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“Music Is The Instrument To Bring The Heart Of A Community Together”: Frederic Balazs And The Tucson Symphony Orchestra, 1952-66, Jackie Bodily Biggs

Theses and Dissertations

The audience for classical music is declining, according to data from the National Endowment for the Arts. In the face of such challenges, aspiring music professionals may find inspiration in the musicological illumination of pertinent historical case studies. This paper offers one such example via a foundational exploration of the musical career of Hungarian American violinist, conductor, and composer Frederic Balazs. Though lacking any dedicated scholarly literature to speak of, Balazs’s legacy as the first full-time conductor of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra (TSO) from 1952 to 1966 included establishing arts organizations and nourishing the classical tradition at its very grass …

“The Left Leg Is Not Well”: Identity, Economy, And Ability In Early Modern Drama, Emma D. Whaley

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The human reality of the disabled experience often goes overlooked by scholars analyzing early modern literature. Most scholarship seems to interpret disability as metaphorical without examining the human who experiences it. In this paper, I will be examining disability in three early modern texts as literal and inquire into the realities of the disabled experience for the characters. A Larum for London, The Shoemaker’s Holiday, and The Fair Maid of the Exchange all prominently feature a disabled character—Stump, Ralph, and Cripple respectively. These characters offer a depth of personhood rarely examined in early modern literary scholarship, even in …

Rest For The Weary Soul: A Mixed Methods Psychospiritual Exploration Of Faith As A Path To Mental Health Recovery Among Students, Fremativo A. Vergara, Melvin G. Barete, Evan P. Taja-On

Journal of Catholic Education

Many individuals turn to faith for strength, guidance, and resilience, particularly at times of emotional hardship. As concerns continue to grow about mental health, particularly that of students, exploring how faith influences coping mechanisms and recovery offers valuable insights into alternative approaches to emotional wellbeing. The study found that students exhibit high levels of resilience and spiritual intelligence, suggesting that faith-based beliefs are crucial in students’ ability to cope with adversity. A strong positive correlation between resilience and spiritual intelligence indicates that students who integrate faith into their lives are more likely to develop the psychological strength needed to navigate …

The War On War: Desensitization's Effects On Society's Moral Fabric, Chelsea E. Johnson, Andrew J. Cudden

The Penguin Review

In an era of constant connectivity, violence is no longer distant or intermittent. Wars, political repression, mass shootings, and humanitarian crises now unfold in real time, shared instantly through twenty-four-hour news cycles and social media. Never before has global suffering been so visible. Yet this unprecedented access has failed to produce sustained moral urgency or collective responsibility. Instead, violence becomes increasingly utilised as fleeting content–viewed, shared, and then displaced by the next trending event. This paradox raises a pressing ethical question: how can a world more informed of suffering become so morally disengaged from it?

A Study Of Zomi Pentecostalism In Its Social, Cultural, And Political Context: A Pentecostal Quest For The Lost Paradise, Thang San Mung

College of Theology and Ministry Dissertations, Projects, & Theses

This dissertation examines the paradisal quest of the Zomi people, an ethnic Christian minority in Myanmar, through the lens of Pentecostal spirituality. Historically, the Zomi have experienced political displacement, loss of their ancestral homeland (Zogam), and ongoing marginalization. While existing scholarship has primarily interpreted Zomi struggles in terms of ethnic identity, nationalism, and socio-political resistance, this study offers a theological reorientation by interpreting Zomi paradisal longing through the Spirit-Restored Paradise framework, a Pentecostal theological model developed here. Employing a qualitative ethnographic methodology grounded in contextual theology, the research draws on semi-structured interviews with twenty-four Zomi Pentecostal participants from Myanmar and …

Evaluating The Feasibility And Preliminary Effectiveness Of A Tailored Diabetes Education Program For Rural Residents, Brittany L. Smalls, Oluwatosin Leshi, Suraksha Khanal, Grejika E. Abram-Erby

Journal of Appalachian Health

Introduction: Diabetes is a top ten Rural Healthy People 2030 priority for health improvement among rural Americans. Socioeconomic, environmental, geographic and political barriers contribute to the type 2 diabetes (T2D) prevalence and its disparate impact in rural communities. However, promoting proper self-care behaviors via self-management education can help people with diabetes better manage their condition.

