Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Religious Violence And Twitter: Networks Of Knowledge, Empathy And Fascination, Samah Senbel, Carly Seigel, Emily Bryan

School of Computer Science & Engineering Faculty Publications

Twitter analysis through data mining, text analysis, and visualization, coupled with the application of actor-network-theory, reveals a coalition of heterogenous religious affiliations around grief and fascination. While religious violence has always existed, the prevalence of social media has led to an increase in the magnitude of discussions around the topic. This paper examines the different reactions on Twitter to violence targeting three religious communities: the 2015 Charleston Church shooting, the 2018 Pittsburgh Synagogue shooting, and the 2019 Christchurch Mosque shootings. The attacks were all perpetrated by white nationalists with firearms. By analyzing large Twitter datasets in response to the attacks, …

Theodramatic Themes And Showtime In Nassim Soleimanpour’S White Rabbit Red Rabbit, Charles A. Gillespie

Catholic Studies Faculty Publications

This essay engages the experimental playwright Nassim Soleimanpour’s White Rabbit Red Rabbit alongside the theological dramatic theory of Hans Urs von Balthasar. Every Soleimanpour play can only happen once. Actors receive the script as they begin the show; any given actor must perform Soleimanpour’s drama as a cold reading unique in history. I propose “Showtime” to theorize this theatrical temporality, exemplified by White Rabbit Red Rabbit and shared by von Balthasar’s theology, on analogy to stage space. This article further examines the play’s themes of identity, self-sacrifice, free obedience, and writing about time through a “theodramatic structural analysis” keyed to …

Liturgy As Ethicizer: Cultivating Ecological Consciousness Through A Coptic Orthodox Liturgical Ethos, Stephen M. Meawad

Catholic Studies Faculty Publications

This project will examine the liturgical ethos of the Coptic Orthodox Church and how this ethos is effective in creating self-sustaining, ecologically aware communities.

My Interview With Akan, Uwem Akpanikat

Writing Across the Curriculum

Editor’s Note: This Newsletter interview is a fictional story written by Uwem Akpanikat, a senior majoring in Theology and Religious Studies. Inspired by the film “Dear White People,” which was shown to the students in his Human Rights course, the piece aims to explore the intersection of race, free speech, higher education, media, and religion, in light of the critical and ethical thinking that is central to the Catholic intellectual tradition.

The Moral High Road In The Undercity: An Examination Of Ethics In A Mumbai Slum, Mary L. Bauer

Catholic Studies Faculty Publications

As of 2016, 1.6 billion people around the globe lacked proper shelter and of these, one billion lived in informal settlements, also called slums, according to data collected by the United Nations (UN-Habitat 2016). Investigative journalist Katherine Boo spent four years, between 2007 and 2011, interviewing and shadowing the residents of one such slum on the outskirts of Mumbai. Her goal was to draw attention to socio-economic inequality (Boo, 2014 pp. 247-248), but in the course of collecting data about the consequences of poverty and residents’ attempts to rise out of it, she also recorded information about their moral choices, …

Professor Greeley: We Need To Go Beyond Tolerance And Engage In Interfaith Dialogue, June-Ann Greeley

June-Ann Greeley

Sacred Heart University Professor June-Ann Greeley recently returned from a week-long seminar at Boston College that focused on ways of thinking about religion in the public square. Greeley says a significant component of the seminar was the agreement that there is a critical need for an interfaith dialogue

Justice Without Solidarity? Collective Identity And The Fate Of The "Ethical" In Habermas' Recent Political Theory, Andrew J. Pierce

Presidential Seminar on the Catholic Intellectual Tradition

No abstract provided.

A Taste Of Armageddon: When Warring Is Done By Drones And Robots, Brian Stiltner

Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Publications

Discusses the increasing use of drones and weaponized robots. Argues that the international community must put firm ethical guidelines in place before the technology becomes rampant.

Unaffiliated Parents And The Religious Training Of Their Children, Christel Manning

Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Publications

This article examines how parents who are religiously unaffiliated make decisions about the religious upbringing of their children. Drawing on qualitative data, this study explores the diverse worldviews that are included within the term "None” and how those beliefs are reflected or not reflected in the way parents raise their children. The article identifies four distinct worldviews among unaffiliated parents and identifies five different strategies that parents use to incorporate religion in the lives of their children. The article then analyzes the relationship between parent worldviews and actions, with particular attention to secular unaffiliated parents who incorporate religion in the …

Protest, Alexandria Abel

PTRS Undergraduate Publications

Protest is a method used to oppose power or enact change. It is a multifaceted idea in that the type of protest used depends directly on the attainability of the goal. I will discuss the properties of protest and then show how individuals in Enrique’s Journey and Dorothy Day's Loaves and Fishes approach the act of protesting differently based on the actuality of the goals to be accomplished.

