Digital Commons Network^™

Divine Attachment As Discipleship: Theology And Practice, Kristina Freed

Journal of Adventist Youth and Young Adult Ministries

Discipleship is more than obedience and behavior management; it is first and foremost a relationship with God. What kind of relationship? Kaufman hinted that it is an attachment relationship, asserting that God is the ultimate attachment figure. Unfortunately, he did not articulate a theology of attachment. While research in the psychology of religion research has shown that God is perceived as an attachment figure and that He engages in attachment behaviors with humans, a theology of attachment has yet to be developed. This paper offers a theology of divine attachment built upon textual and linguistic evidence. I also suggest a …

Youth Identity Formation And Intergenerational Mentorship, Larry L. Green

Journal of Adventist Youth and Young Adult Ministries

Youth today face significant challenges in developing a clear and rooted identity, particularly within the context of faith. As cultural, social, and technological influences complicate the process of identity formation, church leaders, mentors, and parents are essential in helping guide youth to form an identity anchored in Christ. This study explores the role of intergenerational mentorship, drawing upon the model of discipleship exemplified by Jesus. It highlights the principles of relational proximity, empowerment through participation, and personalized mentorship. Additionally, the study examines how church-family partnerships strengthen the transmission of faith and offer practical strategies for church leaders to mentor youth …

Discipling Students On Non-Adventist College And University Campuses, Ronald R. Pickell

Journal of Adventist Youth and Young Adult Ministries

Social science has long demonstrated the importance of faith development in the period of college life. An Adventist faith development process is needed for the spiritual life and faith development of students who attend non-Adventist universities. This paper expands on my previous research on this topic and features the Journey—a series of student Bible study small group experiences. Journey introduces students to the mission and message of Jesus, inviting them to believe in Jesus and follow Him in lifelong discipleship. This small group Bible study series contributes to the discipleship process for students in the unique setting of today’s university …

Discipling The Youth Through Preaching, Rodney Palmer

Journal of Adventist Youth and Young Adult Ministries

Youth discipleship is crucial for the long-term vitality of the church and the development of the next generation of Christian leaders. However, discipling youth through preaching presents distinct challenges due to the rapid changes and diverse influences that characterize adolescence. This paper will explore how faithful Biblical and Christ-centered preaching can serve as an effective tool for discipling the youth by examining the Biblical basis for youth-focused preaching and strategies to engage and transform young listeners. It will also offer practical recommendations for academicians, administrators, and youth practitioners to tailor their messages for youth discipleship, which will result in fostering …

Let The Little Children Come To Me: A Developmental Discipleship Model, Ben Martin

Journal of Adventist Youth and Young Adult Ministries

T his paper demonstrates the need for intentional, age-appropriate discipleship. It lays out a model based on developmental research from educators, psychologists, and theologians. This Developmental Discipleship Model provides a holistic approach for children and youth that equips and empowers parents, teachers, ministry leaders, and pastors to work together for the discipleship of the next generation by giving them a framework that reaches across ministry lines.

Mentoring Youth In A Digital World: Integrating Technology For Effective Discipleship, Aundrea Thompson

Journal of Adventist Youth and Young Adult Ministries

In the digital age, technology significantly impacts the worldview and spiritual lives of youth, creating new challenges and opportunities for discipleship. This paper explores how faith leaders can integrate digital tools like social media, online platforms, and apps into youth mentorship to foster spiritual growth. While technology offers opportunities to engage with youth where they are, it also presents challenges like information overload, distractions, and online misinformation. By adapting Biblical mentoring models to digital spaces, mentors can build authentic relationships, break geographical barriers, and create meaningful, flexible, and creative discipleship experiences. The paper provides strategies for leveraging digital platforms to …

Discipling Pathfinders, John Nebare

Journal of Adventist Youth and Young Adult Ministries

No abstract provided.

