Higher Education Commons^™

Avian Influenza And The Approach To Designing An H5n1 Vaccine, Lauren N. Hickey

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

The Avian influenza virus (AIV) H5N1 has been responsible for the culling and deaths of millions of birds since 2022 with concern for wildlife, livestock, and human infections occurring as well. With eggs flying off the shelves in grocery stores, even individuals not involved in the agricultural industry have seen the drastic effects of this disease first-hand. For chickens, this virus works quickly and overpowers the innate immune system before the adaptive immune system has time to properly respond. Therefore, a safe and effective vaccine could reduce the number of poultry deaths and prevent the continuous spread of the infection. …

Review Of The Book Blinders: Annals Of Vandalism At The British Library: A Necrology, By John Clute, Janet Brennan Croft

Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy

Review of The Book Blinders: Annals of Vandalism at the British Library: A Necrology, by John Clute. The book discusses the British Library's policy of discarding dust-jackets, with examples of the sort of information lost when these important paratexts are destroyed.

How To Publish Open Access For Little To No Cost, Sue Ann Gardner, Melissa Gomis

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: Presentations

Slides of a presentation about how to publish your scholarly works for little to no cost. Part of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Open Access Week training series for 2026.

How to Publish Open Access for Little to No Cost, Thursday, October 22, 2026, 12:00-1:00 pm, Online

Increase the visibility and impact of your research without paying high publication fees. Open access publishing helps your scholarship reach readers around the world, but article processing charges (APCs) can be costly. The University Libraries can help you take advantage of publisher agreements and other resources that may cover most—or even all—of your publishing …

The Life Of A Showgirl As A Cultural Artifact: What's Hidden By The Lipstick And Lace?, Crystal F. Haryanto

Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy

This paper develops a collage-based framework to holistically assess Taylor Swift’s highly anticipated first release after the Eras Tour concluded. The Life of a Showgirl, with sparkling promotional materials leading up to its October 2025 drop and polarizing critical reception following it, represents an entertainer’s lifestyle while still concealing what was alluded to behind the Eras Tour curtain. Rather than engage in a direct response to Showgirl, I critically evaluate positive and negative commentary from listeners regarding the album, and I thematically analyze lyrical concepts throughout Swift’s discography to contextualize Showgirl within the arc of her work. I …

Book Review: Vigil: A Novel, Stephen Woodgeard

Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy

George Saunders’s Vigil is presented as a sharp, unsettling novel about climate ethics, corporate power, and the stories people use to excuse harm. The review argues that the book’s magical-real realist structure turns a dying oil executive’s final night into a moral reckoning, while also showing how family myth, corporate language, and public discourse shape denial. It also notes that the novel’s allegorical design can feel heavy-handed at times, but its central strength is its forceful critique of complicity and the difficulty of moral awakening.

Urasawa’S Monster And The Aesthetics Of Uncertainty, Simon Lindblom

Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy

This essay examines the anime Monster (Urasawa, 2001) through the lens of Aesthetic action (Klinger, 2024) and ethical praxis. Set in a nostalgically rendered pre-accelerationist Europe, the anime cultivates an atmosphere of uncertainty that prompts viewers to engage in complex moral issues. By exploring the anime's aesthetic strategies, this analysis reveals how Monster functions as a political device, exposing the dark undercurrents of historical trauma and the systemic exclusion of marginalised groups. The essay argues that Monster's deliberate cultivation of indeterminacy, particularly through its morally ambiguous characters and unresolved dilemmas, embodies a Determinate Performance of Indeterminacy (Klinger, 2024). This …

Buffeted By Change, Researchers Seek Continuity And Investment: Results From The Ithaka S+R Us Researcher Survey, Chelsea Mccracken, Dylan Ruediger, Ruby Macdougall

Copyright, Fair Use, Scholarly Communication, etc.

Executive summary

The research enterprise in the United States, established after the second world war, is experiencing massive disruption. US colleges and universities are grappling with federal and state disinvestment and intervention at a time when AI and other technologies are reshaping how research is conducted and its findings are communicated. As a result, researchers at US higher education institutions are operating in an unstable environment. Against this backdrop, the findings from our survey of 4,003 researchers, fielded in late 2025, demonstrate that they remain committed to carrying out essential work and that they are doing so in innovative ways—through …

Humanity, Ai, And The Pedagogy Of Vince Gilligan’S Pluribus, J. Scarlett Kingsley

Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy

This review discusses the tv show Pluribus as a contemporary television narrative that functions as an allegory for artificial intelligence and its implications for human meaning-making. Centering on Carol Sturka, one of thirteen individuals immune to a alien global virus that merges humanity into a cooperative “Hive Mind”, the series explores tensions between autonomy and collective well-being in a “peaceful apocalypse.” The analysis argues that the Hive Mind reflects key concerns surrounding AI, including the production of knowledge without understanding, personalization without discernment, and efficiency that bypasses the struggle through which meaning is formed. Drawing on John Searle’s distinction between …

Sang M. Lee, Unl Business Management; Goal Programming, Mark Griep, Sang M. Lee

UNL ORCA Interview Series

Dr. Sang Lee was awarded the ORCA in 1980. Sang was born in 1939 in South Korea and grew up in Seoul. He earned his bachelor’s in 1961 at Seoul National University. Next, he traveled over 7000 miles to the US to earn a master’s from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and then a somewhat shorter move to the University of Georgia in Athens, where he earned a doctorate in Business Administration and Management. From 1968 to 1976, he rose through the ranks at Virginia Polytechnic Institute in Blacksburg while making a splash for his “goal programming” ideas. In 1976, …

Book Review: The History And Politics Of Star Wars: Death Stars And Democracy, Petra Hendrickson

Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy

Book Review: The History and Politics of Star Wars: Death Stars and Democracy

Norman H. Cromwell, Unl Chemistry; Nu System Dean; Eppley Cancer Center Director, Norman H. Cromwell, Pete Boughn, Mark A. Griep

UNL ORCA Interview Series

This 1980 interview of Normal Cromwell was done by Pete Boughn at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. He asked about Cromwell’s history but mostly about his time as director of the Eppley Cancer Center. The interview is reproduced with permission from the UNMC McGoogan Library.

Cromwell was born in 1913 in Terre Haute, Indiana. In 1935, he earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in his hometown. In 1939, three things happened: he earned a doctorate in organic chemistry from the University of Minnesota, he got married, and he was hired …

Parks Coble, Jr., Unl History; Chinese Nationalists & Business, Chinese-Japanese Relations, Mark A. Griep, Parks M. Coble Jr.

UNL ORCA Interview Series

Dr. Parks Coble, Jr. was awarded the ORCA in 2005. He was born in Waterloo, South Carolina in 1946 but he grew up in Columbia. He earned his bachelor’s in history at the University of South Carolina in Columbia. Next, he traveled 740 miles northwest to earn his doctorate at the University of Illinois in Champaign. In 1976, he became an assistant professor of history at the University of Nebraska, where he quickly rose through the ranks. His early work focused on the relationship between Chinese business elites and leaders of the Chinese National Government movement during a very interesting …

Evaluating The Motivations Of Participants In Online Equine Extension Courses, Sarah Vos

Department of Animal Science: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Traditional program evaluations emphasize participant demographics, knowledge gain, behavior change, and program impact. However, evaluating participant motivation can provide addition insight into why participants enroll in extension programs and help explain participant engagement and persistence throughout a program. The purpose of this study was to evaluate participant motivation in two online equine extension courses and examine potential relationships between motivation, demographics, and course delivery method, and describe participant engagement in Virtual Horse Judging Camp (VHJC). This cross-sectional study utilized convenience sampling of participants in two online equine extension courses, Horse Adult Leader Training and Educational Resource (HALTER) and VHJC. The …

Review Of Supernatural: A History Of Television’S Unearthly Road Trip By Erin Giannini, Duane Ebesu

Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy

No abstract (book review)

Fred Luthans, Unl Business Management, Positive Organizational Behavior, Mark Griep, Fred Luthans

UNL ORCA Interview Series

Fred Luthans was awarded the ORCA in 2008. He was born in Clinton, Iowa in 1939. He earned three degrees from the University of Iowa in Iowa City, located only a few miles from Clinton. His bachelor's was in mathematics in 1961, a Master’s of Business Administration in ‘62, PhD in Management and Psychology in 1965. After serving two years as a captain in the Army at West Point, where he taught psychology and leadership, he joined the University of Nebraska-Lincoln as an Associate Professor of Management. He's had a remarkable career, but I'll only mention three major distinctions. His …

Stephen Baenziger, Unl Agronomy & Horticulture, Breeding New Wheat Varieties, Mark Griep, P. Stephen Baenziger

UNL ORCA Interview Series

Stephen Baenziger awarded the ORCA in 2011. He was born in 1951 in Toronto, Canada. When he was an infant, his family immigrated to the U.S., where he grew up in Des Plaines, Illinois. He earned a bachelor's in biological chemistry magna cum laude from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Next, he earned a master's and doctorate in plant breeding and genetics at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. Over the next decade, he worked for the USDA at Beltsville Agricultural Research Center in Maryland and then at the Monsanto Corporation in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1986, he joined the …

