Digital Commons Network^™

Reimagining Academic Assessment In The Age Of Ai, Matthew Hammerton

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In ‘Reimagining Academic Assessment in the Age of AI’, Matthew Hammerton examines the challenges and opportunities posed by generative AI for higher education assessment. He critiques common responses like banning AI, reverting to in-class exams, or abandoning essays altogether, arguing that they fail to preserve the deeper pedagogical goals of higher order, independent thinking. Instead, Hammerton proposes a guiding principle of intellectual responsibility: students should be accountable for explaining and defending each major choice in their work—regardless of whether they use AI tools. To operationalise this, he advocates for reintegrating oral examinations (‘vivas’) alongside written essays. In this model, students …

¡Iniciando! La Adultez (Launching! To Adulthood): A Cultural And Linguistic Adaptation Of A Group Therapy Program For Young Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorder Transitioning To Adulthood, Antonio F Pagán, Katherine A Loveland, Ron Acierno

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Objectives: The transition to adulthood is a formative period of development for young adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), as they work towards independence and managing adult responsibilities. While evidence-based interventions have been developed for young adults with ASD, they have rarely been culturally and linguistically adapted for the Latino, Spanish-speaking community. The present study provided initial feasibility and acceptability data for a therapy program for Latino young adults with ASD transitioning to adulthood and their Spanish-speaking parents.

Methods: The culturally adapted and translated intervention, called ¡Iniciando! la Adultez, is a 10-week therapy program based on an evidence-based treatment ( …

Epa Region 8 Optimized Ufp-Qapp Review Crosswalk, Environmental Protection Agency, Emma Rott

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

"I Probably Wouldn't Be As Happy": Childhood Parental Separation And Posttraumatic Growth Narratives From Eight College Students, Meagan C. Arrastia-Chisholm, Hoa Nguyen, Africa Pippin, Heather M. Kelley Ph.D.

Journal of Higher Education & Student Affairs

Parental separation during childhood leads to long-lasting psychological and socioemotional impact on the lives of emerging adults as they transition into higher education. The long-term effects of childhood parental separation on college students' academic performance, physical health, and overall mental wellbeing are well-documented. However, students can develop resilience to cope with challenging family and life experiences and even demonstrate post-traumatic growth. Post-traumatic growth refers to the positive changes and experiences college students discover after enduring life disruptions, such as being separated from their parents at an early age. To better understand the connection between parental separation and posttraumatic growth, a …

Interspecies Responsivity In Early Modern Drama And Animal Performances, Taylor C. Culbert

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation proposes an expansive, interspecies definition of performance that uses behavior rather than cognition as the decisive feature and illustrates how such a definition can reshape our approach to theatre and performance history. Using the concept of responsivity, which refers to the embodied and affective ways that humans and non-human animals acknowledge and react to one another, I trace human–animal interactions across a variety of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century performance genres, from the aristocratic stag hunt and entertainments involving trained animals to the plays of Molière and Shakespeare. Drawing on my experience training animals, I offer a new perspective on …

Gestoras Económicas: Dote, Consumo Y Ahorro En La Ficción Latinoamericana (1872–1905), Laura Herrera Liendo

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

My doctoral dissertation examines novels published between the decades of 1870 and 1900 by women writers of Peru, Mexico, and Argentina, and analyzes the portrayals of money and economic behavior through their female characters. I investigate how some economic aspects of nineteenth-century capitalism are mobilized to challenge the figure of the angel of the house. By studying novels written by Carolina Freyre de Jaimes (1844-1916) and Mercedes Cabello de Carbonera (1845-1909) from Peru; Juana Manuela Gorriti (1818-1892) and Emma de la Barra (1861-1947) from Argentina; and Laura Méndez de Cuenca (1853-1928) and Refugio Barragán de Toscano (1843-1916) from Mexico, I …

The Crisis Of Safety, Well-Being, And Belonging Facing Lgbtq Children: Mad/Crip Of Color Critique Towards A Curriculum Of Radical Care, Jameson Goetz

