Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Agapē, Aretē, And The Arena: Exploring Sport Through Faith, Reason, And Olympism, Gary V. Meegan

Journal of Catholic Education

Young people have a passion for play, for competition and sport, a place where they feel fully alive. As a result, Catholic schools have introduced courses to explore sport and spirituality, delving into the working of God in their lives through athletics. However, the study of philosophy is integral to the understanding of the Catholic faith, therefore any education must also include the study of philosophy if it is to be authentically Catholic. The opportunity to create a course that incorporated both disciplines with sport resulted in a high school elective course titled, Philosophy and Theology of Sport. Its purpose …

Finding God In All Things: A Course On Theology Of Sport At A Jesuit High School, Craig M. Smith

Journal of Catholic Education

This article examines the development, structure, and impact of a senior elective course on the Theology of Sport at an all-boys Jesuit Catholic high school in the east coast of the United States. Grounded in Ignatian pedagogy and the Catholic theological tradition, the course invites students to reflect critically on their lived experiences in sport through the lenses of play, spirituality, and Church teaching Drawing on sources such as Jürgen Moltmann’s Theology of Play, papal and Vatican statements on sport, and contemporary theological reflections on athletic experience, the course challenges the tendency to silo athletics from other dimensions of student …

The Bambisanani Partnership: A Global Initiative Activating Faith And Sport, David Geldart, Matt Hoven

Journal of Catholic Education

The Bambisanani Partnership: A Global Initiative Activating Faith and Sport Partnership is a United Kingdom-based charity that originated as a sports-based partnership between St. Mary’s Catholic High School in the UK, and Mnyakanya High School in rural KwaZulu- Natal (KZN), South Africa, in 2006. Inspired by papal teaching about sport, this article explores the ways in which this particular program has been successful in providing opportunities to live out the Catholic faith through sports participation. The partnership, which remains based at St. Mary’s School and is run entirely by volunteers, operates in the Nkandla region of South Africa, which is …

The Magis Ministry Model - Building Sustainable Sports And Performing Arts Ministries, Drew J. Vilinsky

Journal of Catholic Education

The Magis Ministry Model addresses the documented decline in youth religious practice by leveraging the high participation rates in secondary school athletics and performing arts. Recognizing that many students struggle to connect faith with what they value, the model embeds lay adult chaplains within teams and troupes to provide a "ministry of accompaniment". Key to this framework are chapel talks—weekly, 15- to 20-minute reflections that invite students to encounter God through their specific craft. Longitudinal data from Saint Ignatius High School demonstrates significant impact:  over 74% of surveyed participants strongly advocate for the program's continuation, and successful head coaches now …

Faith, Formation, And Sport: How Diocesan Athletic Associations Articulate Catholic Mission, Samuel Naab

Journal of Catholic Education

As Catholic schools navigate declining enrollment, expanding school choice policies, and increasing specialization in youth athletics, diocesan Catholic youth athletic associations represent an understudied site of mission articulation and identity formation within Catholic education. This study examines the organizational composition of diocesan athletic associations in the United States and analyzes how these organizations construct and communicate mission and Catholic identity through governing documents. Using structural topic modeling, the study analyzes 81 mission-oriented statements drawn from publicly available handbooks, bylaws, and policy manuals of 51 diocesan athletic associations. Results indicate that mission-oriented language across organizations reflects a consistent set of value-based …

A Comparative Analysis Of Educator And Parent Perspectives Of Catholic High School Athletics, Kevin J. Calkins

Journal of Catholic Education

This study surveyed parents to compare their perceptions of the role of athletics in the Catholic high school environment with those of educators, and to examine the degree to which athletics influences parental enrollment decisions. Educators and parents mostly agree on the role of interscholastic athletics in Catholic high schools. The most noticeable difference between educators and parents is about the perceived role of athletics in student formation. While the strength and health of a Catholic high school’s athletic program are important considerations when parents choose a Catholic high school for their child, the results indicate that academic quality is …

