Digital Commons Network^™

Searching For The Floridian Sublime In Contrast : An Exploration Of Atmosphere, Memory, And Place In Contemporary Ink Landscapes, Tereza Koniakovska-Bors

Theses & ETDs

Coming from Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic and a city shaped by a diverse architectural landscape, my experience in Florida has been overwhelmingly influential on my perception of the place and its visual identity. Compared to the historical order of Prague, Florida seems defined by its natural qualities, ecological tensions, and the coexistence of natural forces with modern human life rather than by architectural continuity. Through a series of monochromatic paintings, I aim to capture and explore this distinctive visual atmosphere, inviting viewers to reflect on their own perceptions of Florida’s evolving landscape identity amid ecological and cultural …

The Language Of Collaboration: Analogs In Digital Media, Orion Martins

Theses & ETDs

To collaborate is to share meaning together, which is already to collaborate; sharing of meaning defi nes language. This co-emergence of collaboration and language happens through interplay between the known and the unknown—what we expect and what surprises us—held open by trust, which is not a precondition but a leap into uncertainty that allows transformation to emerge. Through three collaborative projects—Palm Bike Court Girl, Unruly Subjects, and Eat My Love—I investigate how this dynamic unfolds in artistic practice, documentary witness, and romantic devotion. Understanding collaboration as the ground of meaning-making matters because learning to hold the tension between known and …

The Joy Of Recognition Vs. The Violence Of Erasure: Gender Queer And Fun Home As Literary Targets And Queer Bibliographies, Alicia Luguri

Theses & ETDs

In this thesis I examine controversies surrounding Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home and Maia Kobabe’s Gender Queer, while exploring select events of book censorship, theft, and destruction, and how these activities have been employed to specifically target queer, trans, Jewish, and other marginalized communities. I trace the intertwined histories of pornography and the comics medium, and the ways in which this connection has shaped and influenced public opinion, legislation, and the genesis and implementation of the restrictive 1954 Comics Code. Additionally, I argue that as a part of Bechdel’s and Kobabe’s reaction to the heteronormative, homophobic and transphobic threats and pressures …

An Amalgamation Of Genre: Creating A Multi-Style First Ep As A Musical Artist, Emily Mcgoogan

Theses & ETDs

As someone with the desire to continue creating music for most of my life whether as a full-time career or just as a hobby to fulfill leisure time with, choosing where to devote energy to can be quite difficult. The objective of this EP was to obtain as much exposure to the musical genres, styles, and programs that interest me in order to attempt to figure out how I work as a musical artist. I aimed for six different genres to explore: Pop, Experimental Pop, Alternative, Tech House, Blues, and Surf Rock. The process consisted of stages where I would …

Global Stock Market And Day-Trading Ecosystem: Structural Dynamics Between Retail And Institutional Forces, Juan David Polania

Theses & ETDs

This paper analyzes the global stock-market and day-trading ecosystem through the structural duality between retail access platforms and institutional liquidity providers. Using Robinhood (retail) and Citadel (institutional) strictly as illustrative anchors, not as case studies, it applies five economic lenses to explain how access, execution, and information co-evolve. Empirical context is drawn from market-cap trends, volume data, volatility series, and Federal Reserve policy cycles. The core finding is that democratization and concentration advance together: retail innovation broadens participation, while institutional market making concentrates liquidity, speed, and data advantage. These forces form a closed feedback loop that delivers efficiency yet encodes …

Everything’S Going To Be Ok Implementing A Tiny Virtual Machine, Assembler, And Compiler, Gregory O'Neal

Theses & ETDs

This thesis presents the design and implementation of ok, a stack-based virtual machine intended for educational use that prioritizes ease of implementation and minimal resource usage. The system is formally specified and accompanied by a reference implementation written in C. This thesis also introduces MK2, an assembly-like language targeting this virtual machine, as well as a high-level compiled programming language called nude. Together, these components form a usable programming stack that demonstrates how a beginner-friendly and resource-conscious virtual machine and toolchain can support higher-level software development while remaining accessible for instructional use.

Philosophical Gardening: An Existential Inquiry, Angel Ramirez Heske

Theses & ETDs

No abstract provided.

