Crafting Effective Prompts: Leveraging Generative Ai In Libraries, April Sheppard, Kristin Flachsbart

Staff and Faculty Scholarship

Discover how strategic prompt design can help you harness the power of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in your library. Through a series of examples, the presenters will demonstrate the impact that well-crafted prompts can have on the quality and relevance of AI-generated outputs.

Transforming The Route 228 Corridor: A Safe And Connective Approach, Michael Boeh

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Capstone Projects

This capstone plan centers around the Rt. 228/19 intersection and surrounding corridor located in Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania. In spite of recent projects, the intersection continues to convey feelings of danger and a lack of safety. This redesign project will utilize SketchUp to demonstrate how safety and connectivity can be prioritized and made a reality for the Rt. 228 corridor.

Revitalize Wakefield: Charting A Course For Growth, Bannon T. Luckert

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Capstone Projects

This plan focuses on discovering the objectives and aspirations of residents and merchants to formulate a revitalization strategy comprising actionable steps that will contribute to the flourishing of a rural downtown. By leveraging Wakefield's rich history and existing assets, this plan aims to help realize the vision of revitalizing Wakefield.

Growth In Appalachia: Downtown Revitalization Strategies For Covington, Virginia, Tucker L. Keener

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Capstone Projects

This plan was created for the City of Covington, Virginia which is located in the Western part of the state in the Blue Ridge Mountains. This plan aims to identify the goals and desires of local community members and business owners that prioritize economic growth in the downtown core. The City of Covington has many great assets, and the goal of this plan is to leverage these assets to assist with downtown revitalization. Recommendations in this plan relate to ideas of enhancing downtown, creating and strengthening anchor institutions, and create downtown as a tourist destination.

Health-Based Urban Design And Planning Interventions; Maximizing Harmony, Vitality, And Wellness In Hopewell, Virginia, Suzanne K. Yeats

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Capstone Projects

Urban planners as practitioners work to create a more progressive future while simultaneously redressing the past. This tension is found in many cities, including the City of Hopewell, Virginia where city planners, managers, economic developers work passionately for positive change. In Hopewell, there has been almost no population growth since 1970 and existing health outcomes are alarming. In every determinant of health category (medical, psychological, or social), this city falls below the state and national average. This health-based urban design and planning intervention capstone challenges the status quo by flipping the paradigm and placing the health of all residents first …

Social Invention For The Common Good: A Community Land Trust-Based Model For Affordable Accessory Dwelling Units, Adelaide Alexander

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Capstone Projects

Executive Summary

Vision: High-quality, affordable ADUs address the housing crisis and foster racial and economic justice for residents of the Richmond region

Key Research Findings

Of MWCLT’s 95 properties, 80 are suitable for the addition of ADUs and another 6 may be suitable, subject to property-specific analysis and permissions.

Richmond now allows ADUs by right in all residential districts, so ADUs could be developed as infill projects or as part of subdivisions in the City.

In Chesterfield and Henrico, developing ADUs as affordable rentals will be most feasible as part of subdivision, rather than infill, development.

Estimated rents for a …

The Misleading Successes Of Cost-Benefit Analysis In Environmental Policy, David E. Adelman, Amy Sinden

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

This Article critically examines the rise of cost-benefit analysis (CBA) in environmental policy and the profound disconnect that has persisted between the actual practice of CBA and its normative grounding. Although CBA is now synonymous with rational decision-making in federal agencies, this has not always been the case. Views about CBA have evolved from bipartisan rejection in the 1970s, to partisan division (Republicans for, Democrats against) during the Reagan-Bush years, to a broad embrace of CBA in the mid-1990s, when centrist legal scholars were instrumental in crafting a new defense of CBA based on a mix of welfare economics and …

The Clean Water Act’S Nurdle-Shaped Gap: Using The Cwa To Address Primary Microplastic Pollution, Taylor Hopkins

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

The term “nurdles” may sound like a silly made-up word lifted from the pages of a children’s book, but unfortunately nurdles are all-too real, with trillions of these microplastics ending up in our oceans each year. Nurdles spill into the environment at every step along their supply chain, allowing them to end up in fish and on our plates. Despite the known danger nurdles pose to both wildlife and humans, they are virtually unregulated. In the absence of regulation by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), some states and their citizens have begun trying to wrangle rogue nurdles, and hold nurdle …