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In this thesis, I turn toward the study of educational experience, defined broadly to include lived experiences both within and outside of formal schooling institutions. I approach curriculum as an ongoing project of self-understanding in which one becomes mobilized for engaged pedagogical action alongside others in the pursuit social justice. I am guided by the following question, foundational to the field of curriculum studies: for those of us who work alongside LGBTQ children, what knowledge is of most worth? Critically reflecting on ways of working alongside LGBTQ children in the pursuit of social justice, I formulate a mad/crip of color …

Non-Perturbative Aspects Of Gauge Theories Through A Complex Parametrization, Antonina Maj

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation explores a complex matrix parametrization of four-dimensional non-Abelian gauge theories as a means of gaining analytical insights into (3+1)-dimensional QCD. The low-energy scale of non-Abelian gauge theories remains an elusive area of research even after decades of work. A key challenge lies in identifying physical, gauge-invariant degrees of freedom that are relevant to non-perturbative phenomena. In this dissertation we develop a complex parametrization of gauge fields on which gauge transformations act homogeneously, thereby enabling a manifestly gauge-invariant analytical formulation of the theory.

Chapter one constructs the complex gauge-invariant parametrization for gauge theories living on both complex projective space …

Investigation Of Motor Neuronal And Circuit Level Mechanistic Determinants Of Spinal Excitability Following Cst Injury, Thelma Bethea

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The corticospinal tract (CST) is the primary descending motor pathway in mammals, essential for precise, dexterous movements, especially in humans and nonhuman primates. Damage to the CST, such as from spinal cord injury (SCI), impairs skilled motor function and triggers maladaptive changes including aberrant proprioceptive afferent sprouting and increased spinal excitability. These changes are closely linked to both muscle weakness and the development of hyperreflexia, compounding the functional deficits. Animal models of SCI are valuable for investigating mechanisms of injury and recovery, though traditional models often limit the ability to isolate circuit-specific contributions. To address this, I employed selective unilateral …

Digital Odyssey: Navigating Culture, Structure, And Agency In The Transformation Of A Public University, Lisa Santa-Coloma

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Digital transformation broadly refers to the process of enacting digital technologies to fundamentally change how an organization creates value, enhancing the customer experience, increasing efficiency, and achieving a sustained competitive advantage. Current industry research estimates that over 90 percent of large organizations globally are undertaking digital transformation initiatives, yet a surprisingly low percentage of them report a resulting lift in revenue or improved efficiency. This trend is particularly pronounced in the education sector, where universities, navigating the pressure of lower enrollment rates following the global pandemic and the impact of disruptive technology such as artificial intelligence and online learning platforms, …

The Evolution And Reproduction Of Andean Miconia (Melastomataceae), Juan Angulo

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Understanding the factors that shape diversification and distribution in tropical plant lineages is central to explaining the origins of Neotropical biodiversity. Assessing evolutionary history with trait evolution and climatic niche dynamics provides key insights into the drivers of diversification and biogeography, while natural history data remains critical for these evolutionary studies. The Tropical Andes, with its exceptional biodiversity and environmental heterogeneity, offers an ideal setting to explore these processes. In this dissertation, I investigate how reproductive systems, climatic niche dynamics, and pollination strategies influence the evolution and biogeography of Miconia III, a large and ecologically diverse clade in the …

Quantum Entanglement Correlations In The Proton On The Light-Front, Eric Kolbusz

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In this work we gather results on information theory applied to proton tomography. We start by analyzing the quantum entanglement of momentum, spin-flavor, and color degrees of freedom (d.o.f.) in the leading valence-quark state of the proton on the light front using standard information theoretical tools, leveraging model wavefunctions by Brodsky and Schlumpf to obtain numerical predictions. Light-cone perturbation theory allows us to introduce the one-gluon correction in the sub-leading Fock state and study the entanglement of the gluonic d.o.f. We find weak entanglement in the spatial d.o.f. of the valence quarks, and significantly stronger entanglement in the analogous d.o.f. …

