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Service-Learning For Teachers/Exegetes: A Postcolonial Avenue For Biblical Sustainability Education, Maricel S. Ibita

Theology Department Faculty Publications

While textual excavation mainstreams biblical scholarship, studies on biblical pedagogies for social justice have also proliferated. In Activism, Bible, and Research-based Teaching (2024), the contributors expound on their biblical research and activism in areas of disability studies, gender-sexuality, community grounding and university pedagogies, Judaeophobia, climate change, etc. Although the book mentioned sustainable development, there is no discussion yet of “education for sustainable development”. In this study, I will briefly present the debate on education for sustainability (EfS), especially in relation to faith-based organizations, including educational institutions. Next, I will delve into the participative, community-based methodology of service-learning and its limits, …

When Planetary Cosmopolitanism Meets The Buddhist Ethic: Recycling, Karma And Popular Ecology In Singapore, Siew Ying Shee, Orlando Woods, Lily Kong

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

By thinking with and through Buddhist cosmology, this paper explores the emergence of an ethical sensibility—what we call planetary cosmopolitanism—that is based on not just a spatially expanded ethic of care to ecological worlds, but also a temporally extended sense of justice to the future Earth. This transtemporal sense of ethical becoming reflects how the possibility of future ‘rebirth’ and accountability for past actions can motivate new ecological consciousness in the present. We forge these ideas through an empirical focus on popular Buddhist ecological practices in Singapore, where green recovery visions have primarily been driven by a secular and technocratic …

Losing And Finding Braj: Commodification And Entrepreneurship In The Sacred Land Of Krishna, Leena Taneja

All Works

Braj is a sacred place revered by Bengali Vaishnavas, followers of the bhakti sect of Vaishnavism, one of four branches of Hindu devotion. Followers of the sect worship the God Krishna, who it is believed manifested in Braj and carried out many divine feats and activities that are imprinted onto the land. Braj today is dotted with thousands of holy shrines, temples and natural places connected to Krishna. Devotees connect to Krishna through the landscape of Braj; it is where the transcendental and the physical realms meet. Braj has been transformed in a multitude of ways with the influx of …

Red Wolf Multispecies Justice Publication 2023, Eskar, Elizabeth Bennett, Finley Schad, Alex Baldwin, Oluwaseyifunmi Adejugbe, Mufti Nadimul Quamar Ahmed, Maisie Schad, Sadie Braddock, Azra Soyer, Melih Soyer, Anne-Laure Blanche, Zubair Barkat, Amol K, Sarah Ann Woodbury, Kirsten Vinyeta

Publications

Our understanding of multispecies justice is still solidifying. In spring 2023, a group of Utah State University undergraduate and graduate students attended a course by Dr.Kirsten Vinyeta on Multispecies Justice and Indigenous Approaches to the Environment. Throughout this course, we studied the works of scholars and writers from a variety of social locations and identities who challenge Western theoretical frameworks in social science.

This publication celebrates our intellectual struggle with this emerging field and opens a forum for conversations about justice for humans and additional species. This issue features various writings, reflections, and photos from students taking the Multispecies Justice …

Editorial: Re-Purposing Universities For Sustainable Human Progress, Iain S. Stewart, Victoria Hurth, Stephen Sterling

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Editorial on the Research TopicRe-Purposing Universities for Sustainable Human ProgressHumanity is confronting the most acute and urgent threat it has ever consciously faced. Soaring inequality, accelerating climate crises, ecological collapse, and social and psychological breakdown represent a multi-faceted socio-ecological crisis that is threatening viability of life on Earth. The undeniable evidence of this is fueling a growing global recognition that something has gone badly wrong with the ways in which our society has sought to optimize its wellbeing and that of non-human life which it brings into its ethical sphere of care. But what is the culpability of universities in …

Urban Sustainability Through Science, Literature, And Art, Asha Griffith

HHE 167: The Nature of the City, 2022

No abstract provided.

