Classics Commons^™

A Bridge Between Earth & Sky: How The Natural World Shaped The Civilizations Of Ancient And Early-Modern Persia, Sophia Cabana

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

This project seeks to investigate the ways in which nature shaped the culture of ancient Persia through technology, architecture, agriculture, and art. Furthermore, this project investigates how the symbols and mentalities of ancient Persia were carried forward into the early-modern period. Achaemenid Persia and Babylon are studied as societies which influenced one another and combined to create the foundation of Persian culture as it is currently understood, which then combined in later centuries with other Middle Eastern and Central Asian cultural movements to produce the Safavid and Mughal Empires. The Safavids and Mughals imitated and revived Persian culture in order …

Book Of The Dead (Leaf), Hollins University

Broadsides, Maps, & Misc. (non-Hollins)

• Country of Origin: Egypt
• Date: 1100-950 B.C.E.
• Material: papyrus
• Provenance: Samuel H. McVitty
• Text for Item no. 7 from from Dawson's Catalog 114 (Nov. 1926): "The Book of the Dead. Papyrus Leaf, measuring 8 3/8 inches wide and 7 3/4 inches tall, from a Hieratic Copy of the Book of the Dead, made for a nobleman, Pen-Amen-Apt. Dating about XXI Dynasty (1100-950 B. C.). Characters in red and black. Mounted on blue cardboard, protected by cellophane."

The Theory Of Disasters In The Letter Of Mara Bar Serapion: Competition Within Philosophical And Religious Doctrines Of Disaster, Ilaria Ramelli

Journal of Religious Competition in Antiquity

This essay investigates an aspect of religious competition in antiquity: theories of disasters, individual and collective, elaborated by religious and philosophical movements. This investigation intends to contribute to enlightening popular philosophical and religious theories of disasters in Roman imperial times through the case study of a Stoicizing document of (apparently) a Syrian Hellenized author of the Roman imperial times: the Letter of Mara Bar Serapion (or Sarapion) to his son, from the Roman imperial period. This will be examined in a systematic comparison with Stoic theories of disasters and within the larger issue of the Stoicizing ideas that this Letter …

Competition Without Groups: Maintaining A Flat Methodology, Daniel Ullucci

Journal of Religious Competition in Antiquity

This essay suggests ways to refine the concept of “competition” as a scholarly lens for analyzing religion in the ancient Mediterranean. It applies Bruno Latour’s critique of “the social” as an explanatory agent to the much used but rarely clarified concept “social competition.” Conceptualizing ancient data as competition can, and at times has, encouraged the projection of distinct groups and “sides” for which we have little to no empirical evidence. Keeping analysis “flat,” in Latour’s terms, can prevent this and push analysis of competition more secure, and potentially more useful directions. Pliny’s Epistle 10.96 to Trajan on Christians is analyzed …

Recovering Abiquiú’S Lost Church Records, Samuel E. Sisneros

University Libraries & Learning Sciences Faculty and Staff Publications

In early 2016, an elderly couple came into UNM’s Center for Southwest Research & Special Collections determined to donate six hide-covered books to the archives. They confessed they did not know their contents and that even though the books were in the care of the family for many years, they thought UNM would be a suitable place for them to be preserved and studied. I immediately realized that these antique books were the long lost baptismal, marriage and burial registers (1777-1861) from the Mission Church of Santo Tomás Apóstol de Abiquiú and that the rightful repository for them was the …

An Evaluation Of A Biometric Enabled Credit Card For Providing High Authenticity Identity Proofing During The Transaction Authentication Process, Laura F. Poe

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Credit card fraud has continued to grow despite efforts to protect financial data from data breaches of financial institutions. Data breaches of financial transactional records over the past decade have impacted millions of U.S. consumers, resulting in decreased consumer confidence in security. Banking institutions losing money due to fraud are forced to raise interest rates and increase fees to their cardholders. The costs of fraud are passed to the banking institution’s customers to offset the losses. The requisite to detect and eliminate fraud before it occurs is mutually beneficial to both the banking institution and cardholders. Credit card companies continue …

Quality Assessment Of Conventional And Electric Vehicles In Terms Of Fuel Economy, Annual Fuel Cost, And Maintenance, Kay Rand Morgan

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Today, automotive industries and their consumers are demanding more information on electric vehicles in response to the ongoing transportation transition from conventional to electric vehicles (EVs), the problems of greenhouse gas emissions from conventional vehicles (CVs) and fossil fuel usage, and interests in green energy production and the overall environmental health of this world. This study identified four variables - fuel economy (FE), annual fuel cost (AFC), maintenance frequency (f), and maintenance intensity (I) - and used comparative statistical quality assessment and failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA), a reliability management tool, for data analysis comparing conventional and electric vehicles. …

What Was So Attractive In Artemis/Diana Worship, And What Was The Rationale For Christians Not To Follow Pagan Ideology?, Georg Filippou

