Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Dodging Marshmallows: Simulations To Teach Ethics, Justin Weidman, Dawan Coombs

Faculty Publications

Students had just participated in an experiential learning exercise where they played dodgeball using marshmallows. But the unique context of the game introduced ethical dilemmas that integrated ethics education into a technical education classroom setting.

Research shows that “Engineering curriculum and activities at the K-12 level should be designed to expose students to [ethical considerations inherent in the practice of engineering], and as a result students should be aware of the importance of these issues in the field of engineering” (Moore, Glancy, Tank, Kersten, Smith, & Stohlmann, 2014). But how do STEM teachers teach students to think about ethical issues …

Early Christianity, Gaye Strathearn

Faculty Publications

As Jesus stood on the Mount of Olives at the end of his forty-day resurrected ministry, he directed his apostles to be witnesses “in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8; see also Matthew 28:19–20). In giving this direction, he rescinded the command he gave when he first called them to “Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans” (Matthew 10:5). The shift in emphasis and direction brought significant challenges for the fledgling church. It is in the church’s response to meet those challenges that we see many …

Organizing The Church In Afghanistan, Kenneth L. Alford Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

Development, history, and organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (also sometimes referred to by the following nicknames: the Mormon Church or the LDS Church) among coalition forces serving in Afghanistan, 2001-2014. Discusses creation of the Kabul Afghanistan Military District, Relief Society in a war zone, the use of "Mormon Battle Buddies," proselyting and meeting restrictions, living the Word of Wisdom in a combat zone, etc.

Seeing Harry Potter As An At-Risk Student: Critical Literacy, Cultural Capital, And The Wizarding World, Dawan Coombs, Jon Ostenson, Whitney Sommerville

Faculty Publications

Despite his celebrity status in the wizard community, Harry’s lack of familiarity with its culture, language, social structures, and institutions constantly causes him to question his competence and magical potential. Although most muggle teens will never deal with the challenges Harry confronts as he tries to sort out Quidditch from Slytherin and Hufflepuff on his first visit to Diagon Alley, they can empathize with Harry’s attempts to acculturate into the social, academic, and political norms of a very unfamiliar world. Many students in secondary schools exist on the margins because of disconnects between their own cultures, languages, and social practices …

Armageddon, Trevan Hatch, Cannon Hall

Faculty Publications

Armageddon tends to conjure thoughts of horrific battles and natural disasters, specifically in relation to the "end of the world." Numerous movies, books, and art have capitalized on the theme of Armageddon, enticing audiences with, for example, life-threatening asteroids and far-reaching alien invasions. The term is often used descriptively, conveying the idea of universal, cataclysmic destruction, such as "nuclear Armageddon." The word Armageddon originates from Revelation 16:16-its only appearance in the Hebrew Bible or New Testament-in reference to the location of the battle between God and the world, or between good and evil. It is generally understood that this battle …

Heard In The Storm, M. A.Y. Greenhalgh , Text, Myrna J. Layton , Music, John C. Leavitt , Arrangment

Faculty Publications

The rain was falling, the winders were calling, The clouds swept over the sky, When 'mid the alarm of darkness and storm A shower of song swept by; ...

Spiritual Modalities: Prayer As Rhetoric And Performance, By William Fitzgerald (Review), Richard Benjamin Crosby

Faculty Publications

Spiritual Modalities is arguably the first major work to take up the high theoretical questions of rhetoric and religion since Burke's Rhetoric of Religion published more than half a century ago. While a number of other studies deal with the relationship between religious discourse and other phenomena, such as politics, social movements, or particular rhetors and periods, Spiritual Modalities makes a strong claim to understand the primeval stuff of prayer's varied and complex discourses. As Burke writes: "we are to be concerned not directly with religion, but with the terminology of religion" (vi). So Fitzgerald is not concerned with prayer …

Civil Religion, Nativist Rhetoric, And The Origins Of Washington National Cathedral, Richard Benjamin Crosby

Faculty Publications

Set atop the highest point in the nation's capital, The Washington National Cathedral is the sixth largest cathedral in the world. It has become a central site for the high holy rituals of American civil religion, hosting presidential funerals, National Day of Prayer services, and the tombs of national luminaries. Drawing on archival research, this essay situates the cathedral within a history of religious competition and national tension. The essay concludes that the cathedral's roots lie largely in the fecund rhetorical soil of nineteenth-century nativism, the cultural prejudice that emerged in reaction to Roman Catholicism's remarkable growth during that period. …

To Thine Own Self Be True: A Five-Study Meta-Analysis On The Accuracy Of Language-Learner Self-Assessment, Troy L. Cox

Faculty Publications

“To Thine Own Self Be True.” -Polonius

•As a busy body in Hamlet known for his platitudes that he himself did not follow, a close reading should really be:

• Beware of listening to men who give counsel

• You’ve been warned.

