Theory and Philosophy Commons^™

A Poetic Call For And A Reflection And Commentary On Clarity, Understanding, Hope, Courage, And Compassion, Carroy U. Ferguson

Psychology Faculty Publication Series

Finding a published poem I had written as a teenager, titled “The Heavens Weep.” this article uses that poem as the basis for a commentary that reflects on the state of the world today (2026),  As a commentary, the article uses the poetic and metaphoric words in the poem as a relevant "reality check" for what is still going on today.  In essence, the commentary is about a call for Clarity, Understanding, Hope, Courage, and Compassion, or what I call Archetypal Energies, Higher Vibrational Energies that operate deep within our individual and collective psyches to creatively urge us to "see" …

Learning To Get Out Of The Wing - The Motivations Of Learners Incarcerated In Québec Provincial Prisons, Frédérick Armstrong

Journal of Prison Education Research

41 men and women incarcerated in the Québec provincial prison system were asked why they enrolled in educational activities. Relying on self-determination theory’s to describe and categorize their motivations, we found that most respondents had extrinsic motivations to participate in educational activities and that only three respondents could be described as intrinsically motivated. Respondents joined programmes to escape boredom, to receive financial compensation or to receive some other benefits; not for the pleasure of learning. These results are different from other research reporting that a majority of incarcerated learners were intrinsically motivated. After addressing this contrast and arguing that it …

Impact Of Instagram Flyers In Higher Education: Within Resident Assistant Program Attendance Marketing, Mary J. Mcdonald

Liberal Studies (MA) Final Essays

This exploratory pilot study examines whether posting Instagram digital flyers affects Resident Assistant (RA) program attendance in the higher-education Housing and Residence Life (HRL) context. Instagram has emerged as a dominant channel of communication among Generation Z (1997-2012). As a result, higher education institutions have increasingly used social media to prompt student engagement and foster belonging, in hopes of strengthening retention. Using a quasi-experimental matched comparison design, attendance data from the 2024 academic year without Instagram flyers were compared to the 2025 academic year with Instagram flyers. The independent variable was the implementation of Instagram digital flyers, and the dependent …

Marooned: A Western Frontier Dismal Swamp Narrative, Professor Meya E. Hargett

The Scholarship Without Borders Journal

Marooned: A Western Frontier Dismal Swamp Narrative centers the erased figure of Samuel Mars, a lost Black station master whose movements through the Great Dismal Swamp have been excluded from dominant Underground Railroad cartographies. Here, the term “Marooned” refers not to abandonment, but to the maroon geographies of Black and Indigenous resistance encoded in land, lineage, and fugitive infrastructure.

Guided by Diasporic Maroon Memory Theory, Lineage as Method, and the Maroon Geographies Framework, this research reconstructs Mars’s trajectory through oral testimony, spatial patterning, and ancestral land memory. Rather than casting the Dismal Swamp merely as a site of refuge, this …

Polymathy: The Foundational Source Of Creativity And Innovation., Michael Araki

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In an era of mounting complexity and a growing need to transcend siloed thinking, this dissertation advances polymathy as a critical yet underexplored construct in the management and behavioral sciences. Polymathy is framed as an expansive approach to the pursuit, development, and application of knowledge, marked by the conjunction of breadth, depth, and integration. Building on a thought lineage that stretches from Ancient Greece through the Renaissance to the present day, this work shows that polymathy is neither a relic of the past nor an achievement reserved for a few—but a mode of being, thinking, and acting in the world …

Arts-Based Sustainability: From New York To Malawi, Martha B. Lerski

Publications and Research

Recognizing that libraries serve multiple constituencies and subject areas, this chapter documents and advocates for development of transdisciplinary arts-based research (ABR) and culture-related projects linked to environmental challenges. Libraries contribute collections and spaces, as well as the research of library and information scientists. Libraries are currently among invisible contributors to sustainability planning and services. The chapter will link this invisibility to the value of what visual arts refer to as negative space elements in subjects ranging from traditional ecological knowledge to environmental science. Library collections, projects, and research contribute to education for sustainable development (ESD) as required to achieve the …

