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Asia Pacific Perspectives Vol. 19 No. 2, 2026, University Of San Francisco

Asia Pacific Perspectives

Articles

Modern Youth or Moral Decadence: Discourses on South Korea’s “Youth Culture” in Magazines of the Late 1960s and Early 1970s By Thibaut Diverchy

Missionary Body Politics: Physical Education in West China, 1905-1950 By Cory Willmott

The YWCA Goes to the Countryside: The Rural Work of the Chinese Young Women’s Christian Association, 1926-1947 By Elizabeth Littell-Lamb

Photo Essay 

PHOTO ESSAY: Affective Infrastructures of Migration in Mindanao, Philippines By Marion Breteau

Book Reviews

Book Review: MacArthur as Spirit: A Review of Spirit Power: Politics and Religion in Korea’s American Century By Jieon Yoo

Book Review: Inside Chinese Theater: Community and Artistry …

Horticultural Diplomacy: A Framework For Growing Culturally Aware Gardeners, Stephen Stresow-Cortez, Stephen Reiners, Ashley Miller Helmholdt

Journal of Extension

Derived from person-to-person diplomacy models, a ``horticultural diplomacy'' framework was implemented in a statewide vegetable variety trial program for two seasons to introduce Master Gardeners to diverse crops and cultures. Scaffolding learning with relevant recipes, bed groupings, community tasting events, and collecting community (citizen) science data helped participants build garden skills, gain a greater appreciation for other cultures, and inform new educational materials. Horticultural diplomacy is part of a deliberate effort aimed at growing food and building understanding among (primarily White) volunteers. The techniques that helped make this program successful, adaptable to other garden programs, and aspects that require improvements …

Which Creed? Whose Interpretation? The Filioque As A Test Case For Theological Method, John C. Peckham

Andrews University Seminary Studies (AUSS)

This article undertakes a brief assessment of competing methodological commitments relative to the dispute over the filioque clause in the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed. In doing so, this article highlights how the filioque dispute exposes crucial methodological questions about the authority of tradition in relation to the authority of Scripture and the viability of employing creeds as methodologically normative in the doing of theology, especially relative to questions like: Which tradition? Which creed(s)? Which version of the selected creed(s)? Whose interpretation? Which doctrinal commitments? Using the filioque dispute as a test case, this article concludes that the many difficulties faced relative to …

Metaethics And Divine Complexity, Micah S. Quigley

Faith and Philosophy: Journal of the Society of Christian Philosophers

No abstract provided.

A Poetic History: Islamic And Japanese Parallels In Film, Joshua Polanski

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a book review of David Sander, A Poetic History: Islamic and Japanese Parallels in Film (Bloomsbury, 2026).

Documenting The Ineffable: A Comparative Analysis Of Mystical Representation In Kimiavi’S The Garden Of Stones And Western Sufi Documentary, Hessam Abedini

Journal of Religion & Film

This article examines how documentary film attempts to represent mystical experience through comparative analysis of Parviz Kimiavi's The Garden of Stones (1976) and American documentaries featuring Samuel Lewis, particularly Sunseed (1973). Rather than assuming terms like "sacred" or "authentic," the study grounds its analysis in empirical definitions from William James, historical scholarship by Carl Ernst and Annemarie Schimmel, and literary theory from Fatemeh Keshavarz. Through detailed examination of specific scenes—Darvish Khan hanging stones from dead trees, Lewis leading ecstatic dances—the article demonstrates how different cinematic strategies approach documentary's epistemological limits when confronting ineffable experience.

The analysis corrects historical misunderstandings about …

The Great Right North: Inside Far-Right Activism In Canada, By Stéphane Leman-Langlois, Aurélie Campana, And Samuel Tanner. Mcgill-Queen’S University Press, 2024. 288 Pages. $29.95. Isbn 978-0228022848, Carmen Celestini

Journal of Hate Studies

Carmen Celestini, a scholar of religion, reviews The Great Right North: Inside Far-Right Activism in Canada, co-authored by Stéphane Leman-Langlois, Aurélie Campana, and Samuel Tanner. The Great Right North traces the history of the far right in Canada, mapping hate groups by their relationships to political and social institutions and violence as well as their construction of otherness, thereby revealing how such groups are not insular but are in fact responsive to social phenomena. After defining groups as ultra right, racial right, xenophobic right, anti-state militias, freedom conspiracists, or nostalgic racists, The Great Right North identifies commonalities and differences …

The Violent Take It By Force: The Christian Movement That Is Threatening Our Democracy, By Matthew D. Taylor. Broadleaf Books, 2024. 292 Pages. $32.99. Isbn 978-1506497785, Jefferson Calico