The Role Of Mentorship And Peer-Led Initiatives In Fostering Spiritual Growth Among Youth, Nelson A. Orkoh

Journal of Adventist Youth and Young Adult Ministries

T his study explores the role of mentorship and peer-led initiatives in fostering spiritual growth among Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) youth, drawing insights from the epistle of 1 John. Adolescence presents spiritual challenges due to societal pressures, media influences, and peer expectations. The research highlights mentorship as providing spiritual guidance and intergenerational learning, while peer-led initiatives promote mutual encouragement and accountability. The study evaluates program effectiveness, challenges, and solutions using a case study survey approach among 61 Ghanaian SDA youth, ages 15–25. Findings reveal high engagement in mentoring and peer-led church activities. The study recommends structured mentorship programs, leadership training, and …

Discipleship Includes Both Acceptance And Change, Steve Case

Journal of Adventist Youth and Young Adult Ministries

Discipleship—following Jesus—includes both acceptance and change. Acceptance from Christ transforms the orientation of humans to follow the God who initiates and completes our acceptance. But discipleship also involves change—sometimes radical and sometimes gradual. The transformation that began with acceptance continues with change. An emphasis of one over the other, or worse, ignoring or denying one of these two dynamics, results in a skewed discipleship. Both acceptance and change remain supernatural actions in the God-human relationship of discipleship.

Focus Group: Administrators, Nelson Silva, Pedro Perez, Tracy Wood

Journal of Adventist Youth and Young Adult Ministries

Facilitated by Nelson Silva, Pedro Perez, and Tracy Wood.

Participants included: Cris Cazarine, Exton Clarke, Raul Gonzalez, Roberto Gonzalez, Lamarre Guerrier, Andrew Nugent, Zack Payne, Christian Ponciano, Hector Quinones, Daniel Romanov, Christian Ronalds, Brian Seewaldt, Ron Whitehead, and Tracy Wood.

Focus Group: Practitioners, Ron Pickell, Sonja Cartwright

Journal of Adventist Youth and Young Adult Ministries

Facilitated by Ron Pickell and Sonja Cartwright.

Participants included: Keith Acker , Pedro Albeiteris, Luis Aviles, Cris Cazarine, Lamarre Guerrier, Zira Lalanzira, Vidal Mendoza, John Nebare, Roldanardy Norelus, Manny Ojeda, Tamara Pierre, Freddy Rodriguez, Eli Rojas Jr., Don Tamayo.

Summary, Steve Case

Journal of Adventist Youth and Young Adult Ministries

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Practicing The Way: Be With Jesus, Become Like Him, Do As He Did, By John Mark Comer, Steve Case

Journal of Adventist Youth and Young Adult Ministries

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Partnering Church And Home: Discipleship For The Next Generation, By Denise Muir Kjesbo, Shelley Henning, And Luz Gálvez De Figueroa, Nelson Silva

Journal of Adventist Youth and Young Adult Ministries

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Imaginative Prayer: A Yearlong Guide For Your Child’S Spiritual Formation, By Jared Patrick Boyd, Steve Case

Journal of Adventist Youth and Young Adult Ministries

No abstract provided.

Planting The Seeds Of An “Educational Revolution”: The Origins Of Upward Bound, Jack H. Kirby

Department of History

Histories of American higher education tend to suggest that the relationship between the federal government and higher education reached its apex in the 1950s before beginning to decline in the 1960s. How, then, do we understand the creation of federal TRIO programs in the 1960s and their continued growth through the remainder of the twentieth century? TRIO programs are federally funded projects intended to expand college access for non-traditional students. Through the lens of access, this paper argues that the federal government was limited in its ability to influence higher education during the post-war period because of the highly decentralized …

A Rabbinic Exegesis Of Halleluyah's Etymology, Maksim Astashinskiy

Faculty Papers and Publications

Pointed text is from Mishnah Pesachim, Open Mishnah, Sefaria: A Living Library of Jewish Texts Online, accessed April 19, 2019, https://www.sefaria.org/texts/Mishnah; or, see A Passover Haggadah, As commented upon by Elie Wiesel (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1993), 69–70.

The Aramaic text is from: “Talmud Bavli,” in The William Davidson Talmud, The William Davidson Digital Edition of the Koren Noé Talmud (Jerusalem: Koren Publishers), Sefaria: A Living Library of Jewish Texts Online, 117a, accessed April 10, 2019, https://www.sefaria.org/texts/Talmud.

The Canon Of Mar Rabbula, The Bishop Of Edessa, Maksim Astashinskiy

Faculty Papers and Publications

Rabbula of Edessa's short canon recension is a fifth-century text preserved in a seventh-century manuscript: “The shorter recension is known simply as ‘The Canons of My Lord Rabbula, Bishop of Edessa,’ designated as CPG 6491. [Julien Joseph] Overbeck printed this collection from BL Add. 14526, fols. 30b–31a.” See: The Rabbula Corpus: Comprising the ‘Life of Rabbula,’ His Correspondence, a Homily Delivered in Constantinople, Canons, and Hymns. trans. and eds. Robert R. Phenix Jr. and Cornelia B. Horn (Atlanta: SBL Press, 2017), ccxxi–ccxxii.

