Digital Commons Network^™

Healing Our Relations Emergent Folk Art Creation Community Project For Cultural Healing And Reconciliation, Renna Fir

Expressive Therapies Theses

Settler colonial disconnection from place perpetuates ongoing harm to Indigenous communities, ecosystems, and cultural systems through extraction, displacement, and erasure. This community engagement project explores how communities can develop emergent cultural practices that acknowledge historical and ongoing harms while building toward repair and right relationship. Through a series of five participatory workshops combining movement, storytelling, and folk dance creation; seven community members and three culture bearers, understood as "elders" explored their relationship with place through embodied practice. The research utilized an anti-colonial arts-based methodology centered on community wisdom while documenting the process through multiple complementary methods. Findings demonstrate that folk …

Open Studio Concept Conducted By An Expressive Arts Therapist And Art Therapy Intern As A Replacement For Art Class In Special Education, Brianna Jewett

Expressive Therapies Theses

In 2022-2023, 15% of U.S. public school students between the ages of 3 and 21 were on an Individualized Education Plans (IEP) due to various disabilities. This paper examines the impact of an open studio model, conducted by expressive arts therapists, on the engagement of students with social and emotional disabilities aged between 16 and 18 years old. A thematic analysis of qualitative data revealed that using an open studio model facilitated by expressive arts therapists in place of a more traditional art education class for students who require additional social and emotional assistance can foster a sense of control …

How Can Art Therapy Be Utilized To Support Emotional Communication For Autistic Individuals With An Alexithymic Profile?, Kathryn L. Cohen

Expressive Therapies Theses

The expressive nature of art therapy can aid those with communication and sensory processing differences. Art making allows for the individual to access and emote in a way that spoken language cannot. This literature review will investigate and explore the features of the processing differences related to autism, interoception and alexithymia. The findings from the research explore the effectiveness of utilizing art therapy as a method to expand emotional communication. There are many challenges pertaining to emotional regulation and communication for autistic individuals. Accessing mental health resources and service providers familiar with communication differences is another challenge for this population. …

Why Disability Justice Matters In Mental Health Care And How Drama Therapists Can Help Get It Right, Anish Nakahara

Expressive Therapies Theses

Disability Justice (DJ) is an important, ever-growing aspect of mental health work that must be further explored and implemented if mental health professionals are committed to harm reduction and health equity. Drama therapy (DT) provides a unique accessibility that traditional psychotherapy does not always afford. The emphasis on encounters, relationality, and creative expression provides more avenues through which people can approach DT. Through analysis of current literature, this thesis explored the present relationship between DT and DJ, the relationship between the broader mental health care system and DJ, and how progress can continue toward competent, dignified care for disabled people. …

"La Vida Es Un Carnaval": An Exploration Of Cuban Identity And Nostalgia Through Dance/Movement Therapy - A Community Engagement Project, Maria Fernanda Mendez Mendoza

Expressive Therapies Theses

“La Vida Es Un Carnaval” is a community engagement project and thesis that explores how identity and nostalgic resilience show up through dance/movement therapy with Cuban immigrants living in the United States, specifically Massachusetts. This project brought together six Cuban-born participants, ages 26 to 67, each with their own unique migration stories; from the Rafter Balsero Crisis of 1994, to the “Wet-Foot/Dry-Foot” policy, and family reunification. Through a mix of in-person and online sessions, participants explored their experiences using intermodal activities including dance/movement therapy techniques, conversation, journaling, artwork, and music. Themes of cultural pride, “Cubanía” – Cuban-ness, culture shock, and …

Respectability, Code-Switching, And Expression: Examining The Experience Of Black Expressive Arts Therapists Through A Sociolinguistic Lens, Darrien Bush

Expressive Therapies Theses

This literature review explores how the linguistic phenomenon of code-switching can be applied to expressive arts and expressive arts therapy to describe the experience of Black expressive therapists. The review outlines the evolution of the term, reasons why individuals switch codes, and how this affects their experience. The understanding of code-switching is then examined in expressive arts and the expressive arts therapy field. A history and understanding of code-switching in Black communities is also explored, connecting Black experiences of code-switching and expressive arts therapy programs. A discussion suggests that culturally relevant practices are implicitly discouraged due to dominant expectations. Future …

