Digital Commons Network^™

Forces Of Movement: How Changing Perceptions Of Slavery And Freedom Affected Black Lives In The Mason-Dixon Borderland, 1861-1872, Rachael B. Nicholas

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The Mason-Dixon Line, first surveyed between 1763 and 1767, became the symbolic “dividing line” between free and slave states in antebellum America. This perception of the Mason-Dixon Line allowed a larger borderland to grow around it: the Mason-Dixon Borderland, which consisted of northern Maryland, Washington, D.C., southern Pennsylvania, northern Virginia, and the Shenandoah Valley (western Virginia and the eastern panhandle of West Virginia).

Americans used slavery and freedom as referents to make decisions about survival, military policy, politics, and freedom-seeking during the Civil War. Those decisions had consequences for their movement across the Mason-Dixon Borderland, causing it to change as …

The Promise Of Artificial Intelligence For Identifying And Interpreting The Sources Of International Law, Sean D. Murphy

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

Sir Michael Wood’s remarkable career was deeply enmeshed in the pragmatics of international law; how to make it work as a part of the lawyering that occurs daily in foreign ministries, international organizations, and courts or tribunals. Yet that focus on practical lawyering did not allow him to eschew broader considerations of doctrine and even theory. While his work on the International Law Commission as Special Rapporteur for Identification of Customary International Law was motivated by a sense that national court judges struggled to understand the basic parameters of that source of law, the work necessarily entailed grappling with some …

Chapter 2: Do We Still Believe In Process? Democracy And The Fundamental Value Of Dialog Across Difference, Paul S. Berman

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

This essay surveys a few of the many ways to understand what democracy actually is and how to evaluate when it exists and when it is lost. Ultimately, I argue for a pluralist vision that emphasizes both democracy and law's potential ability to bring multiple communities and differing worldviews into dialog with each other. But no conception of democracy can survive unless people are willing to embrace the idea that a fair process can lead to an undesired outcome and that, therefore, even those who lose in a process can have sufficient faith in that process to abide by and …

Policy Brief: The Occ Has Violated Four Federal Statutes By Allowing National Trust Banks To Engage In Crypto-Related Nonfiduciary Activities, Including The Issuance Of Stablecoins, Arthur E. Wilmarth Jr.

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) has recently approved charters for nine limited-purpose national trust banks controlled by crypto firms (hereinafter “NTB charter approvals”). The OCC’s NTB charter approvals permit those national trust banks to engage in a wide range of nonfiduciary crypto-related activities. The OCC’s NTB charter approvals violate four federal statutes and must be rescinded. Under 12 U.S.C. §§ 27(a) and 92a, national trust banks are authorized to exercise only fiduciary powers and to act solely in federally-recognized fiduciary capacities. Sections 27(a) and 92a forbid the OCC from allowing national trust banks to engage in …

Taking Legal Pluralism Seriously: Federalism, Diversity Jurisdiction, And The Erie Doctrine, Paul S. Berman, Emma Bjeldanes

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

The U.S. Supreme Court’s watershed decision in Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins is sometimes read to require federal judges hearing claims based on federal diversity jurisdiction to apply state law, essentially as if the case were being decided in a state court. The doctrine therefore appears to create a categorical rule disempowering federal courts from ever departing from state law, despite the Constitution’s grant of federal jurisdiction. However, as the Court’s 2026 Erie case, Berk v. Choy, makes clear, sometimes the Erie analysis is used to empower federal courts to override clear state policy choices embodied in state law simply …

Brief Of Amici Curiae Professor Steven L. Schooner In Support Of Plaintiffs-Appellees And Affirmance In Epa Et Al. V Green & Healthy Homes Initiative, Inc. Et Al., (U.S. Fourth Circuit, 25-1808), May 19, 2026., Steven L. Schooner, David Livshiz, Nathaniel Castellano, Jayna Rust, Catherine Katz, Miguel Serrano

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

This is an amicus brief in support of affirmance in EPA et al. v Green & Healthy Homes Initiative, Inc. et al., (D.C. Md. 1:25-cv-01096).  Amicus is interested in ensuring that contractors, grantees, and others who do business with the Government and/or participate in Government funded programs are treated fairly when pursuing their rights and remedies and also ensuring that public institutions (particularly the courts) appreciate and account for the many ways that Congressional mandates, public contracts, grants, cooperative agreements, and other funding mechanisms impact  the public's quality of life.