Seminary Scholarship Symposium

The last few decades of archaeological research in Ephesus have revealed new insights into the context of Paul’s writings. In the past many commentators have assumed that the Artemis cult was sex-saturated at the time of Paul, and therefore interpreted the biblical texts from that perspective. However, more recent scholarship has suggested the opposite. Mystery religions elevated the status of women. In the creation narrative of Artemis, the woman was born first. In refraining from everything that is part of a marriage, women could reach salvation. It is therefore not surprising that Paul addressed issues connected to women (creation, marriage, …

The Christianization Of Judith: Considering The Hieronymian Translation Of Liber Iudith And Jerome’S Christianizing Agenda, Brody Van Roekel

The Hilltop Review

I will consider Jerome’s translation using gendered analysis while considering carefully how hints of his own preoccupations and Christianizing agendas can be found within. In Liber Iudith, Jerome gives a night’s work to a text illustrating the story of the Hebrew widow Judith single-handedly overcoming the seemingly unassailable Assyrians. Comparing Jerome’s translation to the earlier Septuagint text, a number of significant departures can be located. These departures demonstrate Jerome’s conception of proper Christian widowhood, related too to his qualms with femininity. The Hieronymian changes then appear to be both culturally-motivated and implemented in response to the demands of an …

Summary Report On The 2019 Season, Mark Schuler

Excavation Reports

The purpose of the 2019 season was to revisit and document for a second time the excavation area to compose a comprehensive descriptive narrative.

The Blind Arhat And The Old Baby: Liberation By Wisdom, The Dry-Insight Practitioner, And The Pairing Of Calm And Insight, David V. Fiordalis

Faculty Publications

The distinction between “calm” (Pāli: samatha; Sanskrit: śamatha) and “insight” (P: vipassanā; Skt: vipaśyanā) is one of several ostensibly related dichotomies that have exerted a significant influence on classical and contemporary understandings of Buddhist practices, institutions, and history, as well as of the Buddhist path(s) to and conception(s) of awakening. However, scholars continue to debate whether Buddhists ever conceptualized two (or more) different paths or conceptions of this goal. Much of the debate has been based on the interpretation of doctrinal and theoretical materials. This essay takes as its starting point the concept of “liberation by …

Nevenka Vazgec, Marija Maracic, Josipa Karaca

SICANJE

No abstract provided.

Leaves Of The Bodhi Tree From East To West: The Symbol Of The Sacred Fig Tree In Ancient India, Southeast Asia And Contemporary Contexts, Amanda J. Spradling

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This thesis examines the depiction of the Bodhi Tree, a common Buddhist symbol. Bodhi tree simply means tree of enlightenment and Buddha Shakyamuni reached enlightenment while in meditation beneath the particular tree species of ficus religiosa, or sacred fig. Though the sacred fig tree, as a native tree to India, has historically held significance, today it is principally known for its association with the Buddha, particularly his single most important life event, his enlightenment.

Tree worship and its universal practice is well understood and many studies of the Bodhi Tree explore its associated pilgrimage site, Bodh Gaya, and monument, the …

A Reading Of Phaedrus's Eulogy In Plato's Symposium, Benjamin Goodman

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis provides a reading of Phaedrus's eulogy in Plato's Symposium.

Blended With The Savior: Gregory Of Nyssa's Eucharistic Pharmacology In The Catechetical Oration, John David Penniman

Faculty Journal Articles

Humankind, for Gregory of Nyssa, was poisoned through a primordial act of eating the forbidden fruit from the Garden of Eden. As a result, the toxin of sin and death has been blended into the body and soul of each person, dispersing itself throughout the component parts of their nature. If eating and drinking initiated the spiritual and physical degradation of humanity, Gregory argues, then it must also be through eating and drinking—namely, through the Eucharist—that humanity will be healed. This article proposes that Gregory's instruction on the Eucharist in his Catechetical Oration should be understood as more than merely …

Divining Gospel: Classifying Manuscripts Of John Used In Sortilege, Jeff Childers

Graduate School of Theology

The texts of Christian scripture find their way into a variety of ancient artifacts. The manuscript form has been the most widespread, yet manuscripts manifest distinct patterns of organization and structure according to their different purposes. Many include companion texts sharing the page with that of scripture—texts that gloss, provide commentary, give liturgical direction, or otherwise assist the reader in understanding or using scripture. In many instances, pages containing scripture have acquired additional texts over the years–e.g. marginal notes, corrections, claims of ownership, prayers, and fragments of other texts. One of the least well-studied phenomena is the sort of artifact …

Lessons For Life, Andrew Becker

Best Integrated Writing

Andrew’s paper is well structured, and it clearly shows his interaction with the material he chose to read and displays his beginning personal journey in understanding Zen Buddhism. The rewrites and editing of the paper he composed brought him closer to what he was trying to say. The final version of his writing and editing process exhibits the discipline a first-year student can master. Those who research the brain tell us that when a student makes the type of personal connection that Andrew has with the academic material the student remembers the material studied long after the class has ended.