Understanding Why Individuals Maltreated As Children Do Not Retrospectively Self-Report, Kristin S. Lynch

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Individuals with documented histories of childhood maltreatment who do not retrospectively self-report these childhood experiences demonstrate better emotional and psychological outcomes in adulthood. Understanding why these individuals do not retrospectively self-report is important for the development of effective interventions focused on mitigating the long-term consequences of maltreatment. The current study compared maltreated individuals who did not retrospectively self-report (O-R group) to those who did retrospectively self-report (O+R group) to examine theoretical explanations related to intentional nondisclosure (i.e., social desirability and discomfort during the interview) and memory processes (i.e. infantile amnesia, use of mental health services, avoidant coping …

Receptions Of Mental Health Emergency Services In New York City, Daniel R. Samost

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Mental health emergency response has become a highly scrutinized topic following the Black Lives Matter movement and several notable incidents of mental health emergency service users being killed by police responders. Qualitative interviews were conducted with mental health emergency service users to better understand the experience of using mental health emergency services, garner critical feedback of the service, and explore recommendations to improve future response. A total of 23 participants conducted interviews and detailed 40 incidents of mental health emergency service utilization. These interviews were then coded and analyzed. There were a few major findings from the data. Just over …

Interoceptive Forecasting And Recall: The Role Of Anxiety Sensitivity And Disgust Sensitivity, David Lloyd Yap

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Predicting and remembering emotional states (affective forecasting and recall) are adaptive processes that allow individuals to engage with the future and past to guide behavior, yet these processes are prone to bias. Although affective forecasting and recall biases are common across healthy populations, more pessimistically biased affective forecasts and recall have been linked to greater anxiety and depression symptom levels and to emotional disorders. A crucially understudied aspect of affective forecasting and recall is the perception of the somatic (interoceptive) symptoms that accompany emotions. This study investigated forecasting and recall accuracy of somatic symptom levels (i.e., interoceptive forecasting and recall). …

Collaborative Memory And Metamemory: The Impact Of Normative And Informational Motivations On Conformity, Karen Rodriguez

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Collaborative memory studies have typically explored the cognitive mechanisms that underlie differences between collaborative and individual memory performance. Despite the social nature of collaboration, few studies have examined the impact of social motivations on collaborative memory. When retrieving information with groups, people may not only be motivated by a desire to be accurate (i.e., informational motivations), but may also be guided by social norms (i.e., normative motivations), such as prioritizing agreeability or alignment with group members (Cialdini & Goldstein, 2004). Similarly, retrieving information with others may also prompt individuals to reflect more on their own memory processes. However, few studies …

The Weight Of Complicity: A Network Analysis Of Ecocide In Palestine, Marilyn Moy

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This paper combines multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) with a network graph visualization to examine corporate and institutional involvement in ecocide in Palestine from 1917 to the present. Using a weighted sum model based on UN human rights principles and UNEP guidelines, actors are evaluated across three criteria: directness, scale, and duration of harm. A dataset of 50+ entities, including Caterpillar, Elbit Systems, and the Jewish National Fund, reveals a dense network of responsibility, with major enablers in the construction, tech, and military sectors. Findings highlight the severe impacts of the 2023–present assault on Gaza and demonstrate that ecocide is a …

Imagined Empires: Roman And Chinese Constructions Of One Another In Antiquity, Elizabeth S. Tsang

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis examines how the Roman and Han Chinese empires conceptualized one another during the first centuries CE, despite never establishing sustained direct contact. It argues that mutual perceptions were shaped less by firsthand experience than by mediated reports, commodities, and the political interests of intermediaries. The study proceeds in four parts. The first explores how Roman authors employed the ethnonym Seres to frame China as a land of wonder, wealth, and alterity. The second analyzes the Chinese designation Da Qin, showing how it projected Han imperial ideals outward by casting Rome as a mirror-image polity. The third turns to …

Giving Voice To The Frames Of War: A Digital Humanities Framework For Evaluating War Crimes Databases, Leila Markosian