“Line Upon Line”: Joseph Smith’S Growing Understanding Of The Eternal Family, R. Devan Jensen, Michael A. Goodman, Barbara Morgan Gardener

Faculty Publications

“The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there.” So begins L . P. Hartley’s novel The Go-Between. This statement reminds religious educators to study history as it unfolded and to avoid presentism, or “an attitude toward the past dominated by present-day attitudes and experiences.”1 Latter-day Saint doctrines did not spring up fully formed as we have them today. The historical record shows that Joseph Smith did not begin with a full understanding of the doctrines of eternal families and sealing ordinances as we teach them today. In fact, the Prophet Joseph Smith dictated a revelation on 6 …

Translating Andrew Kaufman's 'Signs Of The Cross' (Back) Into Spanish, Berenice Ventura Fernandez

Theses and Dissertations

Este trabajo se centra en la traducción al español del poema de Andrew Kaufman “Signs of the Cross”, que se encuentra en su libro Earth’s Ends. El poema presenta una visión familiar, al mismo tiempo que extranjerizante, de los pueblos latinoamericanos a los que describe. Se tratan en él temas como el cambio constante, la desacralización de lo sagrado, la reescritura de la historia, la resiliencia de algunos de los pueblos latinoamericanos, el peso del pasado sobre ellos, así como la presencia del cristianismo y los símbolos de la cruz presentes en acontecimientos históricos importantes, la religión, la vida cotidiana …

Resisting The Resistance: The Emancipation Of Students From The Hidden Curriculum Of Commodified Resistant Narratives In Young Adult Dystopian Film Through Open Pedagogical Space And Culture-Jamming, Robert B. Bauer

Theses and Dissertations

Young Adult Dystopian Film exercises an influence over young people of which they are not aware. As part of a structure of domination these films teach students to participate in their own oppression by the capitalist system. The film industry maintains a hidden curriculum like that utilized in school classrooms to conceal the oppression from the masses. One particularly effective means is the portrayal of resistance against oppression in the narratives of the YA Dystopian Film. Young people are drawn to that narrative and end up supporting the structure of domination financially and ideologically. Modes of resistance to this oppression …

What A Dream Was Here: An Ontological Approach To Love And Magic In Shakespeare’S A Midsummer Night’S Dream, Brittany May Rebarchik

Theses and Dissertations

This paper takes Heidegger’s notion of world disclosure and uses it for extended thematic analyses of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. In contrast to the majority of Shakespeare critics who treat Shakespeare’s use of magic as an epistemological issue, I argue that the main action of the play develops through an inherent contradiction between the magical and non-magical ontological states of the characters and the love that results. Borrowing from German philosopher Martin Heidegger, I demonstrate magic’s role as a catalyst in giving certain kinds of love a “shift of existence.” I show that the characters come more fully into being, …

Exploring The Language Of Assessment On Reading Proficiency Exams Of Advanced Learners Of Russian, Jeremy S. Evans

Theses and Dissertations

Researchers have intermittently treated the topic of the language in which reading comprehension test questions should be presented in, or language of assessment (LoA). The overall consensus has been that questions in L1 lead to better scores and that questions in L1 should be used for reading comprehension particularly at the beginning levels. However, minimal research has been conducted at the advanced level, and no research has been found where proficiency items, empirically validated, were utilized in testing instruments. Furthermore, explanatory data from qualitative analysis has been sparse. The present research endeavored to satisfy these areas of needed research. It …

Tailoring Student Learning: Inquiry-Based Learning In The Elementary Art Classroom, Jeffrey Melvin Cornwall

