Digital Commons Network^™

Queering The Queer Bildungsroman: Literature Of Aids, The Rhizome, And Rat Bohemia, Emma Tolliver

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

The advent of the bildungsroman with Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe’s Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship was a seminal moment in literature. From that point onward, the genre, which would come to be known as the “coming-of-age” novel, evolved and as such developed a variety of subgenres. This thesis focuses on the queer bildungsroman, a subgenre which has been dubbed the “coming-out” novel. Through Judith Butler’s work, I conceptualize genre as gender. Additionally, I utilize the Deleuzian concepts of the rhizome, becoming, and minor literature along with literature of AIDS to argue that the queer bildungsroman is not solely the coming out novel. …

Not Just Playing Pretend: Story Drama As Queer And Humanist Praxis, Julia Veiga

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

While conventional story time typically involves passive listening and enforced stillness, Story Drama transforms the storytelling experience into a participatory process where children use their voices, bodies, and imaginations to shape the narrative collaboratively. Indeed, Story Drama, combined with queer and humanist learning theory, fosters an inclusive, student-centered environment where youth practice critical thinking, problem-solving, and self-realization. Using the techniques of Story Drama transforms storytelling into a tool for cultivating socially engaged, independent learners, encouraging critical thinking and activism by nurturing empathy, community awareness, and creative agency from an early age.

This thesis explores the reimagining of traditional storytelling practices …

Cigarettes, Flesh, & Other Cravings, Gabrielle F. Decker

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

Cigarettes, Flesh, & Other Cravings is a collection of short stories that explores themes of motherhood, death, and desire. Each character struggles with the friction between society's expectations and their desires for happiness, all through the lens of the surreal and the absurd. A destructive raccoon’s nightly visits unravel a woman’s sense of control. A teenager begins an internship with a conspiracy-obsessed clown. A minuscule old woman tumbles out of a chicken egg. A fissure in a kitchen floor births an imp. A Choose Your Own Adventure examines the illusion of choice. In Hell, torture is personalized. Cigarettes, Flesh, & …

Methods And Applications Of Coherent Analog Photonic Processing, Andrew B. Klein

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

Photonic processing is a compelling approach to address the increasing computational requirements of neural networks, promising increased processing speed and better energy efficiency for operations such as matrix-vector multiplication. However, in practice the limitations of photonic hardware necessitate that these systems adopt fixed-point encoding rather than the floating-point standard used by digital electronics. The reduction in accuracy incurred by this requirement must be managed and addressed for real world applications. In this work, we present a reconfigurable, scalable, and parallelizable photonic multiplier cell using coherent balanced photodetection of analog signals to produce signed multiplications. This style of system outperforms other …

The Multifaceted Roles Of Propionic Acid In Autism Spectrum Disorder And Crohn’S Disease, Piotr P. Lagod

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

Short chain fatty acids (SCFAs), including propionic (PPA) and butyric (BA) acid, exert a variable and organ-specific effect on the body. They are by-products of human microbiota metabolism and are often used as a food preservative. Studies have shown that PPA and its producers are elevated in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) patients and their mothers. Our lab previously demonstrated that PPA alters neural stem cell differentiation in favor of glia. In this work, we utilized an in vivo mice model, in which dams and their offspring were fed a PPA-rich diet. In the brain, we observed a significant increase in …

High-Efficiency Micro-Display Light Engines, Yizhou Qian

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

Augmented reality displays, which integrate digital information with environmental backgrounds, are emerging in our daily lives. To ensure readability under outdoor environments with intense ambient light, AR displays must achieve high luminance levels suitable for human visual perception. However, severe light leakage in waveguide couplers and significant losses during exit pupil expansion limit the overall system efficiency to approximately 4%, requiring the light engine to reach luminance levels over one million nits. In addition, to match visual acuity while keeping a compact light engine size (< 1cc), full-color pixel pitch must be below 4 µm. This dissertation is devoted to addressing the possibility of existing light engines to meet these demanding requirements.

