History of Religion Commons^™

Indigenous Stitch-Arts Of India: Tradition And Revival In A Global Age, Punam Madhok

Monsoon: South Asian Studies Association Journal

Stitch art allows for the creative expression and economic support of countless women throughout India. This article examines four notable styles: chikankari, flora and fauna stitched in white thread on fine white cotton, rabari, the stitching of mirrors into colorful cloth, phulkari, resplendent flowery motifs sewn into shawls in Punjab, and kantha, Bengali patch work yielding quilts and seating mats. In addition to describing each technique, this article discusses how women have been economically empowered through this art by such organizations as Self-Help Enterprise (SHE) in Kolkata and Adithi, a women’s cooperative, in Bihar.

Bloody Sunday: Death & Press, Joseph Gaffney

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project is a historical paper on Bloody Sunday, a day of violence in Dublin during the Irish War for Independence on November 21, 1920, analyzing primary and secondary sources centered on the subject to answer specific historiographical research questions. The primary objective of this research project is to understand the immediate social and political ramifications of Bloody Sunday in Ireland and England as reflected in the spread of information via the written press. The goal of the written analysis will be to answer a series of historical research questions. How were both the IRA’s killings and the subsequent reprisal …

Mysteries Of The Gothic, Addison Duvall

CMC Senior Theses

By examining the histories of the Notre-Dame and Chartres cathedrals, I will consider three academic schools of thought regarding the high Gothic Cathedrals: the balanced and rational feat of engineering, the communal and social rituals that bond humans to this space, and the iconographic manifestation of the supernatural. Functionalist engineering paradoxically lays at the heart of these cathedrals' capacity to open the human consciousness to the sacred by using recurrent symbolic patterns from nature, music and mathematics to create divine ratios that transport us. Integrated into these larger architectural designs the repeating visual patterns exalting both biblical and supernatural icons …

“The Glorious Liberty Of The Children Of God”: Toward A Christian Defense Of Human Rights, John Witte Jr.

Faculty Articles

It will come as a surprise to some human rights lawyers to learn that Christianity was a deep and enduring source of human rights and liberties in the Western legal tradition. Our elementary textbooks have long taught us that the history of human rights began in the later seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Human rights, many of us were taught, were products of the Western Enlightenment—creations of Grotius and Pufendorf, Locke and Rousseau, Montesquieu and Voltaire, Hume and Smith, Jefferson and Madison. Rights were the mighty new weapons forged by American and French revolutionaries who fought in the name of political …

The Hands Of God And The Glittering Sword: A Theological History Of John Brown, Christian Chiakulas

Master's Theses or Doctor of Nursing Practice

The political praxis of American abolitionist John Brown (1800-1859) furnishes an example of practical liberation theology. This work advances an experimental historiographic model, termed theological history, which combines the central insights of Christian liberation theology and Marxist historical materialism to draw both historical and theological conclusions about its subject, John Brown.

The foundational work of Gustavo Gutierrez and James Cone suggests that history and praxis are central to liberation theology, and that Marxist epistemology and ontology are necessary for historical conclusions drawn from liberation theology to be valid. This work extends this contention, arguing for an even greater fusion …

Elite Women In The Mediterranean 31 Bc – 1380 Ad: An Investigation Into Female Agency, Identity, And Patriarchy Across Classical And Christian Paradigms, Julia Maurer

Capstone Showcase

This paper explores the responses of elite women to patriarchal regimes across the Classical Pagan and Medieval Christian paradigms in the Mediterranean from 31 BC to 1380 AD. While the current historiography acknowledges the radical differences between the two worldviews fundamental to the core values of Western Civilization, an investigation of three women that can be taken to be emblematic examples of the periods in which they lived reveals a striking continuity in the nuanced social roles available to women. This continuity contradicts expectations of significant changes reflective of this revolutionary paradigm shift.