The brief asserts that the Government errs and does a …

Bridging The Gap: An Innovative Life Skills And Job Readiness Initiative For Those Facing And/Or Experiencing Homelessness, Alyssa Rae Lester

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Homelessness disrupts occupational functioning across all domains of daily life, yet individuals in transitional housing frequently lack access to structured life skills programming tailored to their current level of functioning. This doctoral capstone project developed, implemented, and evaluated a life skills and job-readiness curriculum at the West Virginia Coalition to End Homelessness West Run transitional housing facility in Morgantown, West Virginia. Grounded in Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Model of Human Development and the Bridging the Transition from Homeless to Housed framework, the curriculum addressed four domains: personal development, household management, financial literacy, and vocational readiness. A mixed-methods design combined a structured staff …

Brief Amicus Curiae Of Administrative And Constitutional Law Professors In Support Of Petitioners, Alan B. Morrison, Robert L. Glicksman, Richard J. Pierce Jr, Peter Strauss, Jeffrey Lubbers

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

This amicus brief was filed in DOL v. Sun Valley Orchards by Professors Alan Morrison, Rob Glicksman, Richard Pierce, Peter Strauss and Jeffrey Lubbers. Amici argue that the Supreme Court should reverse the Third Circuit’s decision that DOL lacks the power to adjudicate disputes involving the safety and adequacy of the housing, food, and transportation provided by employers to non-citizen temporary agricultural workers. The Third Circuit’s holding was based on its belief that the constitution confers the power to adjudicate such disputes exclusively on Article III courts.

Amici argue that the dispute at issue falls squarely within the scope of …

The Mistaken Turn To Church Autonomy, Peter J. Smith, Robert W. Tuttle

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

With increasing frequency and intensity, courts and commentators have advanced a doctrine of church autonomy that shields matters of internal church affairs from judicial scrutiny. Judges and scholars have invoked the doctrine in cases that involve disputes over property, employment, and governance of religious institutions. When applied, the doctrine ordinarily requires the dismissal of suits by aggrieved employees, congregants, or affiliated religious entities, thereby leaving employment and property disputes to unreviewable resolution by church authorities.

The turn to church autonomy is a regrettable mistake that contributes to the unjustifiable expansion of free exercise protections for religion at the expense of …

Promoting Firearm Industry Accountability For Civil And Human Rights Abuses In The United States Through Strategic Transnational Litigation, Arturo J. Carrillo, Jonathan E. Lowy, Emily Fallin

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

The United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) have made substantial in-roads across a range of industries, but the firearm industry is not one of them. The United States is the largest producer of firearms for civilian acquisition in the world, yet U.S. firearm manufacturers, sellers, and distributors remain generally impervious to regulation. Moreover, federal and state legislation provides unique legal protections for firearm industry actors, rendering them largely shielded from accountability for contributing to gun deaths and injuries. This creates a paradox that fuels the endemic gun violence crisis in the United States and throughout the …

Two Heads Are Better Than One: Integrating International Law And Global Public Health Approaches To Firearm Violence To Promote Public Safety And Human Rights, Arturo J. Carrillo, Jonathan E. Lowy

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

In his Advisory of June 25th, 2024, the U.S. Surgeon General, Vivek H. Murthy, declared firearm violence a public health crisis and presented a damning picture of the widespread deaths, injuries and trauma caused by gun violence in the United States. A critical feature of the firearm violence crisis in the United States that the Surgeon General did not expressly address in his report–or even mention–is the role of the manufacturers, distributors, and dealers of firearms, collectively referred to as “the gun industry.” It is an open secret that the U.S.-based firearm industry engages in manufacturing, marketing, distribution and sale …

Effectiveness Of Occupational Therapy-Inspired Educational Sessions For Mothers Accessing Women, Infants, And Children (Wic) Services, Samantha Annette Merew

