Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Ephesians And Ecumenism, Toby Eisenberg

Religious Studies Theses and Dissertations

Christian ecumenism has made great strides during the twentieth century but is now widely seen as needing a new path. Avery Dulles has proposed an “exchange of gifts” notion of dialogue in which the participant churches share their understanding of the Christian life and all of the reasons they have for holding their particular doctrines and practices, drawing on whatever normative sources they believe are appropriate. The approach enables the participants to bear testimony in love in the hopes that they may better understand and appreciate each other more fully, thereby opening a path to increased doctrinal consensus and thus …

The Unmarried (M)Other: A Study Of Christianity, Capitalism, And Counternarratives Concerning Motherhood And Marriage In The United States And South Africa, Haley Feuerbacher

Religious Studies Theses and Dissertations

A reified and patriarchal form of Christianity that emphasizes “family values” – that is, adherence to the formula of a male-headed, heterosexual, capitalist, nuclear family, characterized by distinct, complementary, and hierarchical gender roles as essential to the well-being of individuals, one’s nation, and the ecumenical Church - over “community values” has become a happy bedfellow of the market system and neocolonialism, extending its reach worldwide through globalization. The result is that single mothers constitute the most economically oppressed demographic internationally across all race and ethnic categories. Using Constructivist Grounded Theory and a postcolonial feminist theological lens to collect, retell, and …

“Spirited” Engagement: Latin American Faith And The Construction Of Emancipative Pentecostalism, David Luckey

Religious Studies Theses and Dissertations

Pentecostalism is a prominent form of Christianity around the world that is increasingly pervasive in the Global South. One of the persistent issues that obscures accurate understanding of the movement is the question of whether such a spiritually-oriented faith gives attention to social realities. This dissertation identifies a broad spectrum of Latin America Pentecostal social- ethical engagement in order to complicate stereotypes and reveal a natural orientation toward public witness. It shows that Pentecostalism is too complex for broad generalization, and it draws on leading voices from within the movement to articulate a call to increasing efforts for social justice.

Charles-Marie Widor's Symphonie Romane: An Examination Of The Performance Tradition, Kathryn Scheetz

Music Theses and Dissertations

Charles-Marie Widor, French organist and composer of the well-known Toccata, composed ten “symphonies” for organ. The tenth and final symphony, Symphonie Romane, Op. 73 (1900), includes a dedication, “To the Memory of Saint-Sernin of Toulouse.” Modern-day organists seem to take this dedication as a performance directive, studying, playing, and recording the piece on the Aristide Cavaillé-Coll organ at the Basilica of Saint-Sernin in Toulouse. In this thesis, I examine the historical contexts and performance tradition of the piece through ethnographic research, interviews, primary sources, and contemporary writings. I begin with biographical information on Widor and his compositions, placing the …

Augustine's Concept Of Volition And Its Significance For The Doctrine Of Original Sin, Scot Bontrager

Religious Studies Theses and Dissertations

Augustine has been credited as the inventor of the concept of volition (the will), and yet it is not clear from this claim exactly what his concept of volition is. His understanding of the human person, especially his theory of volition, has had profound implications for much of the theological work which followed. This thesis examines various concepts which influenced Augustine’s notion of volition, contemporary ways of understanding volition, and what Augustine himself believed about it. Since the will is central to Augustine’s description of the human person and the human condition a careful examination of the concept is necessary …

“And They Shall Eat Until They Are Satisfied:” Critical Disability Theory And Widows, Orphans, Aliens, And Levites In The Book Of Deuteronomy, Cheryl Strimple

Religious Studies Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation considers the construction of widows, orphans, aliens, and Levites in deuteronomic law. Making use of multiple methodologies, literary criticism, Disability Studies, and food and foodway studies, this study argues that, in Deuteronomy, the members of the formulaic reference, “the alien, the orphan, and the widow,” often associated with “the Levite” operate as cultic functionaries and participate in cultic meals in order to secure stability and continuing abundance in the land for all of Israel.

Broken Households: Black And White Baptists And Methodists In Transition In Post-Emancipation Texas, Timothy "Ashton" Reynolds

History Theses and Dissertations

The end of slavery in Texas and the South undercut more than just the economic, labor, and social foundations in Texas. It undercut doctrinal certainty for white Baptists and Methodists and called into question two of their most valued beliefs: the biblical legitimacy of slavery and the divine appointment of white (and male) supremacy. This thesis asks and attempts to answer the question of how white Baptists and Methodists reacted when they were no longer able to practice slavery as a legally sanctioned religiously underpinned institution. By examining denominational documents, church minute books, writings by influential Baptist and Methodist figures, …

"Silent Salesmen," Skeptical Consumers: American Images In A Divided Berlin, 1949-67, Lauren Richman

Art History Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation analyzes the visual language of American cultural images disseminated in Cold War Berlin and investigates how such institutional, lens-based media played a role in the country’s grappling with its postwar identity. Divided Berlin, with porous borders from 1949 to 1961, embodied a “final frontier,” “Western showcase;” a synecdoche of larger American geopolitical interests during a time when information and images defined the Cold War. Existing art historical studies of Cold War-era visual propaganda emphasize the prototypical East/West, communist/capitalist dichotomies, but often do not focus on the impact of the United States as Germany’s most prolific western occupier.

