Digital Commons Network^™

Using A Multimedia Modeling Approach To Simulate Eutrophication In The Pawcatuck River Estuary, Finnian S. Cashel, Christopher D. Knightes

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

The Pawcatuck River Estuary (PRE), composed of the Pawcatuck River and Little Narragansett Bay (CT/RI, USA), is a coastal plain estuary subject to environmental stress. Anthropogenic nutrient loading, watershed land use changes, and urbanization have contributed to eutrophication, which results in hypoxia and seagrass loss. To understand these processes, a one-dimensional, numerical, process-based model was developed to interpret and predict spatial variations in water quality, using WASP8 (Water Analysis Simulation Program, v 8.32). Our PRE WASP Model included five different sub-modules: Dynamic Wave, or DYNHYD5, was used for hydrodynamics, the heat module for water temperature, the advanced eutrophication module for …

Expanding The Boundaries Of Climate Resilient Futures: Participatory Cross-Impact Balances In The Red River Basin, Anita Lazurko

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

The long-term resilience of river basins around the world – conceptualized as coupled social-ecological systems – is influenced by uncertain drivers of change, including climate change. As actors attempt to make river basins more “resilient”, questions remain about what aspects of these systems are being made more resilient, which conditions they are becoming resilient to, and who the resilience is for. Addressing such questions require more exploratory and reflexive means for anticipating and imagining the future than are currently mainstream in the water sector. In this scenario modelling study, I partnered with the Red River Basin Commission and the International …

Authenticity Without Belief In Western Tibetan Buddhist Practice, Hannah Sharp-Wang

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is a study of Tibetan Buddhism as practiced by adult converts in Utah. Semiotic ideology is a thread throughout the paper that functions as an explanatory mechanism for describing the ontological variations between beginning and seasoned practitioners. I show examples of clashing semiotic ideologies that demonstrate differing assumptions in understanding of how the world operates. In Chapter 2, I explore the concept of interiority and the taken for granted assumptions of religiosity in the West. The tensions introduced in Chapter 2 are addressed in Chapter 3, which explores how practitioners resolve concerns about authenticity through reliance on their …

Wild Ixalan: A Creative Case Study On Mythology, Magic, And More, Lincoln Teichert

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Magic: The Gathering, a subsidiary of Hasbro, releases packs of cards periodically, unified by a cast of dozens of characters who can travel from plane to plane—the rough equivalent of interstellar travel—but games feature battles between these powerful mages (represented by players) across the multiverse of fictional locations. Before quarterly set releases, short stories are published on Magic’s website, a form of content marketing that has spurred sales for over a quarter-century. Magic draws on myths from across the world, along with diverse geographies and technological development. This paper offers an overview of trading card games, sketches what a Magic …

Full Issue

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Latest Issue Of The Farms Review

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

The latest issue of the FARMS Review (vol. 21, no. 2) opens with an editor’s introduction by Lou Midgley that probes a dilemma facing evangelicals: much of their belief system is traceable to Augustine’s efforts to infuse Christianity with concepts drawn from classical (pagan) philosophy. Midgley discusses how this alien admixture does not square with the evangelical belief in biblical sufficiency, or “Bible alone.” He also calls attention to how the noted evangelical scholar N. T. Wright has recently put evangelicals on the defensive by challenging the entrenched but (in Wright’s view) misguided notion of “justification by faith alone.”

Full Issue

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Peterson Participates In World Parliament

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

Daniel C. Peterson, professor of Islamic studies and Arabic and editor in chief of the Middle Eastern Texts Initiative, will chair a plenary session at the Parliament of the World’s Religions held December 3–9, 2009, in Melbourne, Australia.

Entitled “Islam and the West: Creating an Accord of Civilisations,” the panel discussion will center on understanding Islam. Peterson’s involvement illustrates METI’s engagement with scholars worldwide.

Valuable Research Tool Available Soon

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

By the end of this year, “Nineteenth-Century Publications about the Book of Mormon (1829–1844)” will be made available as one of the Harold B. Lee Library’s digital collections.

Building on the work of previous generations of researchers, Matthew Roper, research scholar with the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, has collected digital facsimiles and electronic transcriptions of as many of these early publications as could be found.

Full Issue

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

No abstract provided.

A Note On Volcanism And The Book Of Mormon, Matt Roper

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

The account of the great destruction at the death of Christ in Third Nephi relates that many cities at the time were destroyed by fire (3 Nephi 8:14; 9:3, 9–11). In an article published in 1998, geologist Bart Kowallis argued that the destructive events, including the burning of cities described there, are consistent with the effects of a significant volcanic event. The volcanic interpretation fits particularly well in a Mesoamerican setting where volcanic events are historically common. Additional support for this interpretation can be found in Mormon’s description of the aftermath of these events. In his abridgement of the subsequent …

Full Issue

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Blossoming With Books: Syriac Manuscripts From The Egyptian Desert

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

The birthplace and spiritual heart of Christian monasticism is the Nitrian Desert of Egypt and the long, shallow valley of Scetis (Wadi el-Natrun). It was to here, from the fourth century onwards, that Macarius the Great and other of the sainted desert fathers retreated from the world, devoting their lives to worship and prayer. While some monks chose to live in isolation as hermits, many others banded together to establish the first monasteries, building churches for worship and libraries for study.

Full Issue

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

No abstract provided.

