Digital Commons Network^™

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.

There Is No Islam In Isis’ Islamic State, Branka Banic

Student Works

No abstract provided.

The Appetizer And Other Poems, Sam Blomberg

CMC Senior Theses

Thrust into a world of poetry, I’ve grown to embrace the poetic lens. Each topos, each trope, each rhyme, each cliché, each morning morning’s minion, each reduction to a state of almost savage torpor, each nightingale, each ode to an obscure, inanimate object, and every single Stella of the skies holds special significance hidden to the naked eye. Not insamuch as something undiscoverable upon ponderance. Rather, a way to contemplate the physical. The Ah, Sunflower! reaction. That is not to say that poets have a supernatural eyesight to certain beautiful images. My eyes do not see any more dandelion puffs …

Playing God: An Analysis Of Video Game Religion, Joshua K. Boren

CMC Senior Theses

Video games offer a liberating, virtual-community building and meaning-making out-of-body experience for those that wholeheartedly engage in them. The lore and backstory of some of the most popular games (League of Legends, Kingdom Hearts, and World of Warcraft) are heavily influenced by all types of religion. In addition, and contrary to popular perception, a growing number of video games offer a global medium for instilling positive morals in society. As a result, video games become a religious placeholder or pseudo-religion for many of the most devoted gamers, because they offer many of the same experiences that religions do. …

Uno Website Nsfp 2016 Orientation Guide, Uno New Student & Family Programs

Student Support

An illustrated overview of the resources offered by UNO to students in the academic year 2016-2017. UNO has cracked the code to being successful in college, and with so many caring and supportive faculty, staff, and other students committed to your success, there are only three simple things you need to do: Connect. Take Care. Get Help.

Graduate Catalogue 2016-2017, Seton Hall University

Graduate Catalogues

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Comeback Churches: How 300 Churches Turned Around And Yours Can Too By Ed Stetzer And Mike Dodson, Philips Sunday Akinbobola

Great Commission Research Journal

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Donald A. Mcgavran: A Biography Of The Twentieth Century’S Premier Missiologist By Gary Mcintosh, Mike Morris

Great Commission Research Journal

No abstract provided.

Animism Among Western Buddhists, Daniel S. Capper

Faculty Publications

Myriad instances of animist phenomena abound in the Buddhist world, but due to the outdated concepts of thinkers such as Edward Tylor, James George Frazer, and Melford Spiro, commonly scholars perceive this animism merely as the work of local religions, not as deriving from Buddhism itself. However, when one follows a number of contemporary scholars and employs a new, relational concept of animism that is based on respectful recognition of nonhuman personhoods, a different picture emerges. The works of Western Buddhists such as Stephanie Kaza, Philip Kapleau Roshi, and Gary Snyder express powerful senses of relational animism that arise specifically …

The Maternal Personhood Of Cattle And Plants At A Hindu Center In The United States, Daniel S. Capper

Faculty Publications

Religious experiences with sacred nonhuman natural beings considered to be “persons” remain only vaguely understood. This essay provides a measure of clarification by engendering a dialogue between psychoanalytic self psychology on one side and, on the other, religious experiences of cattle and Tulsi plants as holy mothers at a Hindu cattle sanctuary in the United States. Ethnographic data from the Hindu center uncover experiences of sacred maternal natural beings that are tensive, liminal, and colored with affective themes of nurturance, respect, and intimacy, much like psychoanalytic maternal selfobjects. Devotees protect cattle and ritually venerate plants because these actions facilitate a …

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 …

Review: Building The Human City: William Lynch’S Ignatian Spirituality For Public Life By John Kane, Julia Brumbaugh

Jesuit Higher Education: A Journal

No abstract provided.

Historical Dictionary Of The Seventh-Day Adventists [Book Review] / Land, Gary, Kevin M. Burton

Andrews University Seminary Studies (AUSS)

No abstract provided.

The Seer Of Bayside: Veronica Lueken And The Struggle To Define Catholicism [Book Review] / Laycock, Joseph P., Kevin M. Burton

Andrews University Seminary Studies (AUSS)

No abstract provided.

Humanitarian Intervention: Moral Perspectives, Tyrome Clark

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis addresses primary concepts in the humanitarian intervention debates. I argue that humanitarian intervention is a perfect duty. The global community has a moral obligation to act decisively in the face of extreme human rights abuses. There are two contrasting theoretical perspectives regarding international relations and humanitarian intervention: statism and cosmopolitanism. These contrasting perspectives contest the relative value of state sovereignty and human rights. Some of the most prominent ethicists in the debate have determined states have a “right” to intervene militarily in the internal affairs of other states to halt severe human rights abuses but there is no …

To Have Done With Forgiveness: Capitalism, Christianity, And The Politics Of Immanence, Timothy Snediker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This essay seeks to formulate a critical account of the genealogical link between capitalism and Christianity by interrogating the ontology and the processes of subjectivization which subtend these two apparently disparate social and political formations. To this end, I make use of the philosophical thought of Gilles Deleuze, in particular his readings of Spinoza, Foucault, Nietzsche, and Sacher-Masoch. The central themes of the essay--the identity of God and money, and the vicissitudes of the creditor-debtor relation--culminate in a theory of a theodicy of money, which deploys an apparatus of forgiveness in order to obscure and displace the stakes and …

When God Was A Bird: Contemplating Divine Presence Around Us, Mark I. Wallace

Religion Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Gateway To The Syriac Saints: A Database Project, Jeanne-Nicole Mellon Saint-Laurent

Theology Faculty Research and Publications

This article describes The Gateway to the Syriac Saints, a database project developed by the Syriac Reference Portal (www.syriaca.org). It is a research tool for the study of Syriac saints and hagiographic texts. The Gateway to the Syriac Saints is a two-volume database: 1) Qadishe and 2) Bibliotheca Hagiographica Syriaca Electronica (BHSE).

