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Discovery Of Film, Nikou Zabihi May 2025

Discovery Of Film, Nikou Zabihi

Theses - ALL

In this paper, I introduce my personal journey into film—how I came to fall in love with it, and how my relationship with genres has shaped that passion. I explore how genres helped me shape my understanding of film, guiding the way I interpret and engage with different stories through their distinct characteristics and elements. I will explain why I'm fascinated by genres and how I aspire to blend them in my own creative work to craft unique experiences for my audience. My goal is to evoke connection and catharsis through films that reflect my understanding of genre, drawing from …


Development And Application Of Low-Cost Carbon Dioxide Sensors In An Urban Environment, David Coghiel May 2025

Development And Application Of Low-Cost Carbon Dioxide Sensors In An Urban Environment, David Coghiel

Theses - ALL

Advancements in sensor technology have made air quality monitoring platforms more user-friendly, compact, and affordable. This provides new opportunities to monitor areas of interest in environments previously not investigated. The existing elevated I-81 Viaduct that runs through downtown Syracuse, NY is being demolished to be reconstructed as a ground level community grid. The goal of the study was to develop a network of low-cost air quality sensor units to monitor concentrations of carbon dioxide along the viaduct prior to its reconstruction. Multiple low-cost carbon dioxide sensors were purchased and tested under laboratory and field conditions to determine applicability for continuous …


Investigating The Impact Of Contextual Semantic Information On L2 Garden Path Sentence Comprehension, Jiaxing Lin May 2025

Investigating The Impact Of Contextual Semantic Information On L2 Garden Path Sentence Comprehension, Jiaxing Lin

Theses - ALL

This study investigates whether contextual information aids syntactic reanalysis in garden-path sentences and whether native (L1) English speakers and L1 Chinese learners of English (L2) differ in using such cues. Using a self-paced reading paradigm, 29 participants (5 L1, 24 L2) read sentences varying in syntactic ambiguity and contextual plausibility. Reading times in key disambiguation regions (e.g., auxiliary verb, participles) and comprehension accuracy were analyzed. L1 participants showed longer reading times when context mismatched syntax, indicating context-sensitive online processing consistent with constraint-based models. In contrast, L2 participants showed no significant context effects, suggesting difficulty using context in real-time parsing. No …


Reckoning With An Icon: Exploring The Activism Of Mĩcere Githae Mũgo, Erica Charles Kiduko May 2025

Reckoning With An Icon: Exploring The Activism Of Mĩcere Githae Mũgo, Erica Charles Kiduko

Theses - ALL

This thesis examines the activism of Mĩcere Gīthae Mũgo, a distinguished Kenyan literary scholar, playwright, and feminist, whose works remain a vital part of twentieth and twenty-first century liberational struggles across Africa and the diaspora. Through a critical analysis of her literary projects, academic work, and political engagements, this study explores how Mũgo’s intellectual interventions challenged colonial, postcolonial, and patriarchal structures. It draws on feminist, Pan-Africanist, and decolonial theoretical frameworks, to situate career struggles for intellectual freedom, gender justice, and cultural reclamation. The thesis investigates foundational elements of Mugo activism, employing a multi-method qualitative approach: that includes textual analysis, oral …


In Remembrance Of Culture And Heritage: An Examination Of Taino And West African Cultures As It Pertains To Puerto Rico, Marguerita Malina Cruz-Urbanc May 2025

In Remembrance Of Culture And Heritage: An Examination Of Taino And West African Cultures As It Pertains To Puerto Rico, Marguerita Malina Cruz-Urbanc

Theses - ALL

The Caribbean is made up of many different cultures and peoples, and Puerto Rico is specifically influenced by history, culture, and legacy from the Taínos, West Africans, and Spanish. Throughout history, Spanish heritage was more highly valued, while the Taíno and African heritage, integral to the culture of Puerto Rico, were undervalued. The focus of this research is an examination of the cultural landscape of Puerto Rico and its origins, extending back to the indigenous Taínos who first lived on the island, to the enslaved West Africans who were forcibly brought across the Atlantic Ocean to replace the dwindling Taíno …