Journal of Hate Studies

Jefferson Calico, a scholar of religion, reviews Matthew D. Taylor’s The Violent Take It by Force: The Christian Movement That Is Threatening Our Democracy, an analysis of how the apostolic and prophetic movement within American Protestantism is reshaping religious politics. Charismatic, both theologically and personally, religious entrepreneurs like Paula White, C. Peter Wagner, Cindy Jacobs, Sean Feucht, and Dutch Sheets lead market-driven faith-based efforts to undermine democracy. With their emphasis on spectacular displays of spiritual gifts, they often embarrass other Christian nationalists, while the leadership of women and people of color in the movement scandalizes them—yet they are, in …

Introduction To “Reviews & Interviews”, Rebecca Barrett-Fox, Jennifer Schlegel

Journal of Hate Studies

An introduction to the 25th anniversary of the Journal of Hate Studies from Rebecca Barrett-Fox, editorial board chair, and Jennifer Schlegel, managing editor.

Cowboy Apocalypse: Religion And The Myth Of The Vigilante Messiah, By Rachel Wagner. New York: Nyu Press, 2023. 320 Pages. $35.00. Isbn 978-1479831623, Scot Loyd

Journal of Hate Studies

Scot Loyd, a heritage studies scholar, reviews Rachel Wagner’s Cowboy Apocalypse: Religion and the Myth of the Vigilante Messiah. An Interdisciplinary study drawing from religious studies, media theory, and cultural analysis, Cowboy Apocalypse examines how American video games, film, television, and other forms of popular culture engage redemptive violence, particularly at the hands of lone heroes.

Relationship Between Language, Culture, And Thinking Of The Kajang Community From The Perspective Of Anthropological Linguistics, Harlinah Sahib, Jumardin Muchtar, Herawati Abbas, Ferawaty Syam

Bahasa dan Seni: Jurnal Bahasa, Sastra, Seni, dan Pengajarannya

In terms of anthropological linguistics, the study aims to explore the interaction of language, culture and cognitive tendencies in the community of Kajang. It particularly looks into the traditional oral expressions (kelong) of the community, including Kelong Basing Rikong, Lok-lok, and Ati-ati Raja, as their understandings of life, death, spirituality, and social values are expressed. A qualitative ethnolinguistic approach, informed by anthropological linguistics, was used in this study. Data collection methods included field observations, in-depth interviews with traditional leaders (Ammatoa), cultural practitioners and community elders, and a documentary analysis of oral texts, especially Kelong. …

The Lived Liturgical Experience Of Non-Catholic Participants In The Roman Catholic Mass: Tactical Ecumenism In Overlapping Ritual Systems, Sarah Kathleen Johnson

Journal of Global Catholicism

In religiously diverse social contexts, liturgical practices anchored in one reli-

gious tradition often gather diverse communities. In such contexts, it is wise to

assume that people who are not Catholic may be present at any Roman Cath-

olic Mass. This article explores the lived liturgical experience of non-Catholic

Christians who participate routinely in the Roman Catholic Mass through a

mixed-methods study of a religiously diverse treble vocal ensemble that sings

weekly at Mass on a Catholic university campus. It describes how Catholic and

non-Catholic Christian singers interpret practices surrounding the eucharistic

meal in contrasting ways: non-Catholic Christians experience the …

Negotiating Plurality: Korean Catholic Funerals As Lived Religion, Jieun Han

Journal of Global Catholicism

This article examines Korean Catholic funeral rites through the lenses of ritual

guidebooks and lived religion, arguing that Catholic funerary practice in Korea

has emerged through sustained engagement with Confucian and Buddhist tradi-

tions as well as modern nationalism. Focusing on Catholic manuals such as the

Sangjang yesik [Rites for Mourning and Funerals] and related texts, it traces how

officially sanctioned liturgical forms coexist with, accommodate, and reinterpret

indigenous ritual logics surrounding mourning, burial, ancestor veneration, and

care for the dead. Rather than viewing Korean Catholic funerals as a simple

localization of Roman rites, the article conceptualizes them as a …

Review Of: A Research Agenda For Religious Tourism, By Kiran A. Shinde & Joseph M. Cheer (Eds.), Lucrezia Lopez, Laura Augello

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Review of: A Research Agenda for Religious Tourism, by Kiran A. Shinde & Joseph M. Cheer (Eds.)

Review by Lucrezia Lopez ([email protected]), University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain, & Laura Augello ([email protected]; [email protected]), University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain & University ‘Gabriele d’Annunzio’ of Chieti-Pescara, Italy.