Trauma-Informed Coaching: An Application Of Catholic Social Teaching To Formation And Healing Through Sport, Kristin K. Sheehan, Peter Piscitello, Elaine Cassidy

Journal of Catholic Education

Mission-driven athletic programs aim to form the whole athlete—physically, emotionally, socially, morally, and spiritually. A critical component of this mission is equipping coaches to serve as ministers of the Church while embracing trauma-informed practices. This paper introduces the rationale, process, and techniques for trauma-informed coaching as a research-based approach to supporting athlete mental health. Grounded in Catholic Social Teaching, this framework emphasizes community, participation, and the dignity of the human person, particularly care for the vulnerable. Drawing on neuroscientific and psychological research on trauma alongside Church documents and papal pronouncements, the paper demonstrates how trauma-informed coaching fosters healing and resilience …

The Case For Sports In Catholic Schools: Philosophical Considerations And Practical Guidelines, James Foeckler

Journal of Catholic Education

Building on the work of Jānis Ozoliņš, this article establishes a philosophical justification for the place of sports at catholic schools and follows with practical guidelines for the integration of athletics and academics in catholic schools. The justification relies primarily on the works of Patrick Kelly and Thomas Aquinas and asserts that moral formation and play are essential elements of the end of sport which is victory. The guidelines concern implementation of sports with respect to the student-athletes themselves, the academic curriculum, and families. The article considers moral formation with respect to Aquinas's cardinal virtues and makes distinctions between catholic …

Sporting Educational Pedagogy In Catholic Western Europe In The 19th And 20th Centuries: What We Can Learn From The Past, Dries Vanysacker

Journal of Catholic Education

This article presents a historiographical overview of the development of the role of sport within the Western European Catholic education in the 20th century. Since the late 19th century, combining gymnastics with new sport disciplines was a huge challenge for Catholic schools. Within the 20th century, changing political situations and educational policies by governments continuously influenced the Catholic education theories and practice. Catholic schools also depended on the Holy See’s policy concerning education and its attitude toward sport. As the Catholic pedagogy is part of a broader theological concept of the human being, and the latter changed in the 1950s/1960’s, …

Sport, Human Flourishing And The Common Good: A Jesuit Perspective, Patrick M. Kelly S.J.

Journal of Catholic Education

The author interprets humanist and early Jesuit education inspired by the Spiritual Exercises through the lens of the flow psychology theory of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi to highlight that they bring about differentiation – the development of the different interests, skills, dimensions of the person – and integration – in a way that is connected to community and fosters the common good. The inclusion of physical education and sports in the humanist and early Jesuit schools – the first instance of it in Catholic schools – was influenced by longer traditions which emphasized the unity of the person and a “play ethic”, …

Sport Is The New Religion? Speculations In A Time Of Profound Cultural Change, Richard M. Rymarz

Journal of Catholic Education

Utilizing a narrative approach, this article begins with an indicative account of how religion and sport are related in a particular context. This narrative is a prelude to a closer examination of the decline of religion in contemporary culture. Religion is conceptualized following Durkheim. Its decline, using sources such as Berger, Luckmann, and Stoltz, is simply explained by using powerful descriptors such as loss of ritualized practice, secular competition, and diminishing plausibility. A second narrative is offered as a departure point for the oft-discussed maxim that sport is the new religion. Rather than one being seen as a substitute for …

Introduction, Max T. Engel, Matt Hoven

Journal of Catholic Education

Sports are a big deal in Catholic schools. But their educational, communal, and even spiritual elements within participating school communities are often underestimated in the research. This introduction firstly offers a concise survey of the theoretical foundation for Catholic endorsement of sports. It then provides a framework for understanding the major authors in the field and the key issues that scholars confront in the area. It concludes by outlining the articles presented in this special issue and invites readers to consider engaging with this expanding community of scholars and practitioners. Overall, this introduction explains the purpose and rationale for this …