Interview With Orca Award Winner Ross Thompson, Unl Psychology; Childhood Emotional Development, Mark Griep, Ross Thompson

UNL ORCA Interview Series

Ross Thompson was awarded the ORCA in 2000. He was born in 1954 in Madison, Wisconsin. He traveled nearly 2000 miles west to earn a bachelor’s in psychology magna cum laude from Occidental College in Los Angeles. Then, he traveled east over 2200 miles to earn a master’s and doctorate in psychology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. In 1981, he joined the University of Nebraska-Lincoln as an assistant professor of psychology and rose quickly through the ranks while studying childhood emotional development. In 2003, three years after earning the ORCA, Ross left UNL to join the psychology …

Interview With Orca Winner John Hibbing, Political Science; How Political Attitudes Correlate With Physiological Traits, Mark A. Griep, John Hibbing

UNL ORCA Interview Series

Dr. John Hibbing was awarded the ORCA in 1993. John was born in 1953 in Paullina, Iowa. He earned a bachelor's in secondary education from Dana College in Blair, Nebraska, but then realized that teaching high school wasn't for him. Instead, he attended the University of Iowa, where he earned a master's and doctorate in political science. In 1981, he joined the University of Nebraska-Lincoln as an assistant professor of political science and rose quickly through the ranks. Initially, he studied the reasons that members of the U.S. Congress retire. This led to a longer-term collaboration with Kevin Smith and …

First Peer Review Course Portfolio: Management 101: Introduction To Business, Shawntell Kroese

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

Management 101: Introduction to Business is a foundational undergraduate course serving approximately 1,500 students annually across four sections. The course introduces students to management, marketing, accounting, economics, finance, supply chain management, and strategy through a highly experiential learning model. A signature component of the course is the Business Battle, a “real-life” consulting challenge where students solve authentic business problems presented by a Company (this year it was MotoAmerica). The course combines large-scale instruction with a peer coaching model, active learning exercises, recitations, industry speakers, and team-based projects. This portfolio examines course design, instructional methods, student learning outcomes, and future opportunities …

Interview With Orca Winner Xiao Cheng Zeng; Unl Chemistry; Computational/Theoretical; Nebraska Ice & Gold Nanocages, Mark Griep, Xiao Cheng Zeng

UNL ORCA Interview Series

Xiao Cheng Zeng became a chemistry professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1993, quickly rose through the ranks, and was in the department for 29 years. In 2022, he left to become head of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the City University of Hong Kong. Xiao was born in Beijing and earned a bachelor’s in physics at the University of Beijing in 1984. Next, he traveled 6800 miles east to Ohio State University in Columbus where he earned his doctorate in condensed matter physics. He followed that up with two postdoctoral experiences, first at the University …

Statistical Methods In Research, Horahenage Dixon Vimalajeewa

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

This course portfolio documents the design, delivery, assessment, student-learning evidence, and reflective evaluation of STAT 801A-700: Statistical Methods in Research, an online asynchronous service course designed to introduce students from diverse disciplinary backgrounds to foundational statistical reasoning and applied data analysis. The course is a non-calculus-based introduction to statistical methods used to answer research questions, with emphasis on collecting, organizing, describing, analyzing, and drawing conclusions from data. The course also emphasizes applications relevant to biology, agriculture, and other research-oriented fields. This is an online distance course aimed to develop students’ understanding of basic probability and statistical concepts, recognize the importance …

Course Portfolio: Elements Of Physics Phys 151, Evan A. Rich

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

This course portfolio documents the instructional design, teaching methods, and ongoing assessment efforts for PHYS 151: Elements of Physics, an algebra-based introductory physics course at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The course serves a broad undergraduate population, including architecture, construction management, and life science majors. The portfolio describes the teaching framework that integrates pre-lecture video preparation, active in-class engagement through iClicker questions, and collaborative weekly recitation sections, all unified around a structured six-step problem-solving approach. A central concern of the course is building students’ self-efficacy in physics, particularly among those with math anxiety or limited preparation. Two assessments are reported: a …

First Course Portfolio For Plpt 803 Fundamentals Of Scientific Discovery, Hernan Garcia-Ruiz

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

PLPT 803 Fundamentals of Scientific discovery is a new curse in the Department of Plant Pathology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. I designed and developed this course from the ground up. Initially, it was offered as a special topic (PLPT 892-014) for four years. PLPT 803 was approved by the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources curriculum committee in September of 2025. PLPT 803 is unique within the University of Nebraska system and will be offered for the first time in the fall of 2027. The course is designed for students to learn fundamental scientific skills such as scrutinize, …