Purpose: To account for the social environmental factors that affect rural residents, a tailored diabetes education program was developed, and the program’s effectiveness in improving diabetes knowledge and T2D-related health outcomes was assessed.

Methods: Using data collected from Appalachian Kentucky residents enrolled in a six-week, …

One Of These Things Is Not Like The Other: Differences Between The New Deal And Great Society, Brayden T. Gallagher

Harding Undergraduate Research Conference

This paper examines the differences between the New Deal of Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Great Society of Lyndon B. Johnson, challenging the prevailing interpretation that the latter administration was the logical continuation of the former. Through comparative historical analysis of policy and rhetoric, the research finds that, despite clear similarities such as expanded government involvement and social welfare programs, the two initiatives diverged significantly. The New Deal prioritized economic recovery through short-term job creation while often tolerating or reinforcing racial inequality. In contrast, the Great Society directly confronted systemic racism and struck at the roots of poverty through education, …

Loyal Sons: German-Jewish Patriotic Assimilation In Modern Germany, Yitzi Dear

History Theses, Dissertations, and Student Creative Activity

The modern history of Germany’s Jews developed through two contemporaneous and parallel transformations across the nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries: first, the development of the German national identity and creation of the German state; second, the gradual emancipation of Germany’s Jews and their integration into society. As a result of these two simultaneous developments, the majority of German Jews increasingly defined themselves through their German nature and connection to the state. Assimilation became not only a path to survival but also a sincere expression of ideological and cultural conviction.

Amid the social, political, and economic crises of the Weimar Republic, a …

"A Pre-Eminently Christian Life": The Seventh Earl Of Shaftesbury As A Guide For Modern Political Engagement, Clara Kernodle

Harding Undergraduate Research Conference

Society has suffered in the absence of Christian courage. Today, an antagonistic culture is feeding an increasingly antagonistic government. Christians do not know how to “win” – we do not even know how to engage. Rod Dreher's "The Benedict Option" encourages us to give up and retreat. Andrew Isker's "The Boniface Option" encourages warfare-style aggression. But Dreher’s and Isker’s approaches each take an aspect of the solution and expand it out of proportion. The proper solution is found in the historic Christian tradition. The Church has always understood her role within culture as one not of fear and loathing, but …

Crossing The Border: A Participatory Action Research Project For The Brentwood Oaks Church Of Christ To Engage With Spanish-Speaking Neighbors Through Missional Hospitality, Charles Johanson

Harding School of Theology Dissertations and Theses

Throughout Scripture, hospitality occupies a central place in the mission of God. Welcoming the stranger across cultural barriers requires the church to practice missional hospitality by playing the role of host and, especially, guest in the neighborhood. Moreover, small group experimentation facilitates the innovation necessary to effectively practice missional hospitality. Through experimentation in cross-cultural situations, church members increase their awareness of cultural differences that leads to opportunities for the congregation to welcome neighbors in loving, sacrificial, and hospitable ways. Brentwood Oaks Church of Christ (BOCC) resides next to a neighborhood with a high population of Spanish-speaking immigrants. The goal of …

Land Epistemic Ethic: Exploring The Complex Intersection Of Human Bodies, Land, And Identity In Middle Belt Nigeria Cosmologies, Fwangmun Oscar Danladi

International Journal on Responsibility

The Indigenous cosmologies of Nigeria’s Middle Belt emphasize the relationship between human bodies and the land, transcending Western epistemological binaries and revealing profound socio-religious insights into environmental responsibility. Practices such as the burial of newborns’ umbilical cords, often dismissed as animistic or fetishistic, embody a sacred connection to the land that emphasizes belonging rather than ownership. Using an autoethnographic approach, this study critically examines these cosmologies and identifies how the sacredness of land can serve as a repository of communal memory and potential. By reframing land not as a possession but as a relational entity, this research challenges dominant narratives …

Working At The Margins In Interwar Yugoslavia, Stefano Petrungaro

Central European Studies

Prostitutes, beggars, folk healers, peddlers, wandering artists, and bear-leaders: Working at the Margins in Interwar Yugoslavia shows how work shaped their relations with the state and the rest of their world. The protagonists of the book’s story lived on the fringes of society and engaged in activities that were only partially recognized, from a legal and social point of view, as proper jobs, while some of them had no job at all. This book looks at Yugoslavia’s disciplining and social engineering practices through the lens of socially marginal workers. The analysis shows that in this period the South Slav regions …