A Multidisciplinary Dialogue On Students Of Color And First-Generation Students In United States Higher Education: Challenges, Current Representations, A Personal Story, And The Road Ahead, Christian Torres

Theses & ETDs

Despite a considerable amount of research, racial diversity in higher education in the United States remains a complicated social issue. Intersecting variables like being a first-generation student or a female student, in addition to the variable of being a student of color, complicate the issue further, calling for more research into the variable of race and ethnicity and how it may impact a student’s potential chances at success at the higher education level. In this thesis, a personal story of a first-generation student of color is provided to humanize the issue of diversity in higher education. Secondary data were then …

Prodigiosin Production By Marine Isolate 3 And Molecular Modeling And Simulation Of A Cutibacterium Acnes Oxidative Stress Response Sigma Factor-Anti Sigma Factor Pair, Mar Werner Hernandez

Theses & ETDs

Prodigiosin, a natural product of several marine bacteria, has become a popular molecule for study, given its many pharmaceutical effects. However, most studies on optimizing its yield through biosynthesis have focused on Serratia marcescens, leaving a gap in knowledge for other prodigiosin-producing bacteria. Therefore, a preliminary study was done to determine the effects of oxygen availability and MgCl2 concentration on Zooshikella Marine Isolate 3 prodigiosin production. Additionally, computational work was done to construct three-dimensional structures of PPA2382 and PPA1266, a putative oxidative stress response σ factor-anti σ pair encoded by Cutibacterium acnes. The models were then characterized via classical molecular …

Issue 23: A Rights-Based Migration Strategy For Canada: Addressing Inequities In A Time Of U.S. Political Repression, Marika Jeziorek

International Migration Research Centre

This brief argues that the growing appeal of Canada to highly skilled professionals fleeing rights-based repression in the United States presents a unique opportunity to strengthen its skilled migration strategy through an equity-focused and economically sustainable approach. As U.S. professionals—particularly women, racialized individuals, healthcare providers, and academics—seek safety, professional autonomy, and legal protection, Canada has emerged as a key destination (Favaro, 2025; Levinthal, 2024; Malkin, 2016; Jackson, 2024). This appeal is rooted in Canada’s reputation as a rights-based society, one that contrasts sharply with the erosion of freedoms in parts of the U.S. To uphold and deliver on this perception, …

Southern Adventist University Undergraduate Catalog 2025-2026, Southern Adventist University

Catalog, Undergraduate

Southern Adventist University's undergraduate catalog for the academic year 2025-2026.

Southern Adventist University Graduate Handbook 2025-2026, Southern Adventist University

Student Handbooks, Graduate

No abstract provided.

Paternal Involvement And Bonding In Neonatal Intensive Care Unit: Evaluating Daily Caregiving, Emotional Well-Being, And Father-Infant Connection, Ava G. Kinyon

Nursing | Senior Theses

Background: Premature birth and serious neonatal conditions frequently require infants to obtain care in the NICU, producing psychological and emotional obstacles for families. Despite the fact that skin-to-skin contact has been extensively researched for its strengths in encouraging stability and bonding, there persists restricted importance and understanding on paternal participation in routine caregiving tasks such as feeding, diapering, temperature checks, and swaddling. Purpose: This study aims to evaluate paternal participation in daily NICU caregiving tasks to address gaps in comprehending how these experiences impact bonding and emotional well-being among fathers of hospitalized infants. Methods: This study will employ a quasi-experimental …

The Ink Drawing Project, Barry Goldberg

College Partner Collection

In this project, the children have before them a piece of paper 42” high that is pinned to the wall. A child is given a length of bamboo about as long as they are tall, to which a brush has been inserted. Because the handle of the brush is so long, even a small movement of a child’s hand can create a startlingly long mark on their large paper. This is a thrilling experience for a child, and it offers the opportunity to create a very different vocabulary of marks than they could with a small brush.

Unm Pathology, Pathfinder Winter 2026, Unm Department Of Pathology

Newsletters

No abstract provided.

