Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Words Without Faces: Anonymous Social Media On Campus, Evelyn Kelly

Language, Literature & Writing Student Scholarship

"A new anonymous social media app, Fizz, has announced intentions to launch on Messiah University’s campus. Anonymous social media apps allow users to post within a set community without their comments being traced back to them. One such popular app around campus is Yik Yak..."

2023 Sacs Symposium Schedule, Jennifer L. Thomson

2023 SACS Symposium

Thank you for joining us as we celebrate the excellent research that has been conducted by the students of the School of Arts, Culture and Society. The week will kick-off with a research symposium on:

Monday, April 24th in Hostetter Chapel from 8 am - 8 pm

Student researchers will presenting their data in both poster and oral presentation formats.

At Messiah, we believe in educating "men and women toward maturity of intellect, character and Christian faith". Through inquiry and scholarship, our students and faculty seek to glorify God and grow in wisdom and understanding of His creation.

Dr. Peter …

Words Empty And Hollow? The Brethren In Christ Church And The Challenge Of Race, 1967-1975, David Weaver-Zercher

Biblical, Religious, & Philosophical Studies Educator Scholarship

This article, the second of two exploring the Brethren in Christ Church’s response to race, racism, and the Civil Rights Movement, picks up the story in 1967. Earlier, in 1963 and 1964, the denomination had adopted two statements on the issue of black civil rights that placed the church firmly in the “white moderate” camp. Not only did the events of the late 1960s call for renewed consideration of these issues, but the denomination itself was changing, with a growing contingent of members who considered working for social change to be an important part of the church’s mission. To be …

Sympathy And Disfavor: The Brethren In Christ Church And Civil Rights, 1950-1965, David Weaver-Zercher

Biblical, Religious, & Philosophical Studies Educator Scholarship

This article, the first of two exploring the Brethren in Christ Church’s response to race, racism, and the Civil Right movement, picks up the story in the early 1950s and runs through 1965—that is, after the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In the 1950s, the Brethren in Christ Church began to develop programs to address America’s “race problem” (e.g., starting new churches in black neighborhoods), but its support for black civil rights was always minimal. Even as the church expressed sympathy for the goals of the Civil Rights Movement, it condemned activist means of protest that, in …

Sustainable Community In Literature And Lancaster County: Finding A Way Forward On Small Farms, Christine Bye

Honors Projects and Presentations: Undergraduate

"There are very few things that will motivate a thirteen-year-old child who has grown up comfortably and surrounded by supermarkets to pick green beans and to pick them joyfully. Dusty bean plants covered in yellow beetle larvae and located beneath a glaring sun do not exactly inspire an adolescent (or any sane person, really) to caper and sing. Neither do interestingly mottled rashes on the forearms - which appear after extensive rummaging through bean leaves - encourage the picker to return readily to the task. When my parents bought the family farm from my grandparents, they had some idea (as …

Mary Sachs: Two Types Of Beauty In Harrisburg, Robin Schwarzmann

Student Scholarship

Harrisburg’s City Beautiful Movement presented by historian, William H. Wilson, and journalist, Paul Beers, among others, often focuses too narrowly on the term beauty, leaving other types of beauty out of the narrative. The narrative frequently focuses on men instead of women, policies instead of people, and external beauty rather than internal beauty. However, both types of beauty were crucial in Harrisburg’s City Beautiful Movement.

Mary Sachs was a Russian born immigrant, who came to America with her family at four years old. Sachs began her life in Baltimore, where she worked in a factory as a teenager. However, when …

Friends Of Reform: The Correspondence Of J. Horace Mcfarland And Mira Lloyd Dock, Molly Elspas, Anna Strange

Student Scholarship

The City Beautiful movement in Harrisburg benefited from the part- nership of two key reformers, J. Horace McFarland and Mira Lloyd Dock. A close reading of their correspondence offers insight into the nature of their relationship, their personal views, and reflections on the long-term effects of City Beautiful.

Network Of City Beautiful Reformers: Humanizing Harrisburg’S Influencers, Anna Strange

Student Scholarship

How do we find out information about strangers in our society today? We ask their friends about them, observe their interactions with others, or possibly check their social media. When researching people in the early 20th century, we can uncover clues to people’s character by using archival research. We can study them in their space and place using geospatial and census data. Mira Lloyd Dock, J. Horace McFarland, and Warren H. Manning were three key reformers who rose to prominence during the City Beautiful Movement in Harrisburg, defined broadly as the period of urban development from 1900-1930 . They formed …

History And Memory Of The Old Eighth Ward, Rachel Williams

Student Scholarship

The City Beautiful movement in Harrisburg brought many improve- ments to the capital city, but it also brought destruction to the diverse neighborhood directly east of the capitol building, known today as the “Old Eighth Ward.” Even though this community no longer exists, newspaper accounts of its razing and digital mapping of the families of the Old Eighth Ward preserve this story of displacement within public memory.

A Lasting Legacy: E. J. Swalm’S Story Of Conscientious Objection During World War I, Beth Mark

Library Staff Presentations & Publications

Ernest John Swalm, despite being a part of a peace church, was drafted into World War I. In this article, Beth Mark, a librarian from Messiah University, discusses how he has become an symbol for historic peace churches, such as Mennonite and Brethren in Christ, for his experiences as a conscientious objector.

Spaces Of Fear: Race, Housing, And Travel In South Central Pa, Arion Dominique, David Michael

Student Scholarship

Our poster explores the daily experiences of African Americans, and other minorities, in South Central PA, in the 20th century, with regard to housing and travel. It details the various difficulties that these groups encountered in the basic pursuit of equitable housing opportunities and safe travel/temporary lodging – a pursuit mired in socially enforced and legalized segregation and arising from long- standing white anxieties about people of color.

African Americans and other minorities had to learn how to navigate segregated landscapes in ways that their white counterparts were exempt from. Whites not only enjoyed a life free from racial restrictions …

Gender, Religiosity, And The Telling Of Christian Conversion Narratives, Jenell Paris, Ines Jindra, Robert Woods, Diane Badzinski

Sociology Educator Scholarship

Conversion is one important element of religion, the ways in which people shift from one religion (or none) to another, or deepen their commitment within a religion. This study explores the way Christian conversion narratives are told by college students. It considers whether factors such as gender, age, religious denomination, time passed since conversion, and measures of religiosity and orthodoxy influence conversion testimonies. Fifty-nine subjects gave in-depth interviews and completed several surveys, and research was gathered and analyzed using both qualitative and quantitative approaches. Deborah Tannen’s genderlect styles theory and a social constructivist perspective on Christianity’s overarching story line are …