India-Pakistan Relations: International Implications, Alka Jauhari

Political Science & Global Affairs Faculty Publications

India’s independence in 1947 from the British colonial rule and its subsequent division into two nations – India and Pakistan - has sowed the seeds of continuing conflict between the two countries since their independence. The partition of India was primarily based on the religious divide between the two communities – the Hindus and the Muslims. After India’s partition, the major issue of conflict between the two countries has been the Muslim dominated northern state of Jammu and Kashmir, currently a part of India. This bilateral conflict has had international implications over the years. Decades of conflict, which includes three …

Following The Trail Of Ants: An Examination Of The Work Of E.O. Wilson, Samantha Kee

Writing Across the Curriculum

No abstract provided.

Simplicity, Sustainability, And A Greening Of The Catholic Intellectual Tradition, Cara E. Erdheim

Presidential Seminar on the Catholic Intellectual Tradition

This essay is in part academic and in part anecdotal, although, from my perspective, the two need not be mutually exclusive. A unique Service Learning experience last May has crystallized my personal reflections on the Catholic Intellectual Tradition, as well as clarified my literary scholarship in the field of American environmental writing.

Framing Racism Post Vatican Ii: Critical Race Theory And The Catholic Intellectual Tradition, Amanda Moras

Presidential Seminar on the Catholic Intellectual Tradition

Over the past century, the Catholic Church as an institutional entity has had a complex, and often contentious, relationship to racial politics. Given its history in colonialism, role in domestic slavery and the widely publicized complicity during the Holocaust, racism is something that has deep seated roots within the Church hierarchy.

That said, over the past fifty years, the Catholic Church, both internationally and in the U.S., has begun to confront racism as a moral issue.

Animal Cognition, The Importance Of Touch, And The Cit, Deirdre Yeater

Presidential Seminar on the Catholic Intellectual Tradition

A presentation of Professor Yeater's incorporation in her class PSCC103 of 5 in- class discussions comparing human and non-human species, particularly dolphins, with an emphasis on the Catholic Intellectual Tradition and the importance of touch. PSCC-103, The Human Community: The Individual and Society, is a 3 credit course which engages students in a study of the relationship between psychology – the science of human behavior and mental processes, and the Catholic intellectual tradition – which is characterized by rigorous intellectual inquiry and an openness to scientific ideas. This course aims to help us understand ourselves as human persons, as well …

Shu’S Michael Higgins Examines The Clerical Sex Abuse Scandal In New Book, Michael W. Higgins

Michael W. Higgins

Suffer the Children Unto Me is, as the authors describe, “an exploration of the modern sexual abuse scandal from a number of perspectives.”

Book Review: Daniel M. Bell, Jr., Just War As Christian Discipleship: Recentering The Tradition In The Church Rather Than The State, Brian Stiltner

Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Publications

From his conversations in church settings and classrooms, Daniel M. Bell, Jr. has observed that Christians by and large do not know the church’s just war tradition very well, but that they are receptive to learning about it. Most theologians would likely agree that they know a number of Christians who are hungry to see better thinking and more effective action in response to war in our time. Bell, a Lutheran seminary professor and ordained elder in the United Methodist Church, wrote this book to interpret ‘the just war tradition in terms of concrete practices that might contribute to the …

Religion, Rhetoric, And Running For Office: Public Reason On The Us Campaign Trail, Brian Stiltner, Steven Michels

Political Science & Global Affairs Faculty Publications

It is common, almost expected, for candidates for office in the United States to affirm their religious identity and to employ broad religious themes in support of their political agendas. It is the rare candidate, especially for the Senate or the presidency, who completely eschews religious language due to the pressure and scrutiny of church leaders and advocacy groups with religous and moral agendas.

A Secure Border: In Canada Religion & Politics Don't Mix, Michael W. Higgins

Mission Integration & Ministry Publications

The article focuses on the separation of religion and politics in Canada. It cites that Canadian politicians are collectively nervous about introducing religious issues in the political arena. It notes that reelected Prime Minister Stephen Harper has an affirmed intellectual attachment to religion. It states that religion, particularly Catholicism, surfaced at several points during the election, around the editorial table, or in caucus.

Personalized Gravestones: Your Life's Passion For All To See And Hear, Peter A. Maresco, Ahmed U. Zafar

WCBT Faculty Publications

In the past several years, a trend has developed that in an earlier age would have seemed inappropriate and perhaps even morbid; the increased personalization of gravestones (memorials). What makes this trend interesting is the variety of shapes, designs, manufacturing processes, and types of personalization actually appearing on gravestones, including seven-inch LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) screens recessed into the face of memorials. This paper discusses gravestones (memorials) in a religious context. It examines the rapidly developing market for elaborately designed memorials both in their traditional forms, typically vertical and created out of granite with just a name and date of …

Race, Nation, And Religion In The Americas, Edited By Henry Goldschmidt And Elizabeth Mcalister, R. Bryan Bademan

History Faculty Publications

Book review by R. Bryan Bademan.