"Do What You Do In The Wisdom Of God": Theological Resources For Quaker Ecological Action In The Writings Of George Fox (Chapter One Of Quakers, Creation Care, And Sustainability), Rebecca Artinian-Kaiser, Cherice Bock

Faculty Publications - Portland Seminary

In a time when intentional action to care for our planet is of increasing importance, Friends drafted the Kabarak Call for Peace and Ecojustice (2012) to call Quakers to ecological action as an expression of faithfulness. The following work represents one starting point for drawing Friends' awareness to the theology and practice of early Friends in relation to creation by exploring the writings of George Fox. In this essay, we examine Fox's use of the motif of "wisdom," his view of the connection between wisdom and creation, his understanding and experience of the Word of wisdom (that is, Christ), and …

A Phenomenological Study: The Quest For God In An Epoch Of Distraction, Todd Marcy

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Distraction happens to everyone at some point in time. Diverted attention while driving can have serious consequences, and being sidetracked while talking on the cellphone can cause one to forget where the car keys were laid down at home. Distraction at church during a worship service can affect one’s relationship with God and others. Personal motivations, pre-existing conditions, and duration of time contribute to how a person will interact with a disturbance of attention; likewise, factors of biology, technology, values, and mores can influence the power of partial attention. The purpose of this phenomenological study is to examine the lived …

An Evaluation Of Two Traps And Sets For Trapping The Plains Pocket Gopher, Stephen M. Vantassel, Andrew J. Tyre, Scott E. Hygnstrom

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

We investigated the efficiency of DK-1 and Macabee® pocket gopher (Geomys bursarius) traps placed in lateral tunnels in both open and closed tunnel sets in rangeland and nonirrigated alfalfa fields in Nebraska. We observed no statistical difference between the traps in capture efficiency when used in open, versus closed, tunnel sets. Trapping of pocket gophers was more effective in rangeland (probability of capture in a single tunnel system using 3 traps; 63%) than nonirrigated alfalfa fields (26%). We did not determine whether this variance was due to behavioral differences between Geomys bursarius and Geomys lutescens. We found that trapping pocket …

The Environmental Theology Of Aimee Semple Mcpherson (Chapter 4 Of Blood Cries Out : Pentecostals, Ecology, And The Groans Of Creation), A.J. Swoboda, Steven Bouma-Prediger

Faculty Publications - Portland Seminary

Excerpt: "My initial investigation into Aimee Semple McPherson—founder of The International Church of the Foursquare Gospel—and ecology was bleak: every word search returned a spiritual metaphor. “Garbage” came back as “garbage can of Satan,” “pollution” came back as “pollution of the soul,” “plants” came back as “plants of faith,” and “dumping” came back as “dumping ground for gossip.” But eventually, persistence paid off.

Popular pastor and author Rick McKinley writes, “Margins are those clear spaces along the edge of a page that keep the words from spilling off. Every book has them. You might jot notes in the margins, but …

Physis And Ktsis: Two Different Ways Of Thinking Of The World, John Panteleimon Manoussakis

Philosophy Department Faculty Scholarship

The purpose of this paper is to offer some thoughts on a statement by Metropolitan John (Zizioulas) of Pergamon, a pioneer in environmental theology.

A New Paradigm: Brazilian Catholic Eco-Justice Activism In The Neoliberal Age, Lena R. Connor

Environmental Analysis Program Mellon Student Summer Research Reports

This paper analyzes how traditional liberation theology in Brazil has been adapted in the neoliberal age to encompass ecological goals and rhetoric. In this research report, I first examine the work of prominent Brazilian ecotheologians, Ivone Gebara and Leonardo Boff. I then look into the applications of such ecological liberation theology in Catholic activism in Brazil, focusing on the role of religious advocacy in dam controversies, land reform, and mining.

The Concord, 16 March 2011, Luther Seminary

Student Newspapers

No abstract provided.

Regulated Commercial Harvest To Manage Overabundant White-Tailed Deer: An Idea To Consider?, Kurt C. Vercauteren, Charles W. Anderson, Timothy R. Van Deelen, David Drake, W. David Walter, Stephen Vantassel, Scott E. Hygnstrom

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Declines in hunter recruitment coupled with dramatic growth in numbers of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) have challenged our ability to manage deer populations through regulated hunting. We review the efficacy of current regulated hunting methods and explain how they are unable to reduce deer numbers sufficiently in some environments. Regulated commercial harvest would provide an additional tool to help state wildlife agencies manage overabundant populations of white-tailed deer. We outline potential means to govern regulated commercial deer harvest and explain how it is compatible with the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation. We identified several benefits, including reduced …

Review Of The Tao Of Liberation: Exploring The Ecology Of Transformation, Jame Schaefer

Theology Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Using Advancements In Cable-Trapping To Overcome Barriers To Furbearer Management In The United States, Stephen Vantassel, Tim L. Hiller, Kelly D. J. Powell, Scott E. Hygnstrom

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Harvest of furbearers through trapping has been challenged by anti-trapping organizations for centuries, with organizational goals often including prohibition of all forms of trapping. Challenges to trapping may also include dissention among state wildlife agencies, pro-hunting organizations, and pro-trapping organizations. Despite recent efforts by anti-trapping organizations and occasional dissention among consumptive-use groups, national trends in snaring regulations included less restrictive regulations through time. This positive trend may offer opportunities for state wildlife agencies and pro-trapping organizations to enhance the public image of trapping, increase recruitment of trappers, and reverse the increasing trend of wildlife damage and associated costs. We offer …