The Status Of Implementation Of Radio Frequency Identification (Rfid) Technology And Its Awareness Among Library Users And Professionals: A Study Of Central Library Of Jadavpur University, Kolkata, Soma Tanti, Anubhaw Kumar Suman, Dr. Madhu Patel

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The main aim of this study is to determine the status of implementing the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology in the central library of Jadavpur University, Kolkata; the other purpose is to increase awareness of RFID technology among library professionals and users of the library. RFID technology occurs in many areas of society, such as healthcare, marketing, libraries, etc. For this study, the users and library professionals of Jadavpur University have been selected. This study adopted the descriptive analytical research method, and quantitative and qualitative data were collected to achieve its objectives. The survey method has been used with the …

School Culture: Identifying The Barriers To Belonging At Boarding Schools And Shifting The Culture, Kyle Connolly

Dartmouth College Master’s Theses

School Culture: Identifying the Barriers to Belonging at Boarding Schools and Shifting the Culture is a theoretical application of sociological concepts to boarding school social spaces. The social environment in schools is a venue where students are subjected to endless influences that play a major role in shaping their social realities. Though much debate in education focuses on the curriculum in public school settings, there is far less attention given to small boarding school communities and even less attention on the culture of belonging, or the obstacles to belonging that exist within it. As American society grows more diverse, economically …

Fp-24-14 Cohabitation In Middle And Later Life, 2022, Jaden Loo

National Center for Family and Marriage Research Family Profiles

The popularity of cohabitation for US adults of all ages has continued to grow in recent years. For older men and women (aged 50+) in 2000, the number of cohabitors was about 1.2 million, or 1.6% of adults in that group (Brown, Bulanda, & Lee 2005). As of 2022, this number has almost quadrupled to 4,205,505. We find that among older adults more men (2,216,977) are cohabiting than women (1,988,528). This sex difference is especially pronounced when comparing cohabitation rates (number of cohabitors per 1,000 unmarried and separated). The cohabitation rate is higher among older men at 118.2 than women …

Fp-24-13 Recently Divorced Adults With Resident Minor Children, 2022, Corrine E. Wiborg

National Center for Family and Marriage Research Family Profiles

After reaching a 40-year low for two consecutive years (2020 and 2021 at 14.0 divorces per 1,000 married women), divorce rates have risen slightly in 2022 to 14.6 divorces per 1,000 married women (FP-23-24). Among recently divorced individuals, many may be parents with resident children. Using the American Community Survey (ACS) data from 2022, we estimate whether minor children (either biological, stepchildren, or adopted) are present in the household among recently divorced (within the last year) parents aged 18-55. Currently, the ACS does not capture divorced individuals with nonresident children and thus these figures underestimate the percentage of recently divorced …

Fp-24-15 Women Who Gave Birth Within The Past 12 Months, 2022, Corrine E. Wiborg

National Center for Family and Marriage Research Family Profiles

In 2024, the CDC issued a report indicating the United States’ general fertility rate (i.e., the total number of births in the year divided by the female population ages 15-44) has decreased for a second year in a row to 54.4 births per 1,000 women aged 15-44 in 2023, which is a decline of 3% from 2022 (Hamilton et al., 2024). Although the fertility rate has declined in the United States, it remains important to explore the marital status of mothers who are giving birth as the share of births to unmarried women accounted for nearly one-third (31%) of all …

The Unconstitutional Backlog In The Commonwealth Of Massachusetts Criminal Justice System: A Three Step Plan To Decrease The Delay, Cassidy Louise Elliott

Honors Theses

Currently, within the Massachusetts Criminal Justice System, defendants are forced to wait up to 12 months for a trial. These pre-trial delays have significantly detrimental effects on defendants. For example, there are economic implications, strains on personal relationships, and physical and mental health risks associated with incarceration. There are several other criminal justice systems that can provide criminal defendants trials in a timelier manner than Massachusetts. This thesis explores the right to a speedy and fair trial under the U.S. Constitution, the reasons for the potentially unconstitutional delays in Massachusetts, and proposes reforms to ensure individuals accused of a crime …

Fp-24-16 Young Adults Living Alone, With Siblings, Or With Roommates, 2022, Krista K. Westrick-Payne

