Digital Commons Network^™

Japanese "Picture Brides" And The Anti-Asian Immigration Discourse In The U.S. Media 1907-1924, Lex G. Coniglio

Student Honors Theses

In 1907, the U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt finalized the Gentlemen’s Agreement. This informal arrangement, made in part due to the continued American dissent against Japanese immigration during the early twentieth century, was designed to limit the number of Japanese migrant workers in the United States. In Roosevelt’s words, the only Japanese nationals that would be allowed for U.S. entry would be “students, travelers, business men and the like.”1 But, as it would be discovered, there were “loopholes” to this Agreement. The family members of Japanese immigrants already in the U.S. were allowed access into the country. Thus, single, Japanese men, …

How The Spiritan Mission And Spirituality Can Bring Hope Today, Igono Abel Raphael Cssp

Spiritan Horizons

No abstract provided.

The Dynamics Of Hospitality: A Paradigm For Promoting And Doing Authentic Catholic Theologies, Gregory Olikenyi Cssp

Spiritan Horizons

No abstract provided.

Visit To A Place Of Worship, Emma Mindach

Spiritan Horizons

No abstract provided.

Barrel-Rides And She-Elves: Audience And Anticipation In Peter Jackson’S Hobbit Trilogy [Note], Janet Croft

Faculty Publications

Peter Jackson’s Hobbit trilogy, to the audience that loved the Lord of the Rings films, is an exciting opportunity to revisit Tolkien’s fantastic world and see favorite characters acting out their earlier adventures. The reader of the books, though, is often likely to find the difference in tone between the children’s book and the vastly expanded films jarring. This essay will explore audience expectations, the difficulties of filming a “prequel” after a “sequel,” and issues of “anticipation” in relation to character development.

On Stage: Startling Visibility, Operatic Drama, And George Tooker’S Un Ballo In Maschera, Alex Del Dago

Art Inquiries

As a part of its centennial advertising campaign, the Metropolitan Opera in New York commissioned the American figurative painter George Tooker (1920-2011) to create a fine art image inspired after Giuseppe Verdi’s 1859 opera, Un Ballo in Maschera. Within the artist's composition, themes around masquerading, skepticism, and surveillance arise, all of which are common threads within both Tooker’s and Verdi’s work. Primary questions that can be asked from looking at this type of subject matter include: who is truthfully themselves, who may be someone other than they initially say they are, and most importantly, how does the ambiguity of gendered …

Robert Indiana, Love, Biblical Authority, And American Art In The 1960s, David Mccarthy

Art Inquiries

Years before Robert Indiana suggested that his canonical LOVE paintings and sculptures carried erotic connotations, he was explicit in indicating that the series was to be understood as spiritual. In 1973, as the United States Postal Service issued some three hundred and thirty million stamps with his design, he specifically explained that the genesis of LOVE should be traced to his childhood training in Christian Science. Although scholars have certainly acknowledged this background, none, so far, have sufficiently addressed the actual foundational text of the faith, nor have they adequately addressed the evidence of Christian references found in the artist’s …

On Loss And Absence: Textiles Of Mourning And Survival, Art Institute Of Chicago, Chicago, Il, Elizabeth S. Hawley

Art Inquiries

No abstract provided.

Kindness As A Critical Lens: Ethical Considerations In Rhetorical Critique, A Adams, Emily Sauter

National Forensic Journal

In 2016 Brianna Kirkham stepped onto the stage to give a performance titled, “if ‘This Is Not A Rape’ isn’t a rape, then what is it?” based on the performance art of Emma Sulkowicz’s “This Is Not A Rape” video. Of over 100 entrants, Brianna Kirkham was named national champion for her performance in the final round. Kirkham instructs the viewer to “watch kindly” when viewing Sulkowicz’s video. However, this phrase is never defined. Instead, Kirkham interrogates herself and the audience. Are we, as participants within a competitive activity, watching kindly? Did she? By utilizing a performance that clearly alludes …

The Strengths Of Malleability, Annie Ward

National Forensic Journal

No abstract provided.

