Digital Commons Network^™

Death Ends A Life Not A Relationship: The Embodied Mourning And Memorializing Of Pets Through Material Culture, Gemma N. Koontz

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Many individuals develop strong bonds with their pets, viewing them as close “furry” friends or family. When these beloved companions die, both their relational and physical absences are deeply felt. Lacking socially recognized rituals to mourn and memorialize their pets, owners turn to and adapt traditional “human practices,” primarily that of keeping meaningful or significant items of the deceased.

Using both personal experiences and perspectives from multiple fields, this thesis discusses the life-cycle of the human-animal bond, examines the types of items owners keep or create, and how these are used to facilitate both mourning (the outward expression of grief) …

From Chod To Feeding Your Demons: A Western Approach To Tibetan Tantra, Tanner Mcalister

Student Research Symposium

"From Chod to Feeding Your Demons: A Western Adaptation of Tibetan Tantra Tanner McAlister and Dr. Dominic Sur (Mentor), Religious Studies. This research examines how Chod, a tantric Buddhist ritual traced to eleventh-century Tibet, has been altered in the West by Buddhist teacher, Lama Tsultrim Allione. The analysis aims to uncover whether the soteriological dimension of Chod has been altered from buddhahood to psychological well-being. Chod's transmission to the West and its scope as a non-traditional practice is a recent phenomenon tracing back to just the last decade of the twentieth century. Although publications on Chod as practiced in Tibet …

Helen Schucman And A Course In Miracles: Personal Revelation To Scripture, Mckinley Smoot

Intermountain West Journal of Religious Studies

Since its initial publication in 1976, A Course in Miracles (ACIM) has sold over two million copies in 18 languages. Its vast circulation can be largely accredited to grassroots efforts.¹ This article examines the early development of this key “New Age” text and its significance in modern American spirituality and religion.

Anton Lavey's Satanic Philosophy: An Analysis, Gabriel Andrade

Intermountain West Journal of Religious Studies

The history of Satanism goes back to at least 2500 years. Yet, only in the seventeenth century, was the devil perceived in more sympathetic terms, in large part due to John Milton’s Paradise Lost.¹ In the twentieth century, Aleister Crowley assumed the name of “The Beast 666,” as well as owning the title of “the wickedest man in the world.”² But, it was during the second half of the twentieth century, when an openly Satanic movement arose and gained significant attention from mass media with the enigmatic and sensationalist Anton LaVey at its helm.³ In this article, …

The Poetics Of Mughal History: Discerning Abu'l-Fazl's Emplotment Of The Akbarnāma, Peter Dziedzic

Intermountain West Journal of Religious Studies

The Mughal period has been appraised by scholars as one of the most prolific and creative eras of Persianate¹ literary and historiographical production.² Among the many works produced from the fifteenth to eighteenth centuries, Abu’l-Faẓl’s Akbarnāma [The Book of Akbar] stands as an exemplary product of this epoch. As the court-sponsored “biography”³ and encyclopedic chronicle of the reign of the third Mughal emperor Jalal al-Dīn Akbar, its literary style was cherished and studied by Mughals and other scholars for generations. While the Akbarnāma is readily acknowledged as an Indo-Persian chronicle, little critical attention has been paid to …

Front Matter

Intermountain West Journal of Religious Studies

No abstract provided.

Imw Journal Of Religious Studies Volume 9 Number 1

Intermountain West Journal of Religious Studies

No abstract provided.

Utah State University’S Campus Interfaith Inventory Report 2018–2019, Interfaith Youth Core

Interfaith Initiative Research

For the last two years Utah State University and 362 other colleges and universities around the United States have inventoried the degree to which leadership practices for interfaith cooperation (as defined in Liberal Education (2015) are an integral part of our campus climate. Our promising practices and emerging priorities, and comparisons between Utah State University, other public universities and the sample as a whole are summarized in this report.