Wille Zum Wald: Nietzsche’S Discovery Of Forest Bathing, Gary Shapiro

Philosophy Faculty Publications

In the fourth part of our “The Forest as a Living Foundation” series, the distinguished American Nietzsche scholar Gary Shapiro investigates new angles on Nietzsche’s bonds to the woods: the philosopher’s personal enthusiasm for what is increasingly called “forest bathing,” the science behind how this practice benefits body, mind, and spirit, and the sheer pleasure of breathing fresh air, in woodland and wherever else we can find it. Shapiro’s essay showcases why this particular Lebensraum matters, not just for our individual well-being, but for the health of the entire planet.

Raising History From The Grave: Reparative Archival Pedagogy, International Virtual Exchange, And Community Engagement, Antonia Macdonald, Leah Rosenberg

archipelagos: a journal of Caribbean digital praxis

This article brings together three threads in digital pedagogy: international virtual exchange, archival recovery work, and reparative pedagogy to argue that their convergence generates a transformative framework for reimaging critical archival practice and transnational collaborations. Our argument is supported by two related pedagogical projects that we undertook. The first is a collaboration with Pan Caribbean Sankofa (PCS) and the Panama Canal Museum Collection (PCMC) at the University of Florida (UF). The second is a collaborative online international learning (COIL) exchange that took place between two undergraduate classes at a university in the Eastern Caribbean and UF. Both initiatives were grounded …

Unaccountable Archives: A Review Of Underwriting Souls, Samantha Stephens

archipelagos: a journal of Caribbean digital praxis

No abstract provided.

Measure By Measure: Reflections On Building A Quiz Map For Critical Caribbean Digital Pedagogy, Ra Bacchus, Medardo G. Rosario, Alexander S. Butler

archipelagos: a journal of Caribbean digital praxis

This article reflects on the web development of a digital quiz map designed to help students critically engage with the representation of the Caribbean in digital space. Emerging from workshops organized by Visiones del Caribe—a digital humanities initiative using digitized maps and archives to teach Caribbean history, culture, and cartography—this tool responds to students’ inquiries about the region’s spatial boundaries. The quiz invites students to select on a map those countries and territories they consider part of the Caribbean, prompting reflection on the diversity of perspectives shaping Caribbean identity. Drawing from the discourse of critical cartography and digital pedagogy, we …

Tun Up: Building Digital Dancehall Fashion Archives From An Artist’S Perspective, Grayson Chong

archipelagos: a journal of Caribbean digital praxis

This article investigates the opportunities and challenges of building a dancehall fashion archive with particular emphasis on the transition from the material to the digital. As an artist-scholar, I use my own dancehall fashion collection as a case study to explore the process of digitizing material artifacts (in this case, fashion and textiles). I focus on dancehall fashion in particular because it speaks to themes of resistance, self-fashioning, and creativity in the global fashion market. Throughout the article, I highlight what the transition between material and digital affords scholars and public audiences. In particular, I ask: "How do we retain …

Acervos Documentales De Puerto Rico Y El Caribe @ Upr-Río Piedras: On Designing Digital Strategies For Preservation And Access Of Unique Puerto Rican And Caribbean Studies Collections, Mirerza González-Vélez, Mila Aponte-González

archipelagos: a journal of Caribbean digital praxis

This paper documents Acervos Digitales de Puerto Rico y el Caribe @ UPR-Río Piedras, its origins, goals, activities and participants. It reflects on the team engagement with fundamental discussions regarding the use of Omeka in a Caribbean context, that resulted in the articulation and enactment of ethical principles for digital curation, as well as in its commitment for fundamental digital preservation efforts based on minimal technology requirements. The paper also provides an assessment of its continuity as a DH initiative committed to preserving, improving open access, and building capacity for the effective use of unique digitized humanities collections, and poses …