Across …

Secret Selves: Surveillance And Twentieth-Century African American Literature, Kelsey Kiser

English Theses and Dissertations

Black writers, thinkers, and artists found themselves on the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s watch list for radicalism and sedition as early as 1919. Secret Selves explores how twentieth-century African American writers, namely Claude McKay, Richard Wright, Lorraine Hansberry, Alice Childress, Ishmael Reed, and Gloria Naylor responded to a surveillance state that monitored their lives and works for radicalism and sedition. By recrafting the African American künstlerroman—a genre that birthed the African American literary tradition—these writers embedded codes into their works that concealed personal details from Bureau agents and simultaneously articulated a new narrative: that to be black and to …

The Impact Of Informal Music Learning On Fifth Graders' Music Learning Processes And Perceptions Of General Music Class, Alejandro Juarez

Music Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to describe qualitatively the learning processes and perceptions of music class that emerged in a fifth-grade general music setting in which informal music learning processes were the fundamental components of the pedagogical approach. Initial research questions aimed to examine the ways students perceived their previous music classroom, how they used music outside of school, how informal music learning strategies impacted them, and how they believed popular musicians learned music. Students in this action research study were 50 fifth graders in two classes. Data were collected using many ethnographic techniques including interviews, questionnaires, and video/audio …

The Air We Breathe, Nida Bangash

Art Theses and Dissertations

Through the process of Mashq, an interdisciplinary practice, loosely translated as exercise, repetition or circumambulation- I utilize both references from my immediate surroundings, as well as Indo-Persian history to investigate institutions as a continual colonial legacy. The complexities of my concerns are explored through a cross disciplinary approach of painting, sculpting, performance and video installations. I explore the relation between contrasting mediums, aspiring to mediate static and moving images through an aesthetic that embodies the essence of miniature painting practice.

In this paper I will explain three works that were part of my Graduate Show. Expanding on their relationship …

Sculpture As Souvenir: Reportable And Repeatable, Ashlyn Lee

Art Theses and Dissertations

In this paper, an analysis of the site as material, process, and concept for an artwork results in an understanding of the art object as a souvenir. Reportable and repeatable experiences are discussed and remembered in the six works of the Qualifying Thesis Exhibition at the Pollock Gallery. Of the six works is an installation, Catfish Fence, and five small works displayed on the gallery window sill: Bundle, Posted: No Trespassing, Sling, Right Recipe, and Margie Ruth’s Swing Where the Wasp Bit Me. Susan Stewart’s discussion of souvenirs from On Longing (1984) serves as a tool for considering the art …

In Praise Of Shadows, Xxavier Carter

Art Theses and Dissertations

This work is a relay of my practice in the MFA program at Southern Methodist University. In this text, I account for one of the formal elements of my practice, the box; some of the overarching themes of my practice; commentary on the performances “Rumor Has It”, “The Jesus Projects”, “Better Luck Next Time”, and “The Collector”, as well as “The Black Cock Art Foundation” and “Black Cock Café”, and some of the cultural and artistic influences on my practice. I analyze why I think my work has been received the way it has in some instances by the university …

The Church And Social Responsibility: Contributions To Contemporary Social Ethics From The Ecumenical Social Method Of The Oxford Conference On Church, Community, And State Of 1937, Gary B. Macdonald

Religious Studies Theses and Dissertations

Cultural and political realities, and doctrinal differences among faith traditions challenge unified theological and ecclesial contribution to political dialogue. Within the work of the Oxford Conference of the Universal Christian Council of Life and Work on Church, Community and State of 1937, organized by Joseph Oldham, are elements of an applied understanding of social responsibility, offering resources to enable such contribution. Here, I call this “Oxford Responsibility,” defined as a society in which its members and institutions act in accordance with human value and freedom, in obedience to the will of God, toward the achievement of justice within the limits …

Infertility In 1 Samuel 1: Toward A Hermeneutic Of Reproduction, David A. Schones

Religious Studies Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores the need for an interpretation of 1 Samuel 1 that is grounded in social-scientific scholarship on infertility. The study analyzes biblical interpretations on 1 Samuel 1 in the five decades that feminist-disability scholarship on infertility has emerged in the social sciences. Accordingly, the exegetical readings analyzed in this study were produced in the same time frame during which feminist-disability scholarship began to be articulated in earnest. The study demonstrates the necessity for interpreting 1 Samuel 1 with social-scientific research on infertility in mind. If such scholarship is not taken into account, biblical readings remain stuck in outdated …

Traces Of Identity: Portraiture In The Work Of Teresa Margolles, Alexandra M. Perez

Art History Theses and Dissertations

Teresa Margolles, born in Culiacán, Mexico, is a socially engaged conceptual artist whose work examines the causes and consequences of death from the 1990s to the present in her home country. Margolles’s work has been largely discussed in the context of death and violence, and this thesis expands upon this literature by including the concepts of identity and portraiture. By examining how Margolles’s installations, sculptures, and photography use material remains to display identity and memorialize victims, this thesis argues that Margolles not only creates memorials, but also portraits of the fallen victims.