Field Journal: The Excluded Middle, Carrie E. Kouts

Masters Theses

What does it look like to engage with organisms and landscapes at the periphery of anthropocentric value structures? How does one break the internalized myth that the “built” environment is excluded from the natural world? When does a hyper-mobile and hyper-commodified society confront the exponential crisis of animal death? Within this series of journal entries, field notes, collection observations, weird prose, and sensory musings, one will find questions on the nature of being human and the complex narratives of care we encounter in a world shared with more-than-humans. Each handwritten vignette and photograph from daily life weaves a non-linear and …

Early Adolescent Intervention: A Therapy Group For Girls, Madelyn A. Ohm

Educational Specialist, 2020-current

As mental health concerns are on the rise, especially among adolescents, it is important to consider promoting early intervention. Paying attention to the nuances surrounding personal identity and interpersonal relationships during adolescence is crucial. Dialectical-Behavior Therapy (DBT) skills encompass just what is needed to address said nuances, including interpersonal effectiveness skills, emotion regulation skills, distress tolerance, and mindfulness. Thus, the proposed DBT group and therapeutic manual designated for adolescent girls summarizes and explores suggestions for early intervention of mental health services. This, alongside the careful attention to the population’s specific needs and noted modules, allows for the exploration of mental …

The Art Of Dreaming: A Surrealist Approach To Dream Analysis, Shelby Wright

Honors Thesis

Over the past two years, I created a series of paintings to explore the meaning of my nightmares. This study analyzes the themes and symbols in these dreams through the psychological frameworks of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung. Freud’s causal approach focuses on repressed desires, while Jung’s method relies on mythological symbols and archetypes in the collective unconscious. Drawing on the ideas of André Breton and the Surrealist movement, I examine how art can bridge dreams and waking life. By painting my dreams, I aim to better understand my unconscious and invite viewers to question their perception of reality. This …

Double, Double, Toils And Troubles: Analyzing The “Magical” Relationships Between University Leaders’ Personality Traits And Their Self-Efficacy In Leadership Situations, Fay Ludvine Boudreaux

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This present study investigated the relationship between higher education leaders’ personality traits and their self-efficacy in leadership situations. A total of 151 leaders employed across the nine institutions within the University of Louisiana System completed a survey that prompted them to identify their personal values, traits, and skill sets, as derived from the online Pottermore quiz, the official Harry Potter Hogwarts House sorting instrument. This niche personality metric was chosen to cater to higher education’s evolving landscape, as it welcomes an influx of Millennials into leadership positions. Participants’ responses were eventually recoded to “sort” them into their respective Houses: Gryffindor, …

A Creative Introduction To Narrative Therapy: Harnessing The Power Of Stories, Art, And The Person-Of-The-Therapist, Marissa Mueller

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

This paper describes a proposed graduate-level academic elective course for mental health practitioners in training. The course content is organized across a total of 10 class sessions. Topic areas include introductions to the theory and techniques of narrative therapy, including expressive art approaches, the importance of social justice work through collective narrative practice and liberation psychology, the construction and analysis of stories of self and personal myths, and a focus on developing the person-of-the-therapist. Each class session will review that week's lecture content, assigned readings, small and large group discussion prompts, and in-class activities. The course prioritizes centering student experiences …

Integrating Civic Spirituality And Civic Disposition To Build Ethical Citizen Character, Sukron Mazid, Atsani Wulansari, Imroatun Hasanah

Jurnal Civics: Media Kajian Kewarganegaraan

This research aims to explore and combine the concepts of civic spirituality and disposition to build ethical citizens' character. These two concepts complement each other, with civic spirituality focusing on religious values in society and civic disposition on civic attitudes that support active participation and responsibility. This research used the literature method, analysing relevant literature and theories on civic education, spirituality, and ethics. The results showed that the integration of civic spirituality and civic disposition can be a solid foundation for building the character of ethical, moral, and socially responsible citizens. This integration forms ethical citizens through religious values, such …