Logging On To Act Out: Understanding Aggressive Personality Traits In Cyberbullies And Cyberbully-Victims, Joy R. Burton May 2025

Logging On To Act Out: Understanding Aggressive Personality Traits In Cyberbullies And Cyberbully-Victims, Joy R. Burton

Theses - ALL

Cyberbullying and harassment are pervasive issues online. Certain personality characteristics may make some individuals more inclined to cyberbully than others. This study explores whether aggressive personality characteristics and factors like gender and social media habits are predictive of whether a person cyberbullies, and to what extent. Responses from an online survey of adults distributed via MTurk (n = 189) found a majority of participants (81.5%) report being ridiculed online to some extent in the past year, though most report low levels of cyberbullying. There is a positive relationship between cyberbullying and aggression among adults; physical aggression was by far the …


The Known Unknown, Tevvon Hines May 2025

The Known Unknown, Tevvon Hines

Theses - ALL

Understanding that artists are not obligated to reflect a faithful reality is a realization that is both freeing and intimidating. My graduate filmography is identifiable by its affinity towards fictional narratives that depict the resolution of internal conflicts through intimate relationships and spiritual connections. This thesis investigates my practice by paying close attention to the psychology and philosophy of my screenplays. This is followed by an inspection of my aesthetic approach in order to distinguish their narrative importance and examine subtext. The completed film is then properly defined against the fantasy genre in order to distinguish my narrative choices from …


The Price Of Fame: Materialism, Social Media And The Pursuit Of Celebrity In The Bling Ring (2013), Irma Mosqueda Perez May 2025

The Price Of Fame: Materialism, Social Media And The Pursuit Of Celebrity In The Bling Ring (2013), Irma Mosqueda Perez

Television-Radio-Film - All Scholarship

In a society obsessed with materialism and appearances, The Bling Ring (2013) by Sofia Coppola stands as a timeless reflection of the dangers of desiring fame and wealth at any cost. Through the use of slow-motion sequences and immersive cinematography, Coppola tells the true story of five California teens whose desire for wealth, fame and status drives them to commit a series of robberies targeting the homes of Hollywood’s top celebrities. Coppola succeeds in creating an atmosphere of dreamlike hedonism and euphoria through oversaturated neon colors and a pop soundtrack which transports the viewer into the minds of these teenagers …


Maximal Simple Regular Matroids, Elana Joy Israel May 2025

Maximal Simple Regular Matroids, Elana Joy Israel

Dissertations - ALL

In 1980, Seymour completely classified regular matroids. In this thesis, we use this classification to provide a complete list of maximal simple regular matroids up through rank six. In each rank, exactly one of these is graphic. Additionally, there are one, two, and eight cographic, but not graphic, maximal simple regular matroids in ranks four, five, and six, respectively. In rank five, we also have the 10-element sporadic matroid, and in rank six we have a 12-element maximal simple regular matroid and 16-element maximal simple regular matroid, both of which are decomposable matroids that are not graphic, cographic, or sporadic. …


Organizational Learning In Public-Private Collaborative Innovations, Zhiyuan Yu May 2025

Organizational Learning In Public-Private Collaborative Innovations, Zhiyuan Yu

Dissertations - ALL

Partnerships between government organizations and private sector firms combine efficiency advantages from the private sector with benefits of institutional supports and oversight from public agencies and thereby offer promising solutions to many “grand challenges” faced by contemporary society. A broad variety of such public-private partnerships (PPPs) are innovation-oriented and aim to create value through the search, creation, retention, and transfer of knowledge. Surprisingly, despite the seemingly important role of organizational learning (OL) in such partnerships, research on PPPs has largely focused on societal value creation and to a lesser extent on firm value capture but has not delved deeply into …


Muslim Students In K-12 Experiencing Their Faith In The Us Schools, Abdulilah M. Al-Dubai May 2025