Newsletter Of The Wildli Fe Society Wildlife Damage Management Working Group Interactions: Volume 15 Issue 2 Spring 2009

TWS Wildlife Damage Management Working Group Newsletter

The Wildlife Damage Management Meeting Was A Success! Letters From Gary; A Brief Report from the Wildlife Damage Management Conference; Two New Publications Available Dominion Over Wildlife Fifth Eastern Wdm Conference; Conference Announcement Tws Conference Preliminary Program; Workshop Announcement Deer Damage Management Workshop; Call for Papers Special Issue of Human-Wildlife Conflicts To Focus On the Management of North American Geese; Conference Announcement Bird Strike North American Conference; Calls from the Field (Or A House, Or A Farm, Or A…); Conference Announcement 24th Vertebrate Pest Conference; Call for Papers 24th Vertebrate Pest Conference; Recent Wildlife Damage Management Research; The Wildlife Society …

The Concord, 07 May 2008, Luther Seminary

Student Newspapers

No abstract provided.

The Necessity Of Economics: The Preferential Option For The Poor, Markets, And Environmental Law, Andrew P. Morriss

Faculty Scholarship

Markets and economic theory are often cast as the enemies of both the poor and environmental quality. This paper, part of the Peace with Creation symposium held at the St. Thomas School of Law in Minneapolis, argues that economics provides a necessary, but not sufficient, tool to address the problems of the poor and of improving environmental quality. The paper discusses ten propositions of economic theory and explains how each applying them results in both improvements in environmental quality and in the lot of the poor. The paper then briefly examines three examples of how applying the lessons of economics …

Sacred-Land Theology: Green Spirit, Deconstruction, And The Question Of Idolatry In Contemporary Earthen Christianity, Mark I. Wallace

Religion Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Environmental Ethics From The Perspective Of Nepa And Catholic Social Teaching: Ecological Guidance For The 21st Century, Lucia A. Silecchia

Scholarly Articles

Over the years, a substantial body of Catholic social teaching has arisen to offer guidance as to the obligations that humanity has as stewards of creation. With ancient roots in Biblical text, and modern exploration in more recent texts, the connection between religious obligation and ecological responsibility has garnered much attention among Catholic thinkers - as well as among religious leaders of other faiths. This article explores the principles of Catholic social thought with respect to the environment and traces the development of those principles from their Biblical origins through the papacy of Pope John Paul II. In tandem with …

Mapping 'New' Geographies Of Religion: Politics And Poetics In Modernity, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This article reviews geographical research on religion in the 1990s, and highlights work from neighbouring disciplines where relevant. Contrary to views that the field is incoherent, I suggest that much of the literature pays attention to several key themes, particularly, the politics and poetics of religious place, identity and community. I illustrate the key issues, arguments and conceptualizations in these areas, and suggest various ways forward. These 'new' geographies emphasize different sites of religious practice beyond the 'officially sacred'; different sensuous sacred geographies; different religions in different historical and place-specific contexts; different geographical scales of analysis; different constitutions of population …

A 'New' Cultural Geography? Debates About Invention And Reinvention, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The Remaking Human Geography series critically reviews key journal articles, published in the last ten years, which have become 'citation classics'. Contributors to the series report on the academic debate which followed publication of the original article and assess why the article proved so influential. In this case Kong reviews an article on cultural geography by Cosgrove and Jackson (first published in Area in 1987). Peter Jackson also offers his thoughts on the 'cultural turn' and on future directions in this research field.

Review Of "The Body Of God: An Ecological Theology" By S. Mcfague, Mark I. Wallace

Religion Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Immediate Release: "Environmental Theology" Is Theme Of Spring Lecture Series, Stew Salowitz

Press Releases 1990-1999

No abstract provided.

Geography And Religion: Trends And Prospects, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

That geography and religion can and do meet to form a valuable focus of inquiry has not always been immediately apparent. While the study of religions has engaged the attention of a large and ever-widening circle of scholars, research has tended to proceed under the varied rubrics of sociology, anthropology, philosophy, history, and certainly, theology. Classics that have had significant impact on the development of 'religious thought' have emerged from the pens of scholars professing several diverse disciplines. For instance, Weber (1904-1905), Durkheim (1976), Otto (1950), and Eliade (1959) represent but a sample of the multifarious writings that have shaped …