Arts and Humanities Commons^™

A Phenomenological Study Of The Lived Experiences Of Members Of Alcoholics Anonymous Which Changes Behavior From Addiction To Recovery, Marie Buchanan Wiles

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study is to understand the experiences of AA members in rural southern Virginia, leading to behavior changes from addiction to recovery. Exploring these experiences will provide an understanding of how this organization provides recovery capital, reduces rural barriers to addiction treatment, and facilitates a spiritual awakening that supports behavior change. The spiritual awakening is achieved by following the 12-step principles of AA, which results in behavioral changes leading to improved sobriety outcomes. Changes in behavior have been explained by the Social Cognitive Theory, which posits that behavior results from a reciprocal interaction between the …

Music Teachers’ Perceptions And Actual Effects Of Youth Orchestra Participation On Students’ Playing Ability, Erika J. Pierce

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Despite research demonstrating a significant correlation between social and academic development with participation in a youth orchestra, few studies have examined whether participation directly affects students’ note-reading skills, the accuracy of pitch production, and musical expression. This information matters because students often join a youth orchestra to develop these and other playing skills beyond what school programs and private lessons teach. This applied research study examined youth orchestra participation by comparing teachers’ perceptions with demonstrated performance outcomes on middle school students’ development in note-reading, pitch production accuracy, and musical expression. This study analyzed rubric-scored student performance recordings alongside teacher survey …

Richard Henry Lee: His Life And Legacy As An American Founder And Ways He Reflected Christian Perspectives And Enlightenment Thought, Sarah Lee Beemer

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This doctoral dissertation examines the life of Richard Henry Lee, serving as a biography while also looking more closely at the ways Christianity and Enlightenment thought were reflected in Lee’s life and work. Given that Lee is less well known than many of the other American Revolutionaries and founders, this dissertation aims to create a greater awareness of the significant contributions that Lee made in the early history of the United States. In addition to serving as a military leader in Virginia during the American Revolutionary War, he served in a political capacity for decades, including in Virginia’s legislature and …

Rivalry, Risk, And Ruin: The Economic Politics Of Antebellum Florida, Tyler Mudd

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This dissertation investigates the interplay of land speculation, legal authority, and political governance in the Florida Territory from 1821 to 1845. Centered around the extensive Forbes and Innerarity land claims carried over from the Spanish period, the litigation and politics are demonstrative of the territorial administration and was profoundly shaped by a concentrated cohort. This faction of legally trained officeholders and investors, figures such as Joseph M. White, Richard K. Call, James, Gadsden, and William P. DuVal, operated as governing nucleus. Their ability and command of statutes, access to federal patronage, and strategic involvement allowed them to use land speculation, …

Deuteronomy As A Meta-Hermeneutic To Understand The Land Promise In The Abrahamic Covenant, Alan Leonard Schafer

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

One component of the Abrahamic Covenant in Gen 12:1–3 is the promise of land. This promise is reiterated to Abraham in Gen 12:7; 13:14–17; 15:7; 15:18–19, and 17:8, then to Isaac in Gen 26:3–5, and finally to Jacob in Gen 28:4 and 28:13–15. Numerous references in the Pentateuch refer to this promise, often using the phrases “the land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” and “the land He swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

Although reading the Pentateuch would lead one to believe the Abrahamic land promise refers to an actual piece of real estate with boundaries, many today question …

Doctor Of Ministry Final Portfolio: Developing A Diverse Educational Curriculum For Truthwins.Com Supporting Its Global Prospective On Individual’S Spiritual Formation, Gaelyn Whitley Keith

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This portfolio presents the development of a diverse educational curriculum for Truthwins.com designed to support its global mission of fostering individual spiritual formation across cultural, social, and theological boundaries. The project integrates biblical principles, intercultural competency, and contemporary educational practices to cultivate rounded spiritual growth among learners worldwide. Drawing on theological reflection, qualitative research, and practical ministry applications, the study outlines a framework that embraces inclusivity, promotes critical engagement with spiritual formation, and equips participants to embody authentic discipleship in diverse contexts. The resulting curriculum aims to inspire transformative learning experiences that unify spiritual development with Truthwins.com’s commitment to truth, …