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Developments in digital technologies have complicated existing debates around the ethics of cataloging war crimes and human rights violations. Digital humanities methods of evaluating digital scholarship can help to construct a framework for evaluating war crimes databases, a process which requires a fine-tuned critical analysis aimed towards understanding the purpose of compiling the database, the platform or media template through which the database is presented, and the communicative potentials of the database. The following paper presents a survey of the existing literature on war crime databases and the politics of memory; a model of how war crimes database analyses may …

Scripted For Surveillance: Parole Revocation Hearings And The Performance Of Procedure In New York, Kelsey G. Greeff

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis examines parole revocation hearings in New York as complex performances that extend carceral control beyond prison walls. Drawing on a composite vignette from the Bronx parole court, it analyzes the interplay between procedural reform, constitutional due process, and neoliberal governance. Using a dramaturgical framework informed by Michel Foucault’s discourse analysis and Judith Butler’s theory of performativity, the study identifies four interrelated processes: the judge as director, who orchestrates hearings according to institutional priorities; normalization, where repetition embeds structural inequality as routine; type-marking, the classification of parolees into predefined roles through accumulated records and cues; and the extension of …

The Density Distribution Of The Material Around Betelgeuse, Iman Behbehani

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Betelgeuse is a red supergiant star visible in the constellation Orion. Its windy and highly convective surface results in a complicated mass loss pattern difficult to understand and replicate in simulations. The ejected mass can form a shell around the star we consider the circumstellar material (CSM). In this study, we use ALMA interferometric observations to find the structure of Betelgeuse's CSM, and connect to the mass loss mechanisms that could form it. We measure a bipolar circumstellar structure with a position angle of 42.3$\pm 7.0^\circ$. We observe asymmetries in the form of hot spots in the north east of …

Novel Machine Learning Methods For Quasar Variability And Strong Gravitational Lensing, Joshua Fagin

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Machine learning methods are well suited to handle the unprecedented data volume expected from upcoming wide-field surveys. The European Space Agency's Euclid telescope was launched in July 2023 and is expected to observe billions of galaxies at high resolution, including tens of thousands of strongly lensed galaxies. The Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) will monitor tens of millions of quasars throughout its ten-year lifetime, thousands of which will be strongly lensed. This flood of data will enable measuring lens galaxy mass distributions and substructure, as well as probing quasar accretion disk structure and black hole properties …

Ai-Powered Multi-Omics Integration For Predictive Modeling Of Genotype-Environment-Phenotype Relationships, You Wu

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation presents a series of machine learning frameworks for modeling genotype–environment–phenotype relationships through integrative predictive modeling of multi-omics data. The work addresses three major axes of biological complexity: modeling biological information transmission cross-levels from genes to proteins to phenotypes, predicting molecular features cross-scale from cells to tissues to organisms, and translating phenotypes cross-species from model systems to humans. Each proposed method also tackles key machine learning (ML) challenges in the biomedical domain, including data scarcity, domain shift, out-of-distribution (OOD) generalization, and hierarchical modeling. Specifically, this dissertation introduces five novel deep learning algorithms: MultiDCP predicts drug-induced transcriptomic and viability responses …

“Justice, Justice Pursue”: Coworker Reactions To Religious Workplace Accommodations, Joshua A. Nagel

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study examines coworker reactions to religious accommodations in the workplace, a growing necessity as religious diversity increases, and recent legislation strengthens protections for religious observances. Religious accommodations can provoke perceptions of differential treatment, impacting coworker morale, cooperation, and organizational cohesion. While extensive research exists on disability accommodations, religious accommodations differ fundamentally as they often relate to moral beliefs and are viewed variably in terms of necessity and controllability. Drawing on organizational justice theories, this dissertation applies and modifies Colella’s (2001) and Colella et al.’s (2004) models for coworker perceptions of distributive and procedural fairness of disability accommodations to the …

The Spaces Between: A Phenomenological Exploration Of Classical Music Performance Practice, Fifi Zhang