In Chapter 2, we comprehensively analyze the power consumption of existing commercial light engines …

Ethical Concerns And Consumer Perceptions Of Fairness In Gamified Customer Loyalty Programs, Shelley Maccini

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

Business organizations use customer loyalty programs as marketing tools by providing incentives for consumer behaviors, which generate customer engagement value for the business. Customer loyalty programs typically use game mechanics common to digital gaming in order to motivate behavior, often referred to as gamification. While studies of gamified programs used for education and training purposes appear frequently in the literature, a gap exists in exploring gamified programs used in a marketing context. This dissertation seeks to understand how consumers view the use of gamified customer loyalty programs as fair under the frameworks of justice. This exploratory study employed a mixed …

Molecular Basis For The Disaggregase Activity Of Protein Disulfide Isomerase, Antonio Mele

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

Protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) is an essential, multifunctional, and promiscuous protein with a modular abb’xa’c domain arrangement. Conformational flexibility and the independent, yet coordinated, functionality of PDI domains facilitate protein folding, redox regulation, and the maintenance of cellular homeostasis. Previous investigations have shown that PDI can inhibit amyloid β peptide aggregation, associated with Alzheimer's disease, and is required for cholera toxin disassembly, the rate-limiting step in Vibrio cholerae pathogenesis. However, the precise mechanistic details underlying these interactions remain to be elucidated. Using molecular and biophysical approaches, this study has begun to establish substrate-induced unfolding, or conditional disorder, of PDI as …

Designing Immersive Educational Experiences: An Exploration Of Animal Attractions And Exhibits To Create A National Park Themed Experience, Sarah G. Merrill

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

This thesis analyzes the disconnect between immersive environmental storytelling and conservation education at animal attractions. How can designers create immersive educational experiences that engage audiences? Can environmental narrative practices be applied in a new way to develop effective conservation and wildlife education? A literature review assists in defining immersion, discovering the evolution of Modern Zoo design as an immersive experience, and evaluating conversation education in animal facilities. When combined with educational techniques, immersive habitat design improves guest engagement and informal conservation learning outcomes in zoos and animal-related experiences. Using Scott Lukas’ theming and immersion modes, three attractions are analyzed as …

Exploring The Role Of Geofencing, Geolocation, And Audio Descriptions In Enhancing Mobility And Inclusion For Individuals With Blindness And Visual Impairments In Museums And Indoor Spaces, Javier Enrique Molinares

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

This dissertation explores the challenges individuals with blindness and visual impairments face in navigating cultural spaces, explicitly focusing on museums, and emphasizes the importance of inclusion. The study explores how conventional accessibility solutions can accidentally establish obstacles which restrict autonomy and diminish chances for meaningful participation. Accessibility challenges were identified through qualitative observations at the Gateway Museum, located within the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Merritt Island, Florida. Additionally, interviews and a participatory co-design methodology involving five participants with blindness and visual impairments were conducted. These methods led to the development of a mobility application that combines geolocation technology, …

Black Teachers, Labor Consciousness, And The Making Of The Modern Civil Rights Movement In Florida, Marissa M. Bellenger

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

Histories of Black teachers have often portrayed them as passive actors in the labor and civil rights movements of the twentieth century. While recent scholarship has highlighted the agency of Black educators, few studies have examined how their professional networks facilitated both labor activism and civil rights strategies. This thesis examines how Black educators in Florida leveraged the Florida State Teachers Association (FSTA) to challenge the racialized economic, political, and social structures of the South by organizing equal pay campaigns with the support of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). From the late 1930s to the …

I'M Sorry You Have To Read This, Mark Blok

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

I’m Sorry You Have to Read This is a collection of essays that explore Russian culture, Jewish traditions, and American identity. Through reflections on illness, the indignities of premature balding, and the ongoing puzzle of cultural belonging, these essays navigate the awkward and absurd passage from childhood to adulthood. The first essay, “Traditions Schmaditions,” explores cultural identity, assimilation, and generational inheritance within a Russian-Jewish immigrant family. At its core, it’s about obligation and fear, and the struggle to break free from traditions kept out of habit rather than intention. Following essays of culture-shaping experiences that explore learning to define adulthood …