Shrine Tourism: Fiction And Fact Through An Islamic Lens, Md. Soleman Mollik, Muslima Akter, Mohammad Mominul Islam

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Shrine tourism is highly prevalent in developing countries. Despite this, the volume of research in this field is quite limited. This study makes a novel contribution to shrine tourism from an Islamic lens. It aims to explore the fiction (the beliefs of the pilgrims) held by shrine devotees and the facts (the religious doctrine of Islam) based on Islamic principles, including the noble Quran and the Sunnah (Prophetic tradition), to showcase the facts against the fiction.  The study conducted in-depth interviews with 30 devotees from Bangladesh’s most renowned shrines or mazars between January and November 2023. Later, the data were …

Ukrainian Theology, War, And Human Transformation: Reflections On The International Conference ‘Transfiguration: Tradition And Eschatology, Vladyslav Fulmes

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

On June 11, 2026, the Volyn Orthodox Theological Academy (Lutsk, Ukraine) hosted the international theological conference “Transfiguration: Tradition and Eschatology”, bringing together scholars, clergy, philosophers, chaplains, psychologists, and researchers from several countries. This report examines the conference’s principal theological and interdisciplinary themes, including deification, eschatology, ecclesiology, ecological responsibility, pastoral care, military and medical chaplaincy, digital technologies, and the Church’s response to war and post-war reconstruction.

Basic Trends In The Contemporary Development Of State-Church Relations In Ukraine: A Sociological Perspective, Oleksandr Sagan, Galyna Sagan

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Based on an analysis of research from sociological centers and institutes consistently operating in Ukraine, the authors present a comprehensive overview of the main trends occurring within the realm of state-church and inter-church relations. Specifically, the article addresses the trends in the self-identification of Orthodox believers in Ukraine, the dynamics of which sociologists have tracked since the beginning of the twenty-first century, as well as the changes unfolding in inter-Orthodox relations following the 2022 full-scale invasion. Crucial to this analysis is the highlighted inconsistency of state institutions in implementing the new law, Про захист конституційного ладу у сфері діяльності релігійних …

Practical Aspects Of Religious Social Work In Modern Ukraine, Inna Vladislavivna Kovalchuk

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

This work analyzes the current state and specifics of the activity of religious organizations in the social sphere of Ukraine. Special attention is paid to the transformation of religious social work in the conditions of a full-scale war, where religious communities have become key agents of humanitarian, psychological and spiritual assistance. The article examines the mechanisms of interaction between the church, the state and non-governmental organizations in solving social problems. The findings are based on the practical experiences of those working with internally displaced persons (IDPs), veterans, large families, and individuals facing difficult life circumstances. Unique methods of denominational assistance …

Solidarity In Action: Social Service Of Caritas Organizations In Ukraine In Wartime, Andrii Marchenko

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article is devoted to the analysis of the activities of Caritas charitable organizations in Ukraine, which are affiliated with the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (Caritas Ukraine) and the Roman Catholic Church (Caritas-Spes Ukraine), in the realities of the Russian-Ukrainian war. Particular attention is focused on considering how the fundamental ideas of Christian love, mercy, common good, and solidarity are embodied in the various practices of humanitarian, spiritual, and other support that these institutions provide to different categories of the population of Ukraine, especially those who have suffered from the destructive consequences of the war. Types of such support include, …

When Everything Falls Apart: On Core Values, Religion, And What Holds Societies Together, András Máté-Tóth

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Right now my region, like much of the world, is living through upheavals that reach both nature and politics at their foundations. When I look around and take the political crises seriously — the mass protests in Serbia, the long erosion of checks and balances in Hungary, the bitter fight over the courts and the rule of law in Poland — one question keeps surfacing: are we witnessing genuinely fundamental change, or only a reshuffling on the surface of power? That question is exactly what makes the problem of core values so urgent, and so current.

Alignments Of Orthodoxy In Moldova And The Axiocontext Of Russia’S War Against Ukraine, Oleksandr Brodestkyi

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

A comprehensive analysis of the dominant trends shaping the contemporary religious situation in the Republic of Moldova, with particular attention to the geopolitical foundations and ramifications of the activities of religious hierarchs. The author examines the state of Orthodoxy in Moldova, to which the overwhelming majority of the country’s citizens belong. Particular attention is paid to its division between two alternative jurisdictional identities: one within the Romanian Orthodox Church and the other within the Russian Orthodox Church. The article draws on a substantial body of relevant statistical, sociological, and factual evidence. The author subjects a wide range of recent ecclesiastical …

The Role Of Male Early Childhood Teachers In Responding To Fatherless Parenting Issues Through Inclusive Education, Dyah Ageng Pramesty Koenarso