The Impact Of Transformational Leadership Theory On Leadership Opportunities For Black Women In Black Protestant Churches, Jasmine Y. Lafayette

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Due to changes within society and theological leanings, more Christian leadership opportunities are available for leaders within predominantly Black churches. Campbell-Reed (2018) found that women make up 50 to 75% of the membership in these congregations yet assumed less than 10% of church leadership and perhaps 1% of pastors (p. 2). With such a robust representation of Black women, are they equally represented in leadership roles and opportunities? While there is ample space for speculation about these low percentages, there is also space for exploring the experiences of women regarding leadership opportunities. Transformational leadership theory assumes that the relationship between …

A Descriptive Phenomenological Study Of South Texas Non-Denominational Hispanic Ministry Leaders' Spiritual Formation Through Total Worship, Wendy Méndez

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Spiritual formation transforms a believer’s relationship with Christ. For ministry leaders, especially volunteers, this process may be enhanced through worship practices. Understanding worship as a holistic lifestyle—beyond just musical or liturgical expression—had a profound influence on participants’ personal and spiritual development in this study. Despite the abundance of literature on worship and spiritual formation, a gap existed in understanding how total worship influenced the spiritual lives of volunteer leaders, particularly in culturally diverse communities. This study addressed the lack of research on the role of total worship in the spiritual formation of volunteer leaders in predominantly Hispanic, English-speaking, non-denominational, charismatic …

The Genuine Nature Of Worship In The Scriptures: Bowing Before God As An Act Of Submission, Michael Jones

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The various translations of the Scriptures use the word worship over 250 times in both the Old and New Testaments. Unfortunately, many Christians and even scholars do not understand the meaning of worship and the purpose for doing it. It is pivotal, however, for Christians to understand the meaning and purpose for worship when directed toward God so they may live in obedience to him. The thesis of this dissertation will be that although Christians presume that worship means to praise God, the Scriptures teach that worship means to bow before God as an act of submission as he establishes …

Sacred Space, Divine Presence, And Covenant: A Theological Trajectory From Eden To The Indwelling Spirit Across The Pentateuch And The Book Of Joshua, William C. Merry

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This dissertation thesis is that sacred space, divine presence, and covenant are a theological triad that gives form to the canonical progression from Eden through the Pentateuch into Joshua and finds its eschatological orientation in the indwelling Spirit. The project as a whole, and its treatment of Genesis–Deuteronomy and Joshua in particular, maintains that the presence of God is never conceived independently of a covenantal relationship and is thereby always concretized, i.e., spatialized in and through the site or locale of the sacred space: Eden, the tabernacle, the land, and the sanctuary at Shiloh. Each of these stages in the …

Predicting Income Satisfaction From Artists’ Annual Income And Collegiate Embedded Entrepreneurial Knowledge And Skills, Joy Albert Quarmout

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this quantitative, predictive correlational study was to determine how accurately income satisfaction could be predicted from a linear combination of annual income and inclusion of entrepreneurial knowledge and skills curricula in liberal arts education programs among public college graduates within the past ten years. A purposive sample of 87 graduates was drawn from universities with established art programs who graduated one to ten years ago. The planned behavior theory formed the logic model that guided the thought process, attitude, and reasoning behind this study. The research instrument, The Strategic National Arts Alumni Project: Survey Questionnaire, served as …

Training The Church To Support Sufferers Of Mental Illness Through Comfort Clinics, Jonathan D. Blankenship

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The problem at Laurel Baptist Church (LBC) is the lack of trained members who are equipped to support those suffering from mental illness. The purpose of this DMIN action research project is to create Comfort Clinics, a structured program to train members to support sufferers of mental illness. Normative-sized churches are often uninformed on the topic of mental illness. Subsequently, in those environments, stigmas are nurtured, sufferers feel unseen, and church members lack the necessary training to provide the comfort and support that mental sufferers need. Building on the ecclesiastical call to “comfort those who are in any affliction” (2 …

