Arts and Humanities Commons^™

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Criterion: A Journal of Literary Criticism

No abstract provided.

Kindness In The Bardo: Empathy As A Catalyst For Healing In Victims Of Dissociation, Julia Dorothea Chopelas

Criterion: A Journal of Literary Criticism

In George Saunders’ Lincoln in the Bardo, a host of undead characters find themselves in a spiritual limbo based on the bardo. Although they won’t admit it to themselves, Roger Bevins III and Hans Vollman are most certainly dead. Despite their supernatural makeup as ghosts, Bevins and Vollman bear strong psychological resonance with the living: they are human, heartbroken, and lost. For the ghosts of Oak Hills Cemetery, the inefficient coping mechanism of dissociation perpetuates their afterlife imprisonment in the bardo. Bevins and Vollman suffer from a variety of dissociative symptoms, their minds’ psychological defense against the trauma that has …

Assimilation In The United States: Semitism And Asian Americanism, Megan Gibson

Criterion: A Journal of Literary Criticism

No abstract provided.

How Gender Affects Writing: Jackson’S And Fitzgerald’S Portrayals Of Mental Illness, Cryslin A. Ledbetter

Criterion: A Journal of Literary Criticism

Cryslin Ledbetter's essay, "How Gender Affects Writing: Jackson’s and Fitzgerald’s Portrayals of Mental Illness" examines the similarities and differences between Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Lived in the Castle and Fitzgerald's Tender is the Night. Through a careful comparison of male and female writers, the author analyzes defining factors that effect the final product of each novel.

Learning For Amalgamation: A Multi-Source Transfer Learning Framework For Sentiment Classification, Cuong V. Nguyen, Khiem H. Le, Hong Quang Pham, Quang H. Pham, Binh T. Nguyen

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Transfer learning plays an essential role in Deep Learning, which can remarkably improve the performance of the target domain, whose training data is not sufficient. Our work explores beyond the common practice of transfer learning with a single pre-trained model. We focus on the task of Vietnamese sentiment classification and propose LIFA, a framework to learn a unified embedding from several pre-trained models. We further propose two more LIFA variants that encourage the pre-trained models to either cooperate or compete with one another. Studying these variants sheds light on the success of LIFA by showing that sharing knowledge among the …

Review Of The Big Idea Companion For Preaching And Teaching Edited By Matthew D. Kim And Scott M. Gibson, Grand Rapids, Mi: Baker Academic, 2021., Rodney A. Palmer

Faculty Publications

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 …

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 …

Biblical Pastoral Counseling: An Integrative Approach To Healing, Sonya Cook

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Biblical Pastoral Counseling: An Integrative Approach to Healing, seeks to address the gap in the current biblical counseling service offered at Calvary Baptist Church. The problem with the current biblical counseling service is the lack of a holistic approach to the congregates presenting problem. This current approach takes a strictly biblical approach excluding the mental/behavioral health component from the therapeutic process. The purpose of this study is to provide justification and support of an integrative approach in bridging the gap between biblical counseling and pastoral counseling. This integrative approach would serve to broaden the scope of the current counseling service, …

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 …

From Mocker To Martyr: The Unlikely Conversion Of James The Brother Of Jesus, Brian Lewis Cunningham

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

For many years, James, the brother of Jesus, was all but neglected when it came to biblical scholarship. Around four decades ago, there was a resurgence of serious inquiry about James. Since that time, a considerable amount of scholarly material has been published about him, including a possible connection between James and a first-century ossuary box that bears his name. But one aspect of James’s life has not enjoyed such widespread discussion, namely, his conversion. The reason his conversion has been ignored is because there is so little prominent information. The only glimpse afforded to us comes from Jesus appearing …

The Importance Of Self-Awareness For The Prevention Of Burnout And Compassion Fatigue For Clergy, Reginald Charlestin