Drag In Theme Parks: An Application Of Queer Theory And Intergroup Contact Theory, Corey D. Clancy

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

The intent of this paper is to evaluate whether the artistic expression of Drag can be understood and appreciated by its critics when employed at Theme Parks. This will be accomplished through the lenses and applications of Queer Theory and Intergroup Contact Theory by researching what the art of Drag is, defining its different expressions, interviewing members of the Drag community, and creating clear guidelines and “Criteria for Drag in Theme Parks.”

With such passionate feelings on Drag in culture today, this research will aim to take subjectivity out of the matter and focus objectively on the impacts that Drag …

Visual Experience Enhancement In Augmented Reality Waveguide Displays, Yuqiang Ding

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

In the dynamic arena of display technology, augmented reality (AR) displays represent a pivotal advancement, seamlessly bridging the digital and physical worlds. This dissertation mainly examines waveguide-based AR display technologies—which enable slim form factors and large eyebox via exit pupil expansion—yet still face persistent challenges: low ambient contrast ratio (ACR), poor color performance and slow simulation design cycles. To address these issues, this dissertation introduces novel liquid crystal photonic devices and system-level optical solutions—together with accelerated simulation methods for design—to enhance user experience and system performance. First, the dissertation examines one of the major efficiency bottlenecks arises from multiple interactions …

& Everything Else, Ian R. Abercrombie

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

& EVERYTHING ELSE is a collection of stories that explores various forms of obsession. In “BEG FOR SCRAPS,” Pickle, a former bomb-sniffing dog, fixates on his owner, who’s fallen into a cycle of neglect post-divorce. “LET THEM FIGHT” follows Casey, a 20-something on a date to see, for the umpteenth time, a kaiju movie that conjures their escapist tendencies from a traumatic childhood. “DINNER WITH THE FOOL,” narrated by a state-appointed clown obsessed with jokes, describes a family contending with their matriarch’s planned suicide. “BIRDWATCHING” follows three characters, each with their own odd obsession: Jodie who wants to photograph a …

The Long Walk And Beyond: Navajo Resilience And The Journey From Displacment To Resurgence, William A. Alvarado

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

This thesis, The Long Walk and Beyond: Navajo Resilience and the Journey from Displacement to Resurgence: A Study Exploring the Unique Late Nineteenth-Century Navajo Odyssey During United States Expansion, examines the profound impact of U.S. territorial expansion on the Navajo people during the mid-to-late nineteenth century. Central to this narrative is the tragic experience of the Navajo Long Walk (1864), which led to the forced relocation of thousands of Navajos to Bosque Redondo. The thesis explores the complexities of this relocation, emphasizing the cultural, social, and economic devastation it caused. Despite these challenges, the Navajo people demonstrated remarkable resilience, using …

Transformative Pedagogies Through Iterative Instructional Design, Nikki F. Barnes

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

Pedagogical reforms have fallen short, limited to strategies and symptomatic approaches instead of systemic restructuring. Addressing learning environments as reciprocal communities, this dissertation is a critical making project where I developed a model integrating relationship-based practices. I applied Indigenous pedagogies guided by my research question: How does combining Indigenous methods, intersectional feminisms, and digital humanities transform course development and deployment as a communal process of collective learning? Using design justice principles and digital learning affordances, this work seeks to increase learning engagement and outcomes and participant experiences by explicitly embedding community-building along with content. Building with the liberation pedagogies of …

Netflix And The Platformization Of Film And Television Content Discovery, Jacob Boccio

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

This dissertation investigates the Netflix streaming platform to better understand the platformization of film and television cultural production and content discovery. Building on platform studies and scholarship on platformization, this work contributes to the growing body of literature that critically examines the implications of digital platforms in reshaping cultural and creative industries. Using this framework, the dissertation explores how the evolution of content discovery mechanisms on Netflix affects the cultural production of the film and television industries. Chapter 1 frames Netflix as a platform within the platformization framework. Chapter 2 examines Netflix employees, who serve as gatekeepers by curating and …

