Arts and Humanities Commons^™

A Fire That Could Not Be Extinguished: Sovereignty And Identity In The Pokagon Band Of Potawatomi Indians, 1634-1994, Melisa Cushing-Davis

Dissertations

American Indian sovereignty and identity, the rights of political and economic self-determination and self-definition, have suffered numerous blows since the time of First Contact. Under the policies of various European nations, and finally the United States, indigenous residents of North America have struggled to maintain political independence, as well as cultural and social integrity, while adapting to changing conditions over which they found themselves, most often, to have little direct control. Such is the history of the Potawatomi people. This dissertation examines the historic responses to these continuing challenges of one band of Potawatomi, the Pokagon of southwestern Michigan. It …

Cooking, Cooking Pots, And Cultural Transformation In Imperial And Late Antique Italy, Andrew Donnelly

Dissertations

An examination of archaeological and textual evidence for cooking—specifically, cooking pots—in Italy reveals a significant amount of information about transforming status, culture, and identity under the later Empire and Late Antiquity. There was never was one “Roman” diet or form of cooking, even under the early Empire. The diet of the poor was often in flux, and depended on local resources, traditions, and economic conditions. Elite cooking, meanwhile, is easily identifiable both archaeologically and textually, and marked by the use of multiple vessels in conjunction to prepare elaborate, sauce-rich meals.

By the fifth century there was a winnowing of ceramic …

The Seat Of Justice In The House Of Love: Toward An Ecclesial Theory Of Justice, James Grant Gholson

Dissertations

ABSTRACT

This dissertation is an extension of the ongoing conversation about justice within Christian ethics from a postliberal perspective. Beginning with an account of Christian ethical methodology centered on the grammar of the Christian “language-game” that is both shaped by, and which mediates, the communal reading of scripture, the dissertation argues that Christian discipleship, as a teleological enterprise governed by the normativity of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, consists in the communal representation of Christ’s own faithfulness to God as a public witness over against the reign of the “principalities and powers” of the world. Applying Iris Marion …

“Englishing” Horace: The Influence Of The Horatian Tradition On Old And Middle English Poetry, Justin A. Hastings

Dissertations

This dissertation explores the ways in which Old and Middle English poets made use of the poetic corpus of the Roman Augustan Age poet Horace (Quintus Flaccus Horatius) and the medieval commentary tradition that accrued around it. It considers especially the Late Antique commentaries of Porphyry and PseudoAcro as well as the scholia transmitted in Bern MS Bernensis 363 and Paris, BnF MS Latin 17897. The Old English elegies in the Exeter Book (Exeter Cathedral MS 3501) are the subject of the second chapter. Subsequent chapters focus on William Langland’s Piers Plowman, John Gower’s Confessio Amantis, and Geoofrey Chaucer’s Canterbury …

Noble Freedom: The Importance Of Freedom In The Theology Of Beatrice Of Nazareth And Hadewijch, Seth Alexander

Dissertations

The mulieres religiosae were a diverse group of women in the late twelfth and early thirteenth century who lived a variety of lifestyles. Two such mulieres are Hadewijch, a beguine, and Beatrijs of Nazareth, a Cistercian nun both outstanding thirteenth-century writers who exemplify the mystical theology characteristic of this dynamic group of women. The task of this study is to explore the writings of these two medieval authors to examine how they interpreted their experiences of union with God. To do this, I will investigate the ways in which these two particular women of the thirteenth- century Low Countries construct …

“My Masculinity Is A Little Love Poem To Myself”: Trans*Masculine College Students’ Conceptualizations Of Masculinities, T.J. Jourian

Dissertations

Men and masculinities studies in higher education are gaining prominence within the literature, illuminating how cisgender men understand and grapple with masculinity on college campuses. Additionally, the increased visibility of trans* students has fueled the expanding scholarship and attention to their experiences, often however centering on White gender-conforming trans* students with little if any focus on their multiple and intersecting identities. This phenomenological study seeks to bridge these two areas of literature, by investigating how trans*masculine students understand, define, and adopt a masculine identity, and how that identity is informed by their various intersecting and salient identities. Dominant masculinities function …

