Digital Commons Network^™

Ashok Kumar Malhotra. Instant Nirvana: Americanization Of Mysticism And Meditation., Michael Andregg

Comparative Civilizations Review

No abstract provided.

In The Name Of God? The Problem Of Religious Or Non-Religious Preambles Of State Constitutions In Post-Atheistic Contexts, Konrad Schmid

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Ecological Restoration-Based Education Transforms Schoolgrounds And Education, Libby Mccann, Todd Miller

Proceedings of the North American Prairie Conferences

The University of Wisconsin- Madison Arboretum, home to the world's first prairie restoration, has a threefold mission to conserve and restore Arboretum lands, advance the science of restoration ecology, and foster the Land Ethic. Since 1991 , teams of teachers from more than 150 schools in Wisconsin have learned to incorporate ecological restoration into the curriculum through the Earth Partnership for Schools Program. This multi-disciplinary teacher professional development program emphasizes inquiry-based learning and multiple intelligences in a hands-on, collaborative setting. The majority of schools have focused their efforts on prairies. Recreating or restoring an ecological community on school grounds provides …

Book Review: Marriage, Violence, And The Nation In The American Literary West, Christine Bold

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

"If the West tells us anything," says William Handley, "it is that stories have powerful consequences." This book reads western stories anew, not as familiar tales of individualism but as family dramas with newly thought-provoking consequences for the "nation's racial future." Handley argues that twentieth-century western literature is more preoccupied with marriage than with the frontier. Marriage serves as an analogy for US national unity while also exposing the uncontainable violence at the heart of nation-building. These stories demonstrate that, having destroyed the racial and ethnic "others" against whom the nation defined itself, "imperialism brings its guns home."

Great Plains Native American Representations Along The Lewis And Clark Trail, Kevin S. Blake

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

Memorializing history in the landscape reflects deep-seated cultural needs. This process not only pays homage to the actions, events, or persons deemed significant at a particular point in time, but it also offers a chance for the creators of the historic marker to write their version of history and to use an interpretive format that highlights their own understanding and values. Cultural geographer Kenneth Foote observes in a study of American memorials, "What is accepted as historical truth is often a narrative shaped and reshaped through time to fit the demands of contemporary society." The significance of selecting particular historical …

Building Morocco Through Literacy: Women's Participation In Development, Elizabeth L. Holmes

Honors Theses

This thesis examines what factors are important for successful literacy provision in the case of urban Moroccan women. Literacy programs should teach participants not only to decipher symbols on paper, but should provide information relevant to the everyday context of learners' lives. As a result, newly literate individuals should perceive changes in their levels of self-esteem, empowerment, economic status, and health conditions. In Morocco, the government launched a large-scale literacy campaign in May 2003 to lower illiteracy, which currently affects about half of the population. In conjunction with this campaign, the Moroccan government is increasingly cooperating with NGOs, the principal …

Growing Up Overseas: Perceptions Of Second Language Attrition And Retrieval Amongst Expatriate Children In India, Steve Sider

Education Faculty Publications

This study involves expatriate children whose first language (L1) is English and who learned Hindi as their second language (L2) while their parents worked in India. The purpose of the study was to investigate the linguistic experiences of the children after they had left India, particularly experiences with L2 attrition. Through semi-structured interviews, subjects shared their stories of L2 acquisition and attrition. Common experiences which contributed to the attrition of the L2 included periods of non-use of the L2, social responses to the use of the L2, the lack of development of Hindi literacy and subjects’ attitude toward using the …

Tamil Asylees And U.S. Social Workers : Intercultural Communication In The Context Of Refugee Services, Emily Josephine Hagadorn

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

This research study explored how intercultural communication factors such as values and communication styles might affect the interaction between Tamil asylees and their U.S. social workers. For this qualitative study, I interviewed 11 Tamil asylees and conducted a focus group with 3 U.S. social workers at an agency serving the Tamil participants. Based on the findings of this research as well as the literature review, this thesis reveals culture-specific information about Tamil asylees and highlights the implications of the research to the fields of intercultural communication, refugee studies, and social work. Findings revealed the following: culture general assumptions overshadow the …

Theology And Religious Studies In Post-Communist Ukraine: Historical Sources, Modern Status, And Perspectives Of Cooperation, Lyudmyla Filipovych, Anatoly M. Kolodny

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Religion In Estonia, Research In English, Janis Cakars