Grilled Cheese Monday, Kresten Erickson

USU Student Folklore Fieldwork

See attached screenshot images of Natalya and I's Facebook Messenger conversation.

Pedagogical Sandhi, Arie French

Writing Center Analysis Papers

In both composition courses and writing center tutorage, concepts like organization and structure are frequently stressed. Despite this emphasis, students continue to have difficulty in understanding what organization entails. In this piece, I use the Sanskrit language and my experiences as both a teacher and writing center peer tutor, in order to argue that learning to draw connections in writing equips students to transform their papers from distinct sections and evidences to a radically-new whole.I propose several methods that instructors and tutors can implement to equip students with connection-making skills.

The Utah Statesman, October 16, 2018, Utah State University

The Utah Statesman

Weekly student newspaper of Utah State University in Logan.

Curriculum Subcommittee Agenda, October 4, 2018, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

Program Proposal

• Offering a Masters in Ancient Languages and Cultures
• Changing the name from American Studies to Folklore and American Studies
• Restructuring Folklore and American Studies
• Offering a Baccalaureate degree in Chinese
• Establishing an I-System Institute for Transdisciplinary Studies

Semester Course Approval Reviews

Curriculum Subcommittee Minutes, October 4, 2018, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

Program Proposal

• Offering a Masters in Ancient Languages and Cultures
• Changing the name from American Studies to Folklore and American Studies
• Restructuring Folklore and American Studies
• Offering a Baccalaureate degree in Chinese
• Establishing an I-System Institute for Transdisciplinary Studies

Semester Course Approval Reviews

Other

• Request for Curriculum

Educational Policies Committee Agenda, October 4, 2018, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

• Curriculum Subcommittee
• Academic Standards Subcommittee
• General Education Subcommittee

Educational Policies Committee Minutes, October 4, 2018, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

• Curriculum Subcommittee report
• Academic Standards Subcommittee report
• General Education Subcommittee report

2018 Utah State University Student Orientation Guide, Utah State University

The Utah Statesman

A special supplemental magazine provided by The Utah Statesman to take a closer look at some of the services and departments available at Utah State University.

Self-Reliance, Social Welfare, And Sacred Landscapes: Mormon Agricultural Spaces And Their Paradoxical Sense Of Place, Anthony Ross Garner

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

What is the sense of place of Mormon agricultural landscapes? That is to say, what makes an LDS Church-owned welfare farm or a Mormon family garden meaningful to those who interact with it? In formulating a partial answer to this question, this thesis demonstrates how religious ideals of self-reliance and social welfare explicitly define Mormon agricultural landscapes, providing a sacred sense of their purpose to those who work and benefit from them. However, these sacred landscapes are complicated by developments of industrial agricultural equipment, corporate institutions, and urban demographics, which tend to isolate people from each other and the land …

Historical Analysis Of Leadership Theory In The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints And Its Educational System, Kevin D. Whitehead

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

An organization’s leadership theory acts as a collection of primary guiding characteristics which influence its identity and direction. Developing leaders has always been important for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Historically, the Church has promoted leadership ideals for all its members through various aspects of its doctrine and organization. This study provides an analysis of multiple leadership texts produced by the ecclesiastical and educational wings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The study helps to reveal how Latter-day Saint leadership theory has developed over time. This study considers the unfolding of Latter-day Saint leadership …

Utah State University Commencement, 2018 – Main Campus, Utah State University

Commencement Programs

131st Annual Commencement of Utah State University.

