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The Politics Of The Self: Psychedelic Assemblages, Psilocybin, And Subjectivity In The Anthropocene, Joshua Falcon

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines how psychedelic substances become drawn into particular sociohistorical and political arrangements, and how psychedelic experiences with psilocybin ‘magic mushrooms’ are used as tools of subjectivation. Guided by literatures in philosophy, critical theory, and the social sciences that focus on subjectivity, assemblage theory, and critical posthumanism, I argue that psychedelics are drawn into variegated assemblages, each of which conceptualizes the nature of psychedelics in highly specific ways that reflect implicit conceptions of the world and the self. In developing the concept of psychedelic assemblages, this research provides a window onto the politics of the self in the Anthropocene. …

Religion, Place, And Identity At The Intersection Of Cultural Bricolage: The Miami Santo Daime Church Revisited, Alfonso Matas

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is an exploration of the Santo Daime Church in Miami, focusing on the challenges of balancing institutional stability with continual growth and innovation. Santo Daime—whose central ritual entails the consumption of the mind-altering ayahuasca brew—is a new religious movement that amalgamates indigenous Amazonian, Afro-Brazilian, and popular Catholic traditions. Between June 2016 and December 2018, I employed participant observation, semi-structured interviews, exegesis of sacred songs, and document analysis to investigate the meanings and lived experiences of church leaders and adherents as they relate to their religious identity and agency. Specifically, this study asks three research questions: What global processes …

The Historical Evolution Of The A.M.E. Church: Social Intervention To Advance Blacks Socio-Economic Position, Jasmin N. Graham

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Though it is well documented that the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AMEC) has been greatly involved in Black’s educational attainments; there is limited documentation on the connection between the educational efforts of the AMEC and its effect on the financial stability of Blacks. The objective of the study is to evaluate the AMEC’s tendency to intervene on behalf of its community. Tracing the different socio-economic initiatives of the AMEC through the lenses of education from the late 18^th century to the present has revealed the various meanings of the term freedom and how the church has adapted to acquire …

Religion And Ethnicity Among Afro-Colombian Muslims In Buenaventura (Colombia), Diego Giovanni Castellanos

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the way in which religious beliefs and practices are instrumentalized by a Muslim community in order to strengthen Afro-Colombian ethnic identity, in an urban context of social exclusion. The study aims to examine the relationship between ethnicity and religion, and the role they play in the process of identity construction, particularly the way in which religious concepts and behaviors can be used to fortify ethnic identity. Another aim of this research is to describe and understand the processes of social change in an ethnic-religious minority and, as a final goal, to analyze …

From The Fall To The Flood And Beyond: Navigating Identity In Contemporary Noahidism, Patrick J. Villalonga

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates artifacts and concepts present in the Noahide world and how they affect Noahide identity. Five factors are analyzed, namely Noahide law, religious pluralism, ritual, sectarianism, and conversion. I consult the Hebrew Scriptures as well as early, medieval, and modern rabbinic sources to set the conceptual background of the Noahide movement before moving into the primary, contemporary sources written by Orthodox Jews, Orthodox rabbis, and Noahides. To supplement my literary analysis, I have conducted a survey of self-identifying Noahide practitioners. This survey collects data concerning religious background, religious behavior, demographics, and free responses. I aim to show first …

The Pneuma Network: Transnational Pentecostal Print Culture In The United States And South Africa, 1906-1948, Lindsey Brooke Maxwell

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Exploding on the American scene in 1906, Pentecostalism became arguably the most influential religious phenomenon of the twentieth century. Sparked by the Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles, the movement grew rapidly throughout the United States and garnered global momentum. This study investigates the original Los Angeles Apostolic Faith Mission and the subsequent extension of the mission to South Africa through an examination of periodicals, mission records, and personal documents. Using the Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa as a case study, this study measures the significance of print media in the emergence and evolution of the early Pentecostal movement. …

The Gender Problem Of Buddhist Nationalism In Myanmar: The 969 Movement And Theravada Nuns, Grisel D'Elena

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis uses transnational and Black feminist frameworks to analyze Buddhist nationalist discourses of gender and violence against religious and ethnic minorities in Myanmar. Burmese Buddhist nationalists’ marginalization of the Muslim Rohingya ethnic minority is inextricably linked to their attempts to control Buddhist women. Research includes interviews with U Ashin Wirathu, the leader of the monastic-led nationalist group, the 969 Movement, and with other monks of the organization, as well as with non-nationalist monks, nuns and laywomen. I also analyze Theravada textual discourse as read by my subjects in light of the history of Myanmar to understand the ways the …