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Self-care is both necessary and vital to the efficiency and longevity of ministry professionals, pastors, and people in general. When a person neglects their physical, emotional, and mental state, quality of life decreases. To study the importance of self-awareness and how to prevent burnouts and compassion fatigue among clergy, this thesis used the Macedonia Worship Center leadership staff as a study subject. The researcher studied various peer-reviewed articles that have evaluated the relationship between those who work in ministry and their levels of burnout and compassion fatigue alongside their perception of self-care to understand the importance of self-awareness related to …

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). …

Lasting Lessons And Legacy Influences: Christian Leadership Characteristics Of Southern Baptists Who Overcame Jim Crow, Aabram G. Marsh

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The legacy of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement was the social change its protests inspired. However, its leadership and moral compass were set by Christian theologians and ministers. These leaders moved the nation to recognize the humanity of African-Americans, demonize the sin of racism, and motivate their fellow Americans to oppose Jim Crow segregation. The purpose of this qualitative grounded theory study was to examine and identify the Christian leadership characteristics of influential legacy leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention (Henlee Barnette, Billy Graham, Thomas Maston, Acker Miller, and Foy Valentine) who supported desegregation during the Civil Rights Movement. Further, …

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, …

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 …

The Foundation Of Freedom: Natural Rights And State Power In Revolutionary Massachusetts, Joshua Paul Dunkelberger

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This research project is an attempt to explain the political mindset which drove the actions of the Massachusetts Patriots during the American Revolution. The British government’s attempts to assert increased control over the American colonies, beginning with the Sugar and Stamp Acts in 1764-1765, initiated a decade-long political struggle between Britain and America. During that struggle, all politically active Americans had to wrestle with questions of where their rights came from, the role of government in relation to those rights, and the constitutional limits of a government’s power over the governed. The question of the origin of rights was thus …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

Reflections On Lessons Learned During Covid-19: Re-Envisioning Middle School Band Programs After Covid-19, Mckinley Stinson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Despite increased accessibility regarding instructional technology for music education classrooms, an achievement disparity continued to broaden amid COVID-19. When school districts began to close their buildings, curriculum and instruction transitioned to online platforms. Varied student and teacher participation indicated multiple challenges. Experimental virtual learning concluded the 2019–2020 school year and continued in variations through summer 2021. This qualitative historical study examined perspectives concerning teaching during COVID-19 as held by music teachers, secondary band directors, school administrators, and university music educators. Individuals reflected on four periods between 2019–2021. The initial phase detailed instructional and experiential goals for the 2019–2020 school year. …

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 …

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 …

10 Out Of 12, Parkland College

Parkland Theatre

Written by Anne Washburn

10 Out of 12 received its world premiere at Soho Rep Sarah Benson, Artistic Director; Cynthia Flowers, Executive Director

Director: Benjamin Gailey
Scenic Designer: Molly Ilten-Fullan
Lighting Designer: Madison Chaney
Costume Designer: Sheri Doyle
Sound Designer: Dominick Rosales
Stage Manager: Yen Vi Green

Presented in Parkland College Theatre Second Stage

February 17, 18, 19, 25, 26 at 7:30pm
February 20, 27 at 3:00pm
Spring 2022

To view images from this production, visit 10 Out of 12 (2022).

10 Out Of 12, Parkland College

Parkland Theatre

Written by Anne Washburn

10 Out of 12 received its world premiere at Soho Rep Sarah Benson, Artistic Director; Cynthia Flowers, Executive Director

Director: Benjamin Gailey
Scenic Designer: Molly Ilten-Fullan
Lighting Designer: Madison Chaney
Costume Designer: Sheri Doyle
Sound Designer: Dominick Rosales
Stage Manager: Yen Vi Green

Presented in Parkland College Theatre Second Stage

February 17, 18, 19, 25, 26 at 7:30pm
February 20, 27 at 3:00pm
Spring 2022

To view images from this production, visit 10 Out of 12 (2022).

Illinois State University Jazz Festival, April 1 And 2, 2022, Michael Davis, Paul Nolen

School of Music Programs

Center for the Performing Arts

April 1 and 2, 2022

Preaching That Turns The World Upside Down, S. Joseph Kidder, Jeffrey Bradburn

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.