Digital Commons Network^™

Educating The Imagination: Northrop Frye Past, Present, And Future Edited By Alan Bewell, Neil Ten Kortenaar, And Germaine Warkentin, David Carruthers

The Goose

Review of Alan Bewell, Neil ten Kortenaar, and Germaine Warkentin's Educating the Imagination: Northrop Frye Past, Present, and Future.

Wilson's Story, Morgan Abbott

The International Undergraduate Journal For Service-Learning, Leadership, and Social Change

No abstract provided.

Religious Coping Mechanisms Among Death Row Inmates, David Lynch

Sociology

During their stay on death row, inmates have an abundance of free time with which they need to fill. Many inmates will turn to religion in order to preoccupy themselves. This research project set out to analyze the nature of religious coping among death row inmates. I propose that an inmate who is actively involved with their religion while coping will be able to cope with the social setting of death row better than an inmate who is falling out with their religion. Following a content analysis of scholarly research from a variety of academic disciplines, this project found that …

The Digital Watchmakers: Playing With The Sacred In Video Games, Anthony Langley

Research and Creative Activities Poster Day

With video games establishing itself as a multi-billion dollar industry, academia as a whole has been slowly looking at the medium as an object of study. The field of religious studies has also begun to take notice of it. At face value, this is a great a way to observe concepts of religiosity in a fairly new medium. In spite of this, the same questions are being asked. The first is how are the narrative of games depicting religious motifs? Secondly, what can we learn through the social interactions of people within a digital space about religion? Finally, how are …

Fearless Friday: Jeffrey White, Jeffrey M. White

SURGE

In today’s edition of Fearless Friday, Surge is thrilled to honor the work of the incomparable Jeffrey White ’17. Jeffrey is a junior from Baltimore, Maryland, who is majoring in Religious Studies and minoring in Music. As an incredibly active member of the campus community, he is involved in leadership roles in many facets of campus life. He works as a Resident Assistant (RA), serves as the Program Organizer for the Office of Intercultural Advancement, the Live Music Chair of the Campus Activities Board (CAB), and devotes time to being a Peer Learning Assistant for Anthropology 103 as well. [ …

Ua77/1 Wku Spirit, Wku Alumni Relations

WKU Administration Documents

WKU's alumni magazine. Contents:

• Ransdell, Gary. Letter from the President
• From College to University: WKU Pylon
• WKU Honored for Programs Helping Veterans, Students in the Military
• Larry Snyder Named Dean of Potter College of Arts & Letters
• Brian Kuster to Lead Student Affairs for Next 2 Years
• Confucius Institute at WKU Honored at Global Conference
• 2 Gatton Academy of Mathematics & Science Students Named Emperor Science Award Winners
• WKU Student Awarded U.S. Foreign Service Internship – Alexandria Knipp
• WKU Continues to Climb in Open Doors Study Abroad Rankings
• U.S. News Ranks WKU Online Programs Among Best in Nation
• Family & …

Understanding Religious Leaders’ Motivations For And Perceptions Of Interfaith Collaboration, Michelle Hansmann

All College Thesis Program, 2016-2019

This thesis presents the results of an exploratory study examining reasons why religious leaders participate in interfaith collaboration. I conducted in-depth interviews with religious congregational leaders in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, in an attempt to identify their professional and personal motivations, and the organizational pressures influencing participation. Interfaith collaboration consists of intentional constructive cooperation and positive interactions among individuals or institutions of different religious traditions. Interfaith initiatives occur throughout the world at the local, national, and international level. Despite the growing increase in faith-based collaborations, there has been little research examining why religious leaders and congregations choose to participate …

A Critical Analysis Of African-Centered Psychology: From Ism To Praxis, A. Ebede-Ndi

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

The purpose of this article is to critically evaluate what is perceived as shortcomings in the scholarly field of African-centered psychology and mode of transcendence, specifically in terms of the existence of an African identity. A great number of scholars advocate a total embrace of a universal African identity that unites Africans in the diaspora and those on the continent and that can be used as a remedy to a Eurocentric domination of psychology at the detriment of Black communities’ specific needs. Another group of scholars argue for a relative African identity, emphasizing diversity and differences among African people both …

Ua41 University College Connection, Dennis K. George, Dean, Wendi Kelley, University College

UC Publications

No abstract provided.

Androgyny/Hermaphroditism: Hebrew Bible, Jennifer J. Williams

Faculty Publications

The Hebrew Bible lacks a term for androgyny or hermaphroditism. The term tumtumim, which identifies persons of indeterminate or “hidden” sex, appears later in rabbinic texts. Nevertheless, sexual fluidity, ambiguity, intersexed persons, and persons with a combination of masculine and feminine characteristics appear in the Genesis creation stories and prophetic texts. While gender transgression is relevant to the general discussion, this entry from The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Bible and Gender Studies: Oxford Biblical Studies Online focuses primarily on ancient understandings, namely those presented in the Hebrew Bible, of those of “both sexes.”

