Digital Commons Network^™

Review Of The Senses In Religious Communities, 1600-1800: Early Modem "Convents Of Pleasure", Edmund H. Wareham

Communal Societies

No abstract provided.

Back Matter

Communal Societies

No abstract provided.

Review Of Down In The Chapel: Religious Life In An American Prison, Brad Stoddard

Communal Societies

No abstract provided.

Review Of Ecovillages: Lessons For Sustainable Community, William J. Metcalf

Communal Societies

No abstract provided.

Review Of Issachar Bates: A Shaker's Journey, Mary Ann Haagen

Communal Societies

No abstract provided.

Review Of The Amish, Melanie Springer Mock

Communal Societies

No abstract provided.

Review Of Thin Description: Ethnography And The African Hebrew Israelites Of Jerusalem, Emily Suzanne Clark

Communal Societies

No abstract provided.

Review Of Richard Mcnemar, Music, And The Western Shaker Communities: Branches Of One Living Tree, Stephen J. Stein

Communal Societies

No abstract provided.

Review Of Yearning For The New Age: Laura Holloway-Langford And Late Victorian Spirituality, John L. Crow

Communal Societies

No abstract provided.

Review Of The Mormon Quest For Glory: The Religious World Of The Latter-Day Saints, Douglas A. Foster

Communal Societies

No abstract provided.

Review Of God's Forever Family: The Jesus People Movement In America, Mark A. Noll

Communal Societies

No abstract provided.

German Memories Of Icaria: Carl Zwicker's "Four Years' Experience Of A Communistic Life" (1878), Philip Lockley

Communal Societies

No abstract provided.

Being The Change: Food, Nonviolence, And Self-Sufficiency In Contemporary Intentional Communities, A. Whitney Stanford

Communal Societies

No abstract provided.

Mummyjum: The Shaker-Pilgrim Encounter Of 1817-1818, Christian Goodwillie

Communal Societies

No abstract provided.

From The Editors, Peter Hoehnle, Joshua Fleer, Carol Medlicott, Ruth Lambach

Communal Societies

No abstract provided.

The Coronation Of James J. Strang And The Making Of Beaver Island Mormonism, Christopher James Blythe

Communal Societies

No abstract provided.

Front Matter

Communal Societies

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents

Communal Societies

No abstract provided.

From Storage Closet To Creative Oasis: How To Set Up An Atelier And Outdoor Space For Young Children, Catherine Lynch, Cynthia Dicarlo

Spark! Innovations in Early Childhood Education: A Research-to-Practice Journal for Educators

Creating meaningful learning spaces doesn't always require a big budget or new construction—sometimes, all it takes is a storage closet, a bit of imagination, and a deep respect for children’s ideas. In this article, I’ll share how we transformed underutilized spaces at our school into a vibrant atelier and outdoor classroom and offer tips to help you do the same.

Supporting Best Practices In Family Engagement: Our Week Of The Young Child Experience, Michelle Fazio Brunson, Faith S. Birdwell, April Giddens

Spark! Innovations in Early Childhood Education: A Research-to-Practice Journal for Educators

Family engagement is a collaborative process where early childhood professionals, families, and children build positive, goal-oriented relationships. Incorporating family engagement into preschool programs is not merely beneficial but essential for promoting holistic child development in programs where children feel safe, cared for, and secure. In this article, we share the benefits of effective family engagement activities for families with young children and describe how we celebrated the National Association for the Education of Young Children's 2025 Week of the Young Child.

Understanding And Supporting Sustained Attention In Young Children: What Research Tells Us About Choice, Play, And Teaching Conditions, Cynthia F. Dicarlo, Carrie L. Ota

Spark! Innovations in Early Childhood Education: A Research-to-Practice Journal for Educators

This article examines how sustained attention develops in young children and how different teaching conditions influence engagement during play. Drawing on studies with two-, three-, and four-year-olds, the findings show a developmental progression in which toddlers benefit from limited, adult-guided choices, while preschoolers sustain attention best when given autonomy to select their own materials. The article highlights how play, intentional choice-making, and age-appropriate scaffolding support children’s emerging self-regulation and engagement. Practical strategies are provided to help teachers design environments and interactions that promote deeper focus and independent learning.

Using Food As A Fun And Effective Teaching Tool In Preschool, Kelly Furr, Melani Duffrin, Eugene A. Geist

Spark! Innovations in Early Childhood Education: A Research-to-Practice Journal for Educators

Food is one of the most engaging, hands-on materials for preschool classrooms. This article highlights research from the Food FAN Academy (Furr, 2023), which demonstrates how food can be used as a teaching tool across early childhood learning environments. Practical strategies are provided for preschool teachers, including detailed lesson plans that connect to early math, science, literacy, and social development. The article emphasizes the importance of using everyday materials, cultural inclusivity, and active learning methods to promote curiosity, health awareness, and foundational skills in young learners.

