) of central New Mexico exemplifies these challenges, where irrigated agriculture relies on increasingly variable surface water supplies. This dissertation examines agricultural water use, farmer decision-making, and adaptation strategies across farm types and climate conditions in the MRGB. The first study presents a spatial descriptive analysis of farm size, crop patterns, groundwater access, evapotranspiration (ET), and effective ET, revealing a landscape numerically dominated by smallholder farms that account for a substantial share of irrigation water use. The second study …

Marine Geophysical Studies Of Coupled Tectonic And Sedimentary Processes At Active Plate Boundaries, Sarah R. Rysanek

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

Deep-sea and convergent margin sedimentary systems preserve critical records of tectonic and climatic processes that shape Earth’s surface. This dissertation investigates source-to-sink sediment routing and forearc deformation to better constrain the interplay between sedimentary and tectonic processes, through investigations of a deep-sea fan system, and the forearc geomorphology offshore Nicaragua. In the Gulf of Alaska, we integrate ultra-long-offset and regional multi-channel seismic reflection data, multi-resolution bathymetry, and plate reconstructions to remap the Baranof Fan system. Results show that the fan is larger than previously recognized and constructed by two primary depocenters linked to distinct glacial sediment pathways, with accommodation space …

Alternative Positioning, Navigation, And Timing In Global Navigation Satellite System Denied Environments, Joshua R. Atencio

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) provide the majority of critical positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) services for civilian, commercial, and military applications. However, GNSS is vulnerable to service denial from spoofing and jamming from adversaries and environmental obstruction. These vulnerabilities highlight the need for resilient Alternative PNT (APNT) methods. This dissertation investigates APNT frameworks operating in GNSS denied environments. We develop coalition formation and matching theoretic models that allow users APNT services from anchor nodes under resource constraints and in adversarial or emergency conditions. The proposed frameworks optimize positioning accuracy, network utility, and system stability while accounting for geometric dilution …

Moving As Mycelium: Dance/Movement Therapy With Nature And Its Potential For Sustainability Transformations: A Literature Review, Abby Polk

Expressive Therapies Theses

Environmental degradation and destruction impact the long-term health and wellbeing of humans and ecosystems alike. Humans require new ways of relating to nature that support sustainable futures for all. This thesis argues that dance/movement therapy (DMT) with nature has the potential to facilitate sustainability transformations and that the embodiment of relationality can support the development of reciprocal human-nature relationships. This literature review is grounded in theories of relationality and reciprocity as conceptualized in various Indigenous knowledge systems and the fields of both sustainability and DMT. Existing research suggests that culturally-responsive, embodied, arts-based practices may increase human-nature connectedness and strengthen reciprocity …