Digital Research Tools, Newspaper Texts, And Enslaved Fugitives In The Atlantic World, Gunvor Simonsen, Natacha Klein Käfer, Heather Freund, Felicia J. Fricke

archipelagos: a journal of Caribbean digital praxis

This article demonstrates the benefits and pitfalls of utilizing Natural Language Processing to structure a large corpus of newspaper adverts on fugitive enslaved people from the Atlantic World between 1766 and 1821. We evaluate a model for multilingual event extraction trained specifically for fugitive ads and jail lists in its capacity to extract correctly the attributes relevant for historical analysis. Finally, we discuss how the current model may be used to expand and qualify databases concerning enslaved fugitives in the eastern Caribbean.

La Elaboración De Abc_Pr: Un Archivo Digital De La Literatura Infantil Puertorriqueña De Andrés Díaz Marrero, Adriana Morales-Díaz

archipelagos: a journal of Caribbean digital praxis

Andrés Díaz Marrero (1940-2025) was a retired teacher in the Puerto Rican Public Education System. After his retirement as a teacher, he dedicated his life to writing poems, stories, plays, songs, and educational resources that highlight the values of Puerto Rican culture and the importance of education, publicly disseminating them through his website during the period of 1994-2025. This project showcases the development of a digital archive to safeguard the literary creations of this Puerto Rican author. ABC_PR presents itself as a living post-custodial repository, dialogically co-created from a familial, affective grandfather-granddaughter relationship, exploring instances of collaboration between writer-illustrator and …

Tracing Caribbean Narratives At The Intersection Of Language, Identity, And Social Media, Juan-Carlos M.E. Goilo

archipelagos: a journal of Caribbean digital praxis

This article delves into how the creole language of Papiamentu navigates the complexities of cultural identity and decolonial praxis within the social media landscape. Drawing from literature reviews, digital ethnography, content analysis, and an interview with social media influencer Gerald Lijde, I explore Papiamentu’s deep-rooted colonial ambivalence—a legacy that shapes its contemporary online use. While digital platforms offer new avenues for celebrating and formalizing Papiamentu, they also risk commodifying its radical, anti-colonial roots into tourist-friendly narratives. By linking online content production to theories of agency and digital culture, the article illuminates Papiamentu’s enduring role as a vessel of resistance and …

“Un Compromiso Con La Tierra”: Digital Placemaking In The Art Of Rosaura Rodríguez’'S Instagram Stories, Jeannine Murray-Román

archipelagos: a journal of Caribbean digital praxis

From a recording of a hot pink flower on a foggy hillside, its leaves trembling slightly in the wind, to the ink made from its petals pooling onto white cardstock, Puerto Rican artist Rosaura Rodríguez shares her experimental processes on Instagram stories, fifteen seconds at a time. Instagram is a fraught platform that encourages aesthetic homogeneity, and yet, continues to function as a site for developing micro-poetic techniques. This article focuses on Rodríguez’s in-process Instagram Stories, and particularly the “Highlights” feature which allows her to archive her working processes for two of her projects: 1. Temporada, a self-published comic that …

Infrastructure Of Lack: Defining Caribbean Vernacular Networks, Luis Rivera Jiménez

archipelagos: a journal of Caribbean digital praxis

This article offers a theoretical reflection on the forms and meanings of networks in the Caribbean, moving beyond traditional definitions rooted in computation and formal infrastructure. By turning to vernacular, improvised, and culturally embedded modes of exchange—such as in "Club Nintendo" culture and BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) in the Dominican Republic, the DIY internet practices of Cuban users, and the ubiquity of memes and WhatsApp threads across diasporic communities—this piece reframes the concept of the “network” through a Caribbean lens. Rather than seeing the Caribbean as disconnected or technologically incipient, this approach understands the region as a space of creative, strategic, …

Refusing Artificial Coherence: Christopher Tolkien's Philology And His Editorial Practice On His Father’S Legendarium, Nicholas Birns

Journal of Tolkien Research

This paper was given at The Christopher Tolkien Centenary Conference sponsored by the Tolkien Society, held online on 23/24 November 2024.  The paper was given on Zoom on November 24, 2024.