Muslim Students In K-12 Experiencing Their Faith In The Us Schools, Abdulilah M. Al-Dubai

Dissertations - ALL

This study explores Muslim students' experiences of faith in a K-12 school setting in the United States. The research questions focus on how Muslim students experience their faith in K-12 schools in the United States, their challenges regarding their faith practices, and what support influences their K-12 success. The study aims to highlight the voices of Muslim students and provide educators with valuable insights from their experiences, hoping to assist in creating an equitable educational atmosphere that supports their success and fosters a sense of belonging. Eight students, five females and three males, participated in the study; the participants are …


Why Money Matters: A Mixed-Methods Analysis Of Differences Between U.S. Public And Commercial Media Journalists And Their Work, Stan Jastrzebski May 2025

Why Money Matters: A Mixed-Methods Analysis Of Differences Between U.S. Public And Commercial Media Journalists And Their Work, Stan Jastrzebski

Dissertations - ALL

This study, based on survey responses from 1,491 commercial and 394 public media journalists working in the United States, as well as in-depth interviews with 44 U.S. broadcasters, shows how boundaries created by each group’s interpretive community separate them from the other group because of their professional roles, norms, and routines. While U.S. public and commercial journalists do not necessarily see one another as competitors, this study examines whether they exhibit in- and out-group preferences and prejudices, which might lead them toward excluding each other’s work from in-group considerations.


Decisions From Experience: Beyond The Gap, Nicholas Ryan Pappas May 2025

Decisions From Experience: Beyond The Gap, Nicholas Ryan Pappas

Dissertations - ALL

Across the risk and uncertainty literature, a particular focus has been made on the description-experience gap (DE Gap). The DE Gap creates figurative and literal gaps between description and experience-based choices. Researchers claim that these DE Gaps are problematic for classic models in decision-making research, such as Cumulative Prospect Theory (CPT; Kahneman & Tversky, 1992). This has led to a focus on experience-based models instead. However, following a literature review on CPT and the DE Gap, I aimed to test these claims. In fact, throughout three experiments, I demonstrate that the description-based theories need not be tossed away wholly. Instead, …


Persuasion Knowledge As A Continuum: Understanding Engagement In Livestream Commerce Between China And The U.S., Bryce Whitwam May 2025

Persuasion Knowledge As A Continuum: Understanding Engagement In Livestream Commerce Between China And The U.S., Bryce Whitwam

Dissertations - ALL

Livestream shopping on social media platforms represents a merging of real-time social interaction and e-commerce. This dissertation examines the divergent engagement levels of Chinese and American consumers in livestream commerce by integrating the Persuasion Knowledge Model (PKM) and the Heuristic-Systematic Model (HSM) to explain differences in trust formation and purchase behaviors. While cultural convergence theory suggests increasing similarities in digital commerce behaviors across markets, findings reveal that persuasion knowledge development, shaped by exposure to commercial persuasion attempts, creates distinct information-processing patterns that persist despite technological convergence. Through a mixed-method comparative study, this research demonstrates that Chinese consumers in a mature …


Towards The Next Generation Of Storage Stack For Nand Flash Memory-Based Systems, Ziyang Jiao May 2025

Towards The Next Generation Of Storage Stack For Nand Flash Memory-Based Systems, Ziyang Jiao

Dissertations - ALL

The explosive growth of data has led to increased attention on NAND flash-based solid-state drives (SSDs), which offer high performance, low power consumption, and significant capacity per unit volume when compared to traditional hard-disk drives (HDDs). However, as NAND flash memory density continues to scale, modern SSDs suffer from what is known as fail-slow symptoms, and their performance degrades over time as they wear out. In this dissertation, we focus on understanding and addressing the performance, reliability, and sustainability challenges of modern flash-based storage systems by modeling key metrics, analyzing the design tradeoffs between these metrics, and optimizing existing storage …


