Digital Commons Network^™

Brazilian Alliance Perspectives: Towards A Brics Development–Security Alliance?, Zhen 'Arc' Han, Mihaela Papa

Political Science & Global Affairs Faculty Publications

Scholars studying BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) have traditionally argued that it is a development-focused partnership and not a military/security-based alliance. Yet BRICS members have been deepening their security integration, and Russia and China have been creating an alliance in the background. Although BRICS middle powers have traditionally demonstrated an aversion towards alliances, Brazil actively deepened security cooperation among BRICS members during its BRICS presidency in 2019. How does Brazil view alliances in contemporary power competition? This study examines Brazil’s perceptions by introducing and analysing a new data set of Brazilian expert discourses on alliances since 1990 …

Radical Rhetoric And The Syrian Revolution: Toward A Telos Of Solidarity, Noor Ghazal Ghazal Aswad

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Transnational rhetorical scholarship has yet to enact solidarity with the subaltern. “Inclusionary” efforts have actively excluded what I term the “radical subject,” the subject revolting against repressive hegemonic forces to achieve liberatory change in society. As an intervention, this dissertation conceptualizes the Syrian revolution as a rhetorical performance which enacts a theory of its own agency and possibilities, an expression of a liberatory moment where radical subjects rose from under an authoritarian regime’s historic rule. Within this rhetorical performance, the radical subject serves as the chief protagonist, a subject whose rhetoric is informative of both practice and theory. The Syrian …

In Vitro Evaluation Of Chitosan Membranes Stabilized With Varying Acyl Lengths For Release Of Therapeutics For Burn Wound Coverage, Infection Prevention, And Pain Relief, Landon Choi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Adherence of complex bacterial biofilm communities to burned tissue creates a challenge for treatment, with infection causing 51% of burn victim deaths. This study evaluated release of therapeutics from wound care biomaterials and their antimicrobial activity against pathogens Staphylococcus aureus, Acinetobacter baumannii, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Electrospun chitosan membranes (ESCMs) were fabricated and acylated with chain lengths ranging from 6-10 carbons then loaded with anti-biofilm cis-2-decenoic acid (C2DA) (0.15 mg/membrane with average weight of 4.68 mg) and local anesthetic bupivacaine (0.5 mg/membrane). Combinations of therapeutics released from modified ESCMs at a cumulative amount of 45-70% of bupivacaine and less than 20% …

Smiting All Foreigners, Subduing All Lands: A Diachronic Study Of Iconographic, Textual, And Ideological Antecedents Of New Kingdom Triumph Scenes, Rebekah Anne Vogel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Egyptian New Kingdom triumph scenes, perhaps one of the most recognizable motifs in Egyptian art, adorned the exteriors of temple complexes and depicted the king smiting his enemies and receiving lines of bound toponyms representing subjugated foreign peoples and places. These scenes have often been studied for their relevance to historical geography as well as the military, imperial, and foreign relations history of Egypt. This study approaches New Kingdom triumph scenes instead as composite ideological motifs that deliberately combined specific iconographic and textual elements in a display of royal victory. It identifies the constituent elements of the motif, traces their …

Perceptions Of Somali Parents Regarding The Impact Of The Parent Academy Program On Their School Engagement Capacity, Abdisalam A. Adam

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of Somali parents about the Parent Academy program in Saint Paul Schools and whether it impacted their school engagement capacity. The research was a qualitative phenomenological study. The research established a common definition of parent engagement as an intentional active work parents and schools undertake together to support student achievement. The research methodology involved data collection through pre/post-survey questionnaires and semi-structured focus group discussions. The data was then analyzed with a combination of labeling, sorting, and coding of the main themes. The study findings were narrowed down to three main …

A Qualitative Analysis Of Trust Dynamics In Human-Agent Teams (Hats), Kendall Carmody, Cherrise Ficke, Daniel Nguyen, Arianna Addis, Summer Rebensky, Meredith Carroll

Aeronautics Faculty Publications

This study investigated how and why trust changes over time between differing levels of autonomy (LOA) for an intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) task involving four unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). Four LOAs were implemented in the study ranging from low to high (manual, advice, consent, veto). The analysis examined if trust increased, decreased, or stayed the same during transitions between two different LOAs. Through a thematic analysis, themes influencing the participant’s trust in agents were identified. Current findings suggest trust increases most when a participant moves between moderate LOAs. Specifically, moving from the condition in which the role of the …

Un Missions And Their Failures: How Collaboration With Military Force Complicates Un Intervention In Areas Of Conflict, Nevada Lee

Scripps Senior Theses

My thesis explores the collaboration between UN Assistance and Peacekeeping missions and multi-lateral Western Counterterrorism forces. Through studying four UN Missions, I found that the missions and the counterterrorism forces often had conflicting goals, but continued to collaborate because of the interests of Western Democracies that dominate UN policy. The lack of focus on UN Missions' mandated goals is eroding the integrity of the UN as a whole and the work the organization accomplishes.