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This doctoral capstone project examined the effectiveness of occupational therapy (OT)-inspired group and one-on-one educational sessions designed to support the emotional, mental, and social well-being of pregnant and postpartum mothers accessing Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) services in Onslow County, North Carolina. Grounded in the Model of Human Occupation and Cognitive Behavioral Frame of Reference, the program aimed to address gaps in holistic maternal health support, particularly among low-income and at-risk populations. Eight structured group sessions and five one-on-one sessions were developed, implemented, and evaluated, focusing on topics such as stress management, emotional regulation, self-care, role transition, and self-advocacy. A …

Phylogeography, Fungal Host Specificity, And Fitness In The Corallorhiza Maculata Species Complex, Hana Thixton-Nolan

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Mycoheterotrophic plants exploit fungi for most or all nutritional needs, providing a compelling system to address the evolutionary consequences of genome reduction, population-level variation, and germination requirements. I am using the widespread Corallorhiza maculata species complex to address questions of genomic variation, fungal host specificity, morphological variation, and germination requirements across the broad geographic range from Mexico to northern North America. This complex contains C. bulbosa, C. macrantha, and C. mertensiana, the latter with three varieties (maculata, occidentalis, and mexicana). These taxa vary in flowering time, floral morphology, and fungal associations. However, the degree …

The Impact Of Caregiver Training And Education On Confidence And Perceived Competence In Facilitating Self-Care Skills In Children, Ryan M. Coen

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Caregivers, especially those residing in rural Appalachia, face significant barriers and hardships that can hinder their ability to promote ADL, IADL, and self-care skill development. These barriers faced include geographic isolation, socioeconomic barriers, and a high prevalence of disabilities. Many caregivers may struggle to facilitate these self-care skills competently and effectively, and a gap is present in the most effective means to teach caregivers in this region the necessary skills. With almost 20% of individuals in West Virginia lacking access to reliable internet and physical isolation, many of these educational materials may not be effectively distributed (West Virginia Department of …

So There I Was, Jesse Marie Baggett

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This written thesis provides a description and analysis of my thesis exhibition, So There I Was, which presents a body of ceramic sculptures and paintings that explore themes of adventure, travel, and shared experiences. The work reimagines personal experiences through a cast of animal characters, with a rabbit acting as a stand-in for myself. These narratives are inspired by events from my own life and are transformed into imaginative scenes that emphasize playfulness, wonder, and storytelling.

The sculptures combine toy-like animal figures, pull carts, and miniature architectural structures to create playful environments that resemble playsets or staged scenes where …

Essays On Stock Market Expectations And Financial Decisions, Shanxiang Yang

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation consists of three essays on stock market expectations and financial decisions. The first essay shows significant racial differences in expectations regarding future stock market performance. Using data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Survey of Consumer Expectations from 2013 to 2022, we find that, relative to White Americans, Black and Hispanic Americans have lower probabilistic expectations that the stock market will increase. This racial gap in expectations was even larger during the recession caused by the Covid-19 epidemic, suggesting that economic uncertainty exacerbates this heterogeneity in expectations. Furthermore, we show that relative to White Americans, the …

Among The Remnants, Jade-Lynn B. Lewis Vance

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This written thesis serves as supporting documentation and research for my Master of Fine Arts thesis exhibition, Among the Remnants, at West Virginia University. This dissertation will explain how my artistic vision, influences, research, and thesis exhibition fits into larger art and cultural contexts. Drawing from art history and theory, my work explores memory, touch, and fragmentation. My fascination with artifacts and the stories they hold inspires my research and drives me to create personal connections within my own art. The figurative sculptures serve as a vessel for recalling impactful experiences and embodying personal perception and these interactions. The …

A Multiobjective Framework For Joint Coverage And Motion Planning In Uav Inspection Tasks, Luis Fernando Escobar Carvajal

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have become essential for data acquisition in complex 3D environments. However, traditional Coverage Path Planning (CPP) methodologies often rely on a sequential pipeline that isolates viewpoint generation from flight path routing. This decoupling fails to account for the interdependence between viewpoint distribution and minimum flight paths, effectively restricting the search space and preventing the identification of a global optimum. This dissertation proposes a unified multi-objective framework for joint coverage and motion planning. The primary contribution of this work is the transition from isolated, sequential steps to a simultaneous optimization of the number and position of viewpoints …

