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Dust to Dream
Full text linkThis thesis explores the design and implementation of a holistic housing initiative to address the needs of economically disadvantaged populations in Sertão do Moxotó, Pernambuco. Situated in an arid region with limited resources, the project provides not only shelter but also community spaces, educational opportunities, and essential services to improve local living standards.
The region’s history of resilience is reflected in its vernacular architecture, which uses materials like adobe, rammed earth, and thatch—offering sustainable, climate-adapted solutions. Yet, basic amenities remain out of reach for many. Community-led initiatives, non-monetary systems, and vocational training help bridge these gaps and empower individuals to break the cycle of poverty.
The project’s core includes housing, communal infrastructure, and a learning center, with dwellings built from renewable materials that enhance thermal comfort and reduce ecological impact. A key innovation is temporary housing for 5–10% of Group 2 at a time—Group 1 being those near the city center, and Group 2 the marginalized populations on the outskirts. Residents stay temporarily while they acquire skills, after which they transition out, allowing others to enter, creating a continuous cycle of empowerment and opportunity.
A resource center supports this model through a non-monetary system of donations and volunteer work, granting access to essentials and fostering economic self-reliance. By addressing social and economic disparities, the initiative creates meaningful employment pathways, particularly for women and men in vulnerable positions.
Ultimately, this thesis offers a replicable model for inclusive development, combining local materials, community participation, and vernacular design to strengthen resilience and inspire long-term, sustainable change in marginalized regions
The Coyote and the Roadrunner Digital Options Impact on Innovation Speed
Full text linkDigital options theory, which includes knowledge and process components, contends that IT capabilities influence digital options, which influence agility and, therefore, competitive actions. This paper uses a multi-method, multi-study approach to explore innovation speed as the competitive action in the context of digital options theory. Since scales for the digital options constructs do not exist, this research seeks to establish a measurement instrument for the four digital option generators: knowledge reach, knowledge richness, process reach, and process richness. This research then leverages the constructs in an empirical study to measure the effect of IT capabilities on digital options, the impact of digital options on innovation agility, and, finally, the impact of innovation agility on innovation speed. Contrary to the theoretical foundation, this study was only able to develop a single digital options generator that encompasses knowledge and process. Using this construct in the larger conceptual model, it was found that IT capabilities positively impacted digital options. The more lightweight the IT capabilities, the higher the impact. Digital options were found to positively impact innovation agility, and innovation agility was found to positively impact innovation speed
The Inappropriate Inheritance of Histone Methylation Disrupts Muscle Morphology and Function in C. elegans
No full textTranscription-coupled histone methylation acquired at sperm and oocyte genes during gametogenesis helps establish distinct gamete cell fates. Like DNA, acquired histone methylation can be inherited between generations and must be maternally reprogrammed at fertilization to reset the epigenetic ground state of the zygote. During maternal reprogramming of histone methylation in C. elegans, H3K4me1/2 is removed by the H3K4 demethylase, SPR-5, and H3K9me1/2 is subsequently added by the histone methyltransferase, MET-2. Maternal reprogramming by SPR-5 and MET-2 is antagonized by the H3K36 methyltransferase, MES-4, which maintains H3K36me2/3 at germline genes to ensure proper germline gene expression in germ cells. In the absence of SPR-5; MET-2 maternal reprogramming MES-4 maintains H3K36me2/3 at germline genes in the soma, leading to somatic expression of germline genes and a variety of abnormal somatic and developmental defects. In addition to MES-4 germline genes, a recently identified germline transcription factor, LSL-1, is misexpressed in spr-5; met-2 mutants and may contribute to maintaining germline gene expression in the soma of these mutants. Here, we explore how misinherited histone methylation affects somatic tissues by examining muscle morphology and function in early, middle and late generation spr-5 and met-2 single mutants that inherit increasing levels of aberrant H3K4me2. Interestingly, met-2 mutants show lower motility levels compared to wildtype and spr-5 mutants at early generations, but this initial decrease in motility does not decline over generations, even as muscle sarcomeres become moderately disorganized. In spr-5; met-2 mutants, we find that muscle sarcomeres and motility are severely perturbed and that maternal knockdown of either mes-4 or lsl-1 in spr-5; met-2 mutants rescues these muscle defects. Despite the muscle defects that we observed in spr-5; met-2 mutants, muscle-specific gene expression is normal. After discovering that muscle-specific transcription is normal, we wanted to determine if germline-specific proteins are being expressed in spr-5; met-2 mutant muscle cells. We found that SPE-6, a germline protein localized to the inactivated chromatin of sperm, was aberrantly expressed in muscle cell nuclei, suggesting that germline genes are being translated into proteins in somatic tissues. Finally, we show that muscle cells overexpressing low levels of LSL-1 display sarcomere disorganization. Together, our findings provide a unique insight into how tissue-specific phenotypes arise when histone methylation is inappropriately inherited and support a model where germline-expressed proteins themselves may perturb somatic cell function without compromising the normal somatic transcription program
1322.house
No full text1322.house is my acknowledgment of how far I have come. The 1322 is my childhood address, the dot is my recognition of technology – something I have not embraced yet learned to accept – and my house was the cradle of my life. I grew up in a house in the Bronx, down the block from the projects that would eventually become famous for birthing hip hop. I loved that house and loved my childhood. I was proud not to grow up in those projects, within view every time I looked out my window. The house was wrongfully claimed by the City of New York and when nobody was home, they entered the property and destroyed our belongings. I can still see some things in the garbage in the driveway, other things rolling down the street, papers blowing in the wind. I wonder about all the things I wrote back then, my personal triumphs and tragedies abandoned in a trash heap somewhere. That is the basis for this project. Life yielding loss – loss of many kinds