Journal of Innovation and Teacher Professionalism

Growing attention to father absence and limited paternal involvement in Indonesia highlights the importance of professional and supportive practices in early childhood education (ECE). This study examines how male ECE teachers respond professionally to children whom they understand to experience father absence or limited paternal involvement. Using a qualitative case study design, the study involved 13 male ECE teachers from 13 institutions in South Kalimantan. Data were collected from May to August 2025 through 26 semi-structured interviews and 39 classroom observations and were analyzed using an interactive qualitative analysis approach. The findings show that participants provided pedagogical guidance, relational and …

Bridging The Abyss: Reclaiming Spirituality In Academic Knowledge Production, Neil Boland

Journal of Contemplative and Holistic Education

Over recent decades, Western academia has shown a growing interest in spirituality, accompanied by methodological innovations and epistemological expansion. Nevertheless, spiritual inquiry continues to be subtly subordinated to scientific rationalism, with Western science often presiding as gatekeeper over what is considered legitimate knowledge. Drawing on Boaventura de Sousa Santos’ concept of abyssal thinking, this article argues that spiritual and experiential forms of knowing remain largely relegated to the far side of an epistemic divide, valued only insofar as they can be reframed within scientific norms. Despite increasing institutional recognition of spirituality in fields such as education, psychology, and medicine, …

Extraordinary Senses And Dreamscapes In Medieval Japanese Ōjōden Narratives: Reading Yoshishige No Yasutane’S Nihon Ōjōgokuraku-Ki, Qingxuan Wang

Effervescence: Yale Divinity School's Student Journal of Religion

This paper examines the affective and multi-sensorial narratives in Yoshishige no Yasutane’s Nihon Ōjōgokuraku-ki, the foundational collection of medieval Japanese Pure Land Buddhist rebirth tales (ōjōden). Composed at the threshold of a dark age in which Buddhist salvation through ordinary practice was believed to be impossible, the collection spoke directly to a faith community haunted by worldly suffering and their own spiritual inadequacy. Engaging with sensory studies and narratology, this paper challenges the binary divide between doctrinal expositions and didactic narratives in the study of Buddhism. Rather than treating the Nihon Ōjōgokuraku-ki as secondary supplements to scholar-monks’ …

Finding God In All Things: A Course On Theology Of Sport At A Jesuit High School, Craig M. Smith

Journal of Catholic Education

This article examines the development, structure, and impact of a senior elective course on the Theology of Sport at an all-boys Jesuit Catholic high school in the east coast of the United States. Grounded in Ignatian pedagogy and the Catholic theological tradition, the course invites students to reflect critically on their lived experiences in sport through the lenses of play, spirituality, and Church teaching Drawing on sources such as Jürgen Moltmann’s Theology of Play, papal and Vatican statements on sport, and contemporary theological reflections on athletic experience, the course challenges the tendency to silo athletics from other dimensions of student …

The Honored Children Of Adam: A Muslim Reading Of Magnifica Humanitas In The Age Of Artificial Intelligence, Iqbal Akhtar

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

What's The Big Deal? Why The Supreme Court's Recent Rulings Have Sparked Legislative Changes To Religion In Public Schools, Cathryn Massing

University of Dayton Law Review

No abstract provided.

Co-Opting Modernity: The Semantic Retooling Of Faith At The 1893 World’S Parliament Of Religions, Erik P. Palmer

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

The 1893 World’s Parliament of Religions in Chicago served as a high-stakes arena where the boundaries of religious legitimacy were redrawn through the intentional adoption of social science vocabulary. Staged within the Neo-Classical architecture of the White City of the World’s Columbian Exposition, the event was more than a civil gathering; it functioned as a “Museum of Faiths” where religious traditions were curated, categorized, and evaluated against the perceived benchmarks of Western civilization. The physical environment of the Fair, a monument to industrial triumph, was built to display things that worked. The organizers demanded that religions demonstrate they were useful …

From Cotton To Canyons: An Analysis Of The Historic Industries Of Southern Utah, Brielle Beardall

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

On October 6, 1861, Brigham Young stood before Latter-day Saints gathered in the Old Salt Lake City Tabernacle and called 300 missionaries on an ambitious undertaking: Over three hundred families would leave their homes and settle in the Utahn southwestern desert; a region that earned the nickname of “Utah’s Dixie” for both its southern location and its punishing heat. Their mission was to cultivate cotton and increase Utahn economic independence from the Confederacy during the American Civil War. Allen Joseph Stout recalled in a personal journal about his experience learning of the call to Southern Utah, “My neighbors reported that …

Book Review: War And Colonization In The Early American Northeast, Tyler Daniels

History in the Making

No abstract provided.