The Struggle Within, Robert Puthoff

Best Integrated Writing

In The Struggle Within, Bob seeks to understand basic teachings for Hindus in The Bhagavad Gita and then ambitiously seeks to apply some of those lessons to his own life as a college student. Bob is one of the few students who chose to read The Bhagavad Gita, which speaks to his ability to challenge himself academically; in addition, he also uses one of the class’s textbooks to help him decipher key elements of the story. Bob’s leap from The Bhagavad Gita into his own life experience is a tribute to his ability to look at his life and to …

Best Integrated Writing 2018 - Complete Edition

Best Integrated Writing

Best Integrated Writing includes excellent student writing from Integrated Writing courses taught at Wright State University. The journal is published annually by the Wright State University Department of English Language and Literatures.

Defining Communal Identity In The Ottoman Empire: Hagop Gagosian And The Mormon Armenians, 1890–1910, Courtney Cook

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

No abstract provided.

“A Kindred Sigh For Thee”: British Responses To The Greek War For Independence, Susannah Morrison

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

No abstract provided.

"Some Dreamers Of The Golden Dream": The Construction Of The Golden Age Myth(S) In The Age Of Ottoman Decline, Ian Mclaughlin

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

This paper considers the role and construction of golden age myths in seventeenth-century debates about how to renew the flagging Ottoman Empire. Policymakers and preachers prescribed radically different solutions based on which golden age they idealized—whether the time of the Prophet Muhammad in the seventh century or the reign of Sultan Suleiman in the sixteenth. Throughout most of the 1600s, the pendulum swung back and forth violently depending on which faction had the sultan’s ear. Charismatic mosque preachers like Kadizade Efendi whipped up Istanbul crowds against coffee, while advice writers such as Koçi Bey urged expelling “outsiders” from the military …

“It Is A Privilege To Pee”: The Rise And Demise Of The Pay Toilet In America, Katie Richards

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

No abstract provided.

From The Editor, Ian Mclaughlin

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

No abstract provided.

Department Awards

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

No abstract provided.

Adoration And Art: Ancient Egypt, Greece, And Rome, Fiona Wirth

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

"Adoration and Art" focuses upon religious artifacts from the ancient Mediterranean and explores what these artifacts reveal about the religious practices and sacred spaces of their cultures. This Honors College capstone consisted of an exhibition through the Lisanby Museum utilizing artifacts from the Madison Art Collection. This text is the full exhibition catalog compiled by the student through her research as an intern for the Lisanby Museum.

Mysteries Of Paradise Revealed & Concealed, Brittany Bryant

Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium

No abstract provided.

Tragedy And Theodicy: The Role Of The Sufferer From Job To Ahab, Nora Carroll

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The character of Job starts in literature, a trope and archetype of the suffering man who potentially gains wisdom through suffering. Job’s characterization informs a comparison to Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, Shakespeare’s King Lear, Milton’s Paradise Lost, and finally Melville’s Moby-Dick. These versions of Job rally, fight, and rebel against a universe that was once loving and fair towards a more chaotic and nihilistic one. Job’s suffering is on the mark of all tragedy because he not only experiences a downfall, he gains wisdom through universalizing his torment. The Job trope not only stresses the role of suffering, it …

“Arrows Fletched From Our Own Wings”: The Early Church Fathers And The “Delphi Of The Mind”, Daniel J. Crosby

Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

Delphi, one of the most important sanctuaries of the classical world, presented the Early Church Fathers with an interesting challenge. Although it continued to be an institution of local importance, by their time, the Oracle had long since been a provincial backwater, requiring Imperial patronage, at times, which revived the sanctuary temporarily, but not to its former glory and importance. It was not the actual institution that presented hindrance to the advancement of Christianity, nevertheless the Early Church Fathers attacked it with arguments ranging from the irreverent to the obscene. The interesting fact is that none of these indictments were …

Matĕj Of Janov: Corpus Mysticum, Communionem, And The Lost Treatise Of His Regulae, Stephen E. Lahey

Department of Classics and Religious Studies: Faculty Publications

The Bohemian theologian Matěj of Janov (d.1393) is little known outside of Czech Hussite scholarship, yet his Regulae Veteris et Novi Testamentum is arguably as important an influence on the genesis and development of Hussitism, as is the thought of John Wyclif. The chief Hussite theologian Jakoubek of Střibro relied on his works, and his emphasis on the need for daily Eucharist for all Christians seems to have been central to the utraquist ideal central to Hussitism. This article describes the structure and content of Matěj’s Regulae, a carefully constructed sustained argument of the threat of Antichrist facing the …