Twenty-First Century Adaptations Of Early Twentieth Century American Protest Literature, Kathryn J. Mcclain

Theses and Dissertations--English

Twenty-First Century Adaptations of Early Twentieth Century American Protest Literature examines the resurgence of didactic political literature in the United States during the 21st century, specifically adaptations of early 20th century American leftist protest works by authors such as Upton Sinclair, Jack London, and Richard Wright. While the most political aspects of these writers’ fiction are often either criticized as too politically overt – such as Sinclair’s The Jungle and Wright’s Native Son – or forgotten in favor of an author’s perceived literary merit – London’s The Iron Heel in comparison to his other works like Call of the Wild …

Advising And Supporting College Students Experiencing Imposter Syndrome: A Christian Perspective, Jeannine Kranzow

Growth: The Journal of the Association for Christians in Student Development

For Christian student affairs educators, it is essential that the methods of advising and supporting students be in line with biblical directives for a whole and holy life. This paper will examine approaches for advising and supporting students experiencing imposter syndrome. Current research on impostor syndrome is presented as well as a discussion of ways that Christian insight can provide additional guidance and awareness for supporting struggling students. By connecting both biblical wisdom and the current scholarship, a Christian perspective of impostor syndrome, anchored in a discussion on spiritual warfare, is offered. Using this perspective, recommendations for practice are identified.

Managing Cybersecurity And Technology Appropriation Threats To International Investment: Trust Or Verify, Joel P. Trachtman

The International Lawyer

No abstract provided.

Back To Air In Disarray?: Disparity In Practices And Interpretations On Adizs Disrupting The Safety Of Civil Aviation, Sanghoon Lee

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

The interconnectivity of civil aviation has been long praised with the success of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in harmonizing navigation standards and procedures, along with the utilization of Flight Information Regions (FIRs). However, continuing geopolitical tensions with different implementations of Air Defense Identification Zones (ADIZs) have belittled the technical achievement. Among different State practices, some ADIZs have expanded beyond territorial airspace and even overlapped with other FIRs, requiring overflying air- craft to submit flight plans and abide by procedures separate or in addition to air traffic control obligations.

The purpose of this Article is to review the ongoing …

Political Culture: An Unexplored Factor In Climate Change Diplomacy, Alexander Suen

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

As climate change continues to ravage the world, mitigation efforts continue to be insufficient to rise to the challenge. Inaction on climate change has been traditionally explained by economic incentives, but some of the variability in climate policies cannot be explained by economics alone. Some variations could be accounted for by the deeply rooted national political culture of Anglo-settler colonies. This political culture may inhibit the willingness of such states to cooperate on climate change. In this dissertation, I describe the political philosophy of the Anglo-settler colony, and the histories of domination of its white settlers over the indigenous peoples …

Decitizenizing Asian Pacific American Women, Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia, Margaret Hu

Faculty Scholarship

The Page Act of 1875 excluded Asian women immigrants from entering the United States, presuming they were prostitutes. This presumption was tragically replicated in the 2021 Atlanta Massacre of six Asian and Asian American women, reinforcing the same harmful prejudices. This Article seeks to illuminate how the Atlanta Massacre is symbolic of larger forms of discrimination, including the harms of decitizenship. These harms include limited access to full citizenship rights due to legal barriers, restricted cultural and political power, and a lack of belonging. The Article concludes that these harms result from the structure of past and present immigration laws …

The Direct-Derivative Distinction, The Special Litigation Committee, And The Uniform Act: A Response To Professor Weidner, Daniel S. Kleinberger