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Estonian is one such understudied language, but Estonia is of no smaller importance to Eastern Europe than any other country. To understand the whole, all the parts must be considered. Therefore, scholars without a command of Estonian by necessity must turn to work published in other languages, most commonly English. This article is meant to serve as an aid to those interested in religion in Eastern Europe without a command of Estonian. It provides a bibliographical and historiographical review of the literature within an outline of religious development in a less commonly studied country. The religious history of Estonia, although …

The Cat-And-Mouse Chase: Moonies In Bulgaria, Archimandrite Pavel Stefanov

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

From Challenge To Absorption: The Changing Face Of Latino Studies, Pedro Caban

Latin American, Caribbean, and U.S. Latino Studies Faculty Scholarship

Over the last three decades Latino studies scholarship has gained increased academic acceptance. However, many administrators continue to doubt the wisdom of sustaining autonomous Latino studies departments, and are devising alternative approaches for incorporating Latino-based knowledge into the university’s mission. This article discusses the academy’s response to the emergence of Latino studies and explores a range of consequences for the field of two institutional arrangements that universities appear to privilege: the horizontal fusion with Latin American Studies, and a vertical absorption into centers for the study of race and ethnic or absorption into American studies.

Review Of America's Second Tongue: American Indian Education And The Ownership Of English, 1860- 1900 By Ruth Spack, P. Jane Hafen

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

Ruth Spack's thoroughly researched study of English education in Indian boarding schools goes beyond historical investigation. Spack shows how the methodology of teaching English imposed American ideologies in Native students. Then she closely examines the primary writings of Indian students and teachers who had learned English in the boarding school system. The result is a fine linguistic and cultural analysis of the complicated transitions from Native languages to the second language of the book's title, English.

Much has been written about the assimilative mission of boarding schools. Their purpose, as stated by Richard H. Pratt, was to "Kill the Indian; …

Glanzer's "The Quest For Russia's Soul: Evangelicals And Moral Education In Post-Communist Russia" - Book Review, Dr. Donald Fairbairn

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

A Strategy For Social Reconciliation In The Ethnic Conflict In Transylvania, Cristian G. Romocea

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Trends. Commentary On “The Influence Component Of Counterterrorism: A Systems Approach, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This Trends article discusses the guiding principles for and challenges to a conceptual framework for deterring terrorism against the United States and its interests as presented by Paul Davis and Brian Jenkins in the Spring 2003 issue of Rand Review.

Re-Engaging Chineseness: Political, Economic And Cultural Imperatives Of Nation-Building In Singapore, Eugene K. B. Tan

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This article examines the management of Chinese identity and culture since Singapore attained independence in 1965. Due to the delicate regional environment, ethnic Chinese identity has been closely managed by the ruling elites, which have been dominated by the English-educated Chinese. There is the evolution from a deliberate policy of maintaining a low-key ethnic Chinese profile to the recent effort to re-sinicize--in form--the majority ethnic group. The article examines the policy impulses and implications for such a landmark change in reconceptualizing the Chinese-Singapore identity, which can be attributed to the needs of regime maintenance buttressed by Confucian ethos as well …

Rural Poverty, Food Insecurity And Environmental Degradation In Ethiopia: A Case Study From South Central Ethiopia, Sisay Asefa, Tesfaye Zegeye

International Conference on African Development Archives

This paper addresses the challenge of reducing poverty, food insecurity, and natural resource degradation, and abolishing recurrent famines in Ethiopia. With a population of about 65 million, Ethiopia is one of the largest and most populated countries in Africa. Ethiopia can be regarded as a microcosm of Africa due to its vast and diverse agro-ecology and population. Physically, it ranges from 200 meters to over 4000 meters above sea level. It has about 18 agro-ecological, zones and diverse population of some 85 ethnic or linguistic groups. The paper begins by addressing the conceptual relationship among food insecurity, poverty and natural …

The Cups Of Blood Are Emptied Pietism And Cultural Heritage In Two Danish Immigrant Schools On The Great Plains, John Mark Nielsen

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

Following the American Civil War, the vast sweep of the Great Plains exerted a powerful force on the imagination of Americans and Northern European immigrants, resulting in a period of rapid settlement. Immigrant communities in particular attempted to establish institutions through which their language, beliefs and cultural heritage might be preserved. The history of these immigrant institutions mirrors the challenges immigrant communities faced in confronting not only the vicissitudes of climate and evolving economic conditions but also the pressures of assimilation.

