DRUM - Digital Repository at the University of Maryland

DRUM collects, preserves, and provides public access to the scholarly output of the university. Faculty and researchers can upload research products for rapid dissemination, global visibility and impact, and long-term preservation.

Submit to DRUM

Submit to DRUM

To submit an item to DRUM, login using your UMD credentials. Then select the "Submit Item to DRUM" link in the navigation bar. View DRUM policies and submission guidelines.
Equitable Access Policy

Equitable Access Policy

The University of Maryland Equitable Access Policy provides equitable, open access to the University's research and scholarship. Faculty can learn more about what is covered by the policy and how to deposit on the policy website.
Theses and Dissertations

Theses and Dissertations

DRUM includes all UMD theses and dissertations from 2003 forward.

List of Communities

Collections Organized by Department

UM Community-managed Collections

Recent Submissions

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    Bridging Battlefield and Homefront: The Playboy Forum and the Vietnam War
    (2026) Shah, Diya; Keane, Katarina
    This paper examines Playboy magazine, specifically its editorial section “The Playboy Forum,” as an overlooked site of Vietnam War dialogue and publicvdebate. While Playboy is primarily remembered as a men’s entertainment magazine, I argue that the Forum section functioned as an interactive print space in which soldiers, veterans, civilians, and anyone worldwide with access to the magazine could share and debate their experiences, concerns, and opinions on numerous aspects of the war. Drawing on letters published in the Forum between 1968 and 1975, I show how the Forum allowed readers to challenge military authority, share information and legal resources, debate antiwar dissent and amnesty, and bring firsthand wartime experience into conversation with a broad civilian readership, ultimately sharing and exchanging perspectives in a manner no other mainstream publication of the era was able to do. This paper reconsiders Playboy as a participatory platform that helped bridge the divide between the battlefield and the home front. Within the paper, I also posit why “The Playboy Forum” and Playboy as a publication have gone largely unexamined in scholarship on the Vietnam War, and argue for the value of entertainment magazines as an important but underused source for understanding how Americans experienced and debated the Vietnam War.
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    The Evolution of Authoritarianism in Venezuela under the Chavista Regime
    (2025) Little, Liam; Brower, Jonathan
    This essay explores authoritarianism in Venezuela since Chavez’s rise to power. By examining differing views on the Chavez-Maduro regime, providing context for the rise of this government, as well as insights into both Chavez and Maduro, the people they represented, and the policies each of these presidents implemented. This essay then claims that the 1999 to 2002 era of the Chavez regime was a fragile democracy. Between 2002 and 2006 the Chavez government became a competitive authoritarian regime. Subsequently Chavez's government transitioned into authoritarianism from 2007 to 2009. Once Maduro became president in 2013 and had massive crackdowns on the opposition protest movement in 2014, the Maduro government became a military strongman authoritarian regime.
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    Building with Explosives: The Role of Dynamite in Constructing the Panama Canal
    (2025) Katz, Hershel; Greene, Julie
    My paper examines how technology, specifically dynamite, impacted the construction of the Panama Canal and what it meant for the labor force. I argue that the there is a deeper story than what is known about the canal's relationship to dynamite. The project's mass use of dynamite forced a better scientific understanding of explosives in general, as well as innovation and safety measures for efficiency. I also found primary sources of explosion incidents to show how dynamite served as a lens to understand the differing experiences of the labor force and the dangers of building the canal. Overall, the canal was an engineering phenomenon for the time, and also revealed a complex intersection between technology and labor history.
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    Sex-specific and Hormonal Effects on Macrophage MMP-2 Activity in Response to Vitamin D
    (2026) Deshpande, Varun; Moore, Erika
    This project investigates how sex, Vitamin D, 17β-estradiol (E2), and macrophage polarization affect MMP-2 activity, an important enzyme in extracellular matrix remodeling and inflammatory signaling. Using J774A.1 (XX) and RAW264.7 (XY) macrophages, the study shows that MMP-2 responses differ by cell line, hormonal environment, and treatment dose. Overall, the work highlights the importance of sex and hormone-aware cell biology research models for interpreting macrophage behavior in inflammation-related research, especially in the context of autoimmune disease, which primarily affects women.
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    Women In The First Intifada: A New Beginning Or An Inevitable End?
    (2025) Dorokhina, Elizabeth; Cain, Lauren
    From 1987-1993 during the First Intifada in Palestine, women were granted a new, liberating political role in the Israel-Palestine conflict. Women contributed to low-level violence protest tactics, organized boycotts and supported commercial strikes. However, by the Second Intifada, from 2000-2005, women were again confined to their previous limiting role and restricted from political activity. This paper seeks to explain this change utilizing the framework of mother, daughter and wife to show that although the First Intifada granted liberation to women, it did so within the confines of oppressive gender roles, especially for mothers and wives. The rigidity of these gender roles throughout the First Intifada explains why the lack of permanent liberation is unsurprising.