Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Isis & Eschatology: Apocalyptic Motivations Behind The Formation And Development Of The Islamic State, Matthew Henry Musselwhite

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The goal of this thesis was to analysis the Islamic State’s apocalyptic nature by studying both classic Islamic eschatology and the Islamic State’s online magazine Dabiq. In order to conduct this research, I separated my thesis into two separate angles of approach. The first angle (chapters one & two) exclusively looked at Islamic eschatology, classic apocalyptic texts, shifts in how literature was written over time, and on examples of modern messianic revolutions occurring. In this way, I attempted to emphasize how extra-Qur’anic texts have played a large part in providing details for what Islamic eschatology entails. I also looked at …

College Basketball In Kentucky, Religion, And Distinguishing Between The Two: Concerns And Cautions For The Conversation On The Religiosity Of Sports, Matthew A. Sheffield

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Academic analysis of sport and religion is still in an early and formative phase. Only in the past fifty years has the conversation of sport and religion substantially been revealed as subject matter for serious academic work. This thesis includes literature from various scholars interested in religion and sport, contemplation on the religious nature of college basketball in the state of Kentucky, and challenges for leading scholars arguing over the notion of sport as a form of religion. The first half of the thesis presents the narrative of the increasingly growing academic debate over considering sport a religious phenomenon. The …

Tradition And Change: Two Buddhisms In The Bible Belt Sharing Common Ground Through Adaptation, Jonathan Spence

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This thesis examines how some American and Burmese forms of Buddhism in the Bible Belt today share common ground through a process of adaptation. Exploring tradition and change, I reveal how change often requires adaptation. Utilizing ethnographic research conducted in south central Kentucky and middle Tennessee, I argue that some Burmese and American forms of Buddhism in the Bible Belt experience change through three aspects of adaptation. These consist of reduction, syncretism, and preservation. I explore these three aspects through interviews and observations of immigrant Burmese Buddhist monks and American Buddhist meditation leaders. In doing so, I also examine the …

Being Hindu In The American South: Hindu Nationalist Discourse In A Diaspora Community, Daniel J. Shouse

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

According to a recent Pew poll approximately 97% of all Hindus live in the countries of India and Nepal. However, there are hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of Hindus living in other parts of the world. Across the United States, Hindu temples are joining the religious landscape of the country. They are often greeted as signifiers of a “model minority” by the mainstream because of Asian American economic success. However, as religious and racial minorities, Indian immigrants and Indian Americans just as frequently face ignorance and discrimination. This rejection by mainstream society, combined with a desire to reconnect with …

Shinto: An Experience Of Being At Home In The World With Nature And With Others, Marcus Evans

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This study discloses Shinto’s experiential and existential significance and aims to articulate Shinto’s sacred objective. It shows that Shinto, by way of experience, communicates being in the world with nature and with others as a sacred objective. This suggests that Shinto, in communicating its objective, appeals to the emotions more so than to the intellect; and that Shinto’s sacred objective does not transcend the natural world of both nature and everyday affairs. This study pursues this goal by showing the experiential and existential dimensions of the three primary features of Shinto: it shows how kami (or kami-ness) is thought of …

The Fundamental Reality In The Ontology Of African People, Charles Ereraina Osume

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

“The fundamental reality in the ontology of African people” is an effort to alert the reader to a crucial omission in most contemporary studies on the religion or culture of African people. The majority of the current anthropologists (scholars in the field of contemporary religions) only make a passing reference to the spirit beings that infest the world of traditional Africa.

Apart from inadequate attempts to psychologize the religions of pre-literary man, investigators of pre-scientific cultures have for the most part been unable to account for the unflinching loyalty and meticulous devotion of traditional man to spirit beings. The reason …