Habermas And Public Reason In The Digital Age: Technology And Deliberative Democracy, Asaf Bar-Tura

Dissertations

Scholars defending the deliberative model of democracy have focused much of their attention on argumentation and criteria for offering public reasons in deliberative processes, but have paid little attention to the ways in which digital technologies mediate such deliberations. Conversely, critical theorists of technology have emphasized the socially determined nature of technology, but have lacked a theory of democracy through which to normatively assess technologies that mediate public discourse. Through a reworking of Jürgen Habermas’s discourse-based theory of democracy, my research provides a new understanding of the flows of political communication and power in the democratic public sphere and the …

Scribal Harmonization In Greek Manuscripts Of The Synoptic Gospels From The Second To The Fifth Century, Cambry Pardee

Dissertations

Harmonization in manuscripts of the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) has been recognized as a textual phenomenon since at least the late second century. This dissertation constitutes the first major catalogue of assimilated readings and provides evidence for the nature of harmonization in the earliest period of the development of the text of the New Testament.

Harmonization occurs whenever a scribe copying a Gospel by hand introduces a textual variant that reflects the influence of parallel material from another Gospel or gospel tradition. The body of this dissertation is a text-critical analysis of every harmonizing variant in the forty-four …

“But Who, We?”: Derrida On Non-Human Others, Thomas Helmut Bretz

Dissertations

In this dissertation I establish the possibility of social and ethical relationships with non-human natural (and in particular inanimate) beings. I do so based on the work of 20th century French philosopher Jacques Derrida. In chapter 1 I discuss the relatively sparse secondary literature that addresses the intersection between Derrida's work and environmental philosophy. I also go over some textual indications that show that Derrida has been concerned with non-human beings throughout his career.

In chapters 2 and 3 I establish the impossibility of conclusively excluding any kind of being from the purview of ethical responsibility. While chapter 2 develops …

Kant, The Natural Law, And The Question Of Normativity In Catholic Ethics, John Robert Crowley-Buck

Dissertations

This dissertation explores the question of normativity in 21st century Catholic ethical reflection. While, today, the natural law tradition frames and founds the normative question in Catholic ethics in terms of the imago Dei, this project explores the moral philosophy of Immanuel Kant and the challenge it presents to the natural law's claim to normativity. Specifically, this dissertation argues that in Kant's ethics, the normative question is answered in terms of the dignity of humanity, rather than the imago Dei, and that the dignity of humanity is a more relevant, shareable, and normative grounding for ethical reflection. To this end, …

A Higher Law: Transatlantic Revolution And Antislavery Radicalism In Early America, 1760-1800, Anthony Di Lorenzo

Dissertations

During the Age of Revolution, abolitionist ideas interacted with notions of liberty, independence, and equality. Although slavery often served as a metaphor, in opposition to freedom, it also had tangible meanings for the enslaved. This study traces the development of revolutionary beliefs that connected reformers and abolitionists across the Atlantic world, as well as the rise of conservative ideologies that divided them. Democratic politics, religious enthusiasm, and abolitionism converged in the late eighteenth century, with significant implications for antislavery efforts. The French Revolution, in particular, represented the culmination of radical Enlightenment ideals and emboldened democrats in the United States, contributing …

Earthly Destruction: Catholic Social Teaching, War, And The Environment, Daniel Cosacchi

Dissertations

For more than 1700 years in Christian theology, there has been a chasm between just war thinking and pacifism. Advocates of these two ideological positions have attempted to bridge this divide in a number of ways through the centuries. Some, such as Glen Stassen, have brought together thinkers on both sides of the divide to propose a just peacemaking theory. Others, such as Michael Schuck, Mark Allman, and Tobias Winright, have added new stages to just war thinking in order to make that existing tradition more robust. Some groups may identify as contingent pacifists. These would generally accept the criteria …

Remains To Be Seen: Execution And Embodiment In The Early English Atlantic World, Erin M. Feichtinger

Dissertations

This dissertation explores the development of capitalism in the early English Atlantic World (1580 - 1752) and the manipulation of the legal system to criminalize the laboring body in order to more fully exploit the productive output of labor.