Essays On Multinational Behavior, Brian Adam Green May 2025

Essays On Multinational Behavior, Brian Adam Green

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation studies issues regarding the tax avoidance behavior of multinational corporations. It is composed of three chapters. The first examines the differential impact of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 on firm profit-shifting behavior. The second constructs a theoretical model in which the introduction of tax havens to a standard trade model leads to an oversupply of multinational exports and a decrease in public welfare. The third sheds light on multinational responses to the Great Recession of 2008. The US corporate income tax rate used to be the highest in the developed world, yet multinationals were able …


Asymptotics Of Fubini-Study Currents For Sequences Of Line Bundles, Melody Ann Wolff May 2025

Asymptotics Of Fubini-Study Currents For Sequences Of Line Bundles, Melody Ann Wolff

Dissertations - ALL

Let $(X,\omega)$ be a Kähler manifold, and $L_p$ be a sequence of line bundles on $X$ equipped with continuous hermitian metrics $h_p$. Let $\gamma_p$ be the Fubini-Study current and $h_p^{eq}$ the equilibrium metric corresponding to the metric $h_p$. Our goal is to generalize a theorem of Tian in Complex Geometry to a setting using arbitrary line bundles equipped with metrics with non-positive curvature. This amounts to finding sufficient conditions for $\gamma_p-c_1(L_p,h_p^{eq})$, when appropriately scaled, to converge to $0$ in the sense of currents. To achieve this goal, we imply methods of Demailly and the Oshawa-Takegoshi Extension Theorem to bound a …


Three Essays On The Implications Of U.S. Social Welfare Spending Through The Tax Code, Anna Wiersma Strauss May 2025

Three Essays On The Implications Of U.S. Social Welfare Spending Through The Tax Code, Anna Wiersma Strauss

Dissertations - ALL

In the United States, tax credits are one of the primary ways the federal government supports families with children. This dissertation focuses on the effect of tax credits on the way recipients spend their time and money. I use time use data to examine how tax credits change recipients’ time allocated to both labor supply and caregiving. I use consumption data to examine changes in spending and savings behavior induced by tax credits. Combined, these elucidate the mechanisms through which these policies affect the well-being of recipients and their family members. My first chapter is the first study to examine …


A Prism Of Blackness At Historically Black Institutions: Experiences Of Hbcu Students With Marginalized Racial, Gender, And Sexuality Identities, Gaelle Amazan May 2025

A Prism Of Blackness At Historically Black Institutions: Experiences Of Hbcu Students With Marginalized Racial, Gender, And Sexuality Identities, Gaelle Amazan

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation is a qualitative study of how Black individuals with marginalized gender and sexuality identities (MGSIs) who currently attend or recently graduated from HBCUs make meaning of their campus environment, and how HBCUs can be more inclusive for them. Data from this study came from interviews with seven participants representing four public and two private HBCUs from the Middle Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States in the year 2022. The dissertation explains research on the significance of HBCUs and the students who attend these institutions. Black Feminist Theory, Black Trans Feminism, Queer Theory, Quare Theory and Intersectionality …


Quasiparticle Poisoning And Mitigation Strategies In Superconducting Qubits, Clayton Larson May 2025

Quasiparticle Poisoning And Mitigation Strategies In Superconducting Qubits, Clayton Larson

Dissertations - ALL

Quantum computers promise to solve currently intractable problems of great interest for a diverse range of applications. For a quantum computer to solve these problems, it must handle occasional errors with quantum error correction, which distributes the quantum information across many physical qubits, increasing resilience. A promising technology for implementing such a system uses superconducting circuits as physical qubits. Standard quantum error correction schemes can accommodate random, local errors, but errors that are correlated across multiple qubits are fatal. Correlated errors can arise from ionizing radiation impacting the device substrate, which creates free charge that can be sensed by the …