Reform, Resistance, And Reluctant Change: The Southern Hookworm Epidemic In Progressive Era Georgia, 1909-1915, Hannah Harris

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

In the early twentieth century, the campaign against hookworm disease in the American South became one of the most ambitious public health initiatives in United States history. Led by the Rockefeller Sanitary Commission for the Eradication of Hookworm Disease (1909–1915), reformers sought to diagnose, treat, and ultimately eliminate a parasitic infection believed to contribute to widespread poverty, poor health, and low educational attainment in the rural South. This dissertation examines the hookworm eradication campaign in Georgia to explore how national public health reform intersected with local culture, education, race relations, and regional identity. Drawing on Georgia newspapers, Rockefeller Sanitary Commission …

Florida’S Impact On The War Of 1812, Corey M. Booth

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This dissertation challenges the traditional historiography of the War of 1812, which favors maritime disputes and northern campaigns, by demonstrating that Florida constituted a central theater whose strategic significance has been systematically understudied. Drawing upon multi-archival research in Spanish, British, and American sources and employing a borderlands analytical framework, this study argues that three interconnected imperatives, not discrete motivations, shaped American policy toward Florida during the conflict. First, Florida represented a critical national security vulnerability: British forces exploited Spanish colonial weakness to establish military footholds, armed Creek and Seminole allies, and thereby threatened the entire southern frontier with coordinated indigenous-imperial …

"Hoch Der Kaiser, Der Kaiser Killed A Cat." An Examination Of Anti-German Sentiment In Print In The British Empire During The Great War: Australia And New Zealand, 1914-1918, Grace A. Bailey

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The unprecedented rise in anti-German sentiment across the British Empire during World War I, 1914-1918, was intensified by an “us vs. them” mentality that was reflected daily in the newspapers of the Empire. However, the intense hatred expressed in Antipodean newspapers surpassed that of the rest of the Empire. This dissertation examines the explicit role newspapers in Australia and New Zealand played in inciting Germanophobia among the public and the societal consequences that followed. Ultimately, the hatred led to the internment of those with German heritage, despite their naturalized status. Along the way, however, German Australians changed their last names, …

Nascar's Transformation From Regional Pastime To National Spectacle, 1990 To 2004, Brett James

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

NASCAR, the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, experienced a rapid rise in popularity during the 1990s and early 2000s. Although the sport originated in the postwar southeastern United States and initially drew a largely regional fan base, by the late-1990s it enjoyed a national following and expanded its race schedule across the country. During this period, NASCAR underwent significant changes that affected nearly every aspect of the sport, including its drivers, manufacturers, and the format determining the season champion. Led by the France family, the sport’s owners since its inception in 1948, the industry pursued these changes in …

Paul’S Use Of Μυστηριον In His Epistles To New Testament Churches, Daniel G. Hutchins

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The world in which the apostle Paul ministered was not one where the religious landscape was blank and there was no competition for worldviews. Indeed, the cultural forces of Judaism, Hellenism, and Roman imperialism produced an environment where numerous religious belief systems were present including Jewish apocalypticism and mysticism, Greco–Roman mystery religions, and imperial worship. Paul found himself preaching a message that had to stand on its own merits in an environment that had been religiously conditioned for centuries. Typical of their parent culture, competing religious systems of Paul’s day took different views of Christianity. For Judaism, Christianity represented a …

From Divine Absence To Eternal Presence: Reframing The Jeremianic Temple-City Abandonment Motif From Its Ancient Near Eastern Roots To Its Fulfillment In Christ As The Ultimate Yahwistic Temple, Patrick Stewart

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This dissertation offers a canonical-theological and comparative study of temple destruction, divine absence, and the logic of return by tracing a five-stage “temple-city abandonment” motif across two corpora: the Sumerian City Laments (and related balag̃ material) and the biblical canon. The Sumerian laments depict the catastrophic loss of temple and city within a deterministic world where divine decisions often appear opaque, emotionally volatile, and only tenuously repairable through ritual lament and reconstruction. By contrast, the biblical narrative interprets the same crisis within a covenantal grammar: Jerusalem’s fall is grounded in articulated covenant breach, responsibility is named and confessed through prophetic …

