Literature in English, Anglophone outside British Isles and North America Commons^™

“More Than What [They] Made Us To Be”: From Passing To Perception In Victorian And Modern Vampire Media, Lauren Sieberg

English (MA) Theses

Throughout Victorian Gothic horror fiction, vampires function as deviant figures, maneuvering within social confines of passing until their status quo-threatening identity is exposed. Of the popular vampires from this period, most gradually fail to maintain status as social insiders—as demonstrated with Bram Stoker’s Count Dracula or Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla, who possess the temporary capacity to pass until their hidden monstrosity is revealed over time. Even if Gothic monsters are confined to a limited space and time far from society, this is still not enough; in accordance with the Victorian culture of morality policing by dominant groups, the vampiric Other …

He Is The Master Of Wood, Water, And Hill: Is Tom Bombadil The True Key Keeper Of The Old Forest?, Noelia Ramos

Journal of Tolkien Research

Tom Bombadil, with his iconic singing―”Hey! Come merry doll! Derry doll and merry-o!―has captivated scholars worldwide, due to the enigmatic nature Tolkien intentionally left unexplained. This deliberate mystery has fuelled extensive debate, leading many to explore possible mythological and cultural frameworks that might decode Bombadil’s origins. Among these hypotheses, a Celtic interpretation has often been dismissed despite its potential relevance. This paper, thereby, seeks to analyse Bombadil’s function within the Old Forest and his interactions with the hobbits during their forest episode, presenting fresh insights into his role as a Celtic-inspired guide and druidic figure.

To support this analysis, primary …

Examining State Development In West Africa, Through Senegal And Nigeria, Kasandra L. Housley

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This paper studies the relationship between the state and armed conflict in West Africa with an emphasis placed on the value, influence, and role of social institutions on the long-term stability of the West African state. The countries of the Republic of Senegal and Nigeria represent the primary focus of the paper. Comparisons are made of the history of each country/state and experience with socio-political conflict in an effort to explain the penultimate place of social as opposed to legalistic or political influences responsible for the long term survival of the independent state in West Africa. The central question explored …

Fallen Kingdoms And Ancient Monoliths: The Influence Of Atlantis And Egypt In Tolkien’S Númenor, Charlotte J. Brockway

Journal of Tolkien Research

In light of the recent publication of The Fall of Númenor, my essay aims to focus on Tolkien’s, somewhat underappreciated, influences on Gondor; particularly Ancient Egypt. This essay looks at Plato's Timaeus and Critias, Ignatius Donnelly's theories, and examines the Atlantean and Egyptian motifs in Tolkien’s version of Westernesse, in particular, the remnants of Atlantean civilization survived by Egyptian colonists which mirror the Realms of Exile (Gondor and Arnor).

Mythos And Meaning: Medieval Appropriations Of Mythological Types In The Consolation Of Philosophy And Later Western Literatures, Francis J. Hunter

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Often referred to as the last Roman and first medieval, Boethius, author of The Consolation of Philosophy, has been widely received as an unoriginal philosopher who sought to preserve Platonic thought as the Western Roman Empire fell. However, this essay features an investigation into the literary originality of Boethius who initiates a line of Christian and Platonic literatures to follow in the medieval European tradition. Boethius demonstrates himself to be a poet who makes great use of philosophy rather than as a philosopher writing poetry. Boethius’ poetic influence is felt most strongly in major aspects of Dante’s Divine Comedy and …

Increasing The Accuracy Of The Military‟S Post-Deployment Mental Health Screening Strategies, Daniel Fass

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The author investigated the prevalence rates of mental health problems reported by college students and compared them with previously existing data on active duty, reserve, and National Guard Operation Iraqi Freedom veterans. Participants completed the mental health portion of the Post-Deployment Health Re-Assessment and an additional questionnaire in which the effect of a drug use screen was explored. Subjects were also asked about their intentions to seek mental health or substance abuse treatment and how anonymity affected their treatment seeking and reporting accuracy. Results indicate similar and at times higher rates of mental health problems in the sample of college …

With Love, ; An Interdisciplinary And Intersectional Look At Why Creativity Is Essential, Theo Starr Gardner

Whittier Scholars Program

My Whittier Scholars Program self-designed major, Teaching Creativity, is a mixture of Art, Literature, and Education classes. My research and praxis classes have been focused on the ‘how?’s and 'why?’s of creativity, so it felt only right that my project should be a constructivist, generative project. The project I have been working on throughout my time at Whittier, and that has just fully come to fruition on April 11th, 2024, was a solo art gallery/open mic event entitled ‘With Love,’. With Love, was conceptually inspired by the research I’ve conducted on creativity and creative arts education over the past few …