New Appointment For Editor Of Dead Sea Scrolls Electronic Library

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

Donald W. Parry, Brigham Young University pro­ fessor of Biblical Hebrew and longtime contribu­ tor to the work of the Maxwell Institute, has been appointed as an editor for a new edition of Biblia Hebraica, the standard critical edition of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament). He is one of about two dozen well­established Hebrew scholars from the world­ wide community also serving as editors for this new edition, and one of three from the United States.

Full Issue

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

No abstract provided.

“Voices In The Human Conver­Sation” Available On Internet

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

Several video broadcasts exploring areas related to the work of the Maxwell Institute are available to view online through the BYU Web site. In February, the College of Humanities at BYU presented, as part of their “Voices in the Human Conversation” program that was originally broadcast on KBYU, a lecture by Roger Macfarlane, associate professor of humanities, classics, and comparative literature at BYU. Entitled “Illuminating the Papyri from Herculaneum, Oxyrhymchus, and Beyond,” Macfarlane discussed Multi-Spectral Imaging and ancient texts. In the past, the Center for the Preservation of Ancient Religious Texts at the Maxwell Institute (then under the auspices of …

Full Issue

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Wordprint Analysis And Joseph Smith’S Role As Editor Of The Times And Seasons, Paul Fields, Matthew Roper, Atul Nepal

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

One of the issues that swirls around discus- sions of Book of Mormon geography is the rightful place the editorials in the 1842 Times and Seasons must take. The story of the editorials begins with Joseph’s receipt of John Lloyd Stephens and Frederick Catherwood’s Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chaipas, and Yucatan, published in 1841. In early 1842, the Times and Seasons published several enthu- siastic articles that drew attention to the discoveries of Stephens and Catherwood in Central America and compared them favorably with the Book of Mormon. Two of these articles were signed by the editor, while …

Full Issue

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

No abstract provided.

New Mormon Studies Review A Scholarly Feast

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

Emerging from a 22-year tradition of penetrating scholarly reviews and essays is the new Mormon Studies Review. Formerly titled The FARMS Review, it sports a sleeker design and larger format and promises to survey a broader spectrum of topics. In his editor’s introduction, Daniel C. Peterson reprises the Review’s history and attainments during the past two decades. He notes how it will continue to defend LDS scripture and faith claims through the kind of “vigorous and learned discourse” tempered with satire and wit that has set it apart from the beginning.

Full Issue

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Latest Review Takes Up Church Media, Promised Land, Teen Religiosity, And More

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

The latest issue of the FARMS Review (volume 22, number 2), which appeared at the end of 2010, features a transcript of last year’s Neal A. Maxwell Lecture given by Mark H. Willes, president and CEO of Deseret Management Corporation. Willes illustrates the kind of creative thinking required for the LDS Church’s media outlets to eventually reach hundreds of millions of people worldwide. For a full report of this lecture, see Insights 30/2 (2010).

Smithsonian North America: A Fold-Out Graphic History, Leah Christopher

Children's Book and Media Review

This illustrated timeline combines the familiar and unfamiliar histories of the four North American regions: Canada, the United States, Mexico, and the islands of the Caribbean. From 13,000 BCE to the present day, this book details history from indigenous people from the 1200 BCE Olmec tribe, to the first North Americans with a written language, to the first indigenous women in US Congress in 2019. It features conflicts from the invasion of European explorers to the Cold War, and cultural events from the Mexican Renaissance to the Civil Rights Movement. It highlights trail blazers as diverse as Juana Inés de …

Full Issue, Various Reviewers

Children's Book and Media Review

No abstract provided.

Inadequate Wash Infrastructure Among Rural Populations In The Pacific Islands, Olivia Wallgreen

Ballard Brief

Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) are key aspects for development that allows families to five clean and healthy lives. However. many regions of the world. including the Pacific Islands Region. do not have proper facilities and funding to build or maintain WASH infrastructure. especially in rural areas. About 45% of rural Pacific Islanders lack access to adequate sanitation and 13% lack access to basic drinking water. Natural disasters. climate change, insufficient government action. and difficult geographic features make developing WASH infrastructure challenging. Inadequate WASH infrastructure increases the prevalence of disease and negatively affects the ecosystems of the islands. While these …

Southern Appalachian Ghost Stories, Zackery Youngblood

Final Projects

About southern Appalachian ghost lore.

Little Libraries, Big Heroes, Nicole Clark

Children's Book and Media Review

Todd Bal was an ordinary guy who wanted to find a way to honor his mother. She, as a teacher, had helped many kids learn how to read. Todd decided to build thirty miniature libraries and place them in locations between Minnesota and Wisconsin. People were free to take a book and leave a book. These little libraries became gathering places for friends and neighbors to unite with books as common ground. Word spread quickly, and soon, other people wanted to know how to have a Little Free Library in their community. Since their inception, Little Free Libraries have been …

Full Issue, Various Reviewers

Children's Book and Media Review

No abstract provided.

Tidal Translations: Thinking-With Untranslatability In Craig Santos Perez's From Unincorporated Territory, Maryn Gardner

Theses and Dissertations

Craig Santos Perez's poetic series from Unincorporated Territory describes and decries the U.S. militarization, colonization, and environmental degradation of Guam in the Western Pacific through multilingual, excerpted, and series-long poems. Perez's writing style requires slow, careful reading with translations sometimes appearing on the same page, various pages later, or not at all. I describe this kind of elongated translation as slow translation, recalling translation theorist Michael Cronin's "Slow Language" movement. This thesis invites readers, especially multispecies ethnographers, to slow down the translation of nonhuman species and their stories by paying attention to moments of untranslatability in multispecies literature and interactions. …