Goldschmidt, Henry and Elizabeth McAlister, eds. Race, Nation, and Religion in the Americas. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.

ISBN 978-0195149197

What Do We Want The Other To Teach About Us?, David L. Coppola, Center For Christian-Jewish Understanding

Sacred Heart University Press Books

Based on five conferences, 'What Do We Want the Other to Teach About Us," held in Jerusalem (2000) on theological traditions; in Edmonton, Canada (2000) on historical traditions; in Rome, Italy (2001) on prayer and liturgy; in Bamberg, Germany (2002) on historical traditions; and in Fairfield, Connecticut (2003) on ethical traditions, and sponsored by the Center for Christian-Jewish Understanding of Sacred Heart University, Fairfield, Connecticut, in collaboration with the Elijah Interfaith Institute, Jerusalem; the Edmonton Interfaith Centre for Education and Action, Canada; the University of Bamberg, Germany; and Sacred Heart University.

Creating Space For Dialogue, David L. Coppola

SHU Faculty Publications

Judaism, Christianity and Islam teach that it is God’s will that all people live in peace with each other. Peace will be adequately advanced only when religious people and religious institutions are integral to the processes of social justice in every part of the globe. It is religion that can help to reach into the depths of humanity’s struggles and the heights of human accomplishments to salve such injuries. Unfortunately, dialogue for the sake of building mutual respect, understanding and ultimately, peaceful coexistence seems more difficult than ever, in part due to the resistance and obstruction by some who claim …

Religion, Violence And Peace: Continuing Conversations And Study Guide, David L. Coppola, Center For Christian-Jewish Understanding

Sacred Heart University Press Books

Continuing the conversation that began with the 1999 volume, Religion and Violence, Religion and Peace, this thought-provoking collection of essays also offers a Study Guide that explores the questions of violence and peace faced by people of the Abrahamic faiths. The essays in this work were presented by Jewish, Christian and Muslim leaders and scholars at the 2003 conference, “Pathways to Peace in the Abrahamic Faiths,” sponsored by the Center for Christian-Jewish Understanding of Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut.

Contributors include David L. Coppola, Rabbi Rene-Samuel Sirat, Adolphe Steg, Rabbi Rene Gutman, James G. Williams, Jean Dujardin, Azizah …

Defined By Spirituality?, Michael W. Higgins

Mission Integration & Ministry Publications

Pierre Elliott Trudeau was a man of intense, intelligent, and reflective faith, and this critical dimension of the man needs to be rightly considered when assessing his role and impact on Canadian society.

Answering The Call: The Story Of Community Service And Volunteerism At Sacred Heart University, Ralph L. Corrigan

Sacred Heart University Press Books

This volume chronicles the history of service and volunteer efforts through personal recollections, newspaper accounts, personal letters, documents and 26 pages of photos that capture Sacred Heart University's commitment to community service. Answering the Call includes chapters on the early years, the El Salvador connection, the 30,000 Hours project, the start of service-learning programs, and current service initiatives in Bridgeport. The book illustrates the University's preferential treatment for the poor and captures its passionate commitment to community service

Reassessing Religion's Place In A Liberal Democracy, Brian Stiltner

Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Publications

Reviews by Brian Stiltner of five books published between 1996 and 1997 on the topic of religion's role in politics and a liberal democracy.

Originally published: Religious Studies Review 26.4 (October 2000). pp. 310-325.

Women In A Divided Church: Liberal And Conservative Catholic Women Negotiate Changing Gender Roles, Christel Manning

Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Publications

The Catholic Church in America is deeply divided, and gender issues (especially reproductive choice and women's ordination) have become a symptom of this division. This paper examines the language used by liberal and conservative Catholic women to talk about gender. It is argued that although similar divisions over gender exist within Protestantism and Judaism, Catholic women are in a unique position to confront them, Unlike conservative Protestants and Jews who have separated themselves from their more liberal counterparts by forming independent Evangelical and Orthodox denominations, conservative Catholics co-exist with liberals in the mine church. The paper shows that being forced …

A Study Of The Background, Level Of Job Satisfaction, Maturity, And Morale Of "Delayed Vocation" Catholic Priests, Thomas H. Hicks

Psychology Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Christian Responsibility And Community Process, Joseph A. Grau

Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Publications

Few thoughtful Christians deny that as Christians they should be doing something about the social problems of our time. But, they are often not sure as to the right way of going about it. When they come to grips with the meaning of their responsibilities as Christians in the world, they are struck by the complexity of a vast network of interlocking problems, and the strong differences of opinion among people of good will about how to unravel an apparently hopeless tangle of social, political, economic, and cultural affairs. Consequently, it is not enough to say, "Follow your conscience, and …