Weitz Cec Building Viewbook, Weitz Cec

Programs and Brochures

Welcome to the Barbara Weitz Community Engagement Center (Weitz CEC), the first of its kind in the country. Since opening in April 2014, the Weitz CEC, and the programs and partnerships it houses, have made a dynamic impact on our students, campus, and community.

The Weitz CEC is an expansive concept in university-community relations. Through its Student Service and Leadership Collaborative, the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) will elevate student volunteerism initiatives by incorporating leadership, civic responsibility, and cultural competence. Our award-winning Service Learning Academy now has room to grow, providing more students with experiences that enhance learning, foster …

Michele Desmarais, Faculty Spotlight, University Of Nebraska At Omaha

Community Engagement Spotlights

Michele Desmarais, Ph.D., is one of t he founders of the UNO organization SPHRS.

Liberal Arts, Religion, And Irreligion: A Cross-Sectional Analysis Of Student Religiosity And Secularity At The Claremont Colleges, Jennie Frishtick

Scripps Senior Theses

This study measures levels of religiosity and secularity among students at the Claremont Colleges, including students’ (ir)religious affiliations, beliefs, and practices. The religious landscape in the U.S. is shifting in multiple ways, and young adults feature prominently in these changes. Using data from an online survey of students, the present study addresses the following research questions: What is the (ir)religious makeup of the student body at the Claremont Colleges? Do the observed patterns mirror those of the general U.S. population? The results of this study show that the sample population at the Claremont Colleges is much less religious than the …

Disengagement From Ideologically-Based And Violent Organizations: A Systematic Review Of The Literature, Steven Windisch, Peter Simi, Gina Sott Ligon, Hillary Mcneel

Sociology Faculty Articles and Research

Research on disengagement from violent extremism is an emerging field of inquiry. As compared to the related field of radicalization, there have been fewer studies of disengagement. Further, little effort has been made to conduct a large scale, systematic review of what is currently known about disengagement from violent extremism. This type of meta-literature assessment can play an important role in terms of informing strategies and programs designed to facilitate exit. To help fill this gap, our project systematically examines the disengagement literature to determine the range and frequency of various exit factors identified in previous studies. We also rely …

God’S Case For Sex, Orit Avishai, Kelsy Burke

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

At least within western popular culture, “good sex” has seemingly won out over sexual shame and become a prerogative of modern adult life. From advice books like The Joy of Sex to TV shows like Sex in the City and popular podcasts like Savage Love, a fulfilling sex life is promoted as integral to happiness and personal fulfillment. But religious traditions are notorious for sexual rules and norms that seem to fly in the face of modern secular culture, with its emphasis on sexual expression, experimentation, and satisfaction. In fact, many observers associate the expansion of progressive sexual norms and …

Trend Or Transition: A Report On Interdisciplinary Work In The 2013-2014 Academic Job Market For The Humanities And Social Sciences, Michael Aiuvalasit, Carson Davis, Ángel Gallardo, Bingchen Liu, Tim Mcgee, Meghan Wadle

Graduate Fellow Publications

Academics are increasingly encouraged to devote themselves to interdisciplinary scholarship, but does being interdisciplinary help you get a job? What do hiring committees really mean when they say they desire a candidate with “interdisciplinary experience”? To investigate these questions the 2014-2015 Graduate Fellows at Southern Methodist University’s Dedman Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies undertook a content analysis of academic job announcements using the term “interdisciplinary”. We analyzed 200 job listings for tenure-track positions at the Assistant Professor level in the social sciences and humanities, using job listings from the website H-Net posted during the 2013-2014 hiring cycles. The demands for interdisciplinarity …

Being Muslim, Being Cosmopolitan: Transgressing The Liberal Global, Chad Haines Ph.D.

Journal of International and Global Studies

The practices and concepts of Muslim cosmopolitanism are rooted in Islamic ideas, providing the foundations for informal “comings together” that foster new kinds of ethical communities. Muslim cosmopolitanism transgresses global normative aspirations of the liberal West that attempt to impose a singular way of being a global citizen. The informal, ethical communities that are inherent to a Muslim cosmopolitan vision also reject the absolutist visions of Islamists, such as those promoted by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, which, like Western liberal aspirations, attempt to impose a singular vision of the global. The article traces Muslim cosmopolitan ethics in …

Brazen (Fall 2015), Hollins University

Brazen - Gender & Women's Studies Department Newsletters

No abstract provided.

Walking Together: Living Fearlessly, Loving Boldy, Anna M. Malone

Student Publications

In this paper, I give an account of my capstone for the Religious Studies major. I tell about the research project-turned-applied-learning, and how my research as a Mellon Summer Scholar ’15 led me to start a prison ministry between Gettysburg students and the Adams County Adult Correctional Complex. I reflect on what I have done, how God has worked, and what I have learned. This is far from a typical research paper; then again, this was far from a typical research project.

