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Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities

How Is The Christian Virtue Of Detachment Epistemically Transformative?, Simon C. Summers Dec 2023

How Is The Christian Virtue Of Detachment Epistemically Transformative?, Simon C. Summers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis aims to understand how the Christian virtue of detachment, understood as the proper ordering of one’s desires toward God, contributes to epistemic transformation. In order to achieve this result, I rely on the work of the Trappist monk, Thomas Merton, beginning by mapping out his conception of detachment and demonstrating how it helps one to overcome competing desires and find their true self. Following this, I offer an account of the type of epistemic transformation required to access some theistic knowledge in order to connect Merton’s views on the topic with those of modern-day philosophers and show the …


No One Is An Island: Student Experiences Of A Catholic High School Curriculum Response To Bullying, Based On Themes From The Writings Of Thomas Merton, Thomas E. Malewitz Sep 2018

No One Is An Island: Student Experiences Of A Catholic High School Curriculum Response To Bullying, Based On Themes From The Writings Of Thomas Merton, Thomas E. Malewitz

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Capstones

This dissertation was an explorative study of student experiences of a first-iteration Catholic curriculum created to respond to the epidemic of adolescent bullying, from an expansive and holistic perspective (Huggins, 2016). The curriculum used in this study was inspired by themes from the writings of Thomas Merton (1915-1968) a Catholic monk, Civil Rights activist, inter-religious bridge, and non-violent resistor (Merton, 1975; Merton, 1983; Merton, 1989). This qualitative study utilized the methodology of educational criticism and connoisseurship (Uhrmacher, Moroye, & Flinders, 2017) using the Christian Humanistic ethic as a lens to examine and explain the emergent theological themes of the students’ …


The Niles-Merton Songs: A Performance Guide Of Selected Songs, Brittany C. Benningfield Jan 2018

The Niles-Merton Songs: A Performance Guide Of Selected Songs, Brittany C. Benningfield

Theses and Dissertations--Music

The Niles-Merton Songs is a two-opus collection of twenty-two songs by John Jacob Niles setting the poetry of Thomas Merton. The songs are beautiful but contrast from his more popular works in poetry and composition. This project explores reasons why these songs are rarely performed, and gives an overview and analysis of ten selected pieces. The document includes a brief introduction, biographies of Niles and Merton, information detailing Niles’s compositional process, and the technical and artistic requirements for performing the songs, including appropriate age and voice type.


Thomas Merton : Evil, Suffering, Zen And The Purified Soul Theodicy., David Edward Orberson May 2017

Thomas Merton : Evil, Suffering, Zen And The Purified Soul Theodicy., David Edward Orberson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Thomas Merton was one of the most important Catholic writers of the 20th century. Hundreds of scholarly books and articles have been written about various facets of his life and work. However, one area of personal interest that has not been adequately addressed in Merton’s work is the theodicy question. Merton never wrote a book or even an article dedicated to the problem of evil. In this project, I examine Thomas Merton’s work to determine if he espoused any kind of theodicy. More specifically, I review Merton’s entire canon, i.e., books, journals, correspondence, articles and talks he gave to novice …


A Monastery For The Revolution: Ernesto Cardenal, Thomas Merton, And The Paradox Of Violence In Nicaragua, 1957-1979, Brendan Jordan Jan 2015

A Monastery For The Revolution: Ernesto Cardenal, Thomas Merton, And The Paradox Of Violence In Nicaragua, 1957-1979, Brendan Jordan

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

In 1957, a young Nicaraguan poet named Ernesto Cardenal, recently graduated from Columbia University, entered the Trappist Abbey of Gethsemani, located outside Louisville, Kentucky. There he met a prominent Catholic thinker and pacifist, Thomas Merton, who soon mentored young Cardenal. Though Cardenal departed Gethsemani in 1959, Merton continued to counsel him in spirituality, poetry, and social activism until Merton’s death in 1968. While Cardenal during these earlier years was a committed pacifist, his experiences after returning to Nicaragua in 1965 radically altered his view of social action. Cardenal established a semi-monastic community in the Solentiname islands in southern Nicaragua, and …


You Are That: An Upanishadic Approach To Empathic Writing Instruction In A High School Social Science Course, Andrew Otto Davis Mar 2014

You Are That: An Upanishadic Approach To Empathic Writing Instruction In A High School Social Science Course, Andrew Otto Davis

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation reports the results of a qualitative research project investigating an approach to composition instruction in a high school social studies course that is based on the Upanishadic concept of tat tvam asi (you are that). Research for this study was conducted while I taught a section of Non-West History to high school juniors and seniors. This dissertation addresses the issues involved in the teaching of writing in a high school social science course. Specifically it focuses on the issues involved when a teacher attempts to construct a class that engages students to read and write in ways that …