Numerous works of both fiction and nonfiction explore the broader challenges of life in the Great Plains; none captures …

An Economic Analysis Of Fiscal Federalism In Ethiopia, Abu Girma Moges

International Conference on African Development Archives

Fiscal federalism is a process of redistribution of fiscal decision-making power in an effort to improve the performance of the public sector in resource mobilization, efficient resource allocation and in the process enabling the economy achieve fast and sustainable economic growth. This paper addresses the economic rationale, implications and concerns of pursuing fiscal federalism in a poor country and in a political environment of ethnic federalism. The main findings suggest that when fiscal decentralization is exercised with high horizontal and vertical imbalances, it fails to diversify public output in line with the preferences and priorities of local population and to …

Lying And Logic On Iraqi Weapons Of Mass Destruction And Linkages To Al Qaeda, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

The author examines the following question in this article: Did the Bush administration lie in asserting that Iraq had operational weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and linkages to al Qaeda?

Not Thinking Like A Nonlawyer: Implications Of "Recogonization" For Legal Education, Robert J. Morris

Journal of Legal Education

No abstract provided.

Religion In Eastern Europe Journal As Forum For Conversation, Walter Sawatsky

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Insight Into Illinois Wesleyan University Study Abroad, Christopher B. Lyons '03

Honors Projects

This paper presents the results of a research into the reasons why students do and do not study abroad during their years at Illinois Wesleyan University (IWU). After establishing the importance of the research question, the paper continues with a description ofa survey ofIWU students conducted in Spring 2003. Presentation and analysis of the results follow. The paper concludes with a discussion of potential policy changes that could lead to an increase in the number of IWU students who study abroad in the future.

Religion And Ethnic Identity Formation In The Former Yugoslavia, Alexander Mirescu

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Common Origins/"Different" Identities In Two Kaqchikel Maya Towns, Walter E. Little

Anthropology Faculty Scholarship

Kaqchikel Maya residents of San Antonio Aguas Calientes and Santa Catarina Barahona (neighboring towns in Guatemala) tell the same origin story. This story is used to root historically their concepts of collective identity and community. However, residents in each town hold that those in the other town have no real claim to the story. Both towns can equally claim this origin story, but the debate between residents of these towns offers an opportunity to discuss how the meaning of place is related to the historical and ethnographic contexts of which that place's residents are part. By weighing the story and …

No. 11: Regionalizing International Migration: Lessons For Sadc, Jonathan Crush, Vincent Williams

Southern African Migration Programme

Research on unauthorised migration to South Africa has addressed a range of issues surrounding the effects of current immigration policy on migrants, and the impact migrants have on South Africa’s society and economy (DHA 1997: section 1.4.6). One finding that is particularly relevant to a discussion of regional labour migration regimes is that current South African immigration policy does not account for labour migrants who retain a social and domestic base in their countries of origin. Another is that most unauthorised migrants are temporary or contract workers who seek employment in industries—such as construction—that depend increasingly on this kind of …

The “Great Game” For The Twenty-First Century: Islamic Extremism And Central Asia, Ian Sethre

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Reaping the Whirlwind: The Taliban Movement in Afghanistan by Michael Griffin. London: Pluto Press, 2001. 272pp.

and

Jihad: The Rise of Militant Islam in Central Asia by Ahmed Rashid. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001. 281pp.

and

Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia by Ahmed Rashid. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2000. 274pp.

Bosnian Refugrees’ Adjustments To Resettlement In Grand Forks, North Dakota, Devon Hansen

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

Upheaval causes many people to flee intolerable conditions in their own countries and to seek better lives elsewhere. The United States plays a pivotal role in the resettlement of refugees uprooted by these crises. The refugee resettlement program in North Dakota primarily assists the refugees in making a better life, and it ultimately helps the state's quest for population growth, ethnic diversity, and economic development. This study deals with refugee resettlement in North Dakota communities, specifically Bosnian refugees in Grand Forks. Survey questionnaires and interviews were used to gain an understanding of the issues that the Bosnians face in adjusting …

Feminist Tigers And Patriarchal Lions: Rhetorical Strategies And Instrument Effects In The Struggle For Definition And Control Over Development In Nepal, Coralynn V. Davis

Faculty Journal Articles

This article offers an analysis of a struggle for control of a women’s development project in Nepal. The story of this struggle is worth telling, for it is rife with the gender politics and neo-colonial context that underscore much of what goes on in contemporary Nepal. In particular, my analysis helps to unravel some of the powerful discourses, threads of interest, and yet unintended effects inevitable under a regime of development aid. The analysis demonstrates that the employment of already available discursive figures of the imperialist feminist and the patriarchal third world man are central to the rhetorical strategies taken …