Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Missa Gloriæ Patris (Score Sample), Alexander Seefeldt

All College Thesis Program, 2016-2019

Missa Gloriæ Patris is a Latin mass setting in four movements for SATB choir and organ. The complete score is 55 pages long, and the full piece runs just over 25 minutes. Included here are first pages of each movement, as well as a companion paper, recordings of two of the pieces, and a worship aid from the premiere of the piece.

War Lust And Unshaven, Unkempt Individuals Examining The Csb|Sju Campus, Catholicism, And The Anti-Vietnam War Movement From 1965-1968, Stephanie Haeg

All College Thesis Program, 2016-2019

Two important elements of the anti-Vietnam war movement were the student protests and religious pacifism, but the overlap of the two areas is rarely examined. What were college students nationwide doing during that time, and how did the College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University differ from both secular and other Catholic colleges? How did Catholicism affect the CSB|SJU anti-war movement from 1965-1968? I examine student newspapers from this time to see how the language and rhetoric used in student’s letters to the editor and opinion pieces reflected Catholic sentiments and theological arguments worldwide. I then reflect on how …

The Path Toward Religious And Cultural Inclusivity: The Need For Critical Inquiry, Nina Marie Ricci

All College Thesis Program, 2016-2019

The following thesis seeks to explain the essential practice of critical inquiry in the religious sphere. It explores Christian, Buddhist, and Muslim attitudes on the subject of critical inquiry and assesses how these varying stances affect engagement in interreligious dialogue. The thesis presents the impact a religion has on a society’s perception of other religious and cultural practices. Overall the thesis argues for more open-minded attitudes and the need for religious and cultural inclusivity by promoting the proposition that practicing critical inquiry is a necessity to moving forward.

The Effects Of Historical Trauma And Gender On National Identity Within The Hmong Diaspora, Kalia Vang

All College Thesis Program, 2016-2019

Since 1975 the Hmong have settled in the West as a diasporic group. Their involvement in the Vietnam and Secret Wars with the United States in Southeast Asia had forced the group to flee their homes in the mountain tops of Laos. This political migration has since forced Hmong leaders to reframe Hmong national identity in the diaspora, specifically in the United States. With this, certain aspects and perspective from Hmong women on the Secret War were marginalized. Thus, this research asks the following question: why is national identity interpreted differently within the Hmong diaspora? This research project is broken …

Sublime Memories: Bones As A Medium For Cyanotype Printing And Indigo Dying; The Strength Derived From Connection To The Environment; And The Power Of The Color Blue, Alexis R. Bernstein

All College Thesis Program, 2016-2019

This project attempts to portray how connections to the environment provide strength and opportunities for growth. By printing cyanotype images of landscapes and plant life on bones, my work links the ecological world with a representation of mortality. The symbolism of bones provide concepts of strength and life, while the symbolism of blue evokes emotions of distance and longing that create a dreamy memory-inspired image quality throughout the series. The historic processes of cyanotype printing and indigo dying were successfully modified for the medium of bones, allowing both artistic techniques to work together in harmony.

Preserving Dignity In The Long Term Care Of Actively Dying Residents, Libby-Rose Cronican

All College Thesis Program, 2016-2019

As one goes through the process of aging and approaches death, they experience a series of losses: from the loss of physical or mental ability to the ultimate loss of life. These losses make the individual vulnerable to harms that can come from a variety of sources. One source is found within the everyday interactions of long-term care nurses and aides with their elderly, dying residents. Creating this harm stems from a poor nursing practice where the nurse or aide fails to recognize and promote the resident’s dignity and autonomy. The normal notion of dignity and autonomy does not encompass …

Cycles Of Growth And Decay, And Changing The Beautiful To The Grotesque: Installation Through The Lens Of Printmaking, Madeline R. Cochran

All College Thesis Program, 2016-2019

The intention of this project is to create an installation informed by printmaking processes and to explore the tension between what is fragile and delicate and what is decaying and visceral. Specifically, I am working with materials I find delicate and beautiful including: fine Japanese paper, lace, yarn and embroidery floss. I am coating and manipulating these materials with wax, epoxy-resin and baby oil to give the work a fleshy and unsettling feel. Through the process of working with these materials, I have created paper sculptures made from a mold cast from my own torso, miniature books made from monoprints …