The Transformations And Challenges Of A Jain Religious Aspirant From Layperson To Ascetic: An Anthropological Study Of Shvetambar Terapanthi Female Mumukshus, Komal Ashok Kumar

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the challenges that Shvetambar Terapanthi Jain female mumukshus (religious aspirants) face during their training at the Parmarthik Shikshan Sanstha, an institute unique to this sect dedicated to training young females to become nuns. The educational requirements, secluded social environment, disciplined rules, and monastic hierarchies train aspirants to understand the demands of nunhood. Based on interviews and observations, aspirants express their struggle to balance the personal desire to progress spiritually toward liberation (moksha) that motivated them to renounce with the requirement to raise their juniors as part of the ascetic community, a new kind of familial structure. The …

Spirited Pioneer: The Life Of Emma Hardinge Britten, Lisa A. Howe

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Emma Hardinge Britten’s life encompassed and reflected many of the challenges and opportunities afforded to women in the Victorian world. This dissertation explores the multi-layered Victorian landscape through the life of an individual in order not only to tell her individual story, but also to gain a more nuanced understanding of how nineteenth-century norms of gender, class, religion, science and politics combined to create opportunities and obstacles for women in Britten’s generation. Britten was an actor, a musician, a writer, a theologian, a political activist, a magazine publisher, a spirit medium, a lecturer, and a Spiritualist missionary. Taking into account …

Surviving And Thriving In A Hostile Religious Culture, Michelle Mitchell

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The present study explored a minority oppositional religious culture, which continued practicing despite overt hostilities to their practices. The qualitative research project utilized interviews and observations of the Gardnerian Wiccans in Broward County, Florida. The narrative data were transcribed, coded, and categorized into three themes related to the following research questions: Why would individuals create a secretive religion? Given they had to practice in secret, what about this religion had people seeking out information and joining Covens? What would keep this group together despite opposition from dominant culture? As a microcosm for religious conflict in society, the study showed differences …

Gnosticism, Transformation, And The Role Of The Feminine In The Gnostic Mass Of The Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica (E.G.C.), Ellen P. Randolph

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Gnostic Mass of the Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica (E.G.C.) suggests a heterosexual gender binary in which the female Priestess seated on the altar as the sexual and fertile image of the divine feminine is directed by the male Priest’s activity, desire and speech. The apparent contradiction between the empowered individual and the polarized gender role was examined by comparing the ritual symbolism of the feminine with the interpretations of four Priestesses and three Priests (three pairs plus one). Findings suggest that the Priestess’ role in the Gnostic Mass is associated with channeling, receptivity, womb, cup, and fertility, while the Priest’s …

Death Rituals In The New Diaspora: Funerals In The Lives Of Ghanaians In South Florida, Evelyn E. Arhin-Sam

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis addresses the lack of attention to practices that take place in settings not considered primarily religious, such as life-cycle rituals in the growing body of literature on religious practices of recently emerging African diaspora communities in the West. It argues that these practices are not only filters for indigenous African religious beliefs but also furnish for African migrants contexts that perform functions similar to those performed by the formal African diaspora religious institutions. Using ethnography, the study investigated the role of death rituals in the lives of Ghanaian members of the United Ghanaians Association of South Florida. …

The Ashram Of Swami Jyotirmayananda: Examining Authority, Transmission And Identity Within The Guru And Disciple Relationship, Priyanka Ramlakhan

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The wave of gurus in America brought with them cultural transformations particularly in how they interpret Hinduism, how their teachings have adapted in engaging a Western audience, and the sustainability of their religious communities, thus changing the landscape of contemporary Hindu spirituality. The traditional model of the guru and disciple relationship according to Yoga and Vedanta is undergoing a transformation allowing for greater autonomy of the disciple to make decisions in how they appropriate the authority of the guru. This thesis examines the guru and disciple relationship within the institutional organization of the Yoga Research Foundation, founded by the contemporary …

Identity Formation And Public Perception In The History Of American Mormonism, Jaquelinne M. Biver

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study inquires into the institutional identity of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints since its founding in 1830. The study takes a historical stance in discussing the relationship between American public perceptions and the Church's developing internal identity, tracing these changes through three distinct historical stages. Building on the works of historians and sociologists such as Jan Shipps, Armand Mauss, and Terryl Givens, this study hopes to contribute to the understanding of new religious movements and the progression from sect to church.

The study finds that Mormon identity and American perceptions of Mormons have had an inter-influential …