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Articles 1 - 11 of 11
Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities
Handbooks, Policies, And Power: Discursive Language And Lgbtqia+ Representation In Christian University Handbooks, Kaitlin Merlino
Handbooks, Policies, And Power: Discursive Language And Lgbtqia+ Representation In Christian University Handbooks, Kaitlin Merlino
Honors Projects and Presentations: Undergraduate
For many years, tensions have existed between Christianity and the LGBTQ community, most apparent in contexts such as politics and education. One site of conflict is within the realm of Christian higher education, specifically in regards to campus-wide regulation of same-sex behaviors. This research examines the language in sexuality-based rules as communicated in four Christian universities' handbooks. Bakhtin & Holquist (1981) demonstrate the innate tension between dialogue and the social context within which it is understood. Therefore, since language is not neutral, the words creating these rules are in themselves a site of tension for the university, its contributors, its …
Puritan Patriarchal Construction Of American Sexual Morality And Woman's Worth: A Daughter's Response, Savannah Mather
Puritan Patriarchal Construction Of American Sexual Morality And Woman's Worth: A Daughter's Response, Savannah Mather
Honors Projects
While modern conceptions of Puritanism regard it as an artifact of American history, whose woman-killing theologies are long buried and forgotten, the bible in my father’s closet and the recently leaked Supreme Court draft to overturn Roe. Vs. Wade would argue otherwise. Cotton Mather’s favorite book Ornaments for the Daughters of Zion outlined both the ideals and detriments of the Anglo-American female identity. In this text, white women were taught to absolve themselves of the “nakedness” in dress Puritan settlers associated Indigenous people with. A woman’s ability to align herself to the ideals of chastity determined her own and her …
Pope Francis Won't Support Women In The Priesthood, But Here's What He Could Do, Lisa Mcclain
Pope Francis Won't Support Women In The Priesthood, But Here's What He Could Do, Lisa Mcclain
History Faculty Publications and Presentations
On March 13, Pope Francis will complete his first five years as head of the Roman Catholic Church. Since his election, Pope Francis has engaged the estimated 1.2 billion Catholics and innumerable non-Catholics worldwide with his frank, inclusive talk on issues as diverse as poverty and homosexuality. In fact, many observers seem confused by the church’s apparent willingness to reconsider traditions regarding some contentious issues, such as divorce.
Christians’ Cut: Popular Religion And The Global Health Campaign For Medical Male Circumcision In Swaziland, Casey Golomski, Sonene Nyawo
Christians’ Cut: Popular Religion And The Global Health Campaign For Medical Male Circumcision In Swaziland, Casey Golomski, Sonene Nyawo
Anthropology
Swaziland faces one of the worst HIV epidemics in the world and is a site for the current global health campaign in sub-Saharan Africa to medically circumcise the majority of the male population. Given that Swaziland is also majority Christian, how does the most popular religion influence acceptance, rejection or understandings of medical male circumcision? This article considers interpretive differences by Christians across the Kingdom’s three ecumenical organisations, showing how a diverse group people singly glossed as ‘Christian’ in most public health acceptability studies critically rejected the procedure in unity, but not uniformly. Participants saw medical male circumcision’s promotion and …
“Man, Don’T Feel Like A Woman”: Christian Scriptural Interpretations, The Binary Gender System, And How They Can Lead To Misogyny And Homophobia, Alyssa Froehling
“Man, Don’T Feel Like A Woman”: Christian Scriptural Interpretations, The Binary Gender System, And How They Can Lead To Misogyny And Homophobia, Alyssa Froehling
Audre Lorde Writing Prize
This paper utilizes different analyses of scripture to argue that a binary gender system is not inherent in Christianity. Contemporary societal norms placed onto Christianity contribute to the oppression of women and those in LGBTQ+ communities.