Too Many Rented Rooms: Creative Expression In The Tibetan Community And The Foreign Artist, Imogen Rosenbluth

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Though Tibetan society has always had a literary and creative bent, the genre of secular Tibetan poetry is still very much burgeoning. One of the most unexpected consequences of the Chinese occupation of Tibet and the subsequent exile of thousands of Tibetans has been the emergence of a new genre of testimonial writing by refugees, the majority of which is written in the English language. The corpus of work within this genre is still relatively small, but growing all the time, and this expansion begs several complex questions, foremost of which is what purpose such writing serves and to whom …

The Last Denton Conference, Barbara R. Walters

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Torch (August 2015), Brandon Baldwin, Civil Rights Team Project

Torch: The Civil Rights Team Project Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Subduction Zone By Emily Mcgiffin, Kelly Shepherd

The Goose

Kelly Shepherd's review of Subduction Zone by Emily McGiffin.

Ethnography Of Coachella: Communication Within The Intersections Of Popular Culture, Fandom, Music, And Performance, Vanessa Minh-Trang Pham

Communication Studies

No abstract provided.

Developing Interreligious Understanding And Peacebuilding Among Local And International Students Through Community Outreach Program In The Moslem Community, Linda Bustan, Titi Nur Vidyarini, Resmana Lim, Priskila Adiasih

Asia-Pacific Regional Conference on Service-Learning 亞太地區服務研習會議

Differences between religion and ethnicities can be problematic without any effort to understand. Without understanding about the issues, conflict and violence could emerge. Thus, an activity which introduce those different groups to each other is needed, in order for them to have mutual understanding and able to live together in peace. One of the way to provide peace education is through cross cutting affiliation in the society, such as through Community Outreach Program (COP) provided by Petra Christian University.

COP 2013 is a service learning program for international students in a Moslem populated Petungroto Village in Kediri, East Java Province. …

Spirituality And The Sense Of Self: An Inductive Analysis, Louis F. Kavar

The Qualitative Report

The investigation examined the understanding of spirituality as related to the sense of self. Self-reports from semi-structured interviews of participants with a stated value for spirituality are analyzed inductively. Using a Rogerian understanding of self, the analysis identified six themes related to how participants understand spirituality as related to their sense of self. The themes demonstrate that spirituality is a key dimension to self understanding and is part of relationships, social engagement, an understanding of meaning and purpose in life, and an overall sense of happiness and joy.

Four Diverse Educators Chronicle Challenges In A Christian-Centered Society, Susan V. Bennett, Annmarie Alberton Gunn, Mary Lou Morton

The Qualitative Report

Culturally responsive teaching requires that students be perceived holistically and part of student culture is religious beliefs. The purpose of this research is to offer insight into experiences and understandings of four preservice and inservice teachers', from diverse religious backgrounds, Muslim, Judaism, Sikhism, and Mormonism, experiences and understandings as they studied and worked in colleges of education and elementary classrooms that are rooted in Anglo Christian traditions. We relied on aspects of critical multiculturalism and social identity theory to guide the qualitative case study. In this case study, we analyzed reflexive journals and interviews of four participants using withincase and …

Strategic Study Abroad: A Program Proposal For Continued Faith Development Of Chi Alpha Students Studying Abroad, Erin Leonard

Capstone Collection

With around 28,000 individual participants, Chi Alpha is a diverse network of Christian students on U.S. college campuses. By regularly meeting in groups and collectively reaching out to the community, students develop their faith and build lasting relationships.

Faith development is an integral part of Chi Alpha students’ lives. Yet, because community is an important aspect in faith development, studying abroad can cause challenges. Students expressed missing accessible Christian peer support and mentorship while abroad. They further expressed disconnection from their faith and felt their spirituality had declined while studying abroad.

As study abroad participation has been increasing over the …

Confirmation Of Prophecy By Proxy: Audience Anticipation And Reception Of The 2014 Movie Left Behind And Its Relevance To The Dispensational Premillennialist Worldview, Andrew R. Burns

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Media has the potential to legitimize or spread a belief system to the general public. The 2014 movie Left Behind is an example of a deliberate attempt at promoting the belief system referred to as dispensational premillennialism (DPM), or belief in the imminent rapture of Christians. Producers of Left Behind (2014) sought to promote DPM to the general public, hoping for a mass conversion. Online discussion and interviews were gathered and interpreted qualitatively. Content analysis of audience anticipation and reception show believers were as concerned with the conversion of the general public via this movie than the movie itself. Differences …

Ua68/11/1 Philosophy & Religion News, Vol. 7, No. 3, Wku Philosophy & Religion

WKU Administration Documents

WKU Philosophy & Religion newsletter regarding activities of faculty, staff, students and alumni.