Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Two Churches, One Vision: Sacred Architecture As A Reflection Of Benedictine Values And Liturgical Reform, Katheryn Wethli

Obsculta

This piece compares the architecture of the worshipping spaces of Saint Benedict's Monastery's Sacred Heart Chapel and Saint John's Abbey Church; presenting how the worshiping spaces uplift their monastic communities’ Benedictine values and demonstrate their monastic call towards evangelizing the Gospel in the modern world, highlighting the liturgical reforms of the mid-20th century.

Developing A Method To Study To Examine Lookism On Social Media, Shana Ramnarain, Alyssa Dana Adomaitis

Publications and Research

“Lookism” is a term to describe appearance discrimination or “the practice of discrimination on the basis of physical appearance in the workplace” (Ghodrati, Joorabchi, & Muati, 2015, p.1). In popular literature, it has been called “beauty prejudice” (Etcoff, 1999, p. 1). The notion that a pleasing appearance results in favorable outcomes (e.g., higher wages, promotions) from others is not necessarily new, as literature on physical attractiveness is rather extensive. The Washington Post Magazine first used the term “lookism” in 1978 (e.g., Ayto, 1999), however, the term “lookism” was first recognized as a form of discrimination by authors of the Oxford …

American Composers Concert, May 4, 2023 [Program], University Of Northern Iowa. School Of Music.

Music Recital Programs

Program of a music recital given by faculty, students, or guest artists from the School of Music at the University of Northern Iowa.

Storytelling Through Impressionist Music And American Sign Language: The Engulfed Cathedral, Elise Major

Undergraduate Theses

“The Legend of the City of Ys” is a Breton story of a city’s downfall and curse to be swallowed by the sea. Years later, this tragic tale inspired “The Engulfed Cathedral,” a piano composition for Claude Debussy’s Preludes, Book I, L. 117. Following analyses of “The Legend of the City of Ys” and “The Engulfed Cathedral,” an interpretation of the narrative was created in American Sign Language to be performed with the music. The goal is to focus on inclusivity and accessibility in music for Deaf and hard of hearing individuals, and then expand that to consider how to …

"Don't Put Restrictions On Us": The Dangers Of Conservative And Populist Appeals For Abortion Access In Post-Roe America, Kayla Schmitz

Department of Communication Studies: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This thesis critically analyzes Kansans for Constitutional Freedom’s campaign ads for their campaign against the Value Them Both Amendment in Kansas in 2022. Value Them Both would have stripped the Kansas constitution of its protection of personal autonomy and therefore abortion rights. Kansans for Constitutional Freedom used populist and otherwise conservative appeals in their ads to reach audiences across the political “spectrum” to gain their votes against Value Them Both. While the campaign was widely successful, there are many things it did not do for the broader concern of reproductive healthcare access in the United States, particularly for those living …

The Wolves' Teeth, Abigail Moore

Honors College Theses

This is a Neo-Noir screenplay examining the femme fatale, mental illness, and the Noir male protagonist.

Isaiah 7:10-25: The Climax Of The Messianic Expectation, Thong K. Tran

Obsculta

Is there a man called Messiah who was promised by God? Did he come? Or will he come? Isaiah gave the most straightforward prophecy — Isaiah 7:10-25 — about him. Since then, a lot of efforts have been made to figure out "Who is he?" However, to acknowledge Jesus as the only fulfillment of the messianic expectation, a possibly correct interpretation is not enough. One also needs a leap of faith.

Incarnate Spirits: The Embodied Roots Of Worship, Henry O. Widdicombe

Obsculta

Spirituality is “how the Spirit of Jesus enables Christians to grow into fullness with God in this life and in particular historical circumstances.” The role of the community is definitive in shaping the spirituality of an individual and the interior dynamism of spirit is contextualized by incarnate experience. This piece employs the thought of Bernard Lonergan, SJ bolstered with the work of two Lonergan scholars, Ian Bell and Timothy Brunk, on the notion of a “worshipful” pattern of experience.

Teresa Of Avila's Inward Journey To Spiritual Growth, Anne Cahill

Obsculta

This essay describes the basic structure of Teresa's understanding of spiritual growth as depicted in her seven "dwelling places" in the Interior Castle. It places emphasis upon where God invites our cooperation (cooperative grace) and where God acts alone(operative grace). It includes how this spiritual growth affects our prayer, and our relationships with other people.