National Center for Family and Marriage Research Family Profiles

In the United States, moving out of the parental home to establish an independent household is a key milestone in the transition to adulthood. However, today's young adults are less likely to be married or have children compared to those in the early 1990s (Minkin, Parker, Horowitz, & Aragão, 2024). Consequently, the past decade has seen a continued rise in the number of young adults living with their parents (Loo, 2024) alongside an increase in those who are cohabiting (Manning & Loo, 2024). There has been comparatively less focus on single young adults who live independently, whether alone, with siblings, …

Knowledge Is Power…To Misinform: Examining How Knowledge Gaps Affect Engagement With Covid-19 Misinformation, Ben Wasike

Communication Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study examined how the knowledge gap hypothesis (KGH), the belief gap hypothesis (BGH), partisan media use, and interpersonal discussion affected COVID-19 knowledge and social media engagement (SME) with related misinformation. The KGH partially affected knowledge and reduced SME with misinformation regarding income. The BGH increased knowledge and reduced SME with misinformation among Liberals. Right-leaning media use and interpersonal discussion increased SME with misinformation respectively. Overall, knowledge was inversely associated with SME with misinformation.

Life Satisfaction In Motherhood: The Influence Of Mindfulness On Life Stressors, Shyann Schumacher, Shyann M. Schumacher

Master's Theses

Motherhood can be a stressful and highly demanding role. With the challenges a mother faces, many factors can influence satisfaction a mother experiences in their life. Within the many roles mothers play throughout their lives, mindfulness is found to benefit both women and their children and positively influence mothers’ relationships with their children or partner. This study investigated the role of mindfulness within life satisfaction among mothers’ experiences by examining levels of social support, mother’s age, work-life balance, and socioeconomic status as predictors of life satisfaction when moderated by mindfulness. Participants were sampled through social media including Facebook and Instagram. …

The Effects Of Physical And Emotional Child Abuse On Social Functioning, And Help Seeking Behaviors In Adulthood, Beatrice Chambers

Master's Theses

Child abuse is very common in today’s society, and of great social concern. Reports indicate at least one in seven children have experienced child abuse or neglect in the past year in the United States. Further, in 2020, 1,750 children died of abuse and neglect in the United States alone. The number may be even higher since not every victim who died from abuse would have that indicated as the cause of death (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2022a). The purpose of the current study was to investigate the effects of physical and emotional child abuse on social functioning …

Exploring Psychological Factors Behind Consideration Of Cosmetic Surgery Through The Lens Of Social Comparison Theory, Noriene Verma

Master's Theses

Cosmetic surgery refers to an extreme form of appearance modification whose sole purpose is to improve the appearance of the chosen area. Despite psychological concerns associated with repeated perform of cosmetic surgery, rates of cosmetic procedures are likely to increase in the coming years (American Society of Plastic Surgeons, 2020) and it warrants the need to study the potential motivators that encourage someone to opt for such procedures. Motivators of cosmetic surgery explored in this study are social media usage and self-esteem through the lens of Social Comparison Theory. Social comparison theory can explain the mechanisms behind one’s desire to …

The Importance Of Self-Regulation And Motivation In Online Learning Environments, Sydney A. Hicks

Master's Theses

Student learning satisfaction is important in the education world. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, learning environments have changed drastically from in-person learning to online learning. With this, more studies are needed to better understand learning satisfaction in online learning. The current study aims to use Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) as a framework to explain potential factors involved in learning satisfaction in both in-person and online courses. SCT reasons that interactions between environment, personal factors (motivation and self-regulation), impact different behavioral outcomes (learning satisfaction) (Mantooth et al., 2020). With this framework, the current study investigated how intrinsic motivation and self- regulation …

Examining Self-Esteem As A Moderator Of Attachment And Multiple Sexual Partners, Dezerae Kinderknecht

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine self-esteem as a moderator of attachment styles (i.e., avoidant, anxious, or secure) and its associated impact on the number of sexual partners an individual has had in their lifetime. Previous literature has found that an individual’s level of self-esteem affects a person’s number of sexual partners. Studies have also been conducted examining the correlation between attachment styles and number of sexual partners, finding that those with an insecure attachment style, namely anxious or avoidant attachment, tend to have more sexual partners. While previous literature has examined these factors separately, this study aimed …

Virtual Classes In The U.S. University: Exploring Zoom Fatigue Experience Based On English Competency And Course Engagement Among International Students, Esther Son