Theses and Dissertations

This research study explored the role of the elementary art educator in facilitating individualized learning experiences for students in contrast to a standardized culture of education. The methodology of a/r/tography was used to investigate the role of the teacher, as well as artist and researcher, within an inquiry-based art curriculum for a fifth grade class. Inspired by contemporary art practices, students used inquiry to investigate, research and experiment with their ideas around an integrated topic of compare and contrast as found within the fifth grade science and language arts standards. Students created a work of art as a means to …

Tareas Electivas Educacionales: Una Forma De Motivar El Aprendizaje Independiente En El Aula De Ele, Carina Silvia Coria

Theses and Dissertations

La adquisición de una segunda lengua requiere principalmente tiempo de exposición y práctica. El tiempo disponible en una clase típica de escuela secundaria es insuficiente para lograr competencia lingüística. Es necesario ampliar el tiempo de práctica con actividades que los alumnos puedan realizar fuera del aula. Este trabajo propone el uso de tareas escolares alternativas que los estudiantes pueden elegir de acuerdo a sus intereses. El tiempo dedicado a la práctica independiente es utilizado como medida de evaluación en contraste a la cantidad de ejercicios completados. Con el propósito de encontrar las actividades preferidas por los alumnos, se analizaron los …

"Wherein Shall We Return?": A Historical And Analytical Examination Of Lorenzo Snow's 1899 Reemphasis Of Tithing, Zachary Ryan Horton

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the events and discourses targeted to reemphasize the law tithing and to encourage increased tithe-paying from members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints between 1899 and 1907. This examination begins at Church president Lorenzo Snow's journey to St. George and extends through Joseph F. Smith's announcement of the Church's freedom from its long-standing debts. Each chapter analyzes this period from a different perspective provided by contemporary sources. These perspectives include primarily newspaper reports and transcripts from Lorenzo Snow's journey to St. George, reports from general Church conferences, and articles in Church-sponsored publications.This examination yields …

An Historical Ethnography Of A Rural School Music Program: A Case Study, Robert C. Lacey

Theses and Dissertations

Every school music program has a history and a culture. This thesis was a study synthesizing those two elements, seeking to explore the past culture of a rural school music program primarily through interviews with former members of this culture. Throughout are examples of how music teachers, music students, administrators, and community members interacted over the course of approximately 30 years. From these interactions, the researcher drew insights about patterns of teacher behavior that could improve or hinder progress in a music program, including the quality of interpersonal relationships, the value of a teacher trying to integrate in a community …

A Space For The Contemplation Of A Sacred Subject, Katie West

Theses and Dissertations

This paper discusses a Fine Art Master thesis exhibition. The show was on the topic of the Latter-day Saint doctrine of a Mother in Heaven. It contains a project statement detailing the theological meanings and reasons, an overview of the visual elements of the exhibition, and a section contextualizing the exhibition within the art world.

"[B]Reaking Down The Walls, And Crying To The Mountains"--Isaiah 22:5: Dystopia And Ethics Of The Catcher In The Rye, Megan Marie Toone

Theses and Dissertations

Reading The Catcher in the Rye as dystopian fiction requires critical responsibility to evaluate the ethicality of the protagonist's sense of others and self, to assess the moral nature of the novel's dystopian world, and to evaluate the protagonist's agency or capacity to change his world or himself. The novel presents a multifaceted dystopia existing on multiple planes in the social dogma, the reality of the presented world, and Holden's mind before and after his paradigm shift. The dystopian aspects present in the novel highlight basic ideological systems as well as agency and action within the structure. The dystopian elements …

“I Take--No Less Than Skies”: Emily Dickinson And Nineteenth-Century Meteorology, Kjerstin Evans Ballard

Theses and Dissertations

Emily Dickinson's poetry functions where scientific attention to the physical world and abstract theorizing about the ineffable intersect. Critics who emphasize the poet's dedication to the scientific often take for granted how deeply the uncertainty that underlies all of Dickinson's poetry opposes scientific discussion of the day. Meteorology is an exceptional nineteenth-century science because it takes as its subject complex systems which are inexplicable in Newtonian terms. As such, meteorology can articulate the ways that Dickinson bridges the divide between the unknown and the known, particularly as she relates to the interplay of nature and culture, the role of careful …

The Never Ending Confession: The Confessional Mode In Two Novels By Mempo Giardinelli, Ryan Russel Hill