Faculty Scholarship

The Unfortunate Role of Special Litigation Committees in LLCs has a deeply pejorative view of the Uniform Law Commission “second generation” limited liability company act, and that view extends far deeper than the target suggested by the article’s title. The article’s fundamental attack is on the distinction between direct and derivative claims; the criticisms of ULLCA’s provisions on special litigation committees depend on that attack. In support of its wide-ranging attack, The Unfortunate Role seeks to marshal history, policy, logic, and a research study pertaining to the outcome of derivative claims. Unfortunately, however, the article (i) misapprehends the drafting history …

Inhumane Experiments On Humans, Dakota Harris

Nebraska College Preparatory Academy: Senior Capstone Projects

This capstone projects is about inhumane experiments on humans around the world and how it effected the people involved or what it brought to light. Many of these experiments are kept secretive because of how they effected people’s livelihood. Inhumane experiments often lead to death, trauma, illness, shortening of life, disfigurement, or permanent disabilities in the victims, plus more trauma for the family. The reason why these experiments are considered inhumane is because they occur when the ‘patient’ couldn’t sign off on informed consent of the experiment, or they were unaware of the possible outcomes of what they were involved …

Constitutional Small Talk, Jason Mazzone

Constitutional Commentary, Vol. 37 and later (2023–present)

No abstract provided.

The Reign Of Constitutional Positivism: Revolution Reconceived In The New Constitutional Age, Ming-Sung Kuo

Constitutional Commentary, Vol. 37 and later (2023–present)

No abstract provided.

Perspectives Of African American Police Officers Post-Ferguson, Remy Epps

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

As attention to racially charged events and subsequent social activism rhetoric increases, researchers and professionals express a growing interest in understanding the influence of such events on police officers' psyche. Researchers have demonstrated that since the 2014 death of Michael Brown, in Ferguson, Missouri, widespread media attention of police violence has negatively impacted police officer behavior, attitudes, and self-legitimacy levels. Yet, underrepresented within these empirical studies are the perspectives and experiences of African American police officers. This qualitative phenomenological study explored the lived experiences of five African American male police officers employed in North Carolina during the post-Ferguson era through …

Fugitivity, Confinement, And The Afterlife Of Slavery In Contemporary African American Migration Narratives, Juyoun Jang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation investigates a post-Civil Rights-era literary history of fugitive slave figures and their fugitive acts amid temporal and spatial confinement as constituting a tradition of contemporary African American migration narratives. The point of departure for this project is the Prologue of Ralph Ellison’s novel, Invisible Man, where the unnamed Black narrator endures a forced migration to New York, but also invites readers to witness his performance of hibernation in an underground space in a building reserved for white tenants. On the one hand, the low, claustrophobic, and dark space of the narrator’s basement signifies Black migrants’ historical subjection to …

Barbarians & Heretics: Anti-Greek And Anti-Latin Sentiments In Crusade-Era Chronicles, 1096-1204, Ryan Saputo

Honors Theses and Capstones

Historians have debated the role of stereotypes and hostile language in the diversion of the Fourth Crusade to Constantinople mostly through the outdated "Clash of Civilizations" lens. This work investigates the role of hostile stereotypes in both Western and Byzantine narrative histories discussing the first four crusades through a deep textual and literary analysis. This work argues that contemporary narrative histories from the first four crusades demonstrate that virulently hostile attitudes abounded in both Byzantine and Western sources, and that these attitudes greatly affected diplomatic and political decision making during Byzantine-Crusader interactions from 1096-1204. This work's close textual examination of …

The Tragedy Of Caspian: C. S. Lewis And His Trauma, Chandler Hanton

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

This thesis reconsiders C.S.Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia as a type of scriptotherapy that enabled Lewis to process and come to terms with a life full of serious and significant traumatic events. Trauma theory offers a vehicle for us to consider the alignments and connections between Lewis himself and his fictional creation, Caspian. In the specifics of both characterization and incident, Lewis mirrors the events and relationships that instilled and healed the trauma in his own life. In situating Caspian as his alter-ego, Lewis allowed his writing to function as a gender-specific therapeutic process for addressing the effects of his …

The 100 M Composite Ship?, Michael John Lowde, Henry George Arthur Peters, Ruadan Geraghty, Jasper Graham-Jones, Richard Pemberton, John Summerscales

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

Fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) matrix composites are widely used in large marine struc-tures, and in wind turbines where blade lengths are now over 100 m. Composites are the material of choice for small vessels due to ease of manufacture, high hull girder stiffness, buckling resistance, corrosion resistance and underwater shock resistance. Ships over 100 m are still built using traditional steel and/or aluminium, but so far not FRP. Composite ship lengths have increased over the past 50 years, but fundamental technical challenges remain for the 100 m composite ship. Prelimi-nary studies suggest a possible 30% saving in structural weight, a 7–21% …