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Online video conferencing platforms, such as Zoom, are widely used for virtual classes. Zoom platforms bring flexibility and convenience, but also contribute to fatigue which is called “Zoom fatigue”. The purpose of the study is to investigate Zoom fatigue among international students at the U.S. university, and its links to Zoom-mediated communication in the field of education. The study investigates 152 international students to examine how English competency affects Zoom fatigue, and how course engagement affects Zoom fatigue in virtual classes at the U.S. university. The results show that English competency and course engagement have a negative relationship with Zoom …

Listening To The Voices Of America, Kathryn J. Edin, Corey D. Fields, David B. Grusky, Jure Leskovec, Marybeth J. Mattingly, Kristen M. Olson, Charles Varner

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

We make the case for building a permanent public-use platform for conducting and analyzing immersive interviews on the everyday lives of Americans. The American Voices Project (AVP)—a widely watched experiment with this new platform—provides important early evidence on its promise. The articles in this issue reveal that, although public-use interview datasets obviously cannot meet all research needs, they do provide new opportunities to study small or hidden populations, new or emerging social problems, reactions to ongoing social crises, submerged values and attitudes, and many other aspects of American life. We conclude that a permanent AVP platform would help build an …

Remember, You Can Complete This Survey Online! Web Survey Links And Qr Codes In A Mixed-Mode Web And Mail General Population Survey, Kristen M. Olson, Amanda Ganshert

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Recruitment materials for concurrent mixed-mode self-administered web and mail surveys must communi-cate information about multiple modes simultaneously. Providing the link to the web survey on the cover of the paper questionnaire or including a QR code to access the web survey may increase the visibility of the web mode and thus increase the proportion of people who participate via the web, but whether including either piece of information does so has received surprisingly little empirical attention. In this paper, we exam-ine the results of experiments embedded in two general population probability-based concurrent mixed-mode surveys of Nebraska adults. First, in the …

An Analysis Of The College Choice Process From The Eyes Of College Students, Evan Galchutt, Kao Nou Yang, Malena D. Jeffrey

Concordia Journal of Communication Research

For many, the process of choosing a college marks the beginning of a period of emerging adolescence and adulthood. Although exciting, the college choice process can be daunting, as students are flooded with information to inform a choice that has ripples across multiple facets of their lives. The researchers chose to investigate what factors are most important to students during their college search process and how they impacted their ultimate choice. Moreover, the researchers honed in on how specific factors such as financial considerations and family influence impacted how they approached their decision. The participants of this study are mostly …

An Analysis Of The Relationship Between The Workload And Stress Of Colleg Athletes, Sadie Voss

Concordia Journal of Communication Research

College students attending a university were asked to participate in a study regarding course workload and stress. It was found that student-athletes tend to carry more stress due to the time commitment to their sport. The researchers asked questions from a stress test to evaluate how stress impacted these students. In the survey, they factored in major, minor, credits per semester, internships, and jobs. All of these factors had a part in determining the amount of stress a student had. The study addressed in depth the relationship between a student’s course workload and the amount of stress they have which …

Towards Illegibility: A Series Of Reflections On Living Beyond Language, Ariella Brodie-Weisberg

Senior Projects Spring 2024

After she died, the ecstatic and the mundane collided and exposed each other. The dead live in the place of stories. Those who survive gather the scattered remains of a life, cohere them into forms so they may be remembered. But in making this story, we so often sacrifice raw, visceral experience –

But every once in a while, caught off guard, the ecstatic comes. Something animal like a moan or wail overrides sense and sensation overrides story and there you are as you were in life: singular and without reference, indescribable and so utterly here.

My mother wasn’t buried …

Navigating Queer Historical Temporalities Of Drag Culture In Rupaul’S Drag Race, Kevin Alejandro Carchi

Senior Projects Spring 2024

Queer people in the United States continue to be essentialized in history as the liberal passage forward into a democratic and proud American society. When we look at queer people, what is it that we notice right off the bat? Well, thanks to RuPaul’s Drag Race, one thing we can expect is the ability to entertain and build a sense of community. Since the show’s release in 2009, the show has finished its sixteenth lap and has been expanding its queer platform across the globe. This circulation of drag culture has become a source of capital where digital networks such …

The Origins Of Ideology, Eve Lilith Campbell

Senior Projects Spring 2024

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College

Access And Visibility: The Intersection Of Care, Justice, And Cultural Myths In The Response To Sexual And Domestic Violence, Laurel Elisabeth Channing Cline

Senior Projects Spring 2024

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College.