“I Am Because We Are”: A Portrait Of Trans* Postsecondary Educators’ Experiences In Higher Education, Symone L. Simmons

Dissertations

Within higher education, trans* students have become more visible and advocacy for them important. To support these claims, scholars have conducted research and produced literature on trans* college students’ identity development and experiences on campuses. However, the lived experiences of trans* educators working in colleges and universities are missing from the literature, consequently from the minds of scholars, practitioners, and administrators alike. Trans* educators experiences are important because they contribute to shifts in higher education conversations around supporting and affirming trans* people on campus. Trans* educators are mentors, advisors, and role-models, teachers, and advocates, and perhaps knowing their journey and …

The Best Poor Man's Country?: William Penn, Quakers, And Unfree Labor In Atlantic Pennsylvania, Peter B. Kotowski

Dissertations

William Penn’s writings famously emphasized notions of egalitarianism, just governance, and moderation in economic pursuits. Twentieth-century scholars took Penn’s rhetoric at his word and interpreted colonial Pennsylvania as nothing less than “the best poor man’s country,” as reflected in the title of one of the most popular histories of the colony. They also imagined a world where all men had access to economic opportunity and lived free from the barbarity endemic to Atlantic world colonies. Despite this halcyon vision of the Peaceable Kingdom, the reality was the opposite: a colony where religious convictions justified what we today (and radicals then) …

What Is Mortal Shall Be Swallowed Up By Life (2 Cor 5:4): A Critical And Constructive Engagement With John Hick's Theology Of Death In Death And Eternal Life (1976), Hongmei Zhao

Dissertations

The springboard for my investigation is John Hick’s theology of death or “par-eschatology” in Death and Eternal Life (1976), a postmortem soteriology rooted in Irenaeus’ teleological framework of person-making. I organize my project around the two constitutive aspects of human existence: time and space, or temporality and embodiment.

Regarding postmortem temporality, I present: 1) new scholarships in the New Testament, early Christianity, and Reformation studies, and 2) recent developments in ecumenical dialogues and the Justification-Sanctification Debate. Through this, I demonstrate a widely emerging emphasis–the centrality of sanctification in the Christian understanding of salvation. I argue that this crystalizing consensus lends …

Philo’S Εὐσέβεια And Paul’S Πνεῦμα: The Appropriation And Alteration Of Hellenistic And Greek Philosophical Traditions In Their Ethical Discourses, Nelida Naveros Cordova

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Olympic Bids, Professional Sports, And Urban Politics: Four Decades Of Stadium Planning In Detroit, 1936-1975, Jeffrey R. Wing

Dissertations

Between 1936 and 1975, political and business leaders in Detroit tried to gain support for the financing and construction of a municipal stadium. The stadium plan originated as part of an attempt to bring the Summer Olympics to the city. The municipal stadium was to serve as the main Olympic stadium and be used for a variety of events after the Olympics were finished. Later, after Detroit leaders gave up on the Olympics after several failed bids, the stadium plan evolved into a domed facility on the downtown riverfront for the Detroit Tigers and Detroit Lions, the city’s professional baseball …

Remember The Word That I Told You: Direct Internal Quotation In The Gospel Of John, Jeffrey Michael Tripp

Dissertations

The Gospel of John contains over 50 instances of direct internal quotation: the direct quotation, at a later point in the story, of a speech act already given in the narrative. John has dozens more cases than any other New Testament book, making it a demonstrably Johannine device. Furthermore, verifiable quotations are rarely exact independently of who is quoting. The present study examines three aspects of John’s use of direct internal quotation in the context of Greco-Roman, Jewish, and other New Testament literature. First, the modifications made to the original speech act are placed in the context of paraphrase, a …