Domains Of Peace: Cyberspace And The First Global Expression Without War, Matt Flynn

Journal of Strategic Security

The ongoing war in Ukraine appears to validate war as it always is. A look at the evolution of domains offers something different. When this step is taken, it becomes clear that humanity chooses the violence defining war. Cyber realities today reveal how technological innovation has stymied war, taking humanity into a pre-existing condition repudiating war and leaving cyberspace as the first global expression without war. Once accepting that truth, nations can contemplate the discovery of a domain offering an expression of peace as a cognitive battlespace overrides the physical application of use of force. This feat means peace finds …

Fifth Generation Warfare, Hybrid Warfare, And Gray Zone Conflict: A Comparison, Armin Krishnan

Journal of Strategic Security

Strategists have noted substantial changes in warfare since the end of the Cold War. They have proposed several concepts and theories to account for the fact that the practice of war has largely departed from a Clausewitzian understanding of war and the centrality of physical violence in it. Emerging modes of conflict are less focused on the instrumental use of force to achieve political objectives and are more centered on notions of perception management, narratives, asymmetry or irregular conflict, the adversarial uses of norms, and covert and ambiguous uses of force. This article aims to systematically compare three more recent …

A Social Network Analysis Of Mexico’S Dark Network Alliance Structure, Nathan P. Jones, Irina A. Chindea, Daniel Weisz Argomedo, John P. Sullivan

Journal of Strategic Security

This article assesses Mexico’s organized crime alliance and subgroup network structures. Through social network analysis (SNA) of data from Lantia Consultores, a consulting firm in Mexico that specializes in the analysis of public policies, it demonstrates differential alliance structures within Mexico’s bipolar illicit network system. The Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación’s (CJNG) alliance structure is top-down and hierarchical, while the Sinaloa Cartel is denser, particularly in the broader Tierra Caliente region. Additionally, our analysis found a sparse overall network with many isolates (groups with no relations to other groups) and disconnected components. Further, we identified organized crime networks that …

Technology, Data, & The Future Of Warfare: A Review Essay By James Torrence, James Torrence, Dss

Journal of Strategic Security

No abstract provided.

The Loyalty Of The Lords Of Albret: An Investigation Of The Gascon Rolls At The Outset Of The Hundred Years War, Jason Delaney

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

This thesis will examine the juxtaposition of the duchy of Gascony's importance to the Plantagenet Crown with the difficulties administering the region and protecting it from French interference during the late-thirteenth and early-fourteenth centuries, resulting in the necessity of securing the loyalty of Gascon nobles for assistance. The lords of Albret were powerful allies under Edward I (1272-1307), and their defection to the French under his son, Edward II (1307-1327), put Plantagenet Gascony in a vulnerable position when the Hundred Years War began in 1337. Resecuring the loyalty of Albret – and other powerful Gascon lords – was crucial for …

American Drug Policy Reform Through A Rehabilitative Lens, Jordan Dacus

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

No abstract provided.

Securing Elections Through International Law: A Tool For Combatting Disinformation Operations?, İrem Işik, Ömer F. Bi̇ldi̇k, Tayanç T. Molla

Journal of Strategic Security

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, in 2014, the Russian government-connected Internet Research Agency (IRA) initiated an information operation on social media platforms to manipulate the U.S. population concerning the 2016 U.S. presidential elections. This has revealed that social media platforms enable the spread of fake news among the masses globally and can thus become a means of disrupting the electoral process for foreign actors. This article addresses state-sponsored disinformation operations on social media that target foreign voters. It considers it crucial to counter such operations to protect the security and integrity of the elections in the digital age, …

Military Leadership By Intellectual Officers: A Case Study Of The Idf, Haim Yogev, Ronen A. Cohen, Eyal Lewin

Journal of Strategic Security

Morris Janowitz believed that for an army to be victorious it needs to be led by as many intellectual forces as possible, just as any organization needs organizational intellectualism to prosper. It is agreed in scholarly literature that the intellectual must author various articles and manifestos to express their viewpoints, mindset, and philosophy in the public sphere. Based on Janowitz’s belief and using the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) as a case study, this research offers a model for a generic research methodology that can be practiced elsewhere. The mission was to find the extent to which the higher echelons of …