Digital Commons Network^™

The Lost Reader: Temptation, Free Will, And Morality In Paradise Lost And Undertale, Serena Hope Labello

Honors Theses

This paper demonstrates that video games expand on a reader’s literary experience and should be characterized as literary artifacts. My thesis research project explores free will and temptation as originally reflected in John Milton’s epic, Paradise Lost, and in Undertale, a 2015 video game where players change the trajectory of the game with their use of free will. Critics of both texts have commented on how the structure of the epic poem and the game place the reader or player in a position to make moral choices. Stanley Fish’s critique of Paradise Lost claims that the reader will fall to …

Real Horror: The Supernatural And Its Connection To Abuse In Late 20th Century Horror, John Sebastian

Honors Theses

Horror authors from the late 20th century explain the turmoil of domestic and childhood abuse through supernatural elements to represent the loss of autonomy of victims. Several horror authors from the late 20th century showcase abuse through the supernatural not to exploit the experiences of victims of abuse but allow for spaces for readers to encounter truly horrifying stories and process them. Works explored include Stephen King’s The Shining and Carrie, as well as Ira Levin’s Rosemary's Baby and William Peter Blatty’s The Exorcist.

The Evolution And Impact Of Fashion Marketing In The Age Of Social Media, Lillie L. Warrington

Honors Theses

This research paper aims to analyze the effect of social media on consumer behavior in fashion marketing by investigating how fashion brands have adapted their strategies to leverage social media platforms effectively and exploring the role of social media influencers in shaping brand perception and consumer loyalty. By addressing these objectives, this research seeks to contribute to the growing body of knowledge on digital marketing in the fashion industry, offering valuable insights.

The study will be conducted through a comprehensive review of existing research and primary research, including a survey of 143 participants, to better understand how social media affects …

Robust And Interpretable Cross-Domain Arabic Readability Prediction Using Hybrid Modeling: Evidence On The Limitations Of Transformer-Based Classifiers, Sarah Alzu'bi

Theses and Dissertations

Automatic readability assessment aims to predict how difficult a text is for readers to understand. The concept of readability has been widely studied across languages due to its significant impact on reading comprehension, leading to the development of various methods and approaches. In this study, I addressed two key challenges in readability assessment. First, I examine the performance of statistical classifiers and transformer-based models, including CAMeLBERT(Inoue et al, 2021.) with a focus on their ability to generalize under domain, genre, and stylistic shifts. Second, I investigate the interpretability of transformer performance in readability task, which are often criticized for their …

Temperature-Induced Uncertainty In Fixed-Context Retrieval-Augmented Generation, Steven Zeng, Murat Kuzlu

Cybersecurity Undergraduate Research Showcase

This study examines how decoding temperature affects output uncertainty in a fixed-context retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) system. We define uncertainty as the semantic dispersion among repeated answers under the same fixed retrieved context, with greater dispersion interpreted as higher uncertainty. To isolate this answer-generation variability from retrieval drift, each question was paired with a fixed retrieved context, and repeated generations differed only in temperature. The experiment used nine questions drawn from a machine-learning textbook corpus, with three questions each at easy, moderate, and hard difficulty. Each question was evaluated at five temperatures (0.0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, and 1.0) over 30 iterations, …

Nasa Funds Ole Miss Studies Of Planet-Forming Space Dust, Clara Turnage

University of Mississippi News

OXFORD, Miss. – A University of Mississippi researcher will study the earliest stages of planet formation and the chemical abundance of the universe through two new NASA Astrophysics Research and Analysis grants.

Massively Parallel Kalman Filtering: Scaling State Estimation Via Cuda Kernels, Joseph Campione, Peter Chim, Hannah Depuydt, William Johnston, Jackson Phillips, Brian White

Mathematics & Computer Science Student Scholarship

This project addresses the challenge of state estimation in real-world conditions by fusing data from multiple sensors using the Kalman Filter. To ensure numerical stability, we use the Joseph Form covariance update, which guarantees valid results but introduces significant computational overhead due to its complexity. To overcome this limitation, we implement a parallelized solution using custom CUDA kernels on a GPU, distributing matrix operations across thousands of threads rather than relying on sequential CPU execution. Through systematic benchmarking across matrix sizes ranging from 4×4 to 4096×4096, we identify a crossover region where GPU performance surpasses CPU efficiency. This work shows …

Hqcm And Strengthened Physics Content Curriculum: Effects On Preservice Teachers And Partnership Schools, Elizabeth Hallock, Veronica Stowe

Education Student Scholarship

In responding to Rhode Island’s 2019 legislative call for High Quality Curriculum Materials (HQCM), this study examines how the integration of HQCM and physics content- strengthened curriculum in a teacher preparation program helps develop preservice teachers’ Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) and elementary students’ understandings of physics ideas. This project investigates a new practicum model in which preservice teachers first learn a mini-unit on electrical energy to deepen their content knowledge and then to adapt state-suggested HQCM and select appropriate pedagogies to design and implement science lessons that meet the high expectations. This study collects data to measure changes in preservice …

Reimagining Access In Slavin Dunkin, M. Gardner, L. Pastore

Education Student Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Developing Physics And Computing Identities In A Computationally Integrated Physics Course, Elizabeth Hallock

Engineering & Physics Student Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Creating A Random Number Generator Harnessing: Lava Lamps As A Source Of Randomness, Rachel Barter, Nicolas Guerra, Sarah O'Connor

Mathematics & Computer Science Student Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Daily Eastern News: April, 22, 2026, Eastern Illinois University

Daily Eastern News: 2025-2026

No abstract provided.

