Digital Commons Network^™

Security Challenges For The Activities Of Religious Organizations During Russian-Ukrainian War, Iryna Kondratieva, Iryna Fenno

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

In the article authors identify the greatest security challenges for religious organizations of Ukraine during Russian-Ukrainian war. In conditions of martial law, external threats and risks associated with the existential dimension become particularly acute. In the context of armed conflict and military operations, issues of survival assume paramount importance. Religious communities, like all other civilian populations, incur substantial losses and are perpetually vulnerable during the active phase of armed conflict. Security challenges are defined by authors as the most significant factor in changes in religious life in Ukraine during martial law.  Among them authors examine in detail war crimes in …

'Power To Tread On Serpents': Trinity Broadcasting Network And The Theological Underpinnings Of Christian Nationalism, Moriah Coons

Seattle Pacific Seminary Theses

While many scholars have discussed the rise of conservatism and Christian nationalism among prominent American evangelicals since the 1970s, few have seriously discussed the theology which has held up these shifts, especially that which comes from Charismatic influences. This thesis contends that many conservative Christians today, and Pentecostals in particular, cannot be understood according to their political and sociological contexts alone, but require a serious analysis of the theological convictions which drive public engagement. In order to demonstrate the historical justification for this claim, this paper will examine Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN)’s dissemination of Pentecostal theology between 1973 and 1988, …

Revisiting “Of Arms And The Militia: Gun Regulation By Legislatively Defining ‘Ordinary Military Equipment’”, Edward J. Curtis ,Jr.

Touro Law Review

In 2021, I published an article arguing that semi-automatic rifles and semi-automatic handguns, among other weapons, could be most effectively regulated by defining the “ordinary military equipment” that the states’ militia members were expected to produce in the event they were called to service. I based my argument on the rationale employed by the United States Supreme Court in its 1939 decision in United States v. Miller, which upheld the National Firearms Act of 1934.

Meeting Battery Electric Vehicle Demand With A Focus On Throughput Capacity Across The Transport Nodes In The Upstream Cobalt Supply Chain, Nicholas J. Visconti

Dissertations

This study assesses whether cobalt transport capacity in sub-Saharan Africa is sufficient to support projected battery electric vehicle (BEV) demand under the Paris Accord. Using open-source data from ArcGIS, the Highway Capacity Manual, and the World Bank, the analysis applies a simplified linear programming approach to estimate the maximum throughput of the primary transport corridor connecting the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the Port of Durban. The model identifies significant constraints along the Rutenga-to-Beitbridge segment, reducing network capacity to an estimated 42,494 tons of ore per day. When converted to refined cobalt, this capacity falls well short of the …

Musculoskeletal Stress Markers Caused By Occupational Stress And Its Relation To Sex, Madison E. Torres, Sage Rohrer

High Impact Practices Student Showcase Spring 2026

The excavation of the site of San Pedro, Belize, uncovered the skeletal human remains of 46 individuals that were naturally preserved well enough in sand to be studied. These remains belonged to ancient Maya, dating back to the Terminal Postclassic to Historic period (c. 1450–1700 CE), who had been buried under what is now the Sands Hotel. This population was part of a small fishing village. These people likely led a labor-intensive lifestyle, which would lead to the skeletal remains showing signs of Musculoskeletal Stress Markers (MSM). This stems from the theory that the males of this village would carry …

Imagining South Korean Nationhood Through Remembering And Forgetting The South Korean Military In The Vietnam War, Robinson P. Lee

Pitzer Senior Theses

Little more than a decade after being victimized by the devastating Korean War, South Korea fought in another devastating civil war in Asia, the Vietnam War. How is South Korean nationhood and political identity understood and articulated in the face of existential national questions presented by the Vietnam War? This thesis uses social and oral history approaches to put a myriad of primary and secondary sources in conversation with one another, building on the existing, limited English-language literature on South Korean military involvement in the Vietnam War. These approaches include examining narratives of Vietnam War atrocities, of an organized group …

America The Not Yet Beautiful: Unfulfilled Promises In A Racist-Capitalist Society, Kaitlyn Tibbetts