Competitive Equity In Oregon Interscholastic Athletics: Perceptions Of Public High School Varsity Head Coaches, Samuel Nelson

Doctor of Education (EdD)

This quantitative cross-sectional study examined how Oregon public high school varsity head coaches perceive competitive equity between public and private schools in Oregon School Activities Association athletics. Guided by distributive justice theory, the study explored overall fairness perceptions and structural factors influencing those perceptions. A statewide survey yielded 321 usable responses. The instrument included Likert-scale items measuring perceptions of fairness, resources and staffing, enrollment boundaries, competitive success factors, and policy-based multipliers. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, t tests, analysis of variance, and multiple regression. Coaches generally disagreed competition between public and private schools is fair. Structural disparities, …

Agents Of Hope: A Narrative Inquiry Into The Lived Experience And Professional Practice Of Teacher Hopefulness, Brett J. Baxter

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Teacher attrition, declining job satisfaction, and increasing classroom challenges continue to affect the stability and effectiveness of K–12 public education. While research has consistently demonstrated positive outcomes associated with higher levels of hope among students, little is known about how teachers themselves perceive their own hopefulness or the role it plays in their professional practice. Without a clearer understanding of teacher hope, educational leaders and policymakers may overlook an important factor influencing teacher effectiveness and student outcomes. Guided by the theoretical framework of hope theory, which conceptualizes hope as the interaction of goal-oriented thinking, agency thinking, and pathways thinking, this …

Chronic Absenteeism In Long Island Secondary Schools: A Mixed-Methods Study Of Post-Covid-19 Trends And Professional Perceptions, William M. Gibbons

Selected Full Text Dissertations, 2011-

Recent educational research studies have shown that an alarming number of students are chronically absent from school, a trend that is occurring both nationwide and in New York State. While this number had been slowly increasing before the COVID-19 pandemic, it has accelerated significantly following the pandemic. This increase in chronic absenteeism is also prevalent across Nassau and Suffolk County high schools; there has been a large increase in the percentage of students who are chronically absent in high school since the COVID-19 pandemic. Experts warn that this increased number can lead to multiple negative consequences for students, including social …

Teaching That Resonates: Reimagining High School Literature Through Real-World Connections, Lizzie Galanis

ENG 490 Senior Seminar Capstone

The current high school literature curriculum is overdue for reform. While classic books have value, teaching them in a modern context is crucial so the lessons can be translated to students’ daily lives. Integrating contemporary texts is essential when reimagining the curriculum because students can relate to them and connect with their themes. This paper analyzes five texts that would meaningfully enhance an updated curriculum. These texts promote real-world connections, interdisciplinary learning, and multicultural exposure. Schools and educators must reassess both what they teach and how they teach it to diversify the content and evolve with the times. Students should …

Talking Black: The Construction Of Blackness In Film, D'Andre M. Person

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Projects

Media, such as film, plays a pivotal role in representing marginalized groups to general audiences. The portrayal of Black people in advertisements, novels, art, and film has perpetuated harmful stereotypes which associate Black men and women with negative traits that justify their marginalization, such as the "Coon" stereotype that frames Black men as lazy or the "Mammy" stereotype that positions Black women as subservient. Stereotypes in film are produced through images, but language plays a vital role in constructing general audiences' understanding of Black people as well. Through a rhetorical analysis of seven films released between 2016 and 2026, I …

Community Science For Enigmatic Ecosystems: Using Ebird To Assess Avian Biodiversity On Glaciers And Snowfields, William E. Brooks, Jordan Boersma, Neil Paprocki, Peter Wimberger, Scott Hotaling

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

Mountain glaciers and snowfields are rapidly receding because of climate warming. Species living in these habitats remain poorly studied, likely because of the remoteness and ruggedness of their terrain. We leveraged community science data from eBird—an online database of bird observations from around the world—to characterize bird use of mountain glaciers and snowfields. We estimated total bird biodiversity and preference for glaciers and snowfields over nearby, ice-adjacent habitats. We used field notes from eBird users and breeding codes to extend our data set to include insight into habitat usage and behavior. Finally, we compared our community-science approach to previous studies …