Seeing Through Solid Words: Using Gebser’S Concept Of Transparency To Understand A Gnostic Poem Expressing Integral Consciousness, Lisa Maroski

Journal of Conscious Evolution

It is difficult to express integral consciousness using ordinary language because of the inherent tendency of language to separate and distinguish. Jean Gebser, in The Ever-Present Origin, suggested concepts such as transparency and diaphaneity as ways to access integral consciousness, and the Gnostic text The Thunder, Perfect Mind (TPM) is written from the perspective of a being with integral consciousness. I use Jean Gebser’s concepts of transparency and diaphaneity to explicate TPM, an enigmatic, paradoxical poem in the Nag Hammadi Library. Because TPM is written from the perspective of an integral being, one who is All-of-It (i.e., paradoxical completeness rather …

Ai And Positionality:A Guide For Learning Communities, Emese Ilyés

Open Educational Resources

This practical guide helps educators thoughtfully integrate AI tools while preserving what matters most—student voice and agency. Drawing on research with students navigating AI in higher education, it offers concrete activities and frameworks that position technology as an assistant rather than a replacement for authentic expression. Through adaptable classroom strategies and qualitative approaches, educators across disciplines will discover how to create learning environments where students recognize the value of their unique perspectives in an age of artificial intelligence.

Sealing The Deal: A Case Study Of A Private, Southeastern, Regional College’S Student Onboarding Practices, Alicia R. Gaston, Kristen Meyer, Tyler Ogden, Jennifer Perkinson, Casey Yocum Michaels

Doctor of Education Capstones

Each year, higher education institutions offer support to new, incoming students through an onboarding process that requires dedication and collaboration across multiple departments. Offering streamlined guidance and clear communication throughout the onboarding process is essential to ensure incoming students understand action steps without becoming overwhelmed with new terminology, processes, and environments. This explanatory case study is set to understand the current communication practices and technology use across onboarding departments at Brightside College – also referred to as Brightside or BC (pseudonym). The research team aimed to understand Brightside's onboarding staff's perspective of current processes and practices. With emphasis on the …

Her (Ettinger’S) Diotima, His (Levinas’) Diotima: On The Vitalness Of Eros In Education, Shiran Greenberg

Artizein: Arts and Teaching Journal

No abstract provided.

Mindfulness Matters: Addressing Anxiety And Navigating Toward Wellbeing Through Miea Mindfulness Practices, A Mixed-Methods Study Of Lgbtiq Graduate Writing Students, Kim Westerman

Doctoral Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Mindfulness Matters: Addressing Anxiety and Navigating Toward Wellbeing Through MIEA Mindfulness Practices, a Mixed-Methods Study of LGBTIQ Graduate Writing Students

Anxiety has always been a part of the human experience, even before the phenomenon was conceptualized in the 17^th century and named by Freud in the 19th. And human beings have devised many strategies for addressing anxiety: reducing it, ignoring it, distracting oneself from it, despairing over it, medicating it, engaging with it, moving through it, co-existing with it. The current zeitgeist, more than four years into the COVID-19 global pandemic, situates anxiety as a central facet of …

Why The Elderly Are Targeted For Financial Cybercrimes: A Case Of South Africa, Tanweer Hamdulay, Chimwemwe Queen Mtegha, Wallace Chigona, Zwelithini Mabhena

African Conference on Information Systems and Technology

Financial cybercrime is growing in South Africa. The elderly population are a particularly vulnerable demographic to financial cybercrime. This research explores the factors contributing to financial cybercrime vulnerabilities among elderly citizens in disadvantaged communities in South Africa. A theoretical model based on Routine Activity Theory (RAT) was constructed. Findings from in-depth interviews show that cybercriminals take advantage of the elderly’s technology inexperience, using clever social engineering tactics and deceit to access personal and financial information. The study establishes a direct connection between low technology literacy and increased exposure to financial cybercrimes in South Africa, showing a dependence on younger family …

Teaching Staff Mathematics University: Catalyst Of The Emotional-Techno-Ontological Logic, Derling Jose Mendoza Velazco Dr, Magda Francisca Cejas Martínez Phd, Carmen Siavil Varguillas Carmona Phd, Mercedes Carolina Navarro Cejas Phd, Gina Silvana Venegas Álvarez M.Sc.