Not To Teach Any Different Doctrine: Examining The Doctrines Of The Early Latter-Day Saints Movement And The Church Fathers, Jacob D. Hayden

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Explanations of the nature of humanity, God, and the purpose of life have a direct influence on the daily lives of the adherents of a given religious tradition. In the early third century, Origen of Alexandria proposed doctrines of preexistence, subordinationism, and theosis, which were dismissed in the early Church to various degrees. Some sixteen hundred years later, members of the upstart Latter-day Saints movement, such as Orson Pratt, would maintain strikingly similar positions about the nature of the soul, the godhead, and the final cause of humanity. These concepts represent essential aspects of the worldviews of these traditions; …

American Proto-Zionism And The "Book Of Lehi": Recontextualizing The Rise Of Mormonism, Don Bradley

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Although historians generally view early Mormonism as a movement focused on restoring Christianity to its pristine New Testament state, in the Mormon movement’s first phase (1827-28) it was actually focused on restoring Judaism to its pristine “Old Testament” state and reconstituting the Jewish nation as it had existed before the Exile.

Mormonism’s first scripture, “the Book of Lehi” (the first part of the Book of Mormon), disappeared shortly after its manuscript was produced. But evidence about its contents shows it to have had restoring Judaism and the Jewish nation to their pre-Exilic condition to have been one of its major …

Educational Policies Committee Agenda, April 5, 2018, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

• Curriculum Subcommittee
• Academic Standards Subcommittee
• General Education Subcommittee

General Education Subcommittee Minutes, March 20, 2018, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

Course Approvals/Removals/Syllabi Approvals

Business

• Depth Courses and Categorization of Majors
• Departments submitting General Education proposals from outside of their General Education categorization
• Curriculog shutdown

The Utah Statesman, February 13, 2018, Utah State University

The Utah Statesman

Weekly student newspaper of Utah State University in Logan.

Reflections On Digitization, Outreach, And The Value Of Ephemera In Special Collections: A Case Study, Gregory K. Seppi

Journal of Western Archives

This case study describes the process L. Tom Perry Special Collections used to create and promote a digital collection of ephemera on Internet Archive. It follows the process from selection to uploading, discusses how decisions related to digitization were made, and how the collection was promoted following digitization. This paper establishes the value of digitizing ephemera related to topics known to be of interest to patrons and demonstrates one approach to special collections outreach. Data gathered during the creation of this case study demonstrates that even small efforts to promote digital collections can significantly improve usage of niche ephemera collections …

Testing The Waters Of Interfaith At Usu, Delbert Young, Bonnie Glass-Coffin

Interfaith Initiative Research

This Religious Studies Capstone project by Mr. Delbert Young (Spring 2018) updates campus climate research and summarizes student desires for Interfaith Initiative "next steps".

Imw Journal Of Religious Studies Volume 8 Number 1

Intermountain West Journal of Religious Studies

No abstract provided.

Book Reviews

Intermountain West Journal of Religious Studies

No abstract provided.

Biblical Patriarchy In Doctrine And Practice: An Analysis Of Evangelical Christian Homeschooling, Tonya Vander

Intermountain West Journal of Religious Studies

“I spent most of my days while homeschooling trying to figure out how to be a better person, how to be more perfect, how to be a better homeschooler, a better dishwasher, a better everything,” Janine, a mother, reflected on her homeschooling years. In the United States, homeschooled children made up three percent of the population in the 2011-2012 school year. In addition, two-thirds of all homeschooling families were concerned about the integration of religion in their children’s education as a core reason for choosing homeschool over public school. Some Evangelical Christian homeschoolers (ECHS) responded to such concerns by tailoring …

Continuity In The Face Of Social Change: Demographic Shifts And The United Methodist Church’S Institutional Conservatism On Sexuality, Scott Vehstedt

Intermountain West Journal of Religious Studies

In the wake of the Gay Liberation movement that flourished during the 1960s and 1970s, Protestant churches were forced to grapple with crafting policies toward homosexuality. As gay men and women demanded acceptance in the public sphere, so too did they demand it in matters of theology. Although sexual preference was historically a matter that the United Methodist Church (UMC) left to parishioners and their local clergy, the rise of LGBTQ activism brought non-heteronormative sexuality into the mainstream of politics, culture, and religion.1 Throughout the 1970s Protestant denominations, including the UMC, were forced to address this cultural shift through policy