Emotional Pathways: A Literature Review Of Emotion Process In Emotionally Focused Therapy And Drama Therapy, Chiao-Ting Yuan

Expressive Therapies Theses

This capstone thesis explored how emotionally focused therapy (EFT), and drama therapy (DT) could be integrated to improve emotional regulation, self-awareness, and mental healing. Based on attachment theory and emotional process framework, how these two different but complementary interventions could increase emotional participation and transformation was explored. This literature review indicated that although EFT’s structured and verbal approach is different from DT’s creative and embodied skills, the two approaches share common goals and target the same emotional process. In DT, several techniques can be found that are closely related to EFT’s emotional process. These techniques can provide a unique and …

Multimodal Dance/Movement Therapy For Children With Autism, Riley K. Cornacchini

Expressive Therapies Theses

This literature review examines the potential of creative arts therapies, particularly multimodal approaches, in improving social connection and communication for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The review explores how expressive arts therapy, including dance/movement, music, art, and drama therapy, engages children with ASD in non-verbal and emotionally expressive ways. Emphasizing early intervention, it highlights how these therapies promote emotional regulation, social and motor skills, and self-expression, enabling children to connect with others and navigate their social worlds. Drawing on both research and personal experience, the review illustrates how creative arts therapy can provide flexible, individualized interventions to meet the …

Returning To Ourselves: A Literature Review Of The Expressive Arts And Healing Intergenerational Trauma Cycles, Analie Strecker

Expressive Therapies Theses

Intergenerational trauma can occur amongst any family and in any culture. This can emerge from any number of things, be it a cycle of abuse, displacement, or even natural disasters. Given its pervasive nature, it is important to explore how transgenerational trauma can be treated and processed. A literature review was conducted in order to research how expressive arts therapies could be a valuable treatment method for generational trauma and trauma-informed care. The review examined both psychological and epigenetic impacts of generational trauma to gain insight into the possible trauma symptoms that interventions using expressive therapies might address. Different modalities …

To Bear Witness: Analyzing Dmt As An Effective Trauma-Informed Approach For Treating Youth & Adolescents: A Critical Review Of The Literature, Jade Dennis

Expressive Therapies Theses

This literature review proposes dance/movement therapy (DMT) as a trauma-informed intervention for children and adolescents who have experienced psychological, emotional, or physical trauma. The project, inspired by internship experiences with young trauma survivors, explores the ways in which trauma manifests in the body, indicating that DMT may offer effective pathways toward healing. Many children exposed to potentially traumatic events exhibit emotional dysregulation, insecure attachment patterns, and behavioral or somatic symptoms that are not easily addressed through traditional talk therapy. As a body-based expressive arts modality, DMT engages the sensory, emotional, and relational aspects of trauma by supporting nonverbal expression, self-regulation, …

Therapeutic Qualities And Applications Of Clay In Expressive Arts Therapy: A Literature Review, Julia Caruso

Expressive Therapies Theses

This literature review investigates the therapeutic qualities and clinical applications of clay within the framework of expressive arts therapy (ExAT), with particular focus on sensorimotor, somatic, and developmental interventions. Drawing upon the expressive therapies continuum (ETC), this review synthesizes emerging research highlighting clay's kinesthetic and tactile properties as key mechanisms for facilitating emotional expression, accessing unconscious material, and promoting psychological resilience. Evidence is presented for specialized therapeutic modalities such as clay art therapy (CAT) and Clay Field Work, which engage the body-mind connection to support trauma integration and emotion regulation. Findings demonstrate that clay's inherent adaptability and sensory richness allow …

Dance/Movement Therapy And Attachment In The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit- Critical Literature Review, Weronika Rozwadowska

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Dance/movement therapy, out of all of the expressive arts therapy modalities, is most often used in relation to attachment because of its embodiment. While dance/movement therapy has been researched in relation to attachment, is it hard to find literature about dance/movement therapy supporting attachment in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). This critical literature review explored and examined the question of how dance/movement therapy can support parents’ wellbeing and its influence on the attachment with their infants in the NICU. A search for literature on the topic happened mostly online on several bibliographic databases. The majority of the sources were …