This paper argues that Christopher Tolkien’s 1950s philological essay “The Battle of the Goths and the Huns” anticipates the editorial principles that later governed his presentation of his father, J. R. R. Tolkien’s legendarium. Analyzing Christopher’s treatment of early medieval legend alongside his handling of the Celeborn and Galadriel materials, the essay argues that he consistently resisted imposing artificial coherence on fragmentary evidence. Whether confronting speculative Gothic history, or …

The Self-Aware Room: A Framework For Operational Self-Awareness In Evolvable Blended Environments, David B. Smith

Publications and Research

The Self-Aware Room (SAR) is a room-scale research environment developed within the larger Balanced Blended Space and Blended Reality Performance System research trajectory. Rather than treating the room as a conventional “smart” environment composed of fixed automation technologies, SAR approaches it as an evolvable blended environment made from physical, virtual, conceptual, sensory, computational, and performative relationships. Its defining feature is not any particular sensor, model, or output device, but the set of transformations through which physical activity becomes structured observation, bounded representation, interpreted state, governed decision, and mediated response.

This paper develops the conceptual and methodological foundations of SAR as …

Theological Truths That Divide Us And Engaging In Disagreement Well, David M. Westfall

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

""Only when we locate our differences within the shared context of God’s will to unite all things in his Son can we “get with the program” and start to relate in love, allowing our objective identity in him to exert continual pressure on our relationship.""

Posting about ­­­­­­­­how pursuing unity is part of Christian transformation from In All Things, an online hub that offers insight into maintaining and faithful and orthodox Reformed Christian worldview while fearlessly engaging in every aspect of contemporary life – until all is made new.

Postscript To Gatherings, Volume 3, Farha Ternikar, Heather Mooney

Gatherings

We write this postscript as we are approaching the 25^th anniversary of 9/11. We don’t take this lightly as feminists or sociologists.  The War on Terror has shaped both Islamophobia and anti-Arab discrimination for decades. And after October 7, 2023, we were again devastated to see escalating tragedies in the Middle East. Farha Ternikar and Heather Mooney, as co-editors of this volume, went into this endeavor with heavy hearts.

Afterword: Palestinian Solidarity As Feminist Labor, Dana Olwan

Gatherings

This afterword was completed in February 2026. Leqaa Kordia was released from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody on March 16, 2026, after spending a year of her life in detention.

University Policies In An Unjust World: Typographic Illustrations, Layal Shuman, Nina Rastgar

Gatherings

In this research-creation project, we use typographic illustrations as a visual method to portray how universities in Canada enable genocide in Gaza and the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians while suppressing their rights to protest these injustices on campuses over the past three years. We conceptualize institutional policies as weapons, especially those covering codes of conduct, discrimination, harassment, and freedom of speech. The goal is first to show how universities are directly invested in the manufacturing and selling of weapons currently used in Palestine and Lebanon, and second, to argue that the strategic wording of institutional policies on diversity and inclusion …

Spaces Of Transformation, Love, And Poetry: Autoethnographic Reflections On Learning During The 2024 Student Solidarity Encampments And The 2019 Lebanese Thawra, Anna Wessels

Gatherings

This paper utilizes autoethnographic modes to reflect on the student movement in solidarity with Palestine, specifically the spring 2024 student encampment in Washington, DC. I frame this reflection through my experience as a student in a Women and Gender Studies class during the semester of the encampment, as well as through feminist theories of teaching and learning as liberatory practices. I analyze two sites of learning that moved beyond the ideological and physical boundaries of the university into public protest spaces during times of political mobilization: downtown Beirut during the October 2019 Lebanese thawra (revolution) and the student encampments for …