Hagiography, the lives of the saints, is a multiform genre. It contains elements of myth, history, biblical exegesis, romance, and theology. The production of saints’ lives blossomed in late antiquity alongside the growth of the cult of the saints. Scholars have attended to hagiographic traditions in …

Compounding The Sacred And The Profane: How Economic Theory Brings New Insight To The Growth And Decline Of American Protestantism, Bretton Chad

CMC Senior Theses

In this thesis, economic theory and models will be used to analyze trends of religious growth and decline within the United States. These theories and models, such as Rational Choice Theory, will be applied in order to better understand and gain new insight into shifts and changes within the religious landscape of the United States. Recent trends of growth and decline within Protestantism, the most prominent Christian tradition in America, will be the focus of the investigation. As its main focus, this thesis will ultimately demonstrate that the trends of decline in the mainline Protestant tradition opposed to the trends …

Our Will In Action: 2015-16 Report Of The President, Office Of The President, Gonzaga University

Office of the President Publications

Each year, Gonzaga University's Office of the President produces an annual Report of the President. This publication that highlights just a few of the many accomplishments over the previous academic year, and is intended to convey gratitude to our Trustees and Regents, benefactors, and many supporters.

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 …

2016 Faculty Accomplishments Reception, University Of Richmond

Faculty Accomplishments Reception Programs

Program for the 2016 Faculty Accomplishments Reception

In Honor of University of Richmond Faculty Contributions to Scholarship, Research and Creative Work, January 2015 - December 2015

February 19, 2016, 3:30 - 5:00 p.m.
Boatwright Memorial Library, Research & Collaborative Study Area, First Floor

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 …

Students' And Pharmacists' Perspectives On The Issue Of Adhd Prescription Medication Abuse At The University Of Mississippi, Meghan Wagner

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Dispositions In Evolutionary Biology: A Metaphysically Realist Account, Daniel Glyn Swaim

LSU Master's Theses

In the last several decades, philosophers of biology have published countless books and articles on the causal mechanisms underlying evolutionary change. There has been scant effort devoted, however, to detailed analysis of what these mechanisms mean for the relationship between our best interpretations of evolutionary change and our metaphysical picture of the world. This thesis addresses some key aspects of that metaphysical picture. I argue for a metaphysically realist interpretation of dispositions as causally active in evolutionary biology. I address fitness and evolvability in particular, as they present two of the best possible case studies for a metaphysically realist interpretation …

Transforming Discourse: Interdisciplinary Critique, The University, And The Academic Study Of Religion, Brent A. Smith

Open Access Publishing Support Funded Articles

In the book Interdisciplinarity, Joe Moran traced the rise of interdisciplinarity as an inherently transformative approach to the gathering and ordering of knowledge in the modern university. Interdisciplinarity challenges the university as an epistemological project by historicizing it as a context for knowledge production. The academic study of religion arose in this setting and has developed within the intellectual forces—the lines of inquiry and allegiances to certain discourses and ways of organizing knowledge—that marked the modern university. Over the past few decades, the concept of “religion” has been historicized and scholars have argued over whether the “sacred” is in …

On Writing Abstracts, Fred Guyette

South Carolina Libraries

Fred Guyette of Erskine College & Seminary shares his experiences with writing abstracts for Religious and Theological Abstracts (RTA) and Old Testament Abstracts (OTA).

The Neurobiology Of Groupthink: A Qeeg Approach To The Study Of Followership, Angela A. Deulen

Theses and Dissertations

In recent decades, the study of leadership has focused on the qualities of leaders rather than on those of followers. However, it has been argued that there can be no meaningful construct of leadership without a coherent understanding of followership and group behavior. While the body of literature is replete with information on the study of groupthink and conformity as it relates to followership, the neurobiological drivers of such behavior remain under-investigated. The purpose of this work was to investigate the neurobiological basis of groupthink (conformity of thought) as a component of followership. Specifically, this work seeks to investigate six …

The Digital Humanities As Cultural Capital: Implications For Biblical And Religious Studies, Caroline T. Schroeder

College of the Pacific Faculty Articles

Although the study of the Bible was central to early Humanities Computing efforts, now Biblical Studies and Religious Studies are marginal disciplines in the emerging field known as Digital Humanities (English, History, Library Science, for example, are much more influential in DH.) This paper explores two questions: First, what does it mean for Biblical Studies to be marginal to the Digital Humanities when DH is increasingly seen as the locus of as transformation in the humanities? Second, how can our expertise in Biblical Studies influence and shape Digital Humanities for the better? Digital Humanities, I argue, constitutes a powerful emerging …

Cognitive Phenotypes And The Evolution Of Animal Decisions, Tamra C. Mendelson, Courtney L. Fitzpatrick, Mark E. Hauber, Charles H. Pence, Rafael L. Rodriguez, Rebecca J. Safran, Caitlin A. Stern, Jeffrey R. Stevens

Jeffrey Stevens Publications

Despite the clear fitness consequences of animal decisions, the science of animal decision making in evolutionary biology is underdeveloped compared with decision science in human psychology. Specifically, the field lacks a conceptual framework that defines and describes the relevant components of a decision, leading to imprecise language and concepts. The ‘judgment and decision-making’ (JDM) framework in human psychology is a powerful tool for framing and understanding human decisions, and we apply it here to components of animal decisions, which we refer to as ‘cognitive phenotypes’. We distinguish multiple cognitive phenotypes in the context of a JDM framework and highlight empirical …