Never Too Old To Play: Puppetry As A Therapeutic Intervention In Middle-To-Late Stage Dementia, Cat Potts

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Neurocognitive changes associated with dementia impact an individual’s ability to function in everyday life. Modern approaches to dementia care emphasize meeting the individual where they are at, which may often involve nontraditional therapeutic techniques. Drama therapy, a type of therapy that implements elements of performance and creativity, has been successfully utilized with this population. Drama therapy consists of core processes, which may vary based on the interventions used. This paper explores the core process of play through the use of a puppet when engaging with individuals with middle-to-late stage dementia. A four session community engagement project was conducted, resulting in …

The Seeming Beginning: The Drawings Of Dorothy Hood, 1942-1986, Natalia Lopez

Art History Theses and Dissertations

The notable career of American artist Dorothy Hood (1918-2000) spanned nearly six decades which she witnessed, and contributed to, the transformative shifts in art history from the 1940s through the late 1990s. Today, Hood is known as a cult figure in her native Houston, celebrated for her large-scale abstract paintings that are said to evoke the expansive Texas skies. While these paintings create a large portion of Hood’s oeuvre, they represent only a fraction of her prolific artworks. Equally significant are her meticulously detailed and surreal drawings, which form a substantial, often overlooked portion of her legacy.

Hood’s drawings embody …

Complementary Design Of Optical And Photochemical Systems, Joshua Plank

Chemistry Theses and Dissertations

The ability to manipulate chemical systems has been prized through history as the bridge between the macroscopic and microscopic worlds. As an example, the camera obscura has arguably existed since the earliest days of humanity; however, it was the discovery of early silver halide chemistry that lead to the ability to fix these images into the earliest photographs. In modern photolithography employed in electronics manufacturing, the primary resolution limits arise not from the chemistry of the molecules involved, but from the limits of the systems used to project light. Thus, as much as photochemistry advances, optical imaging and projection techniques …

Quantum Chemical Methods And Multiscale Modeling In Computer-Aided Drug Design, Hunter W. La Force

Chemistry Theses and Dissertations

Computer-Aided Drug Design (CADD) leverages a diverse toolkit of computational methods to accelerate the discovery and development of novel therapeutics. Among these, quantum chemical calculations provide unparalleled accuracy in understanding molecular interactions, albeit at a higher computational cost. This accuracy is crucial for identifying and quantifying fundamental interactions that dictate drug efficacy and selectivity, as exemplified by our investigation of ruthenium polypyridyl complexes. These metal-based compounds are model systems for studying covalent coordination bonds between ruthenium and its ligands and noncovalent interactions with DNA and protein targets. Local Mode Vibrational Theory emerges as a powerful lens within this framework, enabling …

The Lre Provision Of Idea's Impact On Deaf Students' Socio-Emotional Satisfaction In K-12th Grade Education, Shealyn Junge

Undergraduate University Honors Capstones

The education of Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) students represents a unique challenge in implementing inclusive practices that balance physical integration with meaningful language and communication access. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act’s Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) provision reflects a federal commitment to educating students with disabilities alongside their non-disabled peers whenever possible. This mixed-methods study examined how mainstream, co-enrollment settings, and Deaf schools shape the socio-emotional development of DHH students, including those transitioning between settings. While participants across placements reported increasing DHH identity pride, their social experiences diverged markedly: mainstream-educated participants universally reported loneliness by high school. Deaf …

The State Of Municipal Scale Highest Use Urban Wood Reclamation Projects, Bradley C. Almond

Graduate Liberal Studies Theses and Dissertations

Millions of urban trees are downed annually for various reasons, such as storms, disease, or development. We are all witnesses to the loss of trees as we see the piles of woody waste assembled on the curbside, ready for public works pickup. Today, most urban wood waste ends up in landfills, mulching/chipping facilities, or firewood production. Each of these alternatives results in the release of sequestered carbon back into the atmosphere.