Sammy Girón, Jazz Vocalist
No full textSammy Girón, Jazz Vocalisthttps://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/musicprograms/2916/thumbnail.jp
Ryan Greer, Jazz Trumpet
Full text linkRyan Greer, Jazz Trumpethttps://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/musicprograms/2915/thumbnail.jp
Demonstrating a Free Listing Data Collection Approach to Cultural Instruction
Full text linkFree listing tasks are a common data collection method used by cultural anthropologists, language historians and linguists (Nolan, 2002; Ryan et al., 2000; Weller & Romney, 1988; Wolfram & Schillings-Estes, 1998). These tasks are interviews in which a researcher asks groups of respondents to list words or expressions that come to mind for a given cultural topic. This study focused on a free listing task collected from working class Mexicans about fiestas y celebraciones [parties and celebrations]. Although this topic is routinely included in second language (L2) teaching materials, common terms or slang used by Spanish speaking populations that U.S. students are most likely to interact with may not be included in instruction, creating a communication gap. Accordingly, for this study a total of 32 working class Mexican people, who were born and raised in Mexico, were interviewed using a free listing data collection method. The interviews transpired in Palmetto and St. Petersburg, Florida and in the Costa Maya region of Quintana Roo, Mexico. Through a thematic analysis, (Quinlan, 2017; Robbins & Nolan, 2019) salient terms are identified and a comparison according to gender is presented. The principal objective of this endeavor was to increase cultural awareness and sensitivity among Spanish language students by learning about fiestas y celebraciones through the words of the native speakers themselves. Pedagogical implications and example practices are provided
Comparison of STEM Student Reflections of their Undergraduate Research Experiences: CUREs vs. Apprentice Model
No full textUndergraduate research is widely recognized as a high-impact educational practice that promotes engagement and academic success in STEM. However, limited research has examined how different research formats, particularly course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) and the apprentice model, shape student experiences. This study investigates undergraduate research (UR) course characteristics and student reflections across STEM disciplines at Kennesaw State University (KSU), focusing on differences between CURE and apprentice experiences. A mixed-methods analysis was conducted on 809 student reflections and 169 course syllabi spanning biology, chemistry, physics, and mathematics, computing, data science, software engineering, and information technology, psychological science, and engineering. Demographic data showed that CUREs were more accessible to first-generation, Black, and Hispanic students, while apprentice experiences were more common among multi- generational and white students. Syllabi analysis revealed that CUREs more frequently incorporated structured learning objectives, inclusive practices, and active learning, especially within biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics, and psychological science. In contrast, apprentice courses emphasized inquiry-driven research integration, particularly in data science, software engineering, and information technology. Critical reflections analyzed using KSU’s “It’s About Engagement” rubric indicated that apprentice students emphasized technical skill development, independence, and mentorship, while CURE students highlighted academic integration, collaboration, and future goal setting. These findings suggest that CURE and apprentice models offer distinct but complementary learning outcomes. Expanding access to both formats may support more equitable, inclusive, and impactful undergraduate research experiences across STEM disciplines
REVIVING HERITAGE
Full text linkNiger’s cultural identity is shaped by a rich mosaic of ethnic groups, including the Hausa, Zarma-Songhai, Tuareg, and Fulani, each with distinct traditions, building practices, and relationships to the land. For centuries, these communities lived according to their own social and spatial systems, rooted in environment-specific knowledge and craftsmanship. This balance was disrupted during the French colonial period, which began in the late 19th century and lasted until Niger’s independence in 1960. Colonial administration redrew territorial boundaries, centralized authority, and introduced foreign materials, aesthetics, and construction standards, redefining how people built and interacted with their environments. While Niger now appears as a unified state, its architecture still reflects a complex tension between tradition and Western modernity.
A sustainable architectural future in Niger needs to recognize this very complexity and thus engage with its mixed heritage. As Kenneth Frampton suggests, vernacular architecture serves as a key source of inspiration and forms the foundation of critical regionalism. To design for the future, one needs to learn from the cultural, material, and historical resources, including architectural practices. One of the most promising and well-documented typology to explore the vernacular roots of Niger is its Traditional housing built with local materials and crafted by the hands of the inhabitants, offered practical, climate-adapted, and culturally resonant solutions. These homes were not commodities but living expressions of identity, shaped by and for the people who inhabited them. By embracing traditional construction as a source of inspiration, we can develop a new architectural language rooted in identity, climate, and community self-reliance.
This thesis proposes designing a school based on vernacular principles as a way to shape a more rooted, resilient future. Schools are not just buildings—they are vessels of possibility, spaces where future generations are formed. In a country where access to quality education is limited, especially in rural areas, the school is the most powerful typology for social transformation. By drawing from indigenous architecture to build learning spaces, this thesis celebrates cultural knowledge while creating environments that empower children, foster community, and inspire a future that is both modern and deeply grounded in Nigerien identity