Angkringan Names In Semarang: A Linguistic Landscape Study, Nurul Maghfiroh, Suhandano Suhandano, Aprillia Firmonasari

Bahasa dan Seni: Jurnal Bahasa, Sastra, Seni, dan Pengajarannya

The article reveals the linguistic landscape study of angkringan names in Semarang City. It covers language preference, language inference, and language preservation on signages. Researchers collected 140 pictures of angkringan signages from 10 sub-districts of Semarang. Observation and interviews are also conducted to obtain comprehensive linguistic landscape data. Qualitative analysis indicates that there are two naming patterns: monolingual and bilingual. The monolingual analysis identifies that the most preferred language code is Javanese, followed by Indonesian, English, and Sanskrit. Meanwhile, in the bilingual pattern, the dominant language combination used is Indonesian-Javanese, followed by Javanese-English, Javanese-Indonesian, Javanese-Dutch, Sanskrit-English, and Sundanese-English. Meanwhile, angkringan …

Beyond Trends: The Potential Influence Of The Ela Teachers Of Tiktok, Heather Lynn Wright, Lauren May

Virginia English Journal

This paper describes a study on content from secondary English Language Arts (ELA) teachers of TikTok and their potential influence on future teachers. There were two research questions: (1) What information is being dispersed through TikTok specifically for secondary ELA teachers?; (2) What connotations about secondary ELA teaching are implied implicitly or explicitly through the tone of the TikTok creator? TikToks were examined through a three-part framework, considering the constructs of performances (Goffman, 1956), stickiness (Zott et al., 2000), and affinity spaces (Gee, 2004). Using a systematic approach, 50 secondary ELA TikTok accounts were identified and the top 20 …

When The Metamorphosis Turns White: Kafka Reimagined In Igoni Barrett’S Blackass, Bisola J. Ajibade

Vernacular: New Connections in Language, Literature, & Culture

Igoni Barrett’s Blackass (2015) has frequently been described as a “race-rewrite” of Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis (1915). This framing has shaped much of the critical conversation surrounding the two texts. While these approaches productively illuminate questions of identity and biopolitics, less attention has been paid to situating both texts across the intersecting contexts of German modernism and Nigerian postcolonial literature. This article provides a close comparative reading of Kafka’s The Metamorphosis and Igoni Barrett’s Blackass in order to examine how Kafkaesque elements are reconfigured within a contemporary postcolonial Nigerian context. Drawing on Deleuze and Guattari’s theory of minor literature, alongside …

Beyond Green: Re-Reading "Wicked" As Anthropological Text, Tan Gia Bao Huynh

Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy

This paper examines "Wicked" through the lens of cultural borderlands, revealing how the musical dramatizes the creation and navigation of social boundaries. By analyzing Elphaba's journey, the research demonstrates how her green skin serves as a powerful metaphor for cultural otherness, while her experiences at Shiz University and beyond illustrate strategies of resistance, accommodation, and identity formation familiar to those navigating between dominant and marginalized spaces. Particularly significant is the paper's examination of Oz's propaganda system, which demonstrates how cultures manufacture monsters and heroes through selective storytelling and public ritual. This analysis offers fresh insights into "Wicked's" enduring appeal, suggesting …

Disconnection Capital: The Privilege To Unplug, Wishy Kane

Midwest Ethics Symposium

No abstract provided.

Statement From The Indiana Academy Of The Social Sciences And Board Of Directors

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

Volume 28, Issue 2 Full Contents

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

George C. Roberts Award Recipients

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

Submission Guidelines

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

Call For Papers: 97th Annual Conference Of The Indiana Academy Of The Social Sciences

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

Editor-In-Chief's Note, Surekha Rao

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

Transnational Beings: Corner Store Entrepreneurship Of Mena Immigrants Of The Third Wave, Gabriel Al-Shaer