The Role Of Darkness And Trial In Spiritual Growth As Described In The Cloud Of Unknowing, Carrie O'Neil-Smith

Obsculta

This essay was written in Professor Michael Rubbelke's class titled "Growing into God: Spiritual Development in the Christian Tradition." The piece looks at darkness and trial and three resulting fruits of spiritual growth: humility, knowledge of one's true nature, and an experience of God's pure love as described in the fourteenth century work The Cloud of Unknowing.

How To Talk About God: Origen And Gregory Of Nazianzus On Divine Transcendence And Theological Language, Coleman S. Kimbrough

Obsculta

This article discusses the doctrine of God of the early Church Fathers Origen and Gregory of Nazianzus. According to these two theologians, the tension between God's transcendence and God's immanence conditions the language we use to name and describe God. Such "God-talk" is necessarily limited by the ontological divide between the human and the divine. Using Origen and Gregory as reference points, I examine how the precise and careful use of apophatic, cataphatic, and analogical language is necessary to properly account for both God's eternal nature and God's work in the material world.

Contributor Bios, Obsculta Editors

Obsculta

No abstract provided.

"Get Me The Girl For A Wife": Feminist Readings Of Genesis 34-35, Jacqueline Sanchez-Small Osb

Obsculta

This essay, originally written for “The Hebrew Scriptures: History, Theology, and Controversy,” considers the story of the rape of Dinah, exploring the text’s history and its traditional interpretations. Drawing on the work of Phyllis Trible’s Texts of Terror, the piece proposes a feminist and liberatory reading of the passage, one that centers the personhood of Dinah and the other women of the story.

Patient Response To Find New Meaning In Familiar Language, Kelly Olson

Obsculta

This piece is a reflection of the ongoing controversy of feminism in a patriarchal society. The reflections in this essay are limited to the conversation of male versus female body but it should be understood this is not intended to overlook or undermine the diverse spectrum of gender expression. While there is much needed to be said, explored, contemplated and shared regarding gender identity in the Body of Christ, this reflection addresses the female narrative in scripture.

A Central Task Of Theology: Authenticity In Relationship With God, Lydia Mattern

Obsculta

This work is a reflection on the beautiful mystery of Theology and what it means to be in authentic relationship with God. It is a cumulative piece of noteworthy ideas taught by Dr. Kristin Colberg in Thinking Theologically, a class that changed Lydia's life. It demonstrates that Theology is a vehicle used to come to understand God.

Nonviolent Communication: A Foundational Skill For Ministry, Mary L. Parks

Obsculta

A need for more formation has been identified during the continental phase of the Synod on Synodality. Furthermore, a conference of the Catholic Nonviolence Initiative has observed a lack of time devoted to nonviolence in existing Catholic formation. This paper will demonstrate how incorporating Nonviolent Communication (NVC) into formation will meet these needs.

Death Of A Salesman: A Treatise On Technical Direction Practices, Stephanie Schlosser

Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film: Theses, Student Research, and Creative Work

The Nebraska Repertory Theatre, in partnership with the Johnny Carson School of Theatre, Film, and Emerging Media Arts at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, chose to produce Death of a Salesman, directed by Jacqueline Thompson, for the second show of their 2022-2023 season. Death of a Salesman was produced on the Howell Stage, a 300-seat proscenium theatre located in the Temple building on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus. The graduate faculty assigned the role of Technical Director to me in May 2022. As technical director I was responsible for budgeting materials and labor, drafting and engineering scenery, managing personnel, maintaining …

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’S The Marriage Of Figaro, Camille Lerner

Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film: Theses, Student Research, and Creative Work

The Marriage of Figaro is generally considered to the world’s most popular operas, selling out across the world. At the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the school of music decided to tackle the monstrous task of putting on this production, and by collaborating with the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film, brought in a design team that could meet the expectations, requirements, and demands of this monumental production. By working closely with collaborators, the university was able to, rather smoothly, create a moving performance that will be remembered by many.

Advisor: Jamie Bullins

Arthur Miller, Death Of A Salesman, Paige Moeller

Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film: Theses, Student Research, and Creative Work

In this thesis our rendition of Death of a Salesman turns the story by presenting it in the eyes of an African-American working man. With the influence of the infamous Arthur Miller, my take on this classic tale will demonstrate the maturity and elegance that I could manufacture during the intense process. The show had a surplus of challenges, one of the biggest being the content of the script itself with our contrasting vision, as well as sudden directorial shifts and character additions. This thesis will cover the entire process from initial designs, communication, tech process, and more. The complexity …

Keeping Covenant: The Story And Scholarly Scrutiny Of David And Goliath, Peter Tran

Obsculta

The story of David and Goliath is a tale of courage, duty, and faith in God. What is taken for granted, however, is whether or not David was actually the one who killed Goliath. Some critical scholars have begun to question the long-standing claim that David defeated Goliath. So, who really killed him and what are the theological implications? A thorough examination will shed light on this question.