Spiritual Gentrification Amid The Rise Of Platform Urbanism: "Wanghong Temples" And Emerging Buddhist Cultural Economies In Tianzhu Road, Hangzhou, China, Han Zhang, Junxi Qian, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This study scrutinizes how the Tianzhu Road in the Lingyin Community - a peri-urban area in Hangzhou ringed by a cluster of temples that constitutes a distinct spiritual enclave - has been reworked through a two-phase gentrification process driven by the spiritual aesthetics and platform logics. Drawing on a two-month ethnography and media content analysis, this study conceptualizes spiritual gentrification as a spiritual aesthetics and culture-oriented recalibration of urban space in which spiritual elements operate as symbolic capital, attracting culturally motivated entrepreneurs and aligning the spiritual atmosphere with slow-life values as an alternative to urban modernity. In particular, platform urbanism …

Massachusetts' Unseen Contributors: The Economic Contribution Of Its Latino Population With Irregular Immigration Status, Phillip Granberry, Mariana Dutra

Gastón Institute Publications

This report shows that so-called “irregular” Latinos are an essential part of the

workforce. Beyond community spending, consumer activity, and taxes paid

(including tax benefits that many will never benefit from), it is important to

remember that we are talking about people— human beings with stories, families,

difficult choices, and dreams. I hope that in the near future, when we are able to

dream big again, this analysis will sustain our advocacy for systems that truly reflect

our (Latino) contributions to the Commonwealth and beyond.

"Ostracized As We Are With God": Mina Loy's Anti-Career And The Search For Originality, Peyton L. Phillips

Master's Theses

Among many modernist artists, Mina Loy remains one of the most complex and allusive. Recent posthumous exposure of Loy's life and work adds to this precarity. A significant piece of Loy's life that is especially complex to contemporaries is her time spent writing. By establishing Loy's subjective relationship with her Victorian upbringing, this paper seeks to show examples of its influence on her search for originality. Mainly, the paper examines Loy's concept of originality, where that concept may have come from, and how it is reflected in her literature. The paper analyzes three of Loy's literary works, her poems "Virgins …

Alternative, Ashlynn M. Stroud

Graduate Theses and Dissertations (2019 - present)

A series of illustrations, sculptures and comic book issues designed to introduce a series of stories and characters that represent the history and members of a fictional mythology depicting the cultural social group often referred to as the “alternative” community. Alternative takes place in a world that combines high fantasy and science fiction with elements of pop culture and music. This world uses iconography of the various genres of the alternative subculture and music, metal, post-punk, and the evolving scene of the underground with varying visuals from both gothic and industrial time periods. Viewers are encouraged to read and follow …

The Southwest Black Artists Collective: Afro-Modern Ecology, Kinship, And Collectivity In The Desert Southwest, Bradley L. Petty

Art History Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the Southwest Black Artists Collective (SBAC) as a site of

Afro-diasporic kinship, artistic production, and spatial intervention within the Desert

Southwest. Operating within a region where Black populations are comparatively small

and institutional support is diffuse, SBAC emerges as both a response to and a

reconfiguration of the regional artistic landscape. The Collective constructs an affirming

community through shared artistic practice, exhibitions, and the maintenance of The

Projects/Space in Tucson, Arizona, where public engagement and private creative

exchange coexist.

Drawing on theories of human ecology, this study expands existing frameworks

by introducing the concept of Afro-modern ecology, …

Faith Under The Führer: Protestant Pastors In Nazi Germany, Katie Cassady

Senior Honors Theses

This research examines Protestant churches in Nazi Germany and their varied reactions to Hitler’s Third Reich, tracing the Nazi rise to power, the Kirchenkampf (Church Struggle), the Confessing Church’s resistance, and figures like Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Martin Niemoller, and Karl Barth. Hitler campaigned on a platform purporting to support religious freedom, but the state-sponsored persecution of Christian churches later revealed such promises as a facade. The Kirchenkampf exemplifies the reactions of Protestant German churches to Hitler’s rule: The German Christian Movement (GCM) endorsed Hitler’s radical racial theories, while the Confessing Church confronted the unbiblical rhetoric used by the GCM.