The initial research led to successful diversion from landfills to mulch and firewood operations. Then, the research shifted to converting urban wood waste for its best use, which outlined …

“How Can We Sing In A Strange Land?” The Pastoral Musician As A Master Griot/Griotte, Dollie Howell

Doctor of Pastoral Music Projects and Theses

The writer of Psalm 137 asks a question that poignantly resonates with the experiences of enslaved Africans who were taken captive, exiled from their homelands, and told to forget their languages, worship practices, and tribal traditions. Their dehumanization was intensified by expectations that “required a song and . . . mirth.” The question was “How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?” In response to this question of engaging in song as a community while in a strange land of deep and persistent systemic suffering, enslaved African-descended people founded a unique tradition within Christianity that responded to …

Nonlinear Phenomena Of Discrete Wave Systems With Nonlocal Coupling, Austin E. Marstaller

Mathematics Theses and Dissertations

There is a long and rich story of nonlinear dynamics in discrete lattices. A particular well studied model is the discrete Nonlinear Schr\"odinger Equation, with many applications, most notably in nonlinear optics.

Recent studies have explored dynamics in scenarios where coupling amongst the array elements is nonlocal. The interest in particular is that in the longwave approximation, it leads to fractional diffraction. In this contribution, we consider two long range interaction lattice wave models, the fractional discrete nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation and the Long Range Ablowitz-Ladik system. By use of perturbation methods, asymptotics and numerical simulations, we present results on modulational …

Data Encoding, Compilation, And Algorithms For Quantum Machine Learning, Aviraj Sinha

Computer Science and Engineering Theses and Dissertations

Quantum computing enables new approaches to data processing, especially in quantum machine learning. Unlike classical systems, quantum data must be synthesized through operations and can exist in superposition. Encoding choices affect efficiency, noise resilience, and trainability—key factors in quantum machine learning models. This dissertation enhances quantum data encodings by extending quantum read-only memory (QROM) beyond binary representations, improving efficiency and parallelism. It introduces new compilation methods for quantum random number generators (QRNGs), supporting non-parametric distributions for post-quantum cryptography. Additionally, it explores Cayley graph-based encodings to extract spectral features for quantum machine learning.

Hybrid Graph-Recurrent Architecture For Citation Recommendation Via Future Embedding Forecasting, Mohammad Ausaf Ali Haqqani

Computer Science and Engineering Theses and Dissertations

The rapid expansion of scientific literature has intensified the challenge of identifying relevant citations, particularly for newly published or under-cited papers. Traditional citation recommendation systems typically model static relationships or respond to past citation activity, offering limited predictive power for emerging works. In response, this thesis presents a temporal modeling framework for citation recommendation that anticipates future scholarly relevance by forecasting the latent representations of academic papers.

Building on prior work that utilized Temporal Graph Networks (TGNs) to model dynamic citation flows, we propose Graph-Time, a hybrid architecture that integrates a Graph Transformer with a GRU-based time series predictor. The …

Computational Identification Of Infiltrating T Lymphocytes Into Solid Tumor, Lin Zhong

Statistical Science Theses and Dissertations

T cells play a central role in cancer immunity. Successful anti-tumor immunotherapy relies on the effective infiltration of cytotoxic T cells. However, the tumor microenvironment presents physical and immunosuppressive barriers to prevent T cell entry. Here, we developed two novel computational tools, ReMITT and SIBERT, to search for migrating T cells and T cell entry regions (TERs) into the tumor core. SIBERT combines a novel change point detection method and a spatial imputation model to detect regions with signatures of recent T cell entry using the spatial transcriptomics data. Applying SIBERT to multiple human cancer samples revealed several TERs for …

Rethinking Resource Exploitation: Shared Capitalist Motivations In Ghana’S Gold Mining Sector, Benedicta Donkor

Senior Theses

The relationship between Chinese involvement in Ghana's gold mining sector and its impact on sovereignty, development, and resource governance has ignited significant debate. While neo-colonial frameworks often dominate discussions, this thesis argues that such perspectives oversimplify the complex dynamics at play. Instead, Chinese involvement is better understood as mutual capitalist exploitation, where both Chinese and Ghanaian actors are driven by shared profit motives within a global capitalist system. This mutual exploitation is enabled by weak governance, regulatory gaps, and systemic corruption, creating a permissive environment for resource exploitation at the expense of societal and environmental well-being. The thesis critically examines …

