Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Giving Voice To The Vulnerable: Discourse Ethics And Amnesty For Undocumented Immigration, Kyle Thomsen

Dissertations

The purpose of my dissertation is to explore the unique challenges facing undocumented migrants, and the claims to amnesty they can make. I take a discourse theoretic approach to this issue, following in the footsteps of Jürgen Habermas and Seyla Benhabib, among others. My thesis consists of the following claims. First, a rights-based approach to amnesty does not clearly distinguish between different types of immigrants (i.e. undocumented and potential immigrants). Second, the relevant distinguishing factor between undocumented and potential immigrants is what I refer to as rooted residency, a category which captures factors such as time spent in a nation, …

Doing History In The Adirondacks: Interpreting The Park, The People, And The Landscape, Maria F. Reynolds

Dissertations

Occupying a large portion of Northern New York State, the Adirondack Park includes six million acres of public and private land that compromise over 85 % of all wilderness lands east of the Mississippi. Unique in many ways, the Adirondack Park remains a model for sustainable living and wilderness land management. This dissertation explores the way history is used to both complicate and enrich the relationship between humans and nature in the Adirondack Park. By analyzing historic preservation, cultural landscape management, material culture, and museums this project examines the way that Park history has been told through exhibits, public programs, …

Comics And Conflict: War And Patriotically Themed Comics In American Cultural History From World War Ii Through The Iraq War, Cord A. Scott

Dissertations

Illustration has been an integral part of human history. Particularly before the advent of media such as photography, film, television, and now the Internet, illustrations in all their variety have been the primary visual way to convey history. The comic book, which emerged in its modern form in the 1930s, was another form of visual entertainment that gave readers, especially children, a form of escape.

As World War II began, however, comic books became an integral part of war propaganda as well providing information and education for both children and adults. This dissertation looks at how specific comic books of …

Abstention To Consumption: The Development Of American Vegetarianism, 1817-1917, Adam Daniel Shprintzen

Dissertations

The history of vegetarianism in the United States has long been shrouded in myth, assumption and obfuscation. Vegetarianism as a vital ideological and political movement has often been presented--even by its proponents--as a product of twentieth century modernism, reflecting a rise in ethical consumer awareness. The historical record of the nineteenth century, however, tells a very different story. The notion that dietary choices could be connected with larger social and political goals was formulated during, and changed dramatically in the nineteenth century. This dissertation charts the rise and evolution of vegetarianism in the United States from 1817 until 1917.

This …

The Color(S) Of Perfection: The Feminine Body, Beauty Ideals, And Identity In Postwar America, 1945-1970, Elizabeth M. Matelski

Dissertations

Throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, a number of models have existed offering women a spectrum of ideal body types and varying opinions about the role of fitness and diet in achieving these forms. In the years following World War II, prescriptive literature, Hollywood, and popular culture in general created and perpetuated the postwar feminine ideal of "the Sweater girl" - a busty, curvaceous figure more sexual than maternal. Yet, this ideal gave way in little more than a decade. In the late 1960s, youth culture placed a cult-like status on Twiggy, a model with a 31-inch bust and 32-inch …

The Seduction Of Feminist Theory, Erin Amann Holliday-Karre

Dissertations

My dissertation, "The Seduction of Feminist Theory," comes out of my research on South African fiction and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and focuses broadly on feminist theory and the question of female power. Traditionally feminist theory has sought to empower women by insisting on their equality to men and by allowing their voices to be heard. But in trying to understand why women did not speak about their personal victimization at the TRC hearings, and why so many women characters in South African fiction are unable or unwilling to speak, I have come to see that women do not …

Pax Ecclesia: Globalization And Catholic Literary Modernism, Christopher Wachal

Dissertations

The transnational turn in literary studies has brought new rubrics and critical vocabularies to the study of cultures experiencing the destabilizing effects of globalization. It gives special attention to the ways cultural forms, including literature, must be reformulated in the absence of the coherence of the nation-state. Often unremarked upon, however, is the role of religion in providing other channels of affinity around which to cohere. Many writers in the 20th century respond to the shocks of globalizing modernity by writing in light of particular faith traditions, especially the aesthetic strategies and thematic concerns that characterize the Catholic literary tradition. …

Marx's Concept Of The Transcendence Of Value Production, Peter Hudis

Dissertations

Although the literature produced on Marx's philosophic contribution over the past 100 years is immense, most of it has focused on his analysis of the economic and political structure of capitalism, the "materialist conception of history," and his critique of value production. There has been very little discussion or analysis, however, of his conception of what constitutes an alternative to capitalism. One reason for this is that it has long been assumed that Marx's disdain for utopian socialists and his strictures against inventing "blueprints about the future" meant that his work does not address the possible content of a postcapitalist …

Contemplation And The Human Animal In The Philosophy Of St. Thomas Aquinas, Edyta M. Imai

Dissertations

This dissertation explores how, according to Thomas Aquinas, the operations of the sensitive soul are necessary for ordinary (i.e., not mystical) human contemplation, and for the acquisition of knowledge which precedes contemplation.