Let Your Light Shine: A Holistic Reflection On The Individual In A Community, Nicole C. Argudin

All College Thesis Program, 2016-2019

"Sic luceat lux vestra," or “Let your light Shine” This phrase from the Gospel of Mattew stresses the importance that we all have a light or a talent and we should shine our light for all. The problem though is when we live in the same community for so long, we start to lose our uniqueness and eventually become close-minded to new experiences. By encountering and learning from other communities, we are made aware of this issue and other strengths and weakness of our own community that we take for granted. My disclaimer about this paper is that it is …

Interfaith Youth Core: Theology And Religious Commitment In One Of America’S Most Prominent Youth Interfaith Organizations, Megan A. Weiss

All College Thesis Program, 2016-2019

This thesis project explores the role of faith and theology in the Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC), one of the most prominent youth interfaith organizations in North America in order to determine whether this organization is aptly titled. Through the lens of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel’s assertions about the role of faith in interfaith dialogue and relations, and in light of Diana Eck’s definition and explication of religious pluralism, it analyzes IFYC’s methodology and programs in terms of whether they the foster personal religious commitment and engender the deeper theological dialogue that Heschel and Eck believe are necessary in interfaith work. …

Facing Our Future: An Examination Of Age And Gender In Margaret Atwood's The Stone Mattress, Makenzie Krause

All College Thesis Program, 2016-2019

This thesis examines the intersectionality of age and gender in Margaret Atwood's The Stone Mattress. Atwood is well known for her speculative fiction, and she uses this style of storytelling to create futuristic worlds that easily mirror what our own future will look like. I find that Atwood's characters are marginalized in these worlds, not solely because of their age and gender, but because of the interdependency of age and gender. The fact that Atwood's societies rely so heavily on these discourses causes the characters unnecessary suffering and thus prevents them from living to their fullest potential. Because Atwood's …

The Consequences Of Failing: A Memoir, Olivia M. Zajac

All College Thesis Program, 2016-2019

Failing is part of our human nature. I have never met a person who has never failed at something. Sometimes when I look back at my failures I feel like crying, and other times I laugh at the mistakes that I have made. But no matter the type of failure I have suffered, I have learned one thing. Failures, along with successes, have shaped me into the person I am today. When I fail, I often fall. But each fall is a chance for me to get back up. I don’t plan to stop failing any time soon.

Just like …

Blood, Sweat, And Social Control: A Comparative Study Of Virginian And Jamaican Slavery, 1740-1820, Paul T. Knaak

All College Thesis Program, 2016-2019

This paper is a comparative study examining how slavery impacted Virginian and Jamaican society in the period 1740-1820. In both regions, slavery provided an important source of labor to facilitate intensive agriculture. However, differing geographic, demographic, and economic forces in Virginia and Jamaica served to forge two distinctly different slave societies. To explore how slavery impacted society in the two regions, and the tools slave-owners used to maintain control, the diaries of William Byrd of Virginia and Matthew Lewis of Jamaica are used. While in Jamaica slavery created fundamental societal instability, in Virginia slavery served as a tool to promote …

Facebook: The Alienation From Oneself, Kaitlin F. Knapp

All College Thesis Program, 2016-2019

We live in the Age of Information: a time when technology has advanced in speed and the number of ways people can communicate has increased. Social media is one such advancement; this thesis will focus specifically on the consequences of the site Facebook. The mission statement of the Facebook company is “to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected.” While Facebook serves as a document of its users’ lives, through its unique process of documentation, Facebook alienates the user from the image of herself that she intended to create. This thesis uses the …

Understanding Religious Leaders’ Motivations For And Perceptions Of Interfaith Collaboration, Michelle Hansmann

All College Thesis Program, 2016-2019

This thesis presents the results of an exploratory study examining reasons why religious leaders participate in interfaith collaboration. I conducted in-depth interviews with religious congregational leaders in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, in an attempt to identify their professional and personal motivations, and the organizational pressures influencing participation. Interfaith collaboration consists of intentional constructive cooperation and positive interactions among individuals or institutions of different religious traditions. Interfaith initiatives occur throughout the world at the local, national, and international level. Despite the growing increase in faith-based collaborations, there has been little research examining why religious leaders and congregations choose to participate …