Arts and Humanities Commons^™

An Apologetic To Sun Hwan Pyun's Dialogue Theology As A Liberation Theology Of Religions, Youngchan Kim

Masters Theses

Sun Hwan Pyun was a professor at Methodist Theological University. As a theologian, he grappled with two important theological questions: "Is Christianity an exclusive religion?" and "Is Christianity only a religion for the upper class?" Regarding the exclusivism of Christianity, Pyun searched for an answer in ecumenical-religious pluralism. As an answer for "is Christianity for the poor", he accepts Minjung liberation theology. Pyun wanted to combine these two theologies and, subsequently, referred to his dialogue theology as a liberation theology of religions. The purpose of this thesis is to search for the theological and biblical answers to these theological questions …

Daniel Hannan, Thomas Paine, And The Rhetoric Of Outrage, Danae Brack

Masters Theses

The purpose of this rhetorical study is to examine the textual charisma of Thomas Paine's Common Sense and Daniel Hannan's speech "The Devalued Prime Minister of a Devalued Government" and how that charisma made these artifacts successful in spreading outrage surrounding the historical and political events of their respective eras. The author uses Weber's theory of charisma filtered through Rosenberg and Hirschberg's expanded theory identifying lexical charisma, or the charisma of messages. The author analyzes Paine's and Hannan's use of persuasiveness, believability, and powerfulness, translating each of these characteristics into specific cues that can be identified in the individual texts. …

Creating A Millennial Generation Contextualized Church Culture, Christopher Deitsch

Masters Theses

The Millennial generation, or Generation Y as some people know them, is the biggest generation in the United States of America history. As they flood schools, universities, and the job market it is easy to see that there are major differences between them and previous generations. Simultaneously, the church in America has hundreds of individual churches each year closing and tens of thousands each year declining; most churches are ceasing to grow. The inability to reach Millennials is one of the reasons for this decline. This thesis purposes to give a snapshot of the Millennial generation, overview a few of …

Interpretations Of Student Engagement In The Context Of The Orff Schulwerk Music Classroom At The Dubard School For Language Disorders, Anna Rebecca Bondurant Halliday

Dissertations

The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the lived experiences of four students with language disorders within the context of their Orff Schulwerk music class at the DuBard School for Language Disorders. In addition, the observational insights of their classroom teachers and the practitioner researcher were compared with the responses of the students in order to determine any discrepancies between the child’s awareness of his or her musical engagement and that of the observer. Using data collected from interviews, stimulated recall (Dempsey, 2010), and student generated artwork (Freeman & Mathison, 2009), I explored the lived experiences of …

Jimmy Carter’S Post-Presidential Rhetoric: Faith-Based Rhetoric And Human Rights Foreign Policy, Daniel Eric Schabot

Dissertations

Former President James Earl Carter is well known for his rhetorical efforts to promote human rights. Carter’s human rights advocacy is motivated and sustained by his belief that God duty-bounds him to assist those less fortunate than himself. Scholars generally concede, however, that as president, Jimmy Carter’s human rights accomplishments were minimal and that he failed to develop or institute consistent policies. This dissertation compares and contrasts Carter’s presidency and postpresidency with respect to human rights accomplishments, arguing that he was better able to serve an advocacy role when out of office. Carter, free of separation of church and state …

Honorable Shame: The Rhetorical Use Of Didactic Shame Discourse In Ezekiel 36:16-32, Ronald Mudge

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Mudge, Ronald R. "Honorable Shame: The Rhetorical Use of Didactic Shame Discourse in Ezekiel 36:16-36" Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2012.328 pp.

After promising Israel such wonderful gifts as a new heart and a return to the land, Ezek36:16-32 ends with a command for Israel to be ashamed. Biblical scholars have offered a number of different explanations for this unusual order without consensus.