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis draws from Langston Hughes’s poem “Let America Be America Again” to analyze four American novels that demonstrate the United States’s unfulfilled promises for lower-class individuals and minorities. The four novels examined in this thesis include: The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton, The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead, There There by Tommy Orange, and How the García Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez. Utilizing theoretical frameworks such as social reproduction theory, intersectionality, and Burden-Shelly’s theorizations on racist-capitalist oppression, this thesis argues that the policies and systems that the U.S. is founded on are designed to primarily benefit economically …

Reawakening Waⁿdat: Community Research & Reclamation, Darcy Allred

Theses and Dissertations

The Wyandot(te) have undergone language dormancy due to settler colonial impacts of warfare, refugee relocation, forced removals, and U.S. assimilation projects. One of the most pressing priorities among our people today is reawakening our ancestral language, Waⁿdat. The common follow-up question is: how? Through the conduit of Waⁿdat language reclamation, this project grapples with the above question in collaboration with the Wyandot(te) community, and in adherence to the tribal sovereignty of the Wyandotte Nation. The project engages with diasporic perspectives, community-based pedagogy design, and tribally specific research protocols and policies. The living collective knowledgebase with which I engage in this …

Continuity Of Government And The Separation Of Powers Doctrine, Andrew Parco

California Western Law Review

No abstract provided.

Inside The Box: Containerization And The Limits Of Trade Unionism In The International Longshoremen's Association, 1945-1977, Calvin Horning

Theses and Dissertations--Geography

The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA), the union of dock workers on the East Coast of the United States, saw a dramatic change in form and fortune in the middle of the 20^th century as the shipping industry and global labor underwent an immense reorganization. In the context of this reorganization, I argue that due to internal conservatism and racism alongside external state pressure, the ILA moved from an unruly, mafia-ruled union to a highly organized, professionalized, well-paid core of workers that served to support the United States’ capitalist-imperialist project.

Through archival material spanning over three decades, I analyze the …

Books Of Interest Spring 2026

Comparative Civilizations Review

No abstract provided.

Extending Norbert Elias: Adjacency And The Dynamics Of Civilizations, Arthur Michelino

Comparative Civilizations Review

Civilizations have rarely been approached as systems of interdependence and strain. Most modern theories have oscillated between cyclical visions of rise and fall and static conceptions of blocs defined by cultural essence. Both perspectives have offered sweeping interpretations, but both also detached civilizations from the environments of pressure and interaction in which they have always existed. To reframe civilizations as relational processes requires both recognition of their internal dynamics and attention to the external conditions that compel their transformation.

Commander In Cyberspace: A Comprehensive Review Of The President’S Authority To Conduct Military Cyber Operations, Bryan Gonzalez

Student Works

No abstract provided.

Are We In Oz? The Constitutionality Of Inhumane Treatment In Noncitizen Detainment Centers, Grace Callahan

Student Works

No abstract provided.

Health Data Under Siege: The New Frontier Of Information Warfare, Karina T. Agarwal

Student Works

No abstract provided.

Lawyering On The Eve Of War: The Role Of Law And Lawyers In Ethiopia’S Civil War, 2018–2024, Mekonnen F. Ayano

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

What role do lawyers play when a nation stands at the brink of war? This Article examines how Ethiopia’s legal profession navigated escalating political instability in the years leading up to the country’s devastating civil war (2018–2022). It traces how private attorneys, judges, prosecutors, government legal advisors, human rights advocates, consultants, and law academics engaged with shifting power dynamics, ethical dilemmas, and political tensions, revealing their complex positioning as both actors and intermediaries in the unfolding crisis. Some resisted factional political pressures and sought to uphold legal principles, while others adapted to the fragile conditions and aligned with prevailing currents, …

The Seeds Of Peace And Justice, Shai Dothan

Chicago Journal of International Law

Some positive developments in international law had humble beginnings. They started from a small group of idealists who wanted to change the world for the better. Once their ideas gathered momentum, they got the support of people with power and transformed the world. State after state followed each other in a cascade toward improving international law. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the conditions that are beneficial for the initial germination of ideas with the potential to positively revolutionize international law. By using a series of case studies focused on the initiation of major transformations that improved international …

“Because We Take Our Values To War” Analyzing The Views Of Un Member States On Aidriven Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems, Rangita De Silva De Alwis