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This dissertation examines the role of entrepreneurship as an institution of transition for Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) migrants in the United States from 1965 to the present. Drawing on oral histories, legal analysis, census data, and scholarship on racialization and migration, it argues that small cash-based businesses—particularly corner stores, gas stations, and bodegas—have functioned as critical sites through which third-wave MENA migrants navigate economic precarity, racial marginalization, and community formation. By situating contemporary entrepreneurial practices in relation to earlier forms of pack peddling among first-wave Syrian-Americans, this study demonstrates continuity in migrant strategies of survival while accounting for …

A Phenomenological Research On The Understanding Of Morality At Birth From A Believer's Standpoint, Michelle I. Hubble

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

At birth, is a person born evil, good, or neutral? This phenomenological study aims to explore the perspective of the morality of a child at birth for adult believers in the Missionary Church. At this stage in the research, the perspective of the morality of a child at birth will be generally defined as evil, good, or neutral. The theory guiding this study was research done by Harvard, which concluded that humanity's first instinct is not to act selfishly but to cooperate in their behavior with others (Tucker, 2013). This research proposed that this alternative perspective is invalid when Piaget’s …

Ongoing Exile In 1 Peter, William J. Bynum

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

In his first epistle, Peter employs the biblical theme of ongoing exile as a controlling metaphor to depict his readers’ circumstances. By doing so, he situates those readers as participants in the overarching biblical storyline of God’s restoring through Jesus Christ what man has lost through sin. The shape of that grand narrative is anticipated in what has called “the Deuteronomic scheme of sin–exile–restoration.” Using the idea of an ongoing exile followed by restoration, the writer of 1 Peter accomplishes two vitally important objectives. First, he shows his mostly Gentile readers’ experiences to be participation in exile like that of …

Utilizing A Small Group In Bible Studies To Bring About The Reconciliation Of All The Groups Of An Ethnic Community Church In Brooklyn, New York, Anthony Ukasoanya E Uwakwe

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Many local churches in America today have problems in their ministries. The problems may stem from the untimely action or inaction by the church leaders, including ordained pastors and laity. Other problems are simple misunderstandings, such as a congregant not being reimbursed for funds used for a church event. This thesis research project will present biblical teachings on reconciliation, provide a framework for resolving financial misunderstandings in the church, and foster unity among its groups. It is important to know God’s reasons for being reconciled in the fellowship of the church. The triangular methodology employed uses specific scripture passages that …

A Study Of Church Attendance Fluctuation Among Millennials In African American Baptist Churches Located In Washington, Dc, Kiralfy C. Forte

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study examined the qualitative phenomenon associated with perceived fluctuation of millennials’ church attendance. The researcher sought to explore lived experiences of African American millennials within the context of Baptist churches in Washington, DC, who experienced a period of childhood and adolescence in the Baptist church. This study examined the underlying factors influencing millennials’ church attendance, known as lived experiences. Studies by Pew Research (2015a, 2015b, 2018, 2019a, 2019b, 2019c, 2025), Barna Research (2015, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2024), and Lifeway Research (2019, 2022, 2023, 2025) shaped the researcher’s open-ended questions, delimitations, and underlying assumptions. This researcher exposed that …

Retention Of Rural/Small-Town Band Directors In Georgia, Timothy M. Warren

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this study was to analyze the retention and tenure of band directors in rural and small-town contexts in Georgia. Research indicates that directors in these areas often face challenges not commonly present in urban settings. This study sought to determine whether there is a trend of short tenures among rural and small-town band directors in Georgia. Data was collected through an online survey targeting current and former directors with rural or small-town experience. The survey included Likert Scale items addressing director qualifications, backgrounds, and common challenges, as well as open-ended questions that allowed participants to describe their …

Sacred Geography And The Restoration Of Divine Presence: The Garden Of Eden, Egypt, The Wilderness, And The Promised Land In The Theology Of The Torah, Gary Ryan Perry

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This dissertation argues that the Torah presents redemption through a progressive spatial framework in which sacred geography reveals the restoration of God’s dwelling among His people. The narrative movement from the Garden of Eden to Egypt, the Wilderness, and finally the Promised Land forms a theological arc that structures the Torah’s presentation of covenant, priesthood, and divine presence. The Garden of Eden establishes humanity’s original royal priestly vocation within sacred space. Egypt functions as an anti-garden, where abundance and provision exist apart from a covenant relationship with God. The Wilderness represents a redemptive restart, in which Israel is formed through …