A methodology that employs sociological interpretation and rhetorical analysis covers new ground and resolves the crux of Ezek 36:16-32. A basic word study demonstrates that primary shame lexemes in Ezekiel refer to low status as judged by an …

On The “Border Line Of Tragedy”: White Slavery, Moral Protection, And The Travelers’ Aid Society Of New York, 1885-1917, Eric C. Cimino

Theses & Dissertations: Molloy Faculty

This dissertation examines the travelers’ aid movement of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries through a case study of the Travelers’ Aid Society of New York. Travelers’ aid was part of a larger movement for moral reform that arose as a response to social problems unleashed by industrialization, urban growth, and mass immigration. Moral reformers believed that vices such as prostitution were wreaking havoc on individuals, communities, and, consequently, on the national fabric. To combat prostitution, reformers launched a variety of campaigns in both the United States and Europe, one of which targeted a practice known as “white slavery,” …

Union And Confederate Veterans, James Marten

History Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Chicago: A Movie Musical Mockery Of The Media's Razzle Dazzle Image Of Murder., Emily Sulock

Pell Scholars and Senior Theses

This thesis closely examines the adaptation of Rob Marshall’s 2002 movie musical Chicago, specifically how the music and choreography support the mocking tone against the media and criminal justice system. With a storyline that has lasted almost a century, its themes still relate to our society today as it exposes the corrupt industries that hold an unhealthy amount of power over public opinion. By breaking down musical numbers, “Both Reached for the Gun” and “Razzle Dazzle,” I argue that Marshall’s unique concept connects to a modern generation immune to over-publicized and infamous murder trials.

Mind The Gap: An Analysis Of The Function Of Love In The Works Of Tom Stoppard And C.S. Lewis., Jacqueline C. Lawler

Pell Scholars and Senior Theses

Writers C.S. Lewis and Tom Stoppard, though philosophically different, both write about love that embodies the natural law. The natural law can be defined as law that is inherent in man and can be discerned by reason rather than by revelation. Both writers use their observational style in order to reason their way to nearly identical laws of love. Stoppard’s The Invention of Love, Arcadia, Rock ‘n’ Roll and The Real Thing will be analyzed using the framework of C.S. Lewis’s book, The Four Loves.

The Prevention Of Victory: How The U.S. Government Crippled Support For The Iraq War, Jacob M. Petrarca

Pell Scholars and Senior Theses

A history of how the beginning stages of the War in Iraq were handled so poorly, from its misleading onset to the ill-fated concept of De-Ba'athification and the horrors at Abu-Ghraib and how the subsequent public out lash led to the impossibility for a positive outcome.

Darkness In The City Of Light: The Great Roundup Of 1942 & France’S Role In The Shoah., Benjamin T.C. Mead

Pell Scholars and Senior Theses

This thesis explores the incident of the Vel d'Hiv Roundup in Paris in July of 1942. It was the largest roundup of Jews in France during WWII, and remains a topic that is still very taboo, but due to books like "Sarah's Key" and rising interest, other nation's roles in the Holocaust are being explored. The author drawing upon three focuses of study-- majors in History, Religious & Theological Studies, and a French minor-- attempts to show how the Holocaust impacted a nation who's national motto is "Liberty, Equality, Brotherhood."

Children In The Civil War, James Marten

History Faculty Research and Publications

The Civil War affected every aspect of the lives of American children, lending excitement to the lives of Northern children, imposing hardships and limitations on Southern white children, and changing the lives of African-American children forever.

A Postmodern Sense Of Nostalgia: Demonstrating Through A Textual Analysis Of Twin Peaks How Cult Membership Can Be Inculcated., Nicholas G. Albanese

Pell Scholars and Senior Theses

This paper explores a “cult” following in television, by looking at various aspects of the program Twin Peaks. It seeks to answer the questions of how a television show that aired for only two seasons over two decades ago was and still is able to garner such a loyal fandom, and is there some primary factor for developing this cult status? In order to answer these questions, aspects of media studies such as narrative complexity, authorship and the cult status of a show, as well as elements from the show itself, such as postmodernism and manufactured nostalgia must be teased …

"Super Salesmen" For The Toughest Sales Job: The Utah Nippo, Salt Lake City's Japanese Americans, And Proving Group Loyalty, 1941-1946, Sarah L. B. Fassmann

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In this thesis, I examine the Utah Nippo, a newspaper that published in Salt Lake City, Utah, in Japanese and English during World War II. People of Japanese descent are called Nikkei. The immigrant parents are termed Issei and their U.S. citizen children are Nisei. I look specifically at the Utah Nippo English section editors' messages to Salt Lake City's Nikkei population and draw out the paper's editorial themes intended for resident Utah Nikkei—and for the larger Euro-American population.