Black Filmmaking As Archival Practice, Caroline Charles May 2025

Black Filmmaking As Archival Practice, Caroline Charles

Dissertations - ALL

Black Filmmaking as Archival Practice argues that cinema has offered Black cultural workers a generative space to creatively challenge the constraints of traditional archival repositories. I claim that Black filmmakers participate in a tradition of Black archival practice; they intervene in dominant collections and utilize their materials to create filmic counter-histories that negotiate the archive’s limits and attend to Black humanity, life, and memory. I engage with a diverse constellation of late twentieth and early-twenty-first century films that consider archives of Black social movement, abject images, enslavement and portraiture, Black queer and trans existence, and Black family photography. Through historical …


Encircling Chains Around 4- And 6-Clusters In Fullerenes, Hannah Melissa Kimbrell May 2025

Encircling Chains Around 4- And 6-Clusters In Fullerenes, Hannah Melissa Kimbrell

Dissertations - ALL

Fullerenes are purely carbon molecules which can be represented by a 3-regular planar graph consisting of only hexagonal and (exactly 12) pentagonal faces. Since carbon atoms have valence 4 but our graphs are trivalent we need to double the edges in a perfect matching to bring the valence up to 4. The edges in a perfect matching form a Kekulé structure and the hexagonal faces bound by three Kekulé edges are called benzene rings. A maximal independent set of benzene rings for a given Kekulé structure is called a Clar set, and the maximum possible size of a Clar set …


Gamma Ray Detection In Liquid Argon Time Projection Chambers, Thomas Murphy May 2025

Gamma Ray Detection In Liquid Argon Time Projection Chambers, Thomas Murphy

Dissertations - ALL

Gamma rays are photons in excess of 100 keV of energy and can be produced by a variety of mechanisms like radioactive decay and inelastic neutrino-argon interactions. A reconstruc- tion of Compton scattering gamma rays was developed for use in liquid argon time projection chambers. This reconstruction was tested with detectors developed to demonstrate the ca- pabilities of Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) Near Detector Liquid Argon target (ND LAr). In October 2024, a radioactive fluorine-18 source was placed next to the Full Scale Demonstrator. The data obtained was used to test this reconstruction algorithm. It was able to determine …


An Unrealized Solution: The Systemic Barriers Facing Green Hydrogen In The United States, Daniella Drespel May 2025

An Unrealized Solution: The Systemic Barriers Facing Green Hydrogen In The United States, Daniella Drespel

Student Theses 2015-Present

This thesis investigates the systemic barriers that hinder the development and implementation of green hydrogen in the United States. Beginning by tracing the two-century history of hydrogen energy, from early scientific discovery and utopian visions to cycles of hype, failure, and policy stagnation, this thesis examines why green hydrogen remains unrealized despite its transformative potential. Chapter I examines the environmental consequences of fossil fuel dependence and presents green hydrogen as a transformative energy alternative. Chapter II explores the technological landscape of hydrogen energy, detailing production methods, roadblocks to adoption, and ongoing U.S. hydrogen projects. Chapter III analyzes the economic dynamics …


Breaking Down Black Beauty: Deconstructing Unsustainable Racist Practices In The Beauty Industry, Jaron Givens May 2025

Breaking Down Black Beauty: Deconstructing Unsustainable Racist Practices In The Beauty Industry, Jaron Givens

Student Theses 2015-Present

The glitter of the beauty industry creates an undeniably attractive fantasy. Cosmetics and dermatology allow for finding a new sense of self through beauty. However, is beauty's fantasy world accessible to everyone, specifically the Black dance community? The beauty industry, historically and presently, has disproportionate effects on people of color communities like the Black dance community. The unsustainable practices and toxic products in the beauty industry hinder the health of Black individuals at different rates than other racial counterparts. There is still work to be done in deconstructing the racist practices of the beauty industry and in facilitating environmentally sustainable …


Breaking Down Black Beauty: Deconstructing Unsustainable Racist Practices Within The Beauty Industry, Jaron Givens May 2025

Breaking Down Black Beauty: Deconstructing Unsustainable Racist Practices Within The Beauty Industry, Jaron Givens