A Digital Calibration Source For 21 Cm Cosmology Telescopes, Kalyani Balkrishna Bhopi

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Precise calibration of radio telescope beams and gains is a central requirement for 21 cm intensity mapping experiments, which aim to measure large scale cosmological structure through the redshifted emission line of neutral hydrogen. Bright astrophysical foregrounds dominate the sky at these frequencies, and separating them from the cosmological signal demands precise control over instrumental systematics, particularly the telescope beam and its frequency-dependent response. Existing aerial calibration sources are incoherent broadband emitters, detectable only as total power. They provide no direct phase information and suffer from poor sensitivity in low signal-to-noise regimes.

We present the Precision Emitter for 21cm Array …

Impact Of Occupational Therapy Within The Rosenbaum Family House: How Program Development Supports Health And Well-Being For Caregivers And Care Recipients, Zaccardi P. Muniz

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Healthcare hospitality houses (HHH) are designed to accommodate patients and caregivers receiving medical treatment far from home. The Rosenbaum Family House (RFH) acts as the HHH adjacent to J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown, West Virginia. The RFH offers amenities that meet the basic needs of guests; However, there is an opportunity for occupational therapy-based program development to help further assist caregivers and care recipients both inside and outside the RFH. During the doctoral capstone experience (DCE), a three-phase project was developed to support the health and well-being of guests and WVUMedicine clients through group programming, resource guide development, and …

Cmn 3520 : Audio Production & Voice Work For Television & Film, Communication And Journalism

Approved Course Proposals

No abstract provided.

Ele 4880 : Diagnostic And Prescriptive Reading Instruction, Teaching, Learning, And Foundations

Approved Course Proposals

No abstract provided.

Cds 2200 : Language Acquisition, Cds

Approved Course Proposals

No abstract provided.

Cds 2800 : Speech And Hearing Science, Cds

Approved Course Proposals

No abstract provided.

Cte 4913 : Organization And Administration Of Work-Based Learning Education, Teaching, Learning, And Foundations

Approved Course Proposals

No abstract provided.

Floodwater Salinity And Flood Duration Regulate Greenhouse Gas Production In High- Latitude Coastal Wetland And Tundra Soils, Mia J. Dicianna

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Coastal high-latitude ecosystems are increasingly flooded from storm surges associated with climate change, exposing soils that were historically infrequently inundated to higher-salinity waters for longer durations. Sub-Arctic wetlands and tundra store large amounts of carbon, yet how flooding characteristics, particularly flood duration, influence microbial mineralization and, consequently, greenhouse gas (GHG) production in these soils remains poorly understood. We conducted a full-factorial microcosm incubation experiment in which coastal wetland and tundra soils were subjected to simulated flooding with three durations (1, 3, and 10 days) and four salinity treatments (unflooded, freshwater, 3 ppt, and 12 ppt) and measured carbon dioxide (CO2) …

Eng 3401 : Methods Of Teaching Composition In Middle And Secondary Schools, English

Approved Course Proposals

No abstract provided.

Soc/Crm 3842 : Sociology Of Drugs And Drug Use, Sociology, Anthropology, & Criminology

Approved Course Proposals

No abstract provided.

Jou 4751 : Advanced Photojournalism, Communication And Journalism

Approved Course Proposals

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Communication Satisfaction On Division I Student Athletes, Gabriella Gnewuch

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Communication satisfaction is vital for the motivation, retention, and interpersonal success of collegiate student-athletes. While coaches play a pivotal role in the athletic experience, current literature focuses predominantly on head coaches, leaving a significant gap regarding the influence of assistant coaches. This study utilized Confirmation Theory, comprised of the dual dimensions of acceptance and challenge. The study examined how these communication behaviors impact student-athlete satisfaction at the Division I level. A census was conducted among Division I student-athletes at South Dakota State University using the Coach Confirmation Instrument (CCI) and the Student Communication Satisfaction Scale (SCSS). Quantitative results from multiple …