After the 7 December 1941 Japanese military attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States government ordered that Nikkei on the …

The Construction Of Salvadoran Identity In A Houston Barrio: Lengua, Identidad Y Transnacionalismo, Stephanie Brock

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The present study examines Salvadoran identity construction in Segundo Barrio, Houston, Texas by utilizing a multi-disciplinary methodology. Linguistically, this is investigated by comparing two distinct Salvadoran corpora in order to not only obtain a more critical understanding of the role of language within Salvadoran identity construction but also to legitimize the lived experiences of this community through linguistic counternarratives. The internal factors employed during the semi-directed sociolinguistics interviews include self-identification, time spent in Houston and El Salvador, music and gastronomical choices, experiences with other Salvadorans and non-Salvadorans, and language use. All informants varied in external factors. Anthropologically, this work explores …

The Image Of The American Revolutionary Soldier And The Problem Of Historical Memory, Stephanie N. Powelson

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Pubic memories of the American Revolution have played a central role in the creation of an American national identity. As a result of the importance of these military memories in creating a sense of social cohesion, images of the men who fought in the Revolution have often been systematically created and propagated, thus leading to myths and stereotypes in popular culture. Master of Arts (MA), August 2012, 111 pp., 2 tables, 4 figures, 76 references, 8 titles. This thesis analyzes the images of the soldiers of the American Revolution in public memory and in professional historiography. There is a perplexing …

An Analysis Of Narrative Types And An Investigation Into The Privileging Of Narrative Types On Standardized Testing, Rachel Villarreal Garza

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Research on the narrative writing of males and females shows significant differences between the two, and scores for standardized writing tests consistently demonstrate females outperforming males. Based on this information, it is important to investigate whether there are links between narrative content and this gender gap. In this study, I selected fifty officially scored essays written in response to an eleventh grade English Language Arts Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills exam. Essays were coded for broad and specific narrative types according to categories adapted from research on the writing of males and females. I then determined whether certain narrative …

Walking Out: The Success Of The Edcouch-Elsa Student Walkout Of 1968 Through The Media, David Robles

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This study demonstrates how the success of the Edcouch-Elsa walkout of 1968 was brought upon not only by its organization, non-violent tactics, land mark victory in federal court, and support from several of Mexican American organizations. What also aided the student movement in Edcouch-Elsa was the media attention and how it influence the Rio Grande Valley community not only to question the tactics being used towards Mexican American students in the local educational institutions, but also created public discourse over the issues of race, equality, and students’ rights. Using various academic books of the subject, newspaper clippings of the time …

African Slavery In Colonial Veracruz: The Factors That Aided Its Creation And Expansion, Veronica Nohemi Duran

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The focal point of this study is to prove that it was the simultaneous presence of five factors during the 16th and 17th centuries that allowed African enslavement in Veracruz to expand. I built upon previous works and authors to support my claim that it was the decline in native population, economic profits, religious apathy on the subject, social acceptance and government support that pushed for the systems creation and expansion. By discussing each of these factors in a chapter of their own, I concluded that in an almost cause and effect manner these factors are responsible for the expansion …

Palabras Bajo El Mar, Silvia Mar

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

En la presente colección de poemas, la cual se encuentra situada en el contexto de la poesía amorosa, tendrá el objetivo primeramente de llevar al lector al origen de esta colección, explicando asimismo su función dentro del contexto contemporáneo. Se explicará cómo y por qué fue gestándose este conjunto, mencionando la influencia de la estética de grandes poetas contemporáneos, así como la influencia de estímulos exteriores para la inspiración de un trabajo creativo. Se explicará también como se fue elaborando a través de la escritura, una visión propia del mundo y de la poesía.

A History Of Labor Degradation On The Border, Hidalgo County, Texas, 1920-1970s, Edward David Avila

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Between 1920 and 1970 laborers in Hidalgo County were degraded and ranked among the lowest paid workers in the nation. Colonizers including land developers seeking to exploit the commercial agriculture potential of the Rio Grande Valley divided the working poor along race, gender, and class lines. Such labor strategy allowed Anglo Americans and in some cases elite Mexicans to subjugate working class Mexicans and Mexican Americans to substandard wages and miserable working conditions. This thesis argues the origin of the degradation of the working poor by analyzing wages, work conditions, race relations, and gendered dimensions of labor in the region. …