Using the frameworks of portraiture, the index, and …

“Of Nobler Song Than Mine”: Social Justice In The Life, Times, And Writings Of Fitz-James O'Brien, John P. Irish

Graduate Liberal Studies Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation will be a detailed study of the life, times, and writings of a mid-nineteenth century Irish-American writer, Fitz-James O’Brien. This will be the first full length study of O’Brien’s thought and writings. O’Brien was known, during his day, for two different types of writing: fiction of the supernatural and his writings on social justice, written in the emerging style of literary realism. It is his writings on social justice which this dissertation will explore. O’Brien’s writings on social justice covered three main topics: children, women, and animals. I look at how the historical context, O’Brien’s life, and his …

Say Luv: Reimagining The Black Female Body, Jer'lisa Devezin

Art Theses and Dissertations

From hottentot venus to Cardi B, the influence of the white representation and the treatment of the black female body has shaped a culture of oppression amongst Black women, having surpassed the white community and trickled into the black community. In hip hop culture, reality television, and social media, black women are portrayed as angry and are stereotyped as ghetto and ignorant. On the music scene woman are always sexualized under the male gaze, however now that we are in the twerk era Cardi B is giving a new perspective to the representation of women in hip hop. By using …

Pastoral Leadership In A Cross-Cultural, Multicultural, Conflict-Driven Congregation: A Filipino Case Study, Ed Volfe

Doctor of Ministry Projects and Theses

Pastoral Leadership in a Cross-Cultural, Multicultural, Conflict-Driven Congregation: A Filipino Case Study

Christ Redeemer was a Cross-Cultural, Multicultural church where the majority of the members were Filipinos. The church experienced way too many conflicts that distracted everyone in the congregation from the real calling to “make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.”[1] The ethos of Christ Redeemer seemed to be driven by conflict, regardless of whether the leadership provided came from a Filipino or a non-Filipino pastor. The congregation fed conflict upon conflict, creating a cycle of tension with little engagement in critical issues in the …

Always In-Formation: The Presence Of Sound In The Work Of Dan Graham, Jennifer Smart

Art History Theses and Dissertations

This thesis argues for a reconsideration of the role sound plays in the work of the American artist Dan Graham. Graham regularly used his work as a means of drawing viewer’s attention to the seemingly infinite multiplicity of the subjective experience which shapes their encounter with the visual art object. I argue Graham’s engagement with music and his involvement in the multidisciplinary art scene of Downtown New York City in the 1970s and 80s shaped and encouraged his interest in this greater sensorial environment in which a work of art is encountered. Through performance, video, and architecture, Graham has attempted …

Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis, Christian J. Jesse

Music Theses and Dissertations

Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis is a nonliturgical concert setting of the evensong canticles, Luke 1:46-55 & Luke 2:29-32, for SATB div. choir, organ, string quintet, and percussion. Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis is approximately 16-18 minutes in duration without break between movements. The text for Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis is from the Book of Common Prayer, according to the use of the Episcopal Church certified as of 2007, with the omission of the doxology. This decision was influenced by nonliturgical concert settings by Gerald Finzi and Arvo Pärt.

Reworking The White-Masculine Ideal, Steven H. Gonzalez

Art Theses and Dissertations

This text functions as an exploration of self through artistic practice, a designated space for reflection on contemporary Queer experience. In looking specifically at the permeation of the idealized-white-masculine figure as found within Western visual culture, social media and gay pornography become isolated as sites where these figures are commonly found. This line of inquiry defines how the ideal is reified through these differing digital platforms and the social implications the homogenized male form has on raced individuals. In addition to determining the image of the perfect masculine physique through research, this text expands on how its' imaged representation becomes …

Thesis/Thesis Document 2, Jessamyn Plotts

Art Theses and Dissertations

Thesis/thesis document 2 explores the subversive power of the painted image, made by a physical performative act. Such acts are not confined to the production of the art object, but expand across the landscape, involving the minds, bodies, and things of culture adjacent to the making process. Following the thinking of Maurice-Merleau Ponty, Thesis/thesis document 2 understands painting not as the container of a finite, legible message, but as a physical platform for the conveyance of perceptual, personal, and experiential ambiguity. Made in this way, painted images offer a powerful alternative to the proliferation of propaganda and advertisement …