Abcs Of Behavior: Strategies To Effectively Reduce Challenging Behaviors, Sarah Matthews

Spark! Innovations in Early Childhood Education: A Research-to-Practice Journal for Educators

This paper explores the application of the ABC (Antecedent-Behavior-Consequence) model and functional behavior assessments (FBAs) to understand and manage challenging behaviors in early childhood education settings. Grounded in developmental theory and informed by professional experience as an early interventionist, the paper emphasizes the importance of identifying behavioral triggers and using individualized, developmentally appropriate strategies. The role of collaboration among teachers, families, and specialists is highlighted as essential for consistent and effective intervention. Key strategies discussed include coaching caregivers, embedding interventions within natural classroom environments, and using positive, non-punitive approaches to time-out. The paper advocates for proactive, respectful behavioral guidance practices …

Letter From The Editor, Cynthia Dicarlo

Spark! Innovations in Early Childhood Education: A Research-to-Practice Journal for Educators

No abstract provided.

Elucidating The Mechanism Of Neprilysin-Regulated Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Invasion, Kai Lam, Ellie Griner

Student Scholar Symposium

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a highly invasive and difficult-to-target form of cancer. It is characterized by a lack of estrogen receptors, progesterone receptors, and human epidermal growth factor 2 receptors, making current targeted therapies ineffective and leaving chemotherapy as the primary treatment option. Previous studies in this lab have linked reduced expression of neprilysin (NEP), a membrane-bound protease that cleaves and inactivates mitogenic peptides, to a highly invasive phenotype in TNBC. Our data indicates that while NEP promotes phosphoinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) signaling, it simultaneously inhibits cellular invasion. Here, we begin to explain a possible mechanism behind the anti-invasive role …

Painting The Past: Trauma And Identity In The Best We Could Do, Ellie Heslon

Student Scholar Symposium

Born in Vietnam in 1975, three months after the fall of Saigon and the establishment of the communist regime, Thi Bui experienced her first few years of life in a nation wrought with crisis and confusion. Bui’s graphic memoir, The Best We Could Do, paints an intimate history of her family’s journey as refugees from Vietnam to America. She details a personal record of the traumas of displacement, concretizing a biproduct of war often overgeneralized. Through shape and color, Bui portrays a non-linear narrative of stories that are both connected and disconnected, blending where identity and heritage begin and end. …

The Effects Of Emodepside On L1 C. Elegans, Mehrael Louza, Ismail Mustafa, Judiah Ward, Marina Khalif

Student Scholar Symposium

Soil-transmitted helminths (STHs) infect approximately 1.5 billion humans worldwide. These parasites include Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris americanus, and Ancylostoma duodenale which primarily infect inhabitants of tropical and subtropical areas, where access to clean resources such as water and sanitation is insufficient. Infected individuals experience malnutrition, impaired cognitive function, immune dysregulation, and many other health consequences that persist (Hotez, et al., 2004). These effects prevent individuals from thriving and trap them in poverty. The World Health Organization (WHO) has authorized the use of four drugs for mass distribution to combat the infections. However, despite the existence of effective drugs, concerns over drug-resistance …

Dietary Supplementation In Lambs: Evaluating The Effects Of Depth Charge On Meat Composition, Alianna Koesel

Student Scholar Symposium

Often, animals destined for consumption are fed supplements to help speed up or slow down their growth rate, enhance aesthetics, or standardize the product. Herein, we examined the supplement Depth Charge and its effects on the fat and protein content in lambs of the same age and lineage. Depth Charge increases fiber consumption to add spring of rib or an outward rib cage curvature to an animal's appearance while restricting feed consumption. Since the supplement targets the rib-loin area, we chose to analyze loin chop, loin roast, and hamburger cuts from each lamb and conducted experiments to determine how each …

Δ-Valerobetaine As A Novel Inhibitor Of Breast Cancer Cell Migration: Hinders Cellular Migration Of Mcf-7 Cells Through Reducing Atp Concentrations And Fak Activation, Braxton Ivie, Lincoln Brown, Bryson Lovorn

Student Scholar Symposium

δ-valerobetaine as a Novel Inhibitor of Breast Cancer Cell Migration: Hinders Cellular Migration of MCF-7 Cells Through Reducing ATP Concentrations and FAK Activation

Lincoln Brown, Braxton Ivie, Bryson Lovorn, Joshua Owens

Based on female breast cancer diagnoses from 2014-2020, the CDC reports that the 5-year relative survival rate for local and regional breast cancers was 98.9% and 86.3%, respectively, while the survival rate for metastasized cancers was reportedly 32.4%. These discrepancies in survival highlight an increased mortality rate when cancer metastasizes. Interestingly, aggressive tumors have been shown to metabolize fats at higher rates than low-metastatic tumors. Recently, our group has …

Exploring The Role Of Faecalibacterium Prausnitzii Metabolites In Modulating Fatty Acid Metabolism And Protecting Hepg2 Cells During Induced Steatosis, Morgan Martin, Emerald Cole

Student Scholar Symposium

The obesity epidemic has risen to astronomical numbers with over 650 million adults being classified as obese (BMI≥30). Obesity is of critical concern as excess body fat storage is a comorbidity to various diseases including type-2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. Although obesity has classically been attributed to genetics and unhealthy lifestyle choices, there is a growing interest in other factors affecting obesity, including the gut microbiome. For example, mice lacking a microbiome are resistant to weight gain even when placed on a high-calorie diet. It can then be concluded that bacteria and the metabolites they produce can dramatically affect …