Encapsulation Of Phytochemicals Through Polymer-Catechin Nanoparticles Self-Assembled Via Tea-Steeping, Sawyer S. Chang

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

The brewing of teas has been an integral pillar of human food culture for millennia. These beverages have always aimed to extract the phytochemicals from berries, leaves, and many other food products. Leaves from Camellia sinensis are used to prepare green, black, white, oolong, and pu’er teas that are highly regarded for their organoleptic properties. Moreover, many of the widely regarded health benefits are ascribed to the high polyphenolic content within the teas. It has been established that polyphenols can interact with hydrophilic polymers, through hydrogen bonding, to form stable small particle suspensions. In this work, polymer-catechin nanoparticles were synthesized …

Bent Never Broken: A Study Of Multidimensional Perfectionism Through Animation, Sabrina R. Dias

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

Bent Never Broken is a 3D animated short film about a martial artist that strives to gain his mother’s love through perfection. The film focuses on maladaptive multidimensional perfectionism and how it affects parent-child relationships. Bent Never Broken utilizes stylized rendering and animation to maintain maturity and appeal. It has a mature storyline with an ending that enforces the idea that perfection does not equate to love, and that it is okay to walk away from maladjusted parent-child relationships.

The Transition Of Tradition: The Modernismo Era Of Puerto Rican Postcolonial Short Fiction, Natalie Donis

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

Modernismo, an artistic and literary cultural movement that swept across Latin America, profoundly shaped Puerto Rican short fiction by introducing innovative narrative techniques before the novel gained prominence on the island. Emerging during the sociopolitical upheaval following the Spanish American War and Puerto Rico's annexation by the United States, modernismo responded to both European artistic trends and the cultural tensions of colonial transition. In my research, in Puerto Rico, Moderismo emerged in the short story before the novel. This research examines how Puerto Rican short stories by José Luis González and Emilio Díaz Valcárcel, from this era, grapple with themes …

Catching Light Finding Encouragement Through Art And The Role Of Women In Impressionism, Vlada Evtushenko

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

Catching Light is a two-dimensional (2D) animated film about the importance of human connection through the tale of an artist rediscovering their passion for painting through the support of a fellow artist. Catching Light is told through the lens of the period in art history when the artists, who eventually came to be known as 'Impressionists', broke free from the traditions of the Academy. The story highlights how the Art Academy restricted and discriminated against people based on social class and gender, and its disrespect towards the craft of paintmaking. By setting this story in the late 19th century, Catching …

A Depth-Integrated Investigation Of Hydrodynamic Habitat Preferences Of Seagrass In Estuarine Environments, Madison Giuntoli

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

Submerged aquatic vegetation shapes morphodynamic, hydrodynamic, and ecological attributes of shallow, coastal waters. Though seagrasses have been shown to exhibit threshold tolerances in response to varying light, salinity, and temperature, hydrodynamic thresholds have yet to be described. In this study, seagrass distribution data observed over 25 years were combined with modeled wave energy to quantify the hydrodynamic preferences of seagrass. The frequency distributions of wind-wave heights in the study area (Mosquito Lagoon, Indian River Lagoon, and Lake Worth Lagoon, Florida) were characterized using the Simulating WAves Nearshore (SWAN) numerical model. Seagrass distribution data, collected through direct observation and aerial imagery …

The Value Of Balance: Exploring Timelessness Of Narrative Styles And Character Dynamics Through Animation, Jessica Gray

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

Dazzling: A Timekeepers Tale is a 2D/3D animated short film that explores timeless storytelling, perception of time, anthropomorphism, and friendship. The film illustrates the necessity for balance between curiosity and caution when striving to learn. Through the dual protagonists’ contrasting personalities, they reach a deeper understanding of each other, thus learning the value of balance. This theme was constructed around a fantasy space that will function as a means of understanding varying perceptions of time. Thesis research explores ideas of balance between traditional Western narrative structures such as the Hero’s Journey, Aesopic fables, and Buddy Comedy within a combination of …