Developing Resilience In The School Setting: A Response To Trauma, Michelle Nutter

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Lasting effects of childhood trauma manifest themselves in a variety of problem behaviors witnessed in classrooms across the nation. School staff would benefit from background knowledge to understand students who have experienced trauma and interventions to respond appropriately and positively to behaviors. As a school leader, the purpose of this cross-case qualitative design was twofold. First, I hoped to understand the perceptions of school staff members regarding trauma-informed interventions in elementary public schools. Second, this study explored the infrastructure of select schools that enable principals and staff members to view its students through a trauma lens. Literature on successful interventions …

Self-Authorship And Professional Identity Formation In Professional-Level Athletic Training Students, Matthew Rivera

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The development of a professional identity is a crucial component of health professions’ education programs and aids in interprofessional collaboration, communication, efficiency, and patient outcomes. Yet, limited research on the development of the individual as a component of professional identity development exists. The use of curricular strategies rooted in the self-authorship theory can close this gap in the development of a professional identity. Self-authorship is a developmental continuum whereby individuals move from following external formulas to building an internal foundation where they make meaning and integrate beliefs into how they think and act. This study aimed to investigate the self-authorship …

Networking For Mid-Level Administrators In Higher Education: Increase Job Performance And Reduce Burnout, Laura Glasbrenner

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Mid-level administrators occupy a complex position within higher education institutions, a role defined by “middleness” (Gleeson & Shain, 1999, p. 488), which characterizes their place in institutional hierarchies between superiors and subordinates. Mid-level administrators often feel isolated since they cannot be seen as having close personal relationships with those above or below them in the rankings. Consequently, mid-level administrators are subject to burnout, a psychological condition resulting from isolation compounded by working long hours reconciling the competing and conflicting needs of supervisors and subordinates, which leaves them emotionally exhausted, physically depleted, and feeling like they have reached a professional dead-end. …

Evaluating The Influence Of Some Factors On Capability Maturity Model Integration For Development (Cmmi-Dev) Maturity Level, Sakawa Ogega

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Capability Maturity Model Integration for Development (CMMI-DEV) is a collection of characteristics of effective processes that guide improving an organization's operations and ability to manage software projects' development. The CMMI-DEV maturity levels range from 1 to 5 for the staged model; however, there are no certifications for maturity level 1. Organizations appraised may seek higher CMMI-DEV maturity levels. Most clients will seek to do business with organizations with at least CMMI Maturity Level 3 certification. This research aimed to find if software development methodology (SDM), CMMI training, and other process improvement (OPI) standards affect CMMI maturity level rating. The dependent …

State Charter School Law Scores As A Predictor Of Illegal Activity Within The Chartering Sector, David Stashevsky

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

State charter school policy is influenced through a collaboration between advocacy groups and state legislators. Charter school advocacy groups have an inherent bias toward deregulation and autonomy. Two advocacy groups, the Center for Education Reform (CER) and the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools (NAPCS), each conduct annual analyses on state charter school laws using their own model charter law as the comparator. Each group has developed a rubric of indicators with sub-scores which combine to form an overall state score. Higher scores indicate a closer adherence to the advocacy group’s model charter law. The charter school sector in the …

In-Person And Remote Employees And Information Security Policy Compliance, Joyce Mui

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many workers have changed their working status from in-person to remote, in the past several years, with a large increase in the number of employees working remotely during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. In parallel, the increasing costs of data breaches and number of security incidents continue to be a concern to organizations seeking to protect their organization, systems, and data. This study’s research questions were formed using a theoretical framework of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to discover influences on employee behavior and the Social Bonds Theory (SBT) to address strength of relationships and impact to compliance. This …

Adolescent Well-Being And Exclusionary Discipline: A Resiliency Model, Rachel Ballard

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Adolescents, especially those with a mental illness, often behave in ways judged to be impulsive, overly emotional, and irresponsible (Gogtay et al., 2004; Lawrence et al., 2015; Tamnes et al., 2010). Many teen behaviors which concern adults can be related to underdeveloped skills or competencies, rate of brain development, or expressions of mental disorders (Casey et al., 2011; Serbin et al., 2011; Spear, 2000). Behaviors commonly associated with adolescence, such as impulsivity, risk-taking, and efforts to fit in with peers, are often seen as a serious threat to school harmony, learning, and student safety, necessitating a disciplinary response from school …

The Hidden Quality Cost Resulting From Food And Drug Administration Inspection Failures In Mid To Large Companies, Jonathan Walston