In Defense Of Substantive Due Process, Maureen A. Edobor

Scholarly Articles

The Originalism Trap is a book for everyone—and it should be required reading for anyone trying to make sense of the seismic shifts in constitutional law on democracy, guns, and reproductive rights, even as the Constitution’s text has remained unchanged. Dennie’s sweeping and incisive defense of substantive due process raises a fundamental question: what better reflects democratic legitimacy—judicial doctrine shaped through decades of engagement between advocates, communities, judges, and lawmakers, or a narrow search through centuries-old texts for fragmented glimpses of “original public meaning” drawn from eras that excluded most people from citizenship, personhood, and power? Dennie forcefully answers: the …

Do Algorithms Dream Of Electric Muses? Teaching Creative Writing In The Age Of Generative Ai, Anna Leahy

English Faculty Articles and Research

In Philip K. Dick’s novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? androids are given a psychological test to confirm they are not human before killing them. The story’s end suggests that humans will treat a seemingly harmless android as authentically as a human even when humans are aware the android is not human. Students use tools like ChatGPT, which function as autocomplete on steroids, to produce text using probabilistic relationships among words, and instructors can’t always tell the difference between average student writing and Gen AI text. In creative writing classes, instructors might use thinking for oneself as a central …

Ai: Resumes & Interviews, Jessica Gnutek

Goal 4: Intrapersonal Intelligence Narrative

This was a student-tailored program that offered a brief overview of the Applicant Tracking System (ATS) and AI in resume building and interviews. The biggest take away was that automated systems do not recognize resumes and recorded interviews that deviate outside of an expected pattern. The value of this program was showing students that with a bit of additional research into the ATS and AI systems of the company they applied for, they can optimize their resume and their interviewing skills to avoid being "filtered out" in their job search. Many students also found this program personally helpful because many …

Vision 2026

Vision

No abstract provided.

Town Of Gilsum, New Hampshire Annual Reports For The Year Ending December 31, 2025, Gilsum Town Representatives

Gilsum, NH Annual Reports

This is an annual report containing vital statistics for a town/city in the state of New Hampshire.

Nahb Production Home Competition As A Learning Tool Towards Incorporating Business Skills In Construction Management Programs, George Berghorn, Chandler Jones, M.G. Matt Syal

The Professional Constructor

There is a growing realization in the construction industry that the traditional focus of Construction Management (CM) education on technical competencies (such as scheduling, estimating, and construction methods) is insufficient in preparing graduates to meet the strategic and leadership demands of the modern construction profession. A successful construction company requires more than project execution; it demands expertise in business development, financial management, marketing, risk management, and organizational leadership. The disparity between the technical and business aspects of CM education has produced graduates who may succeed in project management yet find it challenging to engage with comprehensive business operations.

This study …

Childhood Factors That Affect Adult Obesity In Ohio And Mississippi, Rhea Lal, Danielle Wolford

Scholarship in Medicine - All Papers

Over 40% of adults in the United States struggle with obesity. While several social determinants of health have been tied to obesity, only limited research on the effect of childhood education, food environments, and physical activity resources on a state-wide level has been conducted. It is imperative that we identify connections between obesity, associated comorbidities, education, and SDoH as these will inform improvements in national social structures and healthcare systems. States Ohio (OH) and Mississippi (MS) differ in high school completion rates, food access, and exercise opportunities yet both states continue to experience rising adult obesity rates. This study analyzed …

A Rosary Dipped In Blood, Collin Taylor

Athena: Undergraduate Research and Literary Journal

A short story about a young adult male named Daniel who navigates the isolation he feels in a rural conservative small town. He seeks escape and liberation through books and education, as well as making his voice known regardless of the consequences.

The Rise And Fall Of The Small Bronze Tripod Used For Pouring Heated Libations (A Pre-Confucian Libation Rite), Elizabeth Childs-Johnson

Art Faculty Publications

The rite of pouring out heated alcohol in honor of spirits begins during the Late Neolithic but matures as a formal institution known in writing and in cast bronze during the earliest phases of the historic Bronze Age, namely the Erlitou (ca. 1900-1600 BC) and Shang periods (ca. 1600-1046 BC). As will be analyzed, the libation rite known as ... [示 + 爵 = ...] (jue/guan) in Shang oracle bone divinations involved the use of the tripod jue爵 (bronze vessel). Although the rite [...] continues to appear in written inscriptions through most of the Western Zhou era, by the 9th-8th …