Chicago Journal of International Law

In paragraph two of its resolution 2 on lethal autonomous weapon systems, pursuant to U.N. General Assembly resolution 78/241, the General Assembly requested the Secretary-General to solicit the views of Member States and Observer States regarding lethal autonomous weapons systems (LAWS). Specifically, the request encompassed perspectives on addressing the multifaceted challenges and concerns raised by LAWS, including humanitarian, legal, security,

Between Brushstroke And Cut: Editing Leon Golub's Persona In Kartemquin's Golub (1988), Frauke Thielecke

Mendel Sato Research Award Projects

The documentary collective Kartemquin Films was founded in 1966 in Chicago and dedicated itself to bringing critical social issues onto the big screen. Early movies such as Now We Live on Clifton (1974), which dealt with inequality and displacement in Chicago neighborhoods, The Chicago Maternity Center Story (1976), calling out the forced closure of an important women's healthcare unit, and The Last Pullman Car (1983), which followed the conflict between labor unions and corporations at the Pullman railroad car factory, show Kartemquin's commitment to portraying pressing issues. Their movies often focus on a single protagonist and follow them over sometimes …

A Tribal Hermeneutical Reading Of The Creation Narrative In Genesis 1:26-28, Enolyne Lyngdoh

The Asbury Journal

No abstract provided.

Hunters Of Men: A Tribal Reading Of The Missiological Motif In Luke 5:1-11, Themshang Horam

The Asbury Journal

This article presents an intercultural and contextual reading of Luke 5:1–11 from the perspective of the Naga tribes of Northeast India, proposing a reinterpretation of the traditional “fishers of men” motif as “hunters of men.” Grounded in the author’s cultural context—where, owing to the absence of large water bodies, fishing serves as a secondary means of subsistence while hunting remains central to social and spiritual life— this study contends that biblical metaphors risk losing their theological depth and communicative efficacy when removed from the ecological and cultural frameworks of the receiving community. Through exegetical analysis and intercultural hermeneutics, the paper …

Extending Low-Frequency Traveling-Wave Propagation In A Water-Filled Cylindrical Waveguide Using Active Impedance Control, William Slater

Open Access Dissertations

This dissertation investigates extending the frequency range over which a one-dimensional, plane traveling wave can be generated in a water-filled, steel-walled waveguide under ocean temperature and hydrostatic pressure conditions. The wave guide considered is a thick-walled, steel cylinder filled with a water/glycol mixture with a transducer at each end and a hydrophone array along the length. One transducer excites a plane wave while the other cancels reflections, resulting in a traveling wave in the waveguide. The current (open-loop) measurement system is advertised to generate traveling waves for low frequencies where only 3.4% of a wavelength can be measured (kL …

The Role Of Soil In Historical Warfare: A Review, Gian Franco Capra, T. A.R. Nogueira, Cassio Hamilton Abreu-Junior, Arun Dilipkumar Jani, Rafael Barroca Silva, Eleonora Grilli, Alessandro Auzzas, Antonio Ganga

Biology, Agriculture and Chemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

Soil has played a fundamental yet undervalued role in shaping the fate of historical warfare. While the effects of war on the soil environment have been thoroughly investigated, the impact of soil on military strategies and battle outcomes remains poorly understood. This review aims to: i) explore the multifaceted role of soil in warfare, focusing on its impact on several aspects (mobility, fortifications, camouflage, health, geopolitical strategy, etc.); ii) identify which soil types were usually most associated with conflicts, and iii) how soil features influenced military decision-making. A dataset of over 17,000 recorded battles (1468 BCE–2003) was …

Ritual Transformation, Deity Embodiment, And Nagualism In Formative Period Oaxaca, Mexico, Jeffrey S. Brzezinski, Guy David Hepp

Anthropology Faculty Publications

A hallmark of ancient Mesoamerican art and religion is the ability of ritual practitioners, sometimes called “shamans,” to transform. The Olmec were-jaguar is a well-known example of the phenomenon. Artifacts from different regions demonstrate that these beliefs involved many animal and spiritual entities and a porous boundary between humans and other beings. In this article, we examine the archaeology of ritual transformation in Preclassic or Formative period (2000 BC–AD 250) Oaxaca, Mexico. As links between the physical world and other dimensions, altered bodies reflect negotiated relationships among people, animals, ancestors, deities, and landforms. Traditional interpretations of transformational art have oversimplified …