Ghosts Moving From The Margins: Comparing Representations Of Migrants In Contemporary Italian Media, Madeline Grohowski

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

This thesis examines how two different cultural mediums produced by a prominent Italian director and a popular Italian musical artist engage with themes of immigration and diaspora and their impacts on Italian national identity. The works that I have selected represent a mix of well-known and emergent figures in Italian cultural life and its related discourses around immigration and identity from the last 20 years of Italian history. Focusing on director Emanuele Crialese’s film Terraferma (2011) and rapper and singer Ghali’s songs “Mamma” (2017) and “Bayna” (2022), I analyze how each work frames migration as a metaphorical haunting that engages …

Relationship Partners’ Experiences Of Managing Conflict With Individualist And Collectivist Cultural Perspectives: A Reflexive Thematic Analysis, Rebecca Alithia Payan

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

In the United States, the increasing number of multicultural marriages leads to the individualistic traditional American nuclear family colliding with ideals from a collective culture. This conflict over individualistic and collective nature can lead to martial conflict, including divorce. In this context, this study seeks to answer an important question: How do relationship partners experience managing conflict, considering individualist and collectivist perspectives in the United States? The methodology utilized the Medium-Q of Reflexive Thematic Analysis of data gathered from qualitative open-ended interview questions and a brief survey. Findings reveal engaging themes, leading us to understand that individualism and collectivism influence …

Just Breathe: Demystifying Breath In Theatre Performance And Pedagogy, Gabriella Headley

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

Breathing is an involuntary reflex that happens every day, usually without any extra effort or consideration. Often as actors we are instructed to “just breathe” in a scene, but what does that really mean when breathing is something that is already done subconsciously? Since beginning graduate training, I have realized how imperative breath is in our work as performers, and how it is the cornerstone of everything: the voice, the body, the text, and how it acts as the connecting force between the performers and the audience. How can actors, educators, and directors expand their vocabulary and use breath as …

Perezhivanie In Practice: Exploring Affective Memory And Imagination Through The Stanislavski System, Paige E. Mason

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

This thesis explores the enduring significance of The Stanislavski System in modern American actor training, addressing why it remains essential over a century after its creation by Konstantin Stanislavski. While studying the history of how The Stanislavski System was introduced and adapted in America, I identified a fundamental divide that shaped actor training: Lee Strasberg emphasized affective memory to generate emotion, while Stella Adler advocated for imagination to connect with character. Their public dispute has had a lasting impact on American theatre pedagogy, often leaving actors caught between methodologies without a clear understanding of the System’s original intent. At the …

Roleing In & Out Of Character, Dominique E. Marshall

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

This thesis explores different methods for an actor to safely get in and out of character. There is a myriad of methodologies for actors to get into their roles, but not much public information on how actors should get out of character. My research navigates how to release a role, or ‘de-roleing,’ along with what actors need in preparation for taking on a role, or ‘pre-roleing.’ The risks of not having an efficient pre-roleing and de-roleing method are emphasized. Using a combination of ideas brought on by Augusto Boal, Susana Bloch, Suzanne Dieckman, and others, I explore methods to de-role …

Precedents For The Experiential Turn In American Art Museums: A Case Study Of Paul Gardner, Chick Austin, Leslie Cheek, And The Museums They Directed, 1932-1968, David Matteson

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

This dissertation examines the historical precedents for the experiential turn in American art museums by analyzing the directorships of Paul Gardner, Chick Austin, and Leslie Cheek Jr. between 1932 and 1968. Drawing on archival research and museum studies scholarship, this study reevaluates how these directors innovated museum practice through theatricality, mass media, and audience engagement—long before contemporary museological discourse framed such strategies as revolutionary. Gardner’s use of radio broadcasts at the Nelson-Atkins Museum, Austin’s integration of circus spectacle at the Ringling Museum, and Cheek’s scenographic exhibition designs at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts illustrate how mid-century museum leaders actively …