Performance Of Illustrations And Images As Language In Sarnath Banerjee’S All Quiet In Vikaspuri, Akanksha Barthwal Ms

SANE journal: Sequential Art Narrative in Education

Sarnath Banerjee’s All Quiet in Vikaspuri, fictionalizes but at the same time addresses water wars and political ideologies in the city of Delhi. By the means of eco-critical approach in the name of Vi-kas (development) Banerjee discuss the acts of slow violence subverted on nature in the name of progress (vikas). Through text/ images the author depicts chaos and challenges for the readers in more direct and obscene ways. The current paper attempts to look at Banerjee’s illustrations and images as new form of language emerged in modern Indian literature with the possibly that illustrations have more effect on …

Shared Language For Responsible Ai Integration, Asa B. Stone, Mark C. Stone, Alisha Bevins, Jean Claude Niyomugabo, Irene Magara, Jacob Abaare, Derek M. Heeren, Mubarak Abu Zouriq

PRAIRIE: Pioneering Responsible AI for Research, Innovation, and Education

As AI rapidly reshapes how we work and learn, employers increasingly seek graduates who can think before they prompt, exercising judgment under pressure rather than merely producing output. Yet students are praised for AI use in one course and penalized for it in the next, and faculty are left to lead responsibly on shifting ground, with no shared language to guide them.

This paper introduces the PRAIRIE Framework for AI Integration, a shift from reactive gatekeeping toward proactive stewardship. It emerged from a qualitative sentiment analysis of three communities (students, faculty, and industry partners) whose concerns converged on one need: …

Construction Project Administration: Course Portfolio, Andre Messner

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

This portfolio presents a structured framework for the design and implementation of a construction project administration course within a Construction Management program. Emphasis is placed on aligning student learning objectives, instructional strategies, and assessment methods with current industry expectations and professional standards. The course is intentionally designed to bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical application by incorporating real-world scenarios, collaborative learning environments, and experiential activities that mirror industry practices.

In addition to outlining the course structure, this paper examines the pedagogical foundations that support student-centered learning, including constructivism, scaffolding, and project-based learning. These approaches are used to foster …

Increasing Students’ Self-Efficacy In Consuming, Conducting, And Disseminating Neuroimaging Research: Experiences From Teaching Edps 991: Social And Affective Neuroscience, Isabella Starling Alves

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

Social and emotional factors are critical for learning, being core aspects of the educational  psychology curricula. Recently, neuroimaging has emerged as a powerful tool to  comprehend the neurobiological factors underlying these factors. Yet, many educational  psychologists have low familiarity with neuroscience research. The course EDPS 991:  Social and Affective Neuroscience, from the Department of Educational Psychology at the  University of Nebraska-Lincoln, emerges in this context, training educational psychology  graduate students to consume, conduct, and disseminate findings about how the brain  relates to socioemotional processes. One challenge related to the course is that many  students feel anxious about learning the neuroimaging …

Leading While Black: An Examination Of The Black Supervisor Experience Overseeing White Subordinates In Higher Education, Colette Marie Tobias

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

This study examines how systemic racism and social capital hierarchies shape the supervisory experiences of Black supervisors. While existing literature has explored leadership and race, it has not fully examined how systemic racism shape Black supervisors’ experiences or how social capital hierarchies play into the behavioral responses of white subordinates. This study addresses that gap by centering the lived experiences of Black supervisors within higher education.

Grounded in narrative inquiry, this research focuses on how participants make meaning of their experiences through their stories. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews and reflective journals with 19 Black supervisors who had at …

Unl Emeriti And Retirees Association Newsletter, May 2026

UNL Emeriti and Retirees Association: Newsletters and Other Materials

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Emeriti and Retirees Association Newsletter, May 2026

Message from the ERA President, Vicki Highstreet

Welcome to new members

Recipe

Volunteer service

Funding opportunity

Wake up your well-being

Programming recaps

Celebration of life: Larry Dlugosh

Memory moments

Exploring Student Sensemaking During A Collaborative Biology Lab, Rebecca Kollipara

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Collaborative learning environments offer valuable opportunities for students to construct scientific understanding through dialogue, yet the conditions that support sustained conceptual reasoning in group settings remain incompletely understood. While prior research has identified discourse moves associated with productive collaboration, less attention has been paid to how those moves function together across turns and conceptual boundaries, or how individual student characteristics shape their emergence. This thesis examines collaborative sensemaking in an undergraduate General Biology II course, drawing on two complementary analyses of student discourse during a bryophyte life-cycle modeling activity.

Chapter 1 investigates how student groups participated in sensemaking and how …