The Impact Of The 7th October War On Preterm Birth Rates And Neonatal Outcomes: A Retrospective Comparative Study From Northern Israel, Raghda Zidan Sweid, Adi Sharabi Nov, Hana Helfgot, Steven L. Warsof, Inbar Ben-Shachar

Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology Faculty Publications

PURPOSE: Maternal psychological stress is associated with adverse obstetric and neonatal outcomes, including preterm birth and low birthweight. Warfare represents a significant source of acute and chronic stress, yet its impact on pregnancy outcomes remains unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the association between a 6-month period of continuous wartime exposure following October 7, 2023, during the "Iron Swords" conflict and preterm birth, neonatal outcomes, and obstetric management.

METHODS: This retrospective cohort study included all deliveries at ZIV Medical Center during the 6-month conflict period, compared with a pre-war cohort from 2021 until October 6, 2023. The primary outcome was …

Masculine Devotion And Moral Decay: The Paradox Of Chivalry In Malory's Le Morte Darthur, Julia Annunziato

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

This thesis investigates how, within Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte Darthur, the concept of chivalry as a literary construct is misunderstood and misrepresented by the knights who attempt to uphold it. Through a close reading of Le Morte, this paper concludes that Malory presents chivalry not as a coherent moral code, but as a paradoxical system that both promotes and undermines the values it claims to uphold. While chivalry is typically meant to emphasize honor, loyalty, and spiritual devotion, Malory’s narrative reveals how these ideals are compromised by structures of masculine competition, performative identity, homosocial desire, and corrupted …

From Motherhood To Sisterhood: Women Strike For Peace And The Transmission Of Feminist Consciousness, Olivia R. Aldrich

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Women Strike for Peace (WSP) has traditionally been understood as a maternalist peace movement that emerged in response to atmospheric nuclear testing during the early Cold War era. This thesis argues that WSP’s history reveals a more nuanced relationship between motherhood, feminism, and political activism than existing scholarship has suggested. Rather than operating in distinct stages, maternalism and feminism operated simultaneously, working alongside one another throughout the organization’s history. Furthermore, this thesis builds upon Ednie Kaeh Garrison’s concept of feminist “radio waves,” arguing that WSP functioned as a transmitter of feminist consciousness, where ideas, organizational practices, and different political identities …

Hacking With Uncle Sam: Imagining A Public-Private Partnership For Active Cyber Defense, Jonathan Coleman

Catholic University Journal of Law and Technology

Federal law makes no distinction between "good" and "bad" hackers—the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act criminalizes hacking by a private citizen in any form. While an anti-hacking statute is necessary to deter and punish cybercrime, the current law prohibits private entities from "hacking back" or, more precisely, from engaging in active defensive measures in response to a cyberattack. If these measures were legalized, they could allow private entities to assist law enforcement and reduce the financial and reputational costs of a cyber incident. Absent a change in the law, private entities are dependent on law enforcement to provide active cyber …

Equip: Developing Confident, Christ-Centered Volunteers, Alyssa Mclaughlin

Doctor of Ministry

NPO statement: Volunteers within Cedar Hills Church feel unsure of what we believe, unclear on their purpose, and unprepared to disciple others in their specific ministry contexts. Without intentional training and equipping, these barriers keep capable people on the sidelines instead of stepping confidently into the mission of Jesus.

Key benefits or insights that emerged: Research and early implementation showed that volunteers engage more when equipping is relational, practical, and connected to real life. Adults were more willing to participate when they could share from their own experiences and practice their faith, rather than sit through content-heavy teaching. Participants gained …

Nuclear Deterrence And The Security Dilemma In A Complex Multipolar World, Chick Edmond

Political Science & Geography Faculty Publications

Objectives: The purpose of this research project is to examine how nuclear deterrence intersects with the concept of security dilemma, i.e., when a state takes an action intended to increase its own security it may inadvertently create a risk or threat to another state and contribute to increased levels of tension. Fourth, how nuclear and conventional systems are becoming increasingly interconnected, which will serve to potentially amplify risks associated with these systems.

Methods: Utilizing a qualitative analytical approach of documents such as national strategy documents, defense policy statements and historical records of crises dating from 1945-2025, the study identifies four …