Volunteer Leaders Of Young Adult Ministries In Protestant Churches In The Midwest, Usa, Miriam S. Midzi

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Developing and retaining young adult ministry volunteers helps engage young adults and foster church growth. An article in Lifeway Research states that “Two-thirds (66%) of those who attended church regularly in high school dropped out for at least a year as a young adult” (Earls, 2019). Understanding the views and experiences of church ministry volunteers of this age group is essential as these young men and women are integral to reaching, discipling, and retaining them in the church. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of volunteer leaders of young adult ministries in Midwest Protestant …

The Role Of Forgiveness: Spirituality, Loneliness, And Depression In A Christian University, Elda Botello-Ramirez

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

For university students, loneliness has harmful effects, like depression, but choosing to forgive and embracing spirituality can lead to better mental health. Yet, limited studies have examined these constructs among students enrolled in long-distance learning (LDL) courses. This is important because an increase in loneliness continues, and more students are taking LDL classes. Still, there is a paucity of work on mental health among students in Christian universities. Thus, this quantitative research study examined context-specific or transgression-specific forgiveness (state forgiveness) while considering the role of personality traits (i.e., trait forgiveness) related to forgiveness to investigate its impact on loneliness and …

The Security And Defense Of This Province: General Frederick Haldimand’S Intelligence Operations In North America, 1754-1783, Ryan L. Wagner

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Sir Frederick Haldimand, the unintentional father of Canada, was a pioneering strategist whose sophisticated use of intelligence secured British North America during the American Revolution and shaped the continent’s permanent geopolitical division. Moving beyond traditional American-centric historical narratives, this study argues that Haldimand’s success stemmed from a superior “all-source fusion” methodology, which systematically integrated Human Intelligence (HUMINT) from a remarkably diverse network of Loyalists, Indigenous allies, and French Canadians, with Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT), and administrative data. His network excelled at statecraft and non-kinetic warfare, differentiating his efforts from his contemporaries and establishing him as a foundational figure in modern intelligence …

Leading In The Unexpected: Adaptive Leadership And Time Management, A Phenomenological Study Of The Small Church Pastor, Simorrah J. Majors

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

One of the most challenging obstacles small church pastors face today may be managing their time. This qualitative phenomenological study explored the lived experiences of the use of time management within the scope of church leadership and administration, as perceived through the lens of pastors ages 35 to 80 who are either the senior or sole pastor or elder at small trinitarian Protestant churches in the United States Northeast Region. Time management is generally defined as organizing and planning how to divide time between different activities and functions. The theory guiding this study is Ronald Heifetz's (2009) Adaptive Leadership theory …

Music Ministry Of Children And Youth: A Study And Defense For Incorporating Children And Youth Choirs In The Modern Worship Service, Veronica Leigh Haber Allison

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Graded children’s choir ministries have been a part of churches for the last century. In recent years, there has been a growing trend away from offering music ministry opportunities to children and youth in contemporary churches. There are several reasons for this decline; the major reason is that many churches have moved away from traditional music offerings to a praise band format. It has rendered the musical training of children in church unnecessary. The limited quantity of recent scholarly literature, the decline in commercially produced music, and the discontinuation of teaching materials for children’s choir ministries also attest to this …

The De-Westernization Of Music Education Through World Music, Alec Williams

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study reviews the variety of qualitative research studies that examine the effects of world music in the classroom across different classroom settings. Other studies explore the reactions of the students when presented with music from various cultures and diverse musical identities from around the world. These research studies reveal the importance of exposing students to different cultures, spark a new interest in cultural music, and provide information on the overall effects of artistic exposure. The results of the studies have shown positive influences on students exposed to a World Music class. The importance of cultural inclusion lies in its …

Warriors Across Waters: Kiowa Participation In The World Wars, Ronnie A. Beck

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This dissertation examines the Kiowa Tribe's military participation in World War I and World War II, arguing that these global conflicts served as both transformative and restorative forces within the Kiowa community. Drawing upon archival records, oral histories, military files, and tribal sources, the study analyzes how Kiowa men and women engaged with military service while simultaneously preserving and adapting traditional notions of warriorhood, communal duty, and cultural identity.

