Arts and Humanities Commons^™

If These Walls Could Talk: Restoring 15th Century Paintings In Upper Mustang, Ellie Penner

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The Thupchen monastery, or gompa, in Lomanthang is a site that hosts monumental 15th century Buddhist artworks, which reflect an abundant history from the key trade region of Upper Mustang, Nepal. This site, after neglect and use as a storage space until the 1990s, has seen radical change in the past two decades through an ongoing painting restoration project. Since these restorations began, there have been discrepancies between how scholars and restoration artists believe the work should be done, and how the local community of Lomanthang wants their monastery to be restored. This study aims to examine why the temple …

From Green To Gold: Community Along Lines Of Trade Between Dolpo And Mustang, Jack Cantor

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Mustang and Dolpo are at a tipping point of connectivity and community change as road development brings the districts closer to Nepal’s economic centers. In this independent study, I document contemporary trade relationships between Mustang’s Sangda and Dolpo’s Chharka, currently separated by three days of unmotorable trail. Through in person interview, archival research, and photography, I document methods of economy and community in three villages- Mustang’s Phelag and Sangda, and Dolpo’s Chharka. I focus upon future community prospects of Sangda and Chharka as road development between the two progresses.

As the two villages exchange goods, develop familiarity, and host traders …

Carpets, Education, And Documentation: A Case Study Of The Jawalakhel Tibetan Handicrafts Settlement, Diana Hewitt

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The Jawalakhel Handicrafts Center has been the economic center of the Tibetan community in southern Kathmandu since its founding in 1961. The success of the carpet industry in Nepal allowed the Tibetans in Jawalakhel to become economically self-sustaining, the carpet factory provided livelihood for the refugees who fled from Tibet and their children. The young generation, however, has difficulties finding stable jobs due to the fact that they have no documentation and all formal sector jobs in Nepal require proof of documentation. This lack of opportunity among the younger generation has been a major driver of outmigration from Nepal. The …

Healing In The Himalayas: Mustangi Medical Practitioners’ Perspectives On Integrative Approaches To Chronic Illness, Lucia Morey

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The purpose of this Independent Study Project is to capture a snapshot of the opinions and experiences of 13 health practitioners from 7 villages and towns in Mustang. Specifically, I asked independent healers (IH), amchis and health post workers about their practices and perspectives on chronic illness, integrative medicine and the intersection of the two. I found that there is a flow of information in one general direction, with practitioners along a continuum of most to least globally recognized. Understandably, the least well known (independent healers) are aware of Traditional Tibetan Medicine (TTM) and conventional Western medicine (CWM). Subcategories of …

Tracing Stigma: The Evolution Of The Tattoo In The Middle Ages, Isabella Fusillo

Honors Theses

In the Western world, tattooing began as a mechanism for marking slaves and prisoners in Ancient Greece and Rome. As a result of changes in religion and philosophy, the period between 1100 and 1600 CE set the stage for the tattoo to transform from something that was forcibly done to represent a communal identity into an individual expression of self. This project traces the use and meaning of tattooing from the ancient world into the 1600’s.

A Comparison Of Music Therapy Apporaches Utilized With Persons Diagnosed With Autism Spectrum Disorder (Asd), Sally M. Gibson

Honors Theses

Music therapy is a clinical practice wherein music is used in the context of a therapeutic relationship to address client needs relating to their physical, emotional, cognitive, social, and spiritual health and wellbeing. Two contrasting approaches to music therapy treatment have been identified by Bruscia (2014) as outcome-oriented and experience-oriented. Both approaches provide opportunities for clients to reach their health-related goals, but the planning and implementation of therapy is different from each approach. The purpose of this project was to examine how these two orientations are represented in the professional literature related to autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This paper includes …

Matthew 24-25 As Prophetic-Apocalyptic : Its Structure, Function, And Eschatology, Kennedy K. Ekeocha

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Applying Biblical Teaching To Resolve Power Struggles Between The Pastor And Deacons In A Southern Baptist Church, Jason Oneal Sweeton

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

As the Body of Christ, each person within the church must know their role and responsibility, especially the leadership. The Bible teaches that there are pastors, elders, and bishops referring to one office who have been given the authority to shepherd, or lead as it were, the church. The Bible teaches that deacons are an integral part of the church. They are to be servants in the church and minister to the needs of the congregation. The purpose of this project lies in the misconceptions surrounding the roles and biblical responsibilities of both deacons and pastors. Many churches simply follow …