Band-Aids And Bulldozers: Reimagining, Rebuilding, And Taking Responsibility For The Foundational Inaccessibility Of College Speech, Julie Walker

National Forensic Journal

No abstract provided.

The Aesthetics Of Violation: Visual Rhetoric And The Ethics Of Spectatorship In Venetian Ovidian Painting, Khira Rudolph

Theses

In this thesis, we will consider how 16th-century Venetian painters used sophisticated visual methods, colorito, glowing atmospheric glazes, serpentine lines and spatial buffering to camouflage the physical violence of Ovidian abduction stories. Most historical art literature in the past has hailed high Renaissance masters Titian and Paolo Veronese as technical bravura, lyrical colorism and visual appeal in the face of social and emotional tragedy in their work on canvas. In comparing Titian’s The Rape of Europa, Paolo Veronese’s The Rape of Europa, Paolo Veronese’s circle Scene from the Metamorphoses of Ovid: The Rape of Proserpine and Rembrandt …

Formed Together: A Value-Based Model Of Mutual Spiritual Formation For Pentecostal Pastors And Churches Under 500, W. T.A. Mcmillan

Doctor of Ministry (DMin)

“Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock” (Acts 20:28) is both a warning and an invitation. It insists that the pastor's inner life and the congregation's shared life cannot be pulled apart without doing damage to both. This dissertation grows out of that conviction and out of years of pastoral ministry in Pentecostal churches where the pressure to perform often overwhelms the slow work of being formed. It asks a simple but searching question: How do Assemblies of God pastors serving congregations under 500 in attendance understand the connection between their own spiritual health and the spiritual …

Sanctified Rhythms Of Rest: Reclaiming Sabbath And Spiritual Retreat For Pastoral Renewal And Burnout Mitigation In The Georgia Assemblies Of God, Philip Sosebee

Doctor of Ministry (DMin)

“Sanctified Rhythms of Rest: Reclaiming Sabbath and Spiritual Retreat for Pastoral Renewal and Burnout Mitigation in the Georgia Assemblies of God” explored how intentional rhythms of Sabbath observance, solitude and silence, and spiritual retreat shaped the lived experiences of credentialed ministers within the Georgia District of the Assemblies of God. Pastoral burnout, emotional exhaustion, and unsustainable ministry expectations continue to affect ministers across denominational contexts, raising questions regarding the role of biblically grounded rhythms of rest in fostering pastoral renewal and sustainability. Using a six-month longitudinal hermeneutic phenomenological design, twenty-nine credentialed ministers participated in the intentional practice of weekly Sabbath …

The Quest For Sacred Truth In A Secular Society What Is Fueling Gen Z’S Return To Faith And Church Attendance In America?, William W. Dornbush

Doctor of Ministry (DMin)

This dissertation investigated the Critical Research Question: What are the key external factors influencing Generation Z’s internal quest for spiritual renewal? The study examined biblical, historical, and contemporary revival movements, including the Exodus, Pentecost, the Great Awakenings, the Jesus Movement, Charismatic Renewal, Brownsville, Toronto, and Asbury, to identify recurring patterns linking external pressures to spiritual awakening. Using a qualitative design, the study conducted semi-structured interviews with twelve Generation Z participants who experienced spiritual searching, renewal, or a deepened faith between 2020 and 2025, exploring how contemporary external pressures influence spiritual openness and transformation. The findings revealed six major themes: (1) …

The St. Louis Zine Project: A Study And Documentation Of Live Music, Dawnye Appel

Theses

This practice-based project examines how documentary photography and zine-making can document and interpret an independent live-music venue as a site of atmosphere, cultural memory, and community. Focusing on The Sinkhole in St. Louis, Missouri, the inquiry considers what becomes visible when the venue, rather than only the performer, becomes the subject of photographic documentation. Project materials include photographs taken during a single visit on July 11, 2026, observations of the venue, and an interview with owner Matt Stutler, documented through written notes. Scholarship on live-music spaces, cultural memory, photography, and self publishing informs the interpretation of these materials. Analysis occurs …