Rates Of Dysregulation And Treatment Adherence In Autistic Youth, Sara Welch

Public & Community Service Studies Student Scholarship

Approximately 28% of autistic youth demonstrate aggressive behaviors (Baweja et al., 2023) toward themselves and others (e.g., hitting, spitting, biting, head banging, etc.) Dysregulation, including aggression and broader symptom severity, is an important factor in treatment engagement. Prior research suggests that autistic youth with higher levels of dysregulation are less likely to receive mental health treatment and more likely to receive medication management (Vasa et al., 2021). It was unclear how treatment adherence may be affected by varying levels of child dysregulation, particularly whether aggression may alter this relationship over time.

Hypothesis: Greater dysregulation would be associated with greater …

Investigating The Substrate Specificity Of Azo Bond Reduction In The Human Gut Microbiome, Najoude Claude, Annick Kenfack, Glorimar De Los Santos, Madeline Bormes

Chemistry & Biochemistry Student Scholarship

The bacteria of the human gut microbiome can metabolize drugs, often causing unintended side effects. The uniqueness and variability of each individual’s microbial composition, coupled with our limited understanding of specific enzyme functions, make the metabolic outcomes of these therapeutics difficult. Azoreductase enzymes are of particular interest due to their ability to reduce azo bonds, which are often found in drugs and food dyes. Azo dyes can also be reduced nonenzymatically by hydrogen sulfide, a bacterial metabolite produced during sulfate and cysteine metabolism. The goal of this study is to examine the specificity and relative kinetics of both enzymatic and …

Homesickness And Family Relationships In College Students, Emma Burgess, Taylor Gilmour, Emma Medina

Social Work Student Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Representation Of Active Girls, Women, And Female Athletes In Low Energy Availability Research: A Review, Ahnna E. Faust, Alexis V. Viehl, Melissa T. Lodge

Health Sciences Student Scholarship

More female athletes are participating in sports today than ever before, yet they remain underrepresented in sport and exercise science (SES) research. According to a 2021 review, 34% of SES research participants are females and just 6% of studies used female-only designs. Female athletes are also at an increased risk for low energy availability (LEA), or a mismatch between energy intake and exercise energy expenditure. However, the representation of women in research related to LEA remains unclear. PURPOSE: This study aimed to (a) evaluate the representation of girls, women, and female athletes in LEA research, and (b) explore methodological characteristics …

What The Land Knows: Solastalgia And Land-Based Cultural Trauma Among Appalachian Americans, Clara Johnson

Social Work Student Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Access For All: Student Insights Into Cvs Accessibility, Gabriella Huizenga

Education Student Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Exercise In The Heat On Lactation Performance In Lactating Women, Elizabeth G. Helsley, Olyvia Bendza

Health Sciences Student Scholarship

PURPOSE: to determine whether acute exercise in the heat alters 24-hr breastmilk production and composition among lactating women. METHODS: Seven participants (34±5yrs, 163.7±4.8cm, 66.7±3.0kg, 25.0±14.2 weeks postpartum) completed the study. Participants were eligible if they were breastfeeding (6-week to 12-month infants), aged 18-45 years old, and delivered between 37 and 42 weeks. The study was a randomized, crossover design with three visits: 1) baseline and metabolic heat production testing; 2) acute exercise in the heat (HOT; 36°C, 40% relative humidity[RH]), and 3) acute exercise in a thermoneutral environment (THERM; 20°C, 20%RH). Participants walked for 60 minutes at 8 watts per …

Restoring Moral Imagination: A Pilgrimage Of Ethical Formation In Prelicensure Nursing, Hannah Dube, Francesca Kearns

Student Posters & Conference Presentations

No abstract provided.

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious: The Confluence Of Factors That Made Disneyland, Maeve A.L. Buckley

History & Classics Undergraduate Theses

No abstract provided.