An Evaluation Of The Responses Of Self-Studies For Aeth Certification Of Hispanic Bible Institutes, Marta Noemi Luna

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The current literature on accreditation of theological education institutions does not include studies focused on the self-studies phase of the accreditation processes (Hernandez et al., 2016; Ramirez, 2019; AETH, 2020b). Little information was found on the number of incomplete self-studies or incomplete certification or accreditation processes (AETH, 2020b). The purpose of this exploratory sequential study was to evaluate the AETH Certification program and the self-study responses by collecting data to determine the factors that prevent Hispanic Bible institutes from successfully fulfilling the requirements, exploring the effects on the stakeholders and the AETH Certification program. The study implemented the CIPP Evaluation …

A Phenomenological Study Of Trauma, Creativity, Resilience, And Artistic Inspiration, James William Teachenor Ii

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand the perceived resilience of creativity derived from childhood trauma for professional creatives employed in the Nashville music industry. The theories guiding this study were Masten’s resiliency theory and Vygotsky’s theory of creativity as they informed the literature on my topic by understanding the link early childhood, especially trauma, had on creativity and the link trauma had on resilience and the life courses of individuals. The qualitative design of this study was hermeneutical phenomenology. The purposive sample consisted of 10 participants who qualified from a purposive sample pool of 117 occupational creatives …

The Worship Battle: Reaching Generations Z And Alpha In American-Based Nigerian Pentecostal Churches, Charles O. Folami

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Despite great strides by Nigerian Pentecostal pastors to bring worship values, concepts, practices, and behaviors to establish and lead churches in the United States, they have been unsuccessful in retaining or reaching the young adults, specifically Generations Z and Alpha. Nigerian Pentecostal pastors have produced many followers and churches, capturing Nigerian immigrants in their locality. Their congregations have heavily focused on adults with little or no succession plan. This study examines existing literature on African Pentecostal pastors' success in America and their operations in connecting with adult immigrants, which is unsuccessful in connecting and retaining Generations Z and Alpha. Guided …

Toward Transformative Christian Education That Facilitates Spiritual Formation At Miracle Temple Church Of God In Christ, Devale A. Hodge

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The discipleship or Christian education ministry at Miracle Temple Church of God in Christ (COGIC) is not fostering intentional spiritual formation within its congregants. Spiritual formation intentionality is missing within the congregation. The lack of spiritual formation intentionally naturally leads to a discipleship deficit. And this deficit is seen and felt within this project’s context. Yet the call to return to deep and transformative disciple-making, which produces Christlikeness is vital and commonplace. This thesis project attempts to examine and address the struggle of discipleship and spiritual formation intentionality at Miracle Temple COGIC. To address the problem the researcher implements a …

Childhood Trauma: Nobody Told Me It Would Impact My Marriage Too, Charles Matthew Houston

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This thesis project addressed the couple’s ministry life group class at Ridgeville Church of God, as it intends to address how childhood trauma affects married couples. The purpose was to provide proper tools and resources through an education process such as a marriage conference. Chapter One introduces the church’s historical context, mission statement, vision statement, the possible limitations of implementing such a class, and the pastor’s professional background. The literature review in Chapter Two highlights the powerful effects of childhood trauma, especially in individuals’ marriages, more specifically, couples’ intimacy. Survey-style data was the selected method used in this research due …

The Medium/Message Is The Message: Intersemiotic Complementarity In James Hogg's The Private Memoirs And Confessions Of A (Justified) Sinner, Jaix Chaix

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This semiotic analysis identifies and characterizes how textual, compositional, and mathematical resources have been strategically articulated to project intersemiotic complementarity in the book The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner; Written by Himself: With A Detail of Curious Traditionary Facts, And Other Evidence, By The Editor attributed to Scottish author James Hogg. This qualitative study approaches the original 1824 edition as a literary work in its original compositional medium as a printed book—not as a text. A theoretical extension of philosopher and media theorist Marshall McLuhan’s maxim The Medium Is The Message serves as a basis for the …

Compassion Fatigue And Burnout: When Caring Becomes Too Much, Ruth Elisabeth Cole

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this DMIN thesis is to provide resources and education for clinical staff to recognize and reduce compassion fatigue and burnout. Compassion fatigue and burnout in hospice clinical staff is a sizeable issue. Clinical staff was defined as doctors, nurses, social workers, chaplains, and aides due to their direct and constant contact with dying patients. By providing resources and education on what compassion fatigue and burnout look like and the primary causes, the study aimed to help clinical staff in the hospice care setting to reduce the damage caused by compassion fatigue and burnout. Resources including counseling sessions, …