9/11 In Cuny Archives: A Research Guide, Lindsey Kratochwill

Publications and Research

9/11 in CUNY Archives is a guide to the archival materials across CUNY campuses and repositories that pertain to the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. This guide is organized by repository and contains descriptions based on finding aids and metadata as well as hyperlinks to digitized materials where available. The collections, curated by the author in consultation with archivists across the CUNY system, include materials created by students – newspapers and yearbooks – as well as correspondence, news clippings, legislative documentation, photographs, oral histories, videos, and artifacts from first responders and memorials.

Alfred Russel Wallace Notes 43. Alfred Russel Wallace’S Social Environment And Moral Progress., David Stack, Charles H. Smith Editor

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

Alfred Russel Wallace’s Social Environment and Moral Progress (1913) was the last book he wrote and one of the most powerful statements of his thought and beliefs. As with his Revolt of Democracy (1913), written before but published after Social Environment and Moral Progress, the work finds Wallace passionate in his advocacy of social and economic reform. Despite his advanced age (Wallace turned 90 in January 1913), the book is deeply engaged with contemporary controversies, including the rise of labor, arguments against eugenics, and debates around the social and political status of women. What distinguishes Wallace’s text is that he …

Using Demographics And Psychographics To Advance The Great Commission: Lessons From The National Association Of Free Will Baptists, Edward E. Moody Jr.

Great Commission Research Journal

For decades, marketers have used demographics and psychographics to engage different segments of the population. Psychographics refers to the study of people’s activities, interests, opinions, values, attitudes, and lifestyles to better understand and predict behavior beyond what can be learned from demographic characteristics alone (Demby, 1974; Wells & Tigert, 1971). This paper examines whether these strategies can be effectively adapted to advance the Great Commission. The practices of the early church, particularly those of the Apostle Paul, reflect principles that are consistent with contemporary demographic and psychographic analysis. In this paper, the process of using an approach to help churches …

My Pilgrimage In The Growth Of The Church, Charles Van Engen

Great Commission Research Journal

I have lived a life invested in the growth of the church and forming leaders who would mobilize the church toward growth. I have sought to pay forward what others did for me. Born of missionary parents, I was raised in the state of Chiapas, in southern Mexico. From 1973 to 1985, my wife, Jean, and I served the National Presbyterian Church of Mexico in Chiapas, Mexico, in leadership formation, training evangelists, pastors, and teachers of rapidly growing churches. In 1981, I received a Ph.D. in missiology under Johannes Verkuyl at the Free University of Amsterdam. I taught Mission Theology …

Outside The Church Walls: An Empirical Exploration Of Organizational Culture And Pastoral Leadership In Two Urban Churches, Althea P. Gordon-Scott, Joshua D. Henson, Bethany D. Peters, Katrina Hutchins

Great Commission Research Journal

A mini-ethnographic case study explored the interconnections of organizational culture and pastoral leadership with sustainable outreach in two very different churches that focus on ministry to people with life-controlling issues and economic need: a small, primarily Black church in the Great Lakes region and a large, primarily White and Hispanic church in the western United States. Despite their differences, the churches shared similar espoused values and leadership characteristics that facilitated their outreach initiatives. Themes derived from the data include altruistic foundations, the value of relationships, exemplary pastoral leadership, organizational challenges, agile organizational systems, and the centrality of God.

The Great Dechurching: Who’S Leaving, Why Are They Going, And What Will It Take To Bring Them Back? By Jim Davis And Michael Graham, David Thiessen

Great Commission Research Journal

No abstract provided.

Disability & Evangelism: The Good News Of The Fullness Of God’S Kingdom By Rochelle Scheuermann, Kenneth Nehrbass

Great Commission Research Journal

No abstract provided.