The Qualitative Report

The relevance of the study lies in the necessity to investigate the psycho-emotional state of teachers during the transition to remote teaching in universities and its impact on academic performance and emotional state of students. The aim of the research was to develop a theoretical approach to describe the emotional and techno-ontological logic of mathematics teachers during distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact of their emotional state on the learning process. The study involved teachers and students from universities in Ecuador, both private and public. The study observed the behavior of teachers and students, analyzed the use …

The Influence Of Misconceptions On Pedagogical Choices Of Secondary Science Teachers: An Embedded Case Study, Tracey Beyer

Dissertations

This case study, using phenomenography within science disciplines, examines how educators' experiences with misconceptions affect teaching methods in high school physics, chemistry, and biology. Based on constructivist and interpretive theories it highlights that personal experiences shape learning and involve continuously reconstructing knowledge. The shared misconceptions of 13 educators across science disciplines reveal how those experiences influenced both their content knowledge and instructional practices. The findings indicate that educators who openly acknowledge and learn from their past experiences with misconceptions are better equipped to recognize and address gaps in understanding, an asset to furthering student learning. This research highlights the importance …

Me And Mathematics: “Doing What You’Re Talking About”: In Dialogue With My Family, Eden Morris

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This paper is a philosophically oriented accompaniment to my audio project (accessible through the following link: https://cuny.manifoldapp.org/projects/me-and-mathematics). Working together, the paper and audio collages form a call to action and a resource. My primary finding is the importance of doing what you’re talking about or exploring and implementing your ideas experientially. Doing what you’re talking about is important for effective teaching/learning and feeling in line with oneself. This working concept came to my attention during my research conversation with my oldest living relative, and then, again, with my youngest (non-baby) relative. This doing what you’re talking about is a way …

Positive Psychology In The Ncaa: Amplifying The Power And Uplifting The Voices Of Student Athletes In Multiple Mental Health Studies, Ashley C. Green

Dissertations

Mental health resources and programming in the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) continues to expand in research and implementation in collegiate athletic departments of all institutions. This study sought to respond to and expand on dissertation research conducted by Dr. Heather Ryan (2021), an administrator in the athletic department at Duke University, and Dr. Chelsi Day (2011) previously the sport psychologist from Ohio State University athletics, and currently for the National Basketball Association (NBA) team, the Memphis Grizzlies. Both are identified as experts regarding student-athlete research regarding mental health needs and accessibility within the NCAA. Topics of research evaluated for …

Harnessing The Power Of Cliftonstrengths®: How Multinational Corporations Can Use Deep-Level Diversity To Enhance Organizational Inclusion, Trapper Kay Pace

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research explicitly investigated how multinational corporations can enhance workplace inclusion through the novel use of the CliftonStrengths® assessment as a dimension of deep-level diversity. The study gleaned insights from employees’ perspectives, employing a constructivist grounded theory approach to explicate their experiences in rich qualitative narratives. Through open-ended surveys and intensive interviews, participants were selected using purposeful sampling to ensure meaningful data collection from the study organizations’ three global regions. The researcher conducted the analysis systematically through the constant comparison of data utilizing the NVivo14 software to assist in constructing codes, themes, and a theoretical schema. Results highlighted the significance …

Portraits Of Hispanic And/Or Latino Leadership Development In The Military, Michael Lugo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

The study presented denotes a continuous transition among the Hispanic and/or Latino demographics in the military and the cadet accounts of military inequality incidents while in the military (Cabrera et al., 2017; Eckel & King, 2004). To assist Hispanic and/or Latino needs based on demographics and environment (National Center for Education Statistics, 2019). Military leaders contribute to growing a diverse, inclusive, and equitable military force for all ethnic groups. The Department of Defense (DoD) is the most racially and ethnically diverse workplace in the United States (Daniel et al., 2022). Nevertheless, racial/ethnic harassment and discrimination in the military continue …