The sensitive soul is the soul possessed by all sentient beings, that is, animals, and thus, in examining the role of the sensitive soul in human contemplation we learn about the way the animal side of our nature participates in contemplation.

According to Aquinas, we possess natural inclinations, which direct us to our proper ends, our proper good. Knowledge of truth is also a good to which we …

Global Distributive Justice After Rawls: A Modified Poggean Argument For How We Harm The World's Poorest, Mark Chakoian

Dissertations

This work presents an analysis of Thomas Pogge's approach to the problem of world poverty as presented in World Poverty and Human Rights. It begins by situating the project of Pogge relative to the work of his predecessor John Rawls. It then moves on to compare Pogge's negative-duty approach to more common positive-duty approaches by discussing the relative merits and weaknesses of the approach of Peter Singer to the problem of poverty. The remaining chapters give an in-depth analysis of Pogge's argument itself. Although there are significant holes and inconsistencies in Pogge's approach, a reformulated argument that preserves his original …

Restoring The Balance: Setting Aside Naturalism In Favor Of Personhood In Extreme Cases, Brian Joseph Buckley

Dissertations

This dissertation addresses a simple question: Is an anencephalic child a person? These children are born with only a brain stem, and, as such, cannot experience any type of consciousness. If personhood is understood as an articulable moral category, particularly distinct from DNA membership, reasonable evidence would be required to attribute any such moral category in these cases. That is, to claim that children who may never think or feel are persons carries a philosophical burden that extends beyond mere Homo Sapiens membership. This dissertation accepts that burden and answers that anencephalic children are persons. To do this, I first …

Thinking Through The Phenomenon Of Trust: A Philosophical Investigation, Jeffrey M. Courtright

Dissertations

Jeffrey M. Courtright

THINKING THROUGH THE PHENOMENON OF TRUST: A PHILOSOPHICAL INVESTIGATION

The phenomenon of trust is historically underrepresented as a topic of serious investigation in Western philosophy. This dissertation investigates the integral role that trust plays in enabling and sustaining meaning and significance in human existence. This thesis is substantiated in the following ways.

First, I explicate various senses and ways of thinking about trust in the work of two historically important philosophers, Plato and Nietzsche. I show that Socrates, in Plato's dialogue Phaedo, articulates the feeling of being entrusted with life, a feeling that one experiences as a …

Religion, Science, And The Conscious Self: Bio-Psychological Explanation And The Debate Between Dualism And Naturalism, Paul J. Voelker

Dissertations

This dissertation approaches metaphysical and metaethical questions concerning the nature of the human person, the existence and nature of God, and the nature of moral judgment through contemporary neuroscience, cognitive science, scientific moral psychology, and analytic philosophy of mind. Contrary to proposals that seek a harmonious integration of "religion and science" this dissertation argues that contemporary bio-psychological sciences give one ample reason to be skeptical of many of the metaphysical and metaethical claims embedded in religious traditions like Christianity and Buddhism. The first three chapters of the dissertation focus on the metaphysical issue of mind-body dualism while the fourth chapter …

Images Of God, Imago Dei And God's Relationship With Humanity Through The Image Of Mary's Breast Milk: A Focus Upon Sor María Anna Águeda De San Ignacio (1695-1756), Neomi Dolores Deanda

Dissertations

This dissertation presents an original contribution to the academic field of Theology, specifically Constructive Theology, because it begins the retrieval work of a woman's voice from seventeenth and eighteenth century Mexico, an entire area of historical and theological thought which has been globally under-explored. Analysis of María Anna Águeda de San Ignacio's eighteenth century original publications give a glimpse into this woman's official authority during her time, which also presents a historical woman's voice who has held ecclesial authority.

This project engages María Anna Águeda de San Ignacio's work to draw theological insights and further expand understandings about notions of …

Filiación-Fraternidad: The Hope Of Human Existence In Light Of Global Disparity. Exploring The Theological Anthropologies Of Karl Rahner And José Ignacio González Faus., Scott M. Myslinski

Dissertations

This dissertation argues that there is a need for Christian theology to critically re-examine human existence through social and structural categories in response to the current direction of globalization which threatens the humanization of human existence. Specifically, there exists a need for a contemporary Christian theological anthropology that is in dialogue with the social sciences and that attempts to develop an understanding of human sin, grace, and redemption in structural and social categories in order to offer an alternative vision of what it means to be human in light of the prevailing anthropology that is at the heart of the …

So That Love May Be Safeguarded: The Nature, Form, And Function Of Obedience As A Heuristic Device For The Theology Of Hans Urs Von Balthasar, Daniel Paul Burns

Dissertations

Hans Urs von Balthasar's literary body of work is enormous. His style is erudite and often abstruse. As a result, it is often difficult to systematize and arrange his work into coherent and consistent categories. This dissertation offers the singular category of obedience as a heuristic device to help render the entire von Balthasarian corpus more understandable. For von Balthasar, the word "obedience" is multivalent and rich in meaning. It cuts across all aspects of human relationships, of human relationships with God, and even God's relationship with Himself. This dissertation claims that the meaning of the word "obedience" is central …