Reproducing The Capitalist Patriarchy In The Evangelical Christian Sexual Purity Movement: A Feminist Christian’S Concern And Hope, Hannah K. Griggs
Reproducing The Capitalist Patriarchy In The Evangelical Christian Sexual Purity Movement: A Feminist Christian’S Concern And Hope, Hannah K. Griggs
Audre Lorde Writing Prize
Through a feminist lens, this essay will explore modern expressions of the conservative evangelical Christian purity movement, including Christian sex manuals, abstinence-only education programs, and purity balls. To begin, I will explain the most important facets of my own feminist theory, which draws from existentialist, socialist, and postmodern feminisms. Using this unique combination of theories, I will attempt to reconcile my deeply held Christian and feminist beliefs about sex. Finally, I will propose a solution that honors both of these important parts of my identity. I assert that the Christian purity movement Others women reinforcing a gender binary, bending to …
Queerly Faithful: A Queer-Poet Community Autoethnography On Identity And Belonging In Christian Faith Communities, Eric Van Giessen
Queerly Faithful: A Queer-Poet Community Autoethnography On Identity And Belonging In Christian Faith Communities, Eric Van Giessen
Social Justice and Community Engagement
In a cultural climate characterized by increasing polarization and hostility towards difference, the lives and bodies of those standing at the intersection of religious and marginal sexual identities are actively shaped by and reshaping our social and cultural landscape. Cultural narratives that conflate religion with oppression and pit religion against ‘progressive’ political movements create artificial divisions that undermine the efforts of LGBTQI+ people of faith to effect change in their communities by pressuring them to compartmentalize—or closet— their spiritual or sexual selves. These constructions also reinforce discourses that claim there are no queer people in faith communities and no people …
Femininity, Masculinity, Gender, And The Role Of Shame On Christian Men And Women In The Evangelical Church Culture, Joy L. Hottenstein
Femininity, Masculinity, Gender, And The Role Of Shame On Christian Men And Women In The Evangelical Church Culture, Joy L. Hottenstein
Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)
Previous research has suggested that individuals (men and women) who endorse more feminine characteristics according to Bem’s Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) are more prone to shame. There have been no known studies conducted to determine if this link also exists within the Evangelical Christian church. Shame, across the research literature, is linked to psychological maladjustment and is defined as a sense that one’s core self is defective and comes up short on expectations. The purpose of this study is to test the relationship between gender, gender role, and shame for men and women who are active in the Evangelical church …
The Rhetoric Of Gay Christians: Matthew Vines And Reverend Nancy Wilson As Exemplars, Josu Miller
The Rhetoric Of Gay Christians: Matthew Vines And Reverend Nancy Wilson As Exemplars, Josu Miller
Graduate Research Symposium (GCUA) (2010 - 2017)
In the United States, there is a perception that the gay rights debate situates Christians against gay rights advocates. According to this perception, Christians oppose gay rights, because the Bible condemns homosexuality as a sin, and those who support gay rights do so using purely secular arguments. This perception of the gay rights debate is flawed and overly simplistic, because simply not all Christians oppose gay rights. In fact, there are multiple interpretations of biblical texts that support homosexuality and have caused a gay rights debate within the church that is as complex and intricate as gay rights debate outside …
Talking And Not Talking: Sexual Education And Ethics For Young Women Within The Evangelical Movement In America, Kate Sargent
Talking And Not Talking: Sexual Education And Ethics For Young Women Within The Evangelical Movement In America, Kate Sargent
LUX: A Journal of Transdisciplinary Writing and Research from Claremont Graduate University
Evangelical culture is a juggernaut, and has now permeated every level of American society. Much of the culture’s strength is due to the powerful youth movement within Evangelical denominations. A great deal of its propaganda is aimed at “youth” and “youth culture” in the form of music, books, and technology. Young people are the “heart and soul” of the Evangelical movement. They embrace it, and then perpetuate it. “Evangelical” is an admittedly elusive term. The Oxford English Dictionary (2011) defines evangelical in two ways, both as an adjective, “1 of or according to the teaching of the gospel or Christianity. …
Gender, Religiosity, And The Telling Of Christian Conversion Narratives, Jenell Paris, Ines Jindra, Robert Woods, Diane Badzinski
Gender, Religiosity, And The Telling Of Christian Conversion Narratives, Jenell Paris, Ines Jindra, Robert Woods, Diane Badzinski
Sociology Educator Scholarship
Conversion is one important element of religion, the ways in which people shift from one religion (or none) to another, or deepen their commitment within a religion. This study explores the way Christian conversion narratives are told by college students. It considers whether factors such as gender, age, religious denomination, time passed since conversion, and measures of religiosity and orthodoxy influence conversion testimonies. Fifty-nine subjects gave in-depth interviews and completed several surveys, and research was gathered and analyzed using both qualitative and quantitative approaches. Deborah Tannen’s genderlect styles theory and a social constructivist perspective on Christianity’s overarching story line are …