I utilize Julia Augusti, Vibia Perpetua, and …

Sacred Architecture And Interreligious Dialogue In The Concept Of The “Russian World”, Oleksandr Lukyanenko

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article continues a series of studies illustrating the formation of the idea of the “Russian world” in the religious discourse of Orthodox Russia. The main attention is paid to ideological stamps used by Patriarch Kirill of Moscow during sermons and public speeches. The study summarizes the idea of the exclusivity of the Russian spiritual path in contrast to the West, which supports the annexation geopolitical policy of Vladimir Putin. The article provides examples of falsification of historical facts in the religious and political spheres in order to create a powerful propaganda background in the conditions of the Russian-Ukrainian war. …

Strategy And Tactics Of Soviet Security Bodies In The Fight Against Religion And Religious Communities On The Territory Of Ukraine, Olha Shakurova, Oksana Vysoven, Yuriy Figurnyi, Natalia Varodi

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article analyzes the strategy and tactics of state security agencies in the fight against religion and religious Protestant communities on the territory of Soviet Ukraine. It was revealed that the communist totalitarian system, in order to maintain its dominant position in society and master fully the consciousness of its population and influence its spiritual life (strategic task), shortly after the end of the Second World War, in 1946 in the system of the newly formed Ministry of State Security of the Soviet Union of the Socialist Republics and its republican departments created new special operational departments endowed with extraordinary …

In God's Hands: Faith Healing, Epilepsy, And The Question Of Human Rights, Marisa L. Pechillo

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis highlights the historical link between people with epilepsy (PWE) and demonic possession. The discussion traces origins of these views from antiquity to the contemporary era, foregrounding media and scholarship that emphasizes the negative perceptions of PWE developed through Christian teaching and imagery. It explores the question of whether the social isolation, abuse, and violence committed against PWE, through Christian faith healing practices such as exorcism, developed in relation to these stigmatizing views and whether these constitute a human rights violation in accordance with conventions put forth by the United Nations.

Losing My Religion: Contextualizing Continental Catholic Seminaries In The Elizabethan Reformation, 1558-1603, Cole Volman

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation examines the impact and influence of a portion of the early modern Jesuit seminary network within the narrative of the Counter Reformation. Following the rise of Elizabeth I, a significant number of Catholic recusants fled England to take up residence in a series of schools spread across Europe with the intention of completing their education and later contributing to the efforts to preserve Catholicism in their homeland. This dissertation argues that these schools played a significant role in the course of the “English Mission,” contributing to its conception, escalation, and eventual collapse in the late sixteenth century. Despite …

A Nation On The Periphery Of History: A Discussion Of Poland-Lithuania During The Reformation, Dillon Piorkowski

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project hopes to establish several key points. One of which is that Poland is unfairly represented in Western historiography. Specifically, this means that in the English-speaking academic world, Poland is discussed disproportionately. Countries like Germany, France, and Britain have thousands of pages written about them discussing their roles during the Reformation. But Poland does not. This is evidenced by the many Western textbooks that misrepresent the nation. In turn, the project will use these various textbooks as evidence. The second point this project aims to cover is why Poland’s underappreciation is unfair. Simply demonstrating how Poland is underrepresented is …

Identities Of Women In Indian Art And History, Nalini Rao

Monsoon: South Asian Studies Association Journal

The stereotypical image of Indian women portrayed in the art of stone sculpture is often interpreted as images of beauty that are sensuous, religious as well depict social life. There are historical reasons for depicting her as such. This paper inquires into the changing depiction and social forces that influenced feminine imagery. This paper examines the portrayal of beauty through idealization of female body which has evolved over the centuries in India. It also aims to understand their changing status and explores issues of feminine identity, status, and empowerment largely in ancient and medieval India. It also provides a brief …

Li Zhichang’S Propaganda Of The Conversion Of The Barbarians): The Cause Of Decline Of Quanzhen Daoism In The Yuan Period, Jian Liang

Dartmouth College Master’s Theses

In 1281, under the order of Kublai Khan, the Daoist Canon and some other Daoist texts compiled by the Quanzhen Daoist sect were burned. Since Qiu Chuji’s meeting with Genghis Khan in 1221, the Quanzhen Sect enjoyed sixty-years of prosperity and its leaders been appointed as leaders of all Daoist and Buddhist sects under the Yuan Mongol dynasty. During this period, Quanzhen Sect experienced a turning point from prosperity to decline. Li Zhichang, the seventh-generation leader of the Quanzhen Sect, spread the huahu (Conversion of the Barbarians) discourse in order to suppress Buddhism. This directly affected the Mongols’ attitude towards …