How To Get To The Other Side Of Emotional Pain, Ronnie Moore

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this dissertation is to provide a resource of approaches to deal with pain and guide in the direction of getting to the other side of pain. This project is used from a journey of painful events. The study is performed from literature, research and personal experiences. Therefore, this dissertation will provide and allow a person a valuable resource to deal with emotional pain and painful situations as well as provide several tools to get to the other side of emotional pain. It will also show how to understand emotional pain and work through the most devastating hurt …

Epic Families: Equipping Parents To Reclaim Their Biblical Mandate While Inspiring Children To Know And Love The God Who Made Them, Marybeth Meltzer

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

A review of current literature demonstrates that there is a fundamental problem in the church today: the church has taken on the primary role of discipling children, while many parents have abrogated their biblical mandate as outlined in Deuteronomy 6:6-9. Surveys of parents as well as practical ministry experience confirm that great confusion exists among parents as to the scope of their biblical responsibilities. This project reviews historical perspectives and the present situation in the church and offers guidance to both parents and ministry professionals to help parents reclaim their God-given responsibilities.

Pastoral Care: A New Model For Assessing The Spiritual Needs Of Hospitalized Patients, Douglas Robinson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Hospitalized patients are at an elevated risk of suffering from spiritual distress. Patients value and expect having spiritual and emotional needs met when hospitalized. A direct correlation exists between spiritual and physical health, making spiritual assessment and care a pastoral priority. Research indicates a lack of proper training for pastors making hospital visits. The purpose of this project is to provide pastors with resources and understanding of spiritual assessment of hospitalized patients. This project also provides pastors with a template for a new model of spiritual assessment to aid with establishing a spiritual assessment tool to meet their ministry needs, …

A Study Of Social Injustice And Forgiveness In The Case Of North Korean Refugees, Jin Uk Park

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The current study evaluated the psychometric utility of Decisional Forgiveness Scale and Emotional Forgiveness Scale for the North Korean refugee population and explored the relationship among social adaptation, religious commitment, unforgiveness, forgiveness style and mental health variables (trauma symptoms and depression) among North Korean refugees. Confirmatory Factor Analyses were conducted to investigate the North Korean version of DFS and EFS with collected data from 269 North Korean refugees. The forgiveness instruments, when modified with appropriate item deletions, could be considered as useful for North Korean refugees. In the Multiple Regression Analysis, four of five predictors (social adaptation, hurt characteristics, forgiveness …

The Evangelical Churches In The Gdr And Their Participation In East-West Cooperation, Christa Grengel

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The Evangelical Regional Churches in the GDR had to deal with the problem that they experienced directly living on the borderline between East and West which divided their own country. They understood this situation to be the result of National-Socialism and World War II, confessed to having been partly responsible for it and became convinced, therefore, that they had a unique responsibility for reconciliation and for overcoming this division on the borderline between the great power blocs. Based on the shared notion of “Christianity in Germany” all Evangelical Regional Churches remained parts of a pan-German institution, the “Evangelical Church in …

Considerations For Creating A Believable Creature For The Short Film Li Fe, Matthew Prestridge

All Theses

This thesis illuminates the specific methods undertaken to achieve of a realistic computer-animated creature that consumes light and dwells in a cave. The animation short, Li Fe, contains seven such creatures whose anatomy required various production techniques to achieve a believable appearance appealing to viewers in a strong way. In most animations all areas of production need to be optimized for fast rendering as well as easily adaptable to change. The modeling, texturing, shading and lighting methods for Li Fe underwent such optimization to achieve a truly believable creature. The look of the creatures was made possible by relying on …

When The Rangers Came Home: Reconstructing Lives In Fauquier County, Virginia, 1865-1866, Madeleine Forrest

All Theses

Fauquier County, Virginia, is an idyllic spot in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. However, it has seen its fair share of heartache and pain. It is better known to history as being an integral part of Mosby's Confederacy, the postage-stamped sized area of land in Northern Virginia. It was there in the foothills of the mountains, that one of the most famous guerilla outfits in the Confederate Army operated under the command of John Singleton Mosby. Mosby's men came from many of the leading families in the county and were used to a world of wealth and privilege. …

The Stone People Effect: A Visual Generated In Houdini, Shirley Yu

All Theses

The short film RhizComics, created in collaboration with Jason Helms, explores comics and comic theory. The opening scene showcases a special effect created in Houdini made to illustrate the ideas in RhizComics. The effect involves two characters morphing into stones and tumbling to the ground. This paper documents the production design for the scene and the steps taken to achieve the effect.