Trilectic Of Testimony: A Phenomenological Construal Of The Eucharist As Manifestation-Proclamation-Attestation, Donald Lee Wallenfang

Dissertations

This thesis seeks to revolutionize thinking the sacrament, in particular the Eucharist. Instead of construing the Eucharist in terms of substance or symbol, the Eucharist is construed phenomenologically as manifestation-proclamation-attestation. In this way, the particular emphases of Catholic (manifestation), Jewish and Protestant (proclamation, attestation) thought converge around the question of the phenomenality of the religious phenomenon, specifically the Eucharist-phenomenon. Representative of each of these three faith traditions, the following prominent thinkers are placed in dialectical confrontation: Jean-Luc Marion (Catholic, manifestation), Paul Ricoeur (Protestant, proclamation/attestation) and Emmanuel Levinas (Jewish, proclamation/attestation). Building on the seminal work of Louis-Marie Chauvet, Symbole et sacrement: …

Patriarchy, Christianity, And The African Hiv/Aids Epidemic: Rethinking Christian Marriage In Light Of The Experiences Of Hiv Positive Women In Tanzania, Melissa Danielle Browning

Dissertations

Given that women and girls carry the heaviest burdens of the African HIV/AIDS epidemic, their lived experiences should be the starting point for any pedagogy of prevention. In light of this claim, this dissertation project uses qualitative fieldwork with HIV positive women living in Mwanza, Tanzania to ask why marriage is an HIV/AIDS risk factor. By beginning with women's experience as a hermeneutical lens, this dissertation seeks to establish a creative space where African women can imagine new alternatives to HIV/AIDS prevention that would promote human flourishing and abundant life in African communities. The aim of this dissertation is to …

Rigorous Honesty: A Cultural History Of Alcoholics Anonymous 1935-1960, Kevin Kaufmann

Dissertations

Alcoholics Anonymous was founded in 1935 and a great deal has been written about the program and its membership, but little has been done on how it reflects the 1930s and Depression Era culture. Using Warren Susman's writings as a starting point, this dissertation investigates how AA reflects 1930s American culture and what the group can tell us about the era as well. The dissertation begins with examining the temperance and prohibition eras and how they impacted the initial design of the program, especially the writing of the text, Alcoholics Anonymous.

With the advent of World War II, AA, like …

The Principle Of Subsidiarity And Catholic Ecclesiology: Implications For The Laity, Kathryn Reyes Hamrlik

Dissertations

This dissertation examines the principle of subsidiarity as articulated within the body of Catholic social thought, and explores its validity within the governance structure of the Catholic church. Special attention is given to the status and role of the laity, and the implications of subsidiarity with regard to lay authority and decision-making in the church. Chapter One outlines some problems with ecclesial governance today, discusses the current status and role of the laity, and proposes an application of subsidiarity in the church. Chapter Two provides an overview of how the laity has been understood throughout church history to the present …

Introducing The Common Good Index And A Common Good Immigration Ethic, Ana Bedard

Dissertations

The U.S. and Mexican bishops, in their influential pastoral letter Strangers No Longer, frame immigration ethics through the lens of solidarity with the immigrant. This frame leads them to erroneously interpret the preferential option for the poor and ignore potential harm to poor U.S. citizens caused by recent undocumented immigration from Mexico and other countries. A better framework to immigration ethics is a specified common good approach, which is created in this dissertation. This approach uses the definition of the common good found in Catholic social thought and concretizes it through using a theological anthropology based in Martha Nussbaum's human …

Theology As Improvisation: Using The Musical Metaphor Of Attunement To Think Theologically, Nathan Crawford

Dissertations

This project places itself within the tradition of Christian theology which has sought to think about its thinking of God. In so doing, the tradition has seen it necessary to do this thinking in light of one's contemporary situation. Thus, this project carries this line of thought through by thinking the thinking of God within the contemporary context. The thesis of the project is that theology is improvisation. This thesis is advanced through an analysis of the idea of attunement in both theology and improvisation.

The project articulates the nature of theology as improvisation by analyzing the nature of attunement …

A Diachronic Analysis Of The Use Of Scripture In The Variant Versions Of The Apocryphon Of John, David Creech

Dissertations

This dissertation explores at length the Apocryphon of John's ambivalent treatment of the Jewish and Christian scriptures. Although Moses is explicitly corrected at five points in the text--four times mentioned by name (NHC II 13,18-21; 22,22-25; 23,3-4; and 29,6-10) and one time by inference (NHC II 21,9-14)--the Genesis account of creation is nonetheless the basis for the Apocryphon's cosmogony and anthropogony. It is argued that the Apocryphon's uneven treatment of the Bible is the result of a development of the text in the midst of a dispute with other early catholics.