Unprotected In Public: Street Harassment And The Legal Control Of Female Resistance, Joanne Sweeny

Cleveland State Law Review

This Article traces the historical development of street harassment from its emergence in the Victorian era to its contemporary manifestations, situating it within broader social, legal, and gendered frameworks. It explores the cultural and structural forces that have enabled street harassment to persist over time, examining how it functions as both a method of gendered control and a reflection of public space dynamics. While street harassment has long been recognized by those who experience it as a form of violence and domination, the law has consistently failed to treat it as such. Instead, legal responses have often focused not on …

Reflective Refinement Through Iterative Model Building, Idris Solola, Hillary Swanson, Sarah Schwartz, Rida Munir, Jared B. Arnell, Ravi Sinha

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Student Research

While research has emphasized the role of classroom discourse, hands-on demonstrations, and carefully crafted prompts in eliciting and responding to students’ ideas, there’s a need to investigate how the systematic design of modeling instruction can serve as the structure that naturally supports responsive teaching. Drawing on the knowledge in pieces (KiP) epistemology and the concept of responsive teaching, we present an instructional approach called guided reflective refinement (GRR), which guides students to articulate and examine their thinking through building and evaluating models. We analyzed middle school students’ model drafts over a 7-day unit on conservation of energy to understand the …

Commonwealth Times 2026-04-22

Commonwealth Times, 1969-

No abstract provided.

A Study Exploring Negative Outcomes Associated With Adolescent Adhd And Parenting Excluding Co-Occurring Conduct Problems, Kaitlyn Lancia

Honors Theses

Previous research has suggested a link between ADHD and experiencing negative outcomes in adolescence. These include mental health issues, substance use problems, and especially social dysfunction. Additionally, prior research has discovered high comorbidity rates of certain behavioral disorders, like Conduct Disorder (CD) and Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), with ADHD. Furthermore, other research has focused on the transactional influences between ADHD and parenting. Existing research has been limited by conduct problems being a possible confounding variable and the lack of longitudinal studies. The current study attempts to combat these limitations by separating conduct problems from ADHD symptoms and using a longitudinal …

Ehr Integration Of A Violence Risk Tool To Promote Safer Work Environments, Kirk Bradford

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

In October 2022, a tragic act of workplace violence within our health system highlighted the need for a proactive, data-driven approach to staff safety. Workplace violence impacts nearly one in four nurses each year (McCollum et al., 2024); yet most organizations lack an objective tool to predict and prevent such incidents. The goal of this project was to implement and evaluate a systematic, evidence-based screening process to improve early risk detection and foster safer clinical environments—aligned with the AACN Healthy Work Environment Standard of Effective Decision-Making (AACN, 2016).

A multidisciplinary team of nursing, informatics, and security leaders integrated a modified …

Mitigating Burnout Syndrome Through Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, Rachel Kathryn Fajardo

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

Burnout Syndrome (BOS) continues to affect critical care nurses, resulting in emotional exhaustion, disengagement, and threats to patient safety [1–4]. This Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) project evaluated the impact of a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) toolkit on BOS among nurses in a rural intensive care unit. Using a pre-post quality improvement design, baseline burnout was measured with the Maslach Burnout Inventory–Human Services Survey for Medical Personnel (MBI-HSS-MP) and custom Likert-scale surveys administered at three time points [5]. A convenience sample of ten nurses participated in asynchronous and live sessions supported by weekly education and QR-linked resources. The MBSR toolkit …

The Effect Of The Environment On Perceived Distance, Elijah Turner

Honors Theses

Despite our certainty that we experience the world as it really is, humans' perception of the world is not accurate in its entirety. People’s biases play a significant role in their perception of their environments. Researchers have sought to determine exactly how and why human biases impact perceptions, focusing on how biases related to a target (person, animal, object, etc.) impact people’s perception of said target, more specifically, the perceived distance to that target. This is important in understanding situations where, in order to interact with (or avoid) a target person, one must perceive the physical distance between oneself and …

Nazi Germany And Humanities Education As Propaganda, Sam Marie Smith

Honors Theses

One of the Third Reich’s most significant actions in their pursuit of the consolidation of power was the Gleichschaltung, in which all cultural, social, political, and economic goals were subordinated to that of the goals of the Nazi party. One of the most dramatic shifts to take place in the process of Gleichschaltung was in the realm of academia, where legitimate pedagogical and educational imperatives were overshadowed by an emphasis on perpetuating the Nazi regime’s agenda, especially racial ideology, even with the youngest students. While educators in the Third Reich carried this out in all subject areas, this project focuses …

Crossing Borders: Ways To Address Oral Health Disparities In Guatemala And U.S. Latinx Communities, Yeimi Bartolon Perez

Honors Theses

Oral health disparities remain a significant global public health concern, particularly among economically and socially marginalized populations. This study investigates the structural, socioeconomic, and cultural determinants that influence access to dental care across these two populations. Guatemala represents a context where poverty, limited healthcare infrastructure, and geographic isolation restrict access to preventive dental services, often resulting in treatment-seeking only during advanced stages of disease. In contrast, Hispanic/Latinx communities in the United States encounter barriers shaped by language differences, lack of dental insurance, immigration-related concerns, and systemic inequities within the healthcare system. This research employs a mixed-methods approach that integrates secondary …