Jesus' Identity As "The Son Of God" Revealed In The Narrative "The Transfiguration Of Jesus" (Mark 9:2-8), Hang T.H. Nguyen Op

Obsculta

This article is an exegesis of the narrative “The Transfiguration of Jesus” in Mark 9: 2-8, the powerful evidence of Jesus’ full identity as the “Son of God” and the manifestation of His glorious state that are inseparable from his suffering, death, and resurrection. His final triumph must take place in and through his suffering and death. Thus, we, as his followers, are invited to participate in the future triumph and glory of God by following his “way” to gain the promised glory.

Self-Revelation Of God In Jesus Christ As Love And The Kingdom Of God In Walter Kasper's Jesus The Christ, Hang T.H. Nguyen Op

Obsculta

This article is an examination of the Christology of Walter Kasper, a German Catholic cardinal and theologian. Through his work of Jesus the Christ, Kasper shows God’s self-revelation as love in the person Jesus Christ – the earthly and the exalted Jesus, who brings to human beings the message of his Kingdom, in which they can attain salvation, joy, peace, and justice.

This Is The Way: Christian Asceticism Alive In The Star Wars Universe, David Allen Osb

Obsculta

This article is a creative reflection on how the Desert Fathers, especially St. Antony, could be compared in a pastoral way to the Jedi Masters found in the Star Wars Film and Television Canon.

Gender And Colonialism: An Intergenerational Conversation In African Literature, Khadizatul Kubra

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

It is thought that African literature tends to be dominated by the masculine-oriented politics that also characterizes African public political life. In some cases, this is true, but there is a feminist movement in Africa, and many African women writers are using global feminist principles and global anti-colonial principles to write a different kind of literature. As a consequence, recent novels such as Yvonne Vera’s Nehanda (1993), set in Zimbabwe, and Petina Gappah’s Out of Darkness, Shining Light (2019), revise past, often male, African writers’ approaches to depicting the genders, even as they also criticize, implicitly or explicitly, still-widespread colonialist …

Editors' Introduction

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

No abstract provided.

Code-Switching Among Heritage Spanish Speakers: Attitudes, Practices, And Pedagogical Implications, Farah Ali

Global Language Studies Faculty publications

Code-switching is perhaps one of the most salient linguistic practices among Spanish-English bilinguals in the U.S., and therefore widely investigated. (Bailey 2000; Kern 2019; Lipski 2014). While code-switching is typically associated with bilinguals who are highly proficient in two languages (Balukas & Koops 2014; Benevento & Dietrich 2015; Poplack 1980; Rangel et al. 2015), it is crucial to also highlight the code-switching practices of bilinguals who may have unequal levels of proficiency in each language, such as in the case of some heritage language (HL) learners. The present study examines socio-pragmatic functions of code-switching among heritage learners of Spanish. Using …

Irb Protocol: Hss Oral Communication Document Analysis, James Lipuma

STEM for Success Resources

Conducting a Document Analysis of Rubrics for Oral Communication Protocol

Grant Steinweg Composition Senior Recital, Andrews University

Student Degree Recitals 2022-2023

Grant Steinweg, composer Assisted by many gracious musicians from the Department of Music and the surrounding community.

“An Evening of Creativity, Collaboration, and Worship”

Dhara Marquez Senior Violin Recital, Andrews University

Student Degree Recitals 2022-2023

Le Souvenir

A senior recital by Dhara Marquez. Accompanied by Kenneth Logan, Diego Duran and Aiko Ayala

Uncanny Evolution, Will Baca

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

I like to think about reality and simulacra in the internet age as then and now. Then being everything before a conscious awakening and now being anything between consciousness and reading this. The image is an arranged landscape divided into thirds from right to left, similar to a timeline. I tried my best not to use square images, cutting out only the important objects or symbols. My image uses little to no negative space, somewhat of a sensory overload. All the images are different sizes and I used layer arrangement to embed smaller objects into any negative space. From the …