The Impact Of Childhood Trauma On Emotional Intimacy And Attachment In Marriage Among Heterosexual Women Who Are Regular Church Attendees, Elizabeth Morten Oates

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the impact of childhood trauma on emotional intimacy and attachment style in marriage among heterosexual women who are regular church attendees. Two research questions drove this current study: (a) How would women who have experienced childhood trauma describe their attachment style in marriage?, and (b) What challenges do women who have experienced childhood trauma face in marriage regarding emotional intimacy with their spouse? Participants completed the Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) Questionnaire (n.d.), the Adult Attachment Scale, and participated in semi-structured interviews. The data were categorized and analyzed using inductive and …

Attributions Of Successful English Language Learners In Transfer-Level English, John David Hart

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to discover what English language learners attribute their successful completion of transfer-level English at a California community college. Attribution is generally defined as the internal and external factors that English language learners identify as aiding in their successful completion of transfer-level English. The theory guiding this study was Tinto’s theory of student integration and persistence, or theory of persistence, as it identifies student characteristics and support systems that theoretically lead to student persistence. It also incorporated elements of Weiner’s attribution theory, as past experiences play a significant role in motivation, persistence, and …

An Exploration Of The Attitudes And Expectations Of African American Congregants Regarding The Succession And Transition Of Their Senior Pastor, Tony O'Neal Hinton

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study addressed the relevance of assessing the attitudes and expectations of African American congregants regarding the succession and transition of their senior pastor. The study focused on a local church in Baltimore, Maryland. The research assumed that including laity within the succession planning of their senior pastor would produce a healthy transition and future of the church. It further examined how the lack of succession planning within the Black church has caused challenges that could be prevented. The literature and biblical text suggest that the people’s role in the success of their leader was critical to the operation of …

Benefits Of Mental Illness Training Programs In The Church, Blessed Onaiwu

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The church consists of God’s people. It is the assembly of believers in Jesus Christ. The physical buildings facilitate the fellowship, worship, and ministry of God’s people. According to Matthew 10:8, one of the mandates given to the body of Christ is to heal the sick. Mental illness of any form is an illness that requires proper care and attention. And we know Jesus came to comfort us in all our afflictions which include mental illness; most churches do not address this topic due to stigma. There is often a greater shame regarding this illness within the church than outside, …

Aging Voices In The American Church Choir: A Study In Ethnomusicology And Ethnodoxology, Shirley Claudeen Ehler

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Despite American church choirs being a distinct culture across all denominations and independent church entities, this traditional worship community of singers is a minority culture in the United States. Furthermore, existing journal literature frequently features young voices, e.g., children's, middle school, teen, and university choirs and choruses. Aging-voice research literature began to appear in the 1990s for individual voices or voices in community choirs. Aging voices are a unique ethnicity found in every race within the church choir culture. Researched literature on the aging voice in the American church choir is conspicuous by its absence, pushing American church choir aging …

God-Image And Romantic Partner Relationships: Emotional Neglect And Adult Women, Danette Alene Buchanan

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Childhood emotional neglect often leads to relationship dissatisfaction, psychopathology, decline in physical health, and permanent scars from a lack of emotional validation. Women who have grown up with a history of emotional invalidation are at risk for suicide, divorce, emotional instability, unstable relationships, and a chronic belief that they are not enough. Lacking emotional attachment from parents and other primary figures, girls and young women may transition into adulthood either anxiously attached, avoidant attached, or both. This state of dysphoria may extend into their perceptions of God and other authority figures. Counselors and other professional helpers such as clergy, teachers, …

Creating Harmony Through A Unified Definition Of Discipleship, Dereck S. Jackson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

It is difficult to function as one unified group in an association of churches where autonomy is central. The ninety-one churches that call Converge Northeast their association desire to start churches, strengthen them, and send people into the harvest field. However, this group of capable churches and leaders has been unable to sustain church health, lacking church growth. After bringing in new leadership, there has been a resurgence of relationship building and vision casting. What might this group of churches need to become vibrant disciple-making churches? Unity among autonomous churches will require that leaders are on the same page and …

A Model For Ongoing Leadership Development In Evangelical Generation Z Ministry Leaders, Jillieta Diane Norwood