Sexy In Scrubs: How The Media And Cultural Perception Of Nurses Leads To Sexual Harassment And Violence In The Workplace, Elizabeth S. Stehle

Honors Projects

Western media has perpetuated society’s perspective of the nursing role through a sexual lens rather than a professional. Nurses face high levels of sexual harassment and violence, with some studies showing up to 80% of nurses experiencing some form of sexual harassment in the workplace at some point in their career. The relationship between the media’s sexualization of nurses has led to an increase in harassment and violence in the profession, as well as proliferating the stereotype of ‘sexy nurses.’ In this literature review, I examine both the media and cultural perception of the nurse and the data surrounding sexual …

A Comparative, Quantitative Analysis Of Birth Outcomes Among Women With Intellectual Or Developmental Disabilities, Jocelyn T. Reddix

MUSC Theses and Dissertations

Women who are pregnant or planning to give birth deserve equitable resources, respect, and assurances to ensure a healthy and safe pregnancy, including women of childbearing age who are diagnosed with intellectual or developmental disabilities (IDD). These women are more likely to experience negative perinatal, delivery, and postpartum health outcomes (Tarasoff et al., 2020). Healthcare providers, clinicians, and the family and friends of those with IDD must understand the impact and implications of the prenatal and postpartum journey for this group of women. This comparative research examined 2021 birth outcomes of women in the United States with IDD compared to …

A Computational Method For Detecting Compound Promiscuity In Early-Stage Pharmaceutical Discovery, John Allen Ringer

Computer Science ETDs

Modern drug discovery and chemical biology research relies heavily on analyzing bioassay data. One of the many challenges in bioassay data analysis is identifying false trails, i.e., chemical compounds which initially appear to have desirable activity but are found to be problematic upon further investigation. Badapple (the BioAssay-Data Associative Promiscuity Pattern Learning Engine) was created over ten years ago to help researchers identify promiscuous compounds and thus avoid a common source of these false trails. Through an effort involving software engineering, cheminformatics, and biomedical data science we have developed Badapple 2.0, which incorporates updated assay records and expanded data semantics. …

A Zooarchaeological Analysis Of Far-North Goldrush-Era Sites, Amelia M. Jansen

Anthropology

The current accumulation of archaeological investigations at far-north Alaskan Goldrush sites either completely lack or severely underrepresent the faunal components. These data are vital and add context to past and future archaeological investigations by enabling more accurate and inclusive interpretations of life in the mining-related settlements of the far north. This research is an analysis of previously unidentified and partially identified faunal assemblages from Goldrush- era archaeological sites in Interior Alaska including Coldfoot, Fairbanks, Tofty, Wiseman, Eagle, Uhler Creek, and Marion Creek. The data generated from the analysis of these diverse sites and site types helps determine how animals were …

In Their Own Words: Exploring The Political Lives Of Women Legislators In Guam, Sarah G. Elmore-Hernandez

Anthropology

In 2018, Guam experienced a historic political transformation with the election of its first woman governor and a supermajority of women senators. This electoral outcome was widely framed as a feminist milestone, reinforcing dominant narratives that equate increased female representation with progressive policy advancements. This study critically examines these assumptions by shifting the focus from quantitative representation to the political strategies and lived experiences of Guam’s women lawmakers. Employing oral history interviews, this research investigates how lawmakers conceptualize their political roles, navigate institutional structures, and shape legislative agendas. The findings reveal that while many advocate for policy priorities traditionally associated …

Wave Driven Diffuse Aurora And Ionospheric Conductance Global Patterns, Dillon M. Gillespie

Physics

Auroral precipitation is the second major energy source after solar irradiation that ionizes the Earth’s upper atmosphere. In this study we define 3 types of auroral activity as broadband, monoenergetic, and diffuse aurora. Diffuse aurora from electron precipitation, or diffuse electron aurora, contributes over 60% of the total auroral energy flux. Through constant collisions between the electrons and neutral particles in the atmosphere the electron flux ionizes the atmosphere and strongly contributes to the ionospheric conductance. The ionization, electron energy flux, and conductance play a significant role in defining the ionosphere-thermosphere dynamics. One major contributor to the precipitation of these …