Black Deathways: An African Methodist History, 1829-1916, Christina M. Varney

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This study will focus on the transformations of death practices and the shifting roles of death workers from 1829-1916. The Postbellum portion of this study will focus on African Methodist communities in the states of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee as practices and people moved West to the states of Montana, Colorado, and California. These practices experienced changes as a result of rising literacy rates, the establishment of Black churches, and from the movement of Black people within the South. More changes occurred with the creation of mutual aid societies and Black-owned funeral homes. Black funeral directors …

Ritual, Spectacle, And Theatre In Late Medieval Seville (Chapter 1), Christopher B. Swift

Publications and Research

From the fall of Islamic Išbīliya in 1248 to the conquest of the New World, Seville was a nexus of economic and religious power where interconfessional living among Christians, Jews, and Muslims was negotiated on public stages. From out of seemingly irreconcilable ideologies of faith, hybrid performance culture emerged in spectacles of miraculous transformation, disciplinary processionals, and representations of religious identity. Ritual, Spectacle, and Theatre in Late Medieval Seville reinvigorates the study of medieval Iberian theater by revealing the ways in which public expressions of devotion, penance, and power fostered cultural reciprocity, rehearsed religious difference, and ultimately helped establish Seville …

The Williams Way: Why Roger Williams’ Philosophy Of Religious Liberty Remains Imperative Today, Michael Zigarelli

Liberty Theological Review

To travel the road of religious freedom, a society requires firm guardrails. To the left of the road looms the cliff of “state suppression of religion.” To the right looms the cliff of “state establishment of religion.” During the life of Roger Williams (1603?-1683), the problem in the American colonies was the latter, the inextricable entanglement of religion and civil authority. Known as “The New England Way” in Williams’ colony of Massachusetts Bay, its main tenet of governance was that social stability required religious uniformity. Williams could not disagree more, embarking on a life’s mission to proclaim that government possesses …

The History Of Apologetics: A Collaborative Article Review, Isaiah B. Parker

Liberty Theological Review

In The History of Apologetics, the authors examine a variety of noteworthy Western apologists throughout seven distinct historical eras: Patristic, Medieval, Early Modern, Nineteenth Century, Twentieth Century (American), Twentieth Century (European), and Contemporary. Each chapter presents four essential elements relating to the life and work of one apologist: historical background, theological context, apologetic methodology and response, and critical contribution(s) to apologetics. They aim to provide an overview of influential apologists within their unique cultural contexts. This review structures its content in the same manner, albeit with some necessary minor changes to the elements for ease of reading. The historical …

French Jewish Citizenship Of The Late 18th To Early 19th Century, Jourdin Wilson

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

Results show that regions/origins influenced how French Jews felt about their citizenship, and how they were treated: (1) “The Jews of Bordeaux and Bayonne enjoyed the most advantageous legal status,” who had “Marrano origins” and acted as Portuguese merchants, made up Sephardi Jews in France (Hyman 1998, “Chapter One”). (2) Napoleon’s methods greatly influenced Jews’ citizenship. Limitations: finding English translations, understanding anti-Semitism. Future Research: (1) Findings suggest that researching particular groups or regions of French Jews leads to more varied and nuanced perspectives, rather than generalizing. (2) Choosing a region and study a particular community of Jews in France.

The Coptic Orthodox Church: The Balance Of Its Continuation Of Its 1st Century Roots And Its Adaptation To Modernity, Meri Souliman

History Theses

This thesis analyzes the survival of the Coptic Orthodox Church and argues that the Church has effectively adapted to modernity. This survival and adaptation of this 1st century Church is argued for in the transformation and adaptation of language, the role of women, the practices of Coptic monasticism, and the creation of a new modern phenomena, the Coptic diasporic community, mainly though the example of the United States. The analyses presented are drawn from both primary and secondary sources that effectively ague for both the survival and adaptation of the Coptic Church. Finally, this thesis thus provides an institutional history …

Minds And Hearts And Digital Data. Collaborative Learning With Jesuit Manuscripts & Databases, Elisa Frei

Jesuit Higher Education: A Journal

In a conversation with Emanuele Colombo, John O’Malley explained his historical method in eight points. In describing them, he noticed how “sources are mute” and how “to make them speak I must ask them questions”,[1] “the continuities are stronger and deeper than the discontinuities,”[2] and “if I really understand what is going on, I can explain it to an intelligent ten-year-old.”[3]This article aims at presenting the strategies and outcomes of a Public History project that involves on the one hand Jesuit sources of the early modern period, and on the other, non-professional historians who never studied …