Identifying Youth Appeals In Alcohol Alternative Social Media Content Through Framing, Melina Oneal

West Chester University Master’s Theses

Proposed regulations for alcohol advertising prevent beverage companies from targeting people under the legal drinking age. However, similar regulations for alcohol alternative beverages are less explored, which could allow alcohol alternative products to create awareness for alcoholic beverages among youth. Alcohol alternatives beverages, including no-alcohol and low-alcohol products, are increasing in popularity and can function as compliments to alcoholic products to decrease the total alcohol volume consumed or as substitutes for alcoholic products. Framing theory can be operationalized through the Content Appealing to Youth Index, an index of content elements found in research literature to be appealing to youth, to …

Improving Nutrition Screening Practice In The Hospitalized Heart Failure Patient Population, Amanda J. Bourgeois

DNP Projects

Background: Heart Failure is a disease known to affect nearly 6.5 million adults in the United States. Characterized by recurrent hospitalizations, heart failure significantly contributes to morbidity, mortality, and healthcare costs in the United States and worldwide. Because malnutrition is prevalent in the heart failure population, healthcare providers must perform nutritional assessments on admission to intervene in the case of malnutrition, prevent deterioration, and improve patient prognosis. Without intervention and early identification of malnutrition, heart failure hospitalizations will remain a significant problem.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of an evidence-based educational program for cardiac …

Review Of Steve Taylor’S Disconnected, Zeke Floro

Journal of Conscious Evolution

This article presents a review of Steve Taylor’s (2023) book, DisConnected: The Roots of Human Cruelty and How Connection Can Heal the World. Taylor makes a significant contribution to the study of psychological development, spiritual growth, and the overall evolution of consciousness by thoughtfully examining the disconnection that underlies violent crime, terrorism, dishonest business practices, authoritarianism, religious extremism, surrender of autonomy, culture wars, and polarized politics. He convincingly argues that disconnection is not the default state of humanity, but rather an aberration, and that dark aspects of human nature emerge from an environmentally conditioned sense of separation and inability to …

How Film Influences And Reflects States Of Consciousness - Through Films Of Julian Sands, Leila Kincaid

Journal of Conscious Evolution

Film, as a multivalent art form, uses archetypal themes and symbols that have the power to affect the consciousness of its viewers. The stories that play out on the screen through plot, setting, character, and the elements of storytelling through film carry rich and deep archetypal meaning for our culture and our psyches. This is how film can impact us on deep, subconscious levels and influence and change our consciousness, for good or ill. A look at two key films with the actor Julian Sands illustrates the way we, as viewers, experience a shift and even transformation in consciousness through …

Historical Trauma: Literary And Testimonial Responses To Hiroshima, Mariam Ghonim

Theses and Dissertations

The concept of trauma is controversial in literature. While one may be able to come up with ways to describe trauma in fiction, representing historical trauma is a hard task for writers. Some argue that trauma can not be described through those who did not experience it, while others claim that, provided some elements are added, one can represent trauma to the reader. This thesis focuses on twentieth-century historical traumas related to a nuclear catastrophe and explores the different literary and testimonial responses to the catastrophic man-made event of Hiroshima (1945). In this thesis, Kathleen Burkinshaw’s historical fiction The Last …

Therapeutic Approaches To Working With Perinatal Loss Clients: A Grounded Theory Study, Heather H. Olivier

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Perinatal loss (i.e., miscarriage, stillbirth, termination, and infant death) is commonly referred to in the literature as an invisible loss, non-loss, and even medical event. It is an ambiguous loss exhibiting the dialectical contradiction between the physical absence and psychological presence of the baby accompanied by disenfranchised grief, a reaction to a loss that is unacknowledged by society. Despite the likelihood of mental health clinicians working with clients who have experienced perinatal loss, there has yet to be a therapeutic model designed specifically for the unique grief and trauma reactions presented in this population. Existing grief models do not address …