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

An approach to identify and validate hidden quality costs associated with regulatory non-compliance from inspections by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not been previously researched. This dissertation presents a robust quantitative methodology to analyze the daily cumulative abnormal returns (CAR) on populations of publicly traded mid-to-large cap companies around FDA inspection events having negative outcomes. Three hypotheses have been tested focusing only on inspection events from companies falling under the biologics product type category. Hypothesis 1 states that there is no statistically significant correlation between the sum of CAR around inspection windows for such companies when a negative …

Us Manufacturing Readiness Assesment For Industry 4.0, Yogesh Bhutani

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Industry 4.0 is the next frontier in manufacturing evolution. Industry 4.0 is the term coined by the German government based on the research work of Henning Kaegermann. Multiple studies have been published worldwide, showing the slow or no adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies. Factors such as high costs, unproven technologies, integration, and others impacting the adoption are areas of concern. Readiness is an important factor that impacts adoption. Understanding the current readiness for Industry 4.0 to predict future adoption levels is important. It is vital to understand the readiness of manufacturing companies to adopt Industry 4.0 technologies, as this is …

A Holistic Approach To Creating Cultures Of Quality Excellence Within Higher Education Institutions In North Carolina, Natalie Aman

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This paper first seeks to identify cultural factors of faculty, staff, and students within Higher Education Intuitions (HEI) and then understand how those factors affect the individual as well as the overall larger population of all studied groups to create cultures of quality excellence. Secondary data collected from government databases was used for the research. The independent variables included cultural factors for each stakeholder and the dependent variables included satisfaction levels of each stakeholder. Faculty and staff independent cultural variables included Performance Management, Supervisor/Department Chair Effectiveness, Communication & Collaboration, Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging, and Mission and Pride. The dependent variable …

Adopting Open-Source Methodology For Improving Business Processes And Public Trust, Lawrence Bosek

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Technology and the Internet have given rise to the availability of information at our fingertips. While the public, particularly consumers, are more commonly described as being the leading users and beneficiaries of electronic information services, businesses and governments are also players in the same information technology resource arena. Technology is also being integrated more in our everyday lives. Important information can now be easily stored on Internet websites for the public, businesses, and other governmental offices to search and peruse when needed. The Internet has also allowed for electronic devices to connect and communicate with each other in ways that …

Mythos Series (Mythos: The Greek Myths Reimagined, Heroes: The Greek Myths Reimagined, And Troy: The Greek Myths Reimagined) By Stephen Fry, Phillip Fitzsimmons

Faculty Articles & Research

Book review of Stephen Fry's Mythos series, reviewed by Phillip Fitzsimmons.

Leveraging Data Analytics To Study The Impacts Of State Budget Cuts On Public Higher Education Institutions In The United States, Praveen Kumar Guraja

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Public higher education in the United States (US) is funded through two primary forms: one is through state higher education appropriation funds, and the other is student financial aid that is directly given to students. Increasing postsecondary full-time equivalent (FTE) enrollment and graduation rate are becoming a crucial economic priority in the US. However, only a limited study is available about whether state investment in higher education and increasing tuition charges can impact FTE student enrollment (FTEE) and graduation rate (GR) at 4-year public universities in the US. A systematic literature review was conducted for the present research to comprehend …

Narrative Inquiry Of Opt Workers In Manufacturing Engineering Fields, Marietta Joleen Watson

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Optional Practical Training (OPT) is a highly valued and highly underutilized program designed to offer international students an opportunity to work in the U.S. and train in their field of study. This qualitative study collected and analyzed the narratives of three alumni of a Midwest university who completed OPT in the manufacturing engineering field. Four themes were identified in the narratives. These themes were inextricable to the premise that OPT is a deeply appreciated opportunity for F-1 students. The first theme is viewing the OPT experience as a system which includes the university, USCIS, and the employer and moreover a …

Preoperative Predictors For 30-Day Postoperative Emergency Department Visit After A Bariatric Surgery, Pawan Bhandari

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

One of US hospitals' widely used critical performance or quality outcome measures is the 30-day emergency department (ED) visit after a surgical procedure. Such ED visits add millions of dollars each year as a cost burden to US healthcare. This study aimed to identify key predictors known before the patient's surgery, contributing to undesirable ED visits within 30 days of a bariatric surgical procedure. The study was conducted in three phases. The first phase of the study engaged a panel of experts to narrow down important preoperative factors for patients undergoing bariatric surgery in the form of a Delphi study. …

Organizational Culture: An Examination Of The Role Of Leadership In Neutralizing The Negative Effects Of Technostress During Operational Shifts, David P. Kirkland