Chronologically organized, the dissertation begins with a historical background of the Kiowa Tribe's socio-political and cultural context before World War I; proceeds to factors leading to military service, war experiences, discrimination, …

The Integration Of Multicultural Music And Defining Successful Integration Of Multicultural Music In Three Predominantly White Churches In Baltimore, Maryland: A Case Study, Homeretta Ayala

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

It is important to acknowledge the words in Scripture honoring people of all ethnic groups as cities and therefore churches become more diverse. Baltimore, Maryland is a diverse city, with numerous ethnic communities including those of Italian, Greek, African American, African, Hispanic, and Jewish descent; many churches, however, remain predominantly White. Music is an essential element in worship, and some churches are limited to the ethnic hymns of their congregational hymnals, thus ignoring the wide body of multicultural music that is available. There are numerous challenges when integrating multicultural music, especially if the congregation is not ethnically diverse. At first …

Vocal Strain In General Music Educators: Choral Vs. Instrumental Training, Jennifer Mclean Stadelmeyer

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Elementary general music educators are at high risk for vocal strain due to the continuous demands of speaking, singing, and classroom management throughout the school day. Prolonged vocal strain can result in voice loss, vocal cord damage, and hoarseness. While the issue of vocal health in educators is widely acknowledged, limited research examined the specific factors contributing to vocal strain among general music educators, particularly in relation to their training backgrounds. This quantitative, causal-comparative study investigated the difference in vocal strain between choral-trained and instrumental-trained music educators teaching elementary general music. Participants included elementary general music educators (N = 12) …

Jesus’S View On Church Unity And Leadership: A Comparative Study Of His Views Against The Old Testament And Pauline Models In Addressing Leadership-Driven Divisions Within The Togolese Assemblies Of God Church, Sidibé-Néwendé Kamassé

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This paper will analyze the lack of alignment between Jesus's view of kingdom-centered unity and the pattern of leadership, and how these differences have affected the rule of the church according to biblical history. The paper further examines the problem of divisions driven by leadership in the modern churches, especially those in the Togolese Assemblies of God Church (TAGC). The thesis argues that Jesus's unique teachings on the Kingdom of God can be viewed as both the key organizational principle defining ecclesial leadership and unity and the final leadership paradigm that wrestles with the Old Testament and Pauline models of …

Cattle Drives To Coal Cars: Norfolk & Western And The New South Industrialization Of Tazewell County, Virginia, 1880-1930, Hannah Beth Hensley

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Addressing the impact of the New South gospel of industrialization on Tazewell County, Virginia, this research seeks to examine the county’s shift from a primarily agricultural, barter economy prior to 1880 to one of both industry and agriculture by 1930. It traces Virginia’s early railroads and coal mines, following the creation and collapse of the Atlantic, Mississippi & Ohio Railroad and subsequent birth of the Norfolk & Western Railroad, and details early geographic studies indicating the presence of coal in Southwest Virginia’s mountains. Tazewell County became the gateway to the rich Pocahontas coal fields of West Virginia with the boom …

Evaluating The Central Themes Of The Pentateuch In Apocalypse In Light Of The Pentateuch Author’S Compositional Strategy, Donald Registe

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This dissertation presents a theological interpretation of the thematic analogies between the Pentateuch and the book of Revelation, arguing that the central themes of the Pentateuch reach their consummation in John’s Apocalypse. Previous scholarship has not systematically traced these themes within Revelation, nor placed them in their broader canonical context. This study addresses that gap by demonstrating how the eschatological structures of the Pentateuch find their climax in Revelation. The research employs a methodology grounded in primary biblical texts, supported by critical engagement with Old and New Testament scholarship, accepting conclusions only when warranted by evidence. The first three chapters …