Theses and Dissertations

In the years following the military dictatorship in Argentina many novels were published that spoke about the violence, terror, and traumas experienced during the Junta's rule. These texts deal with the theme of memory and retell the traumas of the past as a form of mourning. Such novels look back to the past in an effort to redeem it. In this essay I explore the use of the confessional mode in postdictatorial literature as a vehicle for the task of mourning. In two of his novels, Qué solos se quedan los muertos (1985) and Cuestiones interiores (2003), Argentine author Mempo …

Audience Participation In Blue Man Group: Success Through Authentic Character, Adaptable Narrative, And Accessible Space, Haley Lauren Flanders

Theses and Dissertations

The relationship between performer and spectator is a constant topic in theatre since audiences are essential to any performance. Some contemporary performances strive to blur the line between the two by allowing audiences to participate during the show. Often, audience participation is despised and therefore avoided by spectators and theatre practitioners. However, Blue Man Group thrives on it due to their authentic character, adaptable narrative, and accessible space. Through my examination of the show as an audience member, I theorize that these three elements control the audience's willingness to participate in the production and in turn make the entire experience …

A Theory Of Presence: Bringing Students And Art Closer Together, Joshua T. Hobbs

Theses and Dissertations

In seeking to create a richer learning environment in a junior high art classroom, the author develops a theory of presence. Closely connected to object-centered learning, a theory of presence in the art classroom places value on students being in the presence of, interacting with, and responding to artworks, artists, and other individuals and objects from the visual arts community. The author then describes how curricular plans are influenced by this theory of presence. Using an action research methodology, the author engages in the spiral process of planning, acting, observing, and reflecting on curriculum that explores the possibilities of connecting …

New Genres In The Art Classroom: Shifting Ideas And Identities, Alyssa Grant Ridge

Theses and Dissertations

Secondary art education programs primarily offer courses in traditional mediums like drawing, painting, sculpture, and ceramics. In addition to valuing these traditional art forms, art education research supports integrating new technologies and media in the classroom. However, the possibilities of creating an exclusively contemporary, new genres curriculum have yet to be explored. This study examines the affordances and limitations of a high school-level new genre curriculum and describes how students reacted to these new genres and how their perceptions of art, student-peer relationships, and artist identities changed over time. By introducing students to new genres, the author found students expanded …

Evidences Of Critical Thinking In The Writing Of First-Year College Students, Shannon Bryn Soper

Theses and Dissertations

A healthy civil society depends on citizens who have mature critical thinking skills and a willingness to entertain opposing points of view. The development of critical thinking in young adults has long been studied, but there has been little agreement on what the attributes of critical thinking are and how to reliably assess them. While many studies have attempted to assess the critical thinking abilities of college students, none have yet measured critical thinking through using the Critical Thinking Analytic Rubric (CTAR) to assess first-year college students' writing. This study used a modified version of the CTAR rubric to investigate …

Old Testament Costume Resource Guide, Rory R. Scanlon

Faculty Publications

This report offers visual costume research support for artists working on Old Testament Bible projects, with an historical overview of Mesopotamia and how to understand its historical clothing pieces, an annotated listing of the best research sources, a list of garment and fabric terms for the 4000 BC to 0 AD period, and sample sketches from historical artifacts to suggest how to interpret the original research images the artist will encounter.

Book Of Mormon Costume Resource Guide, Rory R. Scanlon

Faculty Publications

This report offers visual costume research support for artists working on Book of Mormon projects, with an historical overview of Mesoamerica and how to understand its historical clothing pieces, an annotated listing of the best research sources, a list of garment and fabric terms for the 2000 BC to 600 AD period, and sample sketches from historical artifacts to suggest how to interpret the original research images the artist will encounter.

Front Matter

Swiss American Historical Society Review

No abstract provided.

Asian Values-Swiss Values?, Elmar Holenstein

Swiss American Historical Society Review

For years one is reading of "Asian values." Traveling through Asia, one is rubbing one's eyes. The whole of Asia, from the Bosporus and Ural all the way to the Pacific Ocean, is thrown into one great pot, as if they all, Turkic peoples and Mongols, Arabs, Iranians and Malaysians as well as Chinese, Koreans and Japanese had been educated by Confucius. Business people as well as political scientists who tell us of "Asiatic values" are flying in twelve hours from Frankfurt and Zurich to Shanghai, Singapore, and Tokyo. Those shortcuts therefore?