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

COVID-19 created a support problem for public universities across the United States and required that IT departments and professionals alter how they performed in 2020, and perhaps beyond. IT professionals tasked with safeguarding large amounts of data were required to shift to a teleworking posture to continue offering a similar level of service as previously expected. In addition to the technological shift that organizations experienced because of COVID-19, leadership challenges also impacted IT departments across the United States. The rapid shift of operational duties has the propensity to increase technology-related stress, due to employee perception of being successful in their …

The Dichotomy Of Nature And Culture In Riders To The Sea, Kayla J. Baur

Publications and Research

Jonathan Millington Synge spent his time on the Aran Islands wandering through the peasantry in the countryside, using his experiences and things he witnessed to inspire his writings. He wrote the play Riders to the Sea to portray the lives of the Aran peasants by showing the way in which they coped with the natural forces surrounding their island through believing in certain cultures. Synge constructs a dichotomy between the belief in the forces of nature and culture stemming from modern Christianity not only to portray the mixture of cultures present among the Aran peasants but also to challenge the …

A Static Code Analysis And Pattern Recognition Algorithm-Driven, Quantitative, Mathematical Model-Oriented Risk Assessment Framework Of Cloud-Based Health Information Applications, Dennis B. Park

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

According to a survey, the healthcare industry is one of the least cloud-adopting industries. The low adoption reflects the healthcare industry's ongoing concerns about the security of the cloud. Business applications, according to another survey, are among the most vulnerable components of business information systems. Many risk assessment frameworks available today, particularly for health information applications, require significant customization before they can be used. This study created a new framework to assess cloud risks specifically for their health information applications, utilizing data-driven risk assessment methodologies to avoid surveys, interviews, and meetings for data collection. For the feasibility study, the open-source …

Critical Success Factors For Implementing Blockchain In The Supply Chain For Product Traceability, Gary Lee

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Satashi Nakamoto’s introduction of blockchain in 2008 initially directed the technology for the use of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies (Nakamoto, 2008). In recent years the technology has been identified for other use cases. Businesses are currently developing this technology to reduce or eliminate transactional costs. Along with this anticipated use, businesses are using this technology to include traceability across the supply chain. This research looks at implementing blockchain technology in supply chain traceability. Clohessy (2019) identified critical success factors for implementing blockchain, but what is not existing in the literature are the relative importance of each factor for implementation of …

Determining How Team Communication And Project Outcomes Evolve In A Midwestern Healthcare Company: A Case Study Approach, Gregory J. Ash

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to determine the perspective of the Business Operation team and IT team during project team communication and interaction towards an awareness of the critical business processes and systems needed to ensure project success. For companies to remain competitive, a catalyst for growth through software development projects is required. Impediments to successful software project outcomes include inefficient communication, one-sided team communication, siloed team interaction, lack of business knowledge, lack of information sharing, and insufficient training resources. This study was a Convergent Parallel Mixed Methods Design with survey questions for the quantitative component and open-ended questions …

Organizational Role Conflict: The Lived Experience Of The Long-Term Department Chairperson In Higher Education, Susan M. Frey

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study is a hermeneutic investigation into the phenomenon of organizational role conflict as experienced by five long-term department chairpersons, four long-term department heads, and two former long-term department chairpersons working at universities and colleges located in Indiana, Illinois, and Massachusetts. Organizational role conflict for department chairpersons and department heads is a byproduct of their frontline manager position. By occupying a position between the collegiate and administrative branches of their institution, these managers serve as an important link in the chain of command, but suffer from ambiguous, contradictory, and competing expectations placed on them because of their hybrid status as …

The Research And Development Of An Assessment Item Pool For A Graduate Research Methods Course, Heidi M. Muller

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research and development study created an item pool for the TMGT 698 graduate research methods course taught by the Department of Applied Engineering and Technology Management at Indiana State University. The Department of Applied Engineering and Technology Management at Indiana State University can use the item pool created in this research and development study to evaluate the dissemination of knowledge to graduate students from the course materials provided to them. The Department of Applied Engineering and Technology Management at Indiana State University can use the item pool in conjunction with the written assessments and discussion response assessments to evaluate …

The Perceived Effectiveness Of The Scaled Agile Framework® In Software Development Organizations, James F. Carilli

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Software development projects experience very high failure rates. Due to the high cost of project failure, coupled with studies that found failure rates are closely tied to the software development method used, the purpose of this mixed methods exploratory case study was to examine the extent of perceived effectiveness of the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe®) in software development organizations using Complex Adaptive Systems as a lens to guide the study. This research focused on the extent of perceived effectiveness of the Scaled Agile Framework® on organizational outcomes, team management, stakeholder and customer management, management of emerging requirements and overall organizational …