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In his theory of duration, the philosopher Henri Bergson (1859-1941) asserts that the present moment is “both a perception of the immediate past and a determination of the immediate future…a joint system of sensations and movements.” In an ideal musical performance, this sensori-motor apparatus guides every one of the performer’s decisions on stage, resulting in an aural experience that is spontaneous, visceral, and deeply personal. In practice, much of today’s classical music performance culture, which relies heavily on visual notation and prioritizes fidelity to the composer’s intent, is antithetical to fundamental artistic values such as creativity, individual self-expression, and direct …

An Interpolating Regime For The Extreme Values Of A Random Zeta Model, Christine K. Chang

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

We study the large values of a random model of the Riemann zeta function over short intervals. The extreme value statistics depend on the interval size: the log-correlated regime governs intervals of order one while the i.i.d. regime emerges over longer intervals. The main focus is to describe the transition between these two well-understood regimes as the interval varies in length. This thesis shows that there is an intermediate regime where the behavior of the zeta model’s maxima cannot be entirely captured by either extreme— i.i.d. or fully log-correlated. This suggests that the Riemann zeta function exhibits correlations around its …

Nonlinear Optics Through Femtosecond Light-Matter Interactions, Shah Faisal B. Mazhar

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation offers experimental and theoretical insights into nonlinear light-matter interactions induced by intense femtosecond (fs) laser pulses. It investigates key phenomena, including stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) from phonon and magnon quasiparticles, supercontinuum (SC) generation via self-phase modulation (SPM), conical emission (CE) arising from four-wave mixing (4WM), and modulation instability (MI) driven by cross-phase modulation (XPM) between SRS and SC processes. These effects are studied in diverse media using state-of-the-art femtosecond lasers.

The interplay among SRS, SC, 4WM, and MI is examined to probe vibrational modes and temperature-dependent magnetic excitations in condensed-matter systems. Experiments are conducted on anisotropic uniaxial calcite …

Disability Theatre Communities: Engaging Artists And Audiences In Contemporary International Performance, Joseph Paul Hill

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

“Disability Theatre Communities” examines how communities are constructed in, through, and around contemporary international disability theatre performances. It explores ideas of community formation and intersection across three case studies to elucidate the various ways in which disability theatre artists, productions, companies, and organizations attract, engage, and educate variable artist and audience communities. The project analyzes Rome, Italy’s Teatro Patologico and its Integrated Theatre of Emotion, a theatrical training program for neurodivergent performers; Wales-based writer, theatre-maker, and dramaturg Kaite O’Reilly, whose international collaborations center d/Deaf and disabled performers and foreground audience accessibility; and the biennial BIT (Blind in Theatre) International Festival …

The Sonic Hedgehog Effector Smoothened Modulates Cholinergic Interneuron Activity, Physiology, And Striatum-Dependent Behaviors, Santiago Uribe-Cano

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The striatum is a central node in action selection and associative learning, integrating cortical, thalamic, and neuromodulatory input. Among its principal modulators, dopamine (DA) and acetylcholine (ACh) are known for their temporally coordinated yet mechanistically distinct influences on striatal output. However, the upstream signals that regulate their dynamic interplay, particularly within cholinergic interneurons (CINs)—the primary source of striatal ACh—remain incompletely characterized. This dissertation investigates the role of Smoothened (Smo), a G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) effector of Sonic Hedgehog (Shh) signaling, in modulating ACh signaling dynamics in the striatum.

Building on evidence that midbrain DA neurons co-release Shh and that CINs …

Teaching And Technology: "You Can't Just Do The Same Thing Online", Sakina Laksimi

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation examines how faculty at the City University of New York navigated the abrupt transition to online teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic, revealing how pedagogy is shaped by technological, institutional, and social conditions. Drawing on twenty-two interviews with twelve faculty across eight disciplines, I use a grounded theory approach to analyze how instructors adapted courses, reimagined assessment, and sustained connection with students amid crisis. Three overlapping pedagogical orientations emerged: improvisational, relational, and design-based teaching. These approaches highlight how faculty balanced responsiveness, care, and intentional course design in environments mediated by digital platforms and marked by inequity. The study situates …