Addressing The Problem Of Erotica In Fiction From A Christian Standpoint, Elizabeth Burgess

Senior Honors Theses

The body of erotic content embedded in mainstream literature grows by the day, and based on an investigation of its similarities to pornography—which has many documented negative effects—this content warrants caution before interaction. Christian writers and editors are faced with a multifaceted problem when it comes to erotica: they must weigh the risk of harming consumers by participating in its production, and they must discern whether it aligns with the moral demands of the Christian faith when it comes to sexuality. The analysis of biblical frameworks for sexuality, the present literature documenting the negative effects of pornography, and the purpose …

Aughrim, Out Of Reach: Literacy, Modernity, And The Irish Fate In “The Dead”, Julia Lehman

Senior Honors Theses

In the early twentieth century, Irish cultural identity faced a crisis. After hundreds of years of oppression under English colonization and the devastating famine of the previous century, Irish cultural identity had been diminished. However, there was a political push to reclaim this identity. James Joyce, famed Irish author, lived through this era and personally struggled with his Irish identity. His short story “The Dead” explores the conflict existing in Irish cultural expression during this era. In this thesis, I address the contrast between literacy and orality which produces themes of cultural alienation and disillusionment in “The Dead.” Gabriel Conroy …

Awe As Signpost: An Argument For The Consistency Of Lewis’S “Joy” And Psychological Awe, Audrey Hendricks

Senior Honors Theses

C.S. Lewis’s Surprised by Joy details Lewis’s autobiographical apologetic for the existence of God through his experiences of “Joy,” a technical term invented by Lewis. Upon close study, his experiences of Joy contain many similarities to psychological awe. This investigation compares Lewis’s Joy with psychological awe using the Awe Experience Scale (AWE-S) to determine consistency. Lewis’s Joy was found to be consistent with all six criteria of the AWE-S in addition to other recognized psychological characteristics of awe. In addition to qualitative consistency, this review also argues for the teleological consistency of the two concepts, contending for a Christian teleological …

Toward An Anthropology Of The Expressive Individual: Reformational Insights Into Emotions, The Heart, And Christian Formation, Isaac Kantola

Senior Honors Theses

Contemporary Western culture is increasingly defined by what theologians and sociologists call “expressive individualism,” driven by an “ethic of authenticity” in which one’s emotions and desires are seen as the primary arbiter of identity and meaning. Responding to this cultural movement, the Church has appropriated the language of desire, happiness, and the affective in its preaching, ministry, and apologetic endeavors. Figures such as John Piper, James K.A. Smith, and Timothy Keller have each, in their own way, sought to contextualize the faith so it may be better understood by a culture obsessed with their longings and therapeutic self-concern. While these …

Volume 17, Christian O’Neill, Kyara Greene, Savva Sidorov, Laura Bisaillon, Luke Clemmer, Hannah Gordon, Kitt Benson, Taylor Blount, Rachel Danzitz, Nicholas Duellman, Chase Gionis, Hima Fernando, Seth Franzyshen, Onyx Gonzalez, Bryan Lin, Samantha Start, Ysabel Wells, Maggie Duncan

Incite: The Journal of Undergraduate Scholarship

Introduction Dr. Amorette Barber, Director, Office of Student Research

From the Editor Dr. Hannah Dudley-Shotwell

Cover Artist’s Statement Maggie Duncan

On Mentoring Dr. Yulia Uryadova

Ukrainian Resistance in the Face of Russification: Nestor Makhno and Anarchism

by Christian O’Neill

Life Vest by Kyara Greene

Isolation and 16S rRNA Identification of Bacteria from Fire Department Connection Pipe by Savva Sidorov

The Effectiveness of Planned Exercise in Reducing ADHD Symptoms in Children by Laura Bisaillon & Luke Clemmer

Linguistic Analysis on Confidence and Communication Strategies with Disparities Between Sign Fluency and Hearing Impairment by Hannah Gordon

Freedmen in Indian Territory by Kitt …

Beyond The Canon: From Classical Foundations To Contemporary Relevance In Shaping Tomorrow's Musicians, Lauren N. Tougas

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Undergraduate music programs in the United States have historically centered ensemble-based instruction on the Western classical canon in order to cultivate technical mastery, stylistic fluency, and disciplined collaborative musicianship. This pedagogical model has proven durable and remains foundational to professional orchestral and choral performance practice. Canonical repertoire continues to anchor audition requirements, institutional programming, and degree structures across institutions of higher education. Yet the contemporary professional landscape has evolved into a far more diversified artistic ecosystem characterized by stylistic hybridity, living composer integration, interdisciplinary collaboration, constrained rehearsal models, and portfolio-based career trajectories.

This Honors Capstone investigates the relationship between undergraduate …