Student Theses 2015-Present

The glitter of the beauty industry creates an undeniably attractive fantasy. Cosmetics and dermatology allow for finding a new sense of self through beauty. However, is beauty's fantasy world accessible to everyone, specifically the Black dance community? The beauty industry, historically and presently, has disproportionate effects on people of color communities like the Black dance community. The unsustainable practices and toxic products in the beauty industry hinder the health of Black individuals at different rates than other racial counterparts. There is still work to be done in deconstructing the racist practices of the beauty industry and in facilitating environmentally sustainable …


Consider The Culture: The Role Of Local Engagement In Global Conservation, Nicole Bailey May 2025

Consider The Culture: The Role Of Local Engagement In Global Conservation, Nicole Bailey

Student Theses 2015-Present

This paper discusses global conservation efforts, making a case for community-led conservation on the bases of efficacy and long-term sustainability. As environmental conservation grows ever-important, it’s imperative that the people local to these efforts are holistically integrated into the conservation work and considered as the stakeholders they are. Local human interests are a key condition to assess when aiming for lasting, practical conservation. This paper opens with a look at the reforestation of Gunung Palung National Park as a case study of successful community-led conservation. Chapter 1 outlines the harm of environmental degradation and habitat loss through quantitative data. Here, …


The Deterrence Dilemma: Is It Time For Canada To Abandon General Deterrence As A Sentencing Objective?, Caitlin Salvino May 2025

The Deterrence Dilemma: Is It Time For Canada To Abandon General Deterrence As A Sentencing Objective?, Caitlin Salvino

Dalhousie Law Journal

When Canada first codified its sentencing framework in the Criminal Code, Parliament included deterrence as a sentencing objective. The sentencing objective of deterrence encompasses two aspects: specific deterrence for the individual offender and general deterrence for other potential offenders. I engage with the concept of general deterrence and its incorporation into Canadian sentencing law throughout this article. I argue that Parliament should abandon general deterrence as a sentencing objective under the Criminal Code. After reviewing the jurisprudence on general deterrence and conducting a systematic review of its current application in Ontario sentencing decisions, I argue that general deterrence should be …


Managing Happiness In The Mexican Maquiladora Industry: A Turnover Management Challenge, Claudia M. Burgos Cruz, Reyna Virginia Barragan Quintero, Angel Contreras Cruz May 2025

Managing Happiness In The Mexican Maquiladora Industry: A Turnover Management Challenge, Claudia M. Burgos Cruz, Reyna Virginia Barragan Quintero, Angel Contreras Cruz

Engineering and Technology Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study explores a turnover management case by implementing exploratory Human-Centered Design (HCD) strategies, combining a collaborative tool in a Mexican maquiladora in Tecate, Baja California. To reduce turnover, the tool was designed, prototyped, and tested to foster the emotional well-being of employees, enhance employee engagement, and promote a sense of belonging in the workplace. The company leaders and managers were trained to use the HCD prototypes, such as the Happiness Dashboard, a visual feedback system using emojis to collect data during regular shifts, and the Gemba Walks, a method for collecting information through observing and interacting with workers. Organizational …


Ecologies Of Urban Encroachment: How La’S Built Environment Shapes Urban Ecosystems And Wildlife, Ainsley Ramin May 2025

Ecologies Of Urban Encroachment: How La’S Built Environment Shapes Urban Ecosystems And Wildlife, Ainsley Ramin

Student Theses 2015-Present

This paper examines the impact of Los Angeles’ built environment on its ecosystems and biodiversity through the destruction of wildlife corridors and habitats and the threats urbanization poses to its native species. Using both quantitative and qualitative data, Chapter 1 describes the current threats that wildlife faces and ecosystem services that are at stake in Los Angeles due to suburban sprawl and the impacts of urbanization on its ecosystems. This chapter introduces data on the decrease in population of important species and statistics on how urbanization has been encroaching on and breaking apart habitats. Chapter 2 explores the history of …