Here Come The Brides: Sylvia Sleigh, Lawrence Alloway, And Hetty Remington, Andrew D. Hottle

Art Inquiries

Sylvia Sleigh (1916–2010), a Welsh-born artist who lived and worked in England before settling in the United States, is known primarily for her uninhibited portraits of nude men, many of which were painted in New York City during the feminist art movement of the 1970s. Over the last half-century, Sleigh’s male nudes have been both admired and derided for disrupting the conventional paradigm of the male artist and unclothed female model. Among them are Philip Golub Reclining (1971; private collection) and The Turkish Bath (1973; David and Alfred Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago), which were inspired by canonical …

Memory In Fragments: The Lives Of Ancient Maya Sculptures By Megan E. O’Neil, Jeanette Nicewinter

Art Inquiries

No abstract provided.

On Canvas: The Origins And Implications Of A Common Phrase, Kerr Houston

Art Inquiries

Why do modern art historians and conservators describe paintings executed on cloth in Europe in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries as works on canvas, when late medieval and early Renaissance sources never do the same? This article answers that question by tracing and analyzing the evolution of canvas as a term in the history of painting. Until the late 1400s, it will be argued, the term canvas and its regional variants connoted coarse woven fabrics made of hemp that were associated with rugged, utilitarian needs and rural poverty—but not with painting. By contrast, artists and related texts relied on …

Approaching Chinese Art Songs: A Mandarin Diction Guide For English-Speaking Singers, Tianming Qi

Doctoral Scholarly Projects & Capstones

This article presents a graded Mandarin diction guide for English-speaking singers studying Chinese art song. Responding to the limited availability of Mandarin diction resources organized by level, it examines Qing Zhu’s “The Great River Goes East,” Yuanren Zhao’s “How Can I Not Think of Him?,” and Yong Chen’s “Love of the Sea” as beginning, intermediate, and advanced case studies. The analysis considers initials, finals, lexical tones, tone-sandhi, syllable structure, text density, and their coordination with rhythm, legato, and melodic phrasing. The study shows that diction difficulty arises not from isolated sounds but from the concentration and interaction of these features …

Hear My Voice As Who I Am: Theorizing The Essence Of Poetry In Holistic Global Citizenship Education, Shue-Kei Joanna Mok

Journal of Contemplative and Holistic Education

Poetry as an imaginative language art has long been perceived as the core of humanity, the foundation of human advancement (Arnold,1880; Rorty, 2007). By composing, critiquing, and sharing/performing poems, not only does the process enrich and deepen one’s relationship to oneself, understanding and reflecting on the contextual, historical, cultural, social, and creative backgrounds of the poems and poets allows one to have greater connections with the broader environment across temporal, spatial, and social dimensions with human and non-human beings.

This paper first frames the core concepts and values of global citizenship from a Confucius perspective to emphasize the significance of …

Forest Ecology And Fantasy Fiction: Morris, Tolkien, Le Guin (2026), By Dion Dobrzynski, Martin Simonson

Journal of Tolkien Research

Book review, by Martin Simonson, of Forest Ecology and Fantasy Fiction: Morris, Tolkien, Le Guin (2026), by Dion Dobrzynski

"Heil, O Sonne, Heil!": Schemata And Semiotics In Haydn's Oratorio Sunrises, Michael D. Slattery

HAYDN: Online Journal of the Haydn Society of North America

Both of Haydn’s late oratorios, The Creation and The Seasons, contain depictions of sunrises, a subject matter that Sisman (2013) has characterized as “Emergent Light,” in contrast with the famous “absolute” creation of light at the opening of The Creation. In addition to their shared object of representation, the four sunrise passages I identify in these two works all use a phrase-level schema Gjerdingen (2007) has christened the Do-Re-Mi. In this paper, I enrich our cultural understanding of Haydn’s sunrises by attending to nuanced semantic implications of the Do-Re-Mi, illustrating how phrase-level schemata can construct extramusical meaning.

Work on phrase-level …