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this grounded theory study was to explore the leadership preparedness and biblical worldview of Generation Z (Gen Z) Christian ministry leaders to inform the formation of a theoretical model for ongoing leadership development. Participants (N=7) were paid senior ministry leaders of Assembly of God churches in the Midwest region who were involved in the hiring process and ongoing development of paid Gen Z ministry leaders. Additional participants included ministry leaders who fell within the defined years of the Generation Z cohort (1995-2010) and who had been employed by the church for a minimum of six months (N=10). …

The Greatest Conceived Being: A Trinitarian Response To Islamic Objections, Sherene Nicholas Khouri

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The Islamic golden age under the Abbasids opened up the opportunity for Christian thinkers to present several apologies for the doctrine of the Trinity in Islamic context. This study examines the status of the Arabic church in the eighth to tenth centuries, especially the trinitarian apologies of John of Damascus, Theodore Abū Qurrah, and Yaḥyā Ibn ‘Adi against Islamic misunderstanding of the Trinity and its probable cause, in order to come up with trinitarian apologetics that answer Islamic objections and that will be useful for the present day. While both Christians and Muslims agree that human beings will never be …

Youth Discipleship Framework For Church Revitalization, Temaris Loran Moore

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

In most recent years, the decline of youth in North American churches has become a general area of concern. Churches, para-ministries, and youth ministries alike have sought to combat the mass youth exodus. Despite the gains recognized in education, ministry to emerging generations in practical ways churches ar not fairing well in their ability to engage and maintain young believers. This project stems from the idea that a youth discipleship framework is essential to youth discipleship and church revitalization. This study uses dual quantitative and qualitative interviews with youth ministry leaders to understand their experiences and observations regarding the barriers …

Biblical Servant Leadership And The Senior Executive Service (Ses) Role In The Federal Government: Quantitative Correlational Study, Eugene Quinn Jr

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Considering the traits of biblical servant leadership, this leadership style may be ideal for the entrusted federal government positions of the Senior Executive Service (SES). The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), SES, was created by Congress to provide a government mobile cadre of managers for the federal government. These federal government employees are the backbone of the executive leadership in the federal government. The SES is mandated to respect and adhere to the fundamental principles of ethical service (behaves in an honest, fair, and ethical manner). The SES are federal government employees and are the link between a federal …

The Intergenerational Church's Role In Family Worship, Jeremy Robert Jordan

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Throughout the Scriptures, God calls parents to teach their children to glorify God through worship. The Bible also commands all generations to encourage one another through worship and service. Throughout history, there are many examples of God’s people spending time in family worship, but over the past couple of decades, there has been a decline in parents discipling their children. A great number of parents are now expecting the church to provide the biblical training their children need. The lack of parents taking the time to teach their children and lead them in worship daily has led to high school …

The Pandemic's Impact On The Efficacy Of Chaplaincy At The Baldwin State Prison, John Gomez

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Chaplains usually provide pastoral care for inmates, staff members, and counseling for offenders and offenders’ families. Because of the pandemic, they have not provided adequate pastoral care and counseling in their respective facilities. The restrictions imposed by the pandemic have negatively impacted the chaplain’s ability to adequately provide pastoral care and counseling in most federal and state correctional institutions. The Department of Georgia Correctional facilities, particularly at the Baldwin State prison, has also experienced this decrease in pastoral care and counseling due to the pandemic. In the Georgia Department of Corrections, all visitations, including lawyers and clergy, have been suspended …

Jesus’S Subversive Reading Of The Isaian Jubilee: Luke 4:16–30 In Theological-Historiographical Perspective, Jeff Scott Kennedy

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

A growing number of scholars have proposed that Luke, or his sources, fabricated the story of Jesus reading a text in the Nazareth synagogue (Luke 4:14–30) in order to appeal to the literate sensibilities of Luke’s Greek audience. The thesis of this dissertation is that Luke’s portrayal of Jesus as a capable public reader and expositor of the Scripture is historically credible and Christologically significant. Rather than implying that Jesus was a scribal-literate reader, Luke’s synagogue narrative signals that Jesus was a capable and a welcomed lay-reader of the Prophets, and a capable yet unwelcomed expositor who appeared to have …

Back To School: Changes In Elementary General Music Curriculum Design After Covid-19, David Christian Moniz

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this project is to identify how elementary general music curriculum can address the negative impacts of the sense of isolation felt by elementary music students because of COVID-19. When designed appropriately, components of the elementary music curriculum can help recover the sense of belonging lost during the implementation of forced remote and hybrid learning platforms. With the use of large-group surveys, this qualitative research study investigates the sense of isolation felt by elementary general music students after remote school attendance, hybrid school attendance, and non-attendance. These perspectives did not exist until recently, as the effects of the …