Regional Sociology Commons^™

Hindu Poetry And The Project Of An Inter-Spiritual Catholic Theology, Francis X. Clooney

Journal of Global Catholicism

This article engages the work of the Indian south Indian Tamil-language Vaiṣṇava poet saints known as the Alvārs. The article specifically focuses the First HundredHoly Linked verses of Poykai Ālvār to argue for inter-spiritual learning between Catholics and Hindus. The article concludes with personal reflections on this encounter within the context of the global Catholic Church

“Enslavement By Unbridled Passions:” Catholic Magisterial Institutional Attitudes Toward Homosexuals In Poland Between 1945 And 1989, Agnieszka Laddach

Journal of Global Catholicism

During Communism, the Polish bishops presented a narrative about (homo)sexuality with in order to create the image of a righteous moral and social life that was to influence the Catholics. In my research I conduced a thematic analysis of this narrative. I highlight the doctrinal and Polish social-religious context to foreground tendencies in the formation of Church teaching about homosexuality as well as the importance of the Church in Poland to its formation. Then, I show the factors that characterize the episcopal discourse’s content and language about homosexuality, recognizing that components of episcopal discourse suggest a specificity of Church potential …

Overview & Acknowledgments, Mathew Schmalz

Journal of Global Catholicism

This Introduction overviews the work of contributors from the Graduate Symposium sponsored by the Journal of Global Catholicism and the McFarland Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture.  The Introduction also highlights the independent peer reviewed submission from Dr. Agnieszka Laddach of the University of Warsaw.

Mostly Haunted: A Socio-Spatial Analysis Of Ghost Tourism In England And Wales, Tom Clark, Joseph O. Baker, Christoper D. Bader

Sociology Faculty Articles and Research

There is now a well-established literature on ghost tourism. However, much of this work examines aspects associated with the demand side of the industry, or the motivations and experiences of consumers. There are currently no studies that have sought to explore the supply of ghost tourism and the spatial, social, and economic relationships that exist between these places. Using Lower Tier Local Authorities (LTLAs) in England and Wales as the units of analysis, this study draws on a bespoke range of local government and Census data to examine the prevalence of ghost tourism and explore how these sites are differentiated …

Marginalized, Secularized, And Popularized? The Prevalence And Patterns Of Paranormal Belief In The United Kingdom, Tom Clark, Joseph O. Baker, Christoper D. Bader

Sociology Faculty Articles and Research

There is growing recognition of the prevalence of paranormal beliefs in Western countries. However, most of this interest has been focused on the United States and robust, comparative data remain limited. This study extends this literature to report findings from a national survey of the United Kingdom designed to assess the prevalence and patterns of paranormal beliefs. Although there are many similarities to previous research, the results also suggest that there are significant differences in the scope, clustering, and patterns of paranormalism across contexts. The study makes four contributions to research on the paranormal by a) reiterating the continuing popularity …

Editor's Introduction, Mathew Schmalz

Journal of Global Catholicism

No abstract provided.

Editor's Introduction, Marc R. Loustau Ph.D.

Journal of Global Catholicism

Introduction by Managing Editor Marc Roscoe Loustau to Towards an Economic Anthropology of Catholicism in the Age of Pope Francis

Danes In Argentina: The Emigration Story Of The Ambrosius Family, Inge Ambrosius

The Bridge

I have had a box of newspaper clippings, letters, pictures, books, and other materials about Danish immigrants in Argentina for many years. Many of my relatives live in Argentina, and the material was assembled by my grandmother and my father. When I retired from teaching high school history and geography, I finally had the time to look at the material. Among other things, the box contained the memoirs of my great-grandfather’s younger brother, Niels Jensen Ambrosius, “Memories of my life and whereabouts in Argentina.” They were written in 1951 when Niels was eighty-four years old. Reading them made me curious, …

Introduction:Towards An Economic Anthropology Of Catholicism, In The Age Of Pope Francis, Samuel Weeks, George Bayuga

Journal of Global Catholicism

Introduction to Towards an Economic Anthropology of Catholicism, in the Age of Pope Francis.

Airplane Hangars And Triple Hills: Renovation, Demolition, And The Architectural Politics Of Local Belonging At The Our Lady Of Csíksomlyó Hungarian National Shrine, Marc Roscoe Loustau

Journal of Global Catholicism

In 2019, Pope Francis, leader of the global Catholic Church, celebrated an outdoor Mass at the Our Lady of Csíksomlyó Hungarian national shrine in Romania. When the Franciscan Order that runs the shrine published renovation plans for the altar where the pope would appear, the Facebook post received over 800 outraged comments, including one man who asked, “How can such a beautiful Hungarian symbol, so perfectly integrated into the landscape, be humiliated like this?” By situating these expressions of outrage in the history of Eastern European material politics, I argue that the aesthetic value the commentators were defending – a …

The Parish Choir Movement And Generational Festivals In Romania’S Socialist Period: New Community Festivities In Transylvania’S Gheorgheni (Gyergyó) Region, Eszter Kovács

Journal of Global Catholicism

Among the post-1945 East European socialist regimes, Romania and Poland were the only countries where the Catholic Church—despite government interventions, controls, and bans—managed to play a significant social and political role in community life. This case study provides an ethnographic description of the parish choir movement and graduating class reunions, called “generational festivals” in Hungarian, in the Gheorgheni (Hu: Gyergyó) region in the 1970s and 1980s. The gatherings will be analyzed in the context of everyday life, the socialist system’s distinctive shortage economy, and official limits on religious activity that characterized the era. I will first describe the world of …

Overview & Acknowledgments, Marc Roscoe Loustau

Journal of Global Catholicism

No abstract provided.

Front Matter

The Bridge

No abstract provided.

Dannebrog On The Prairie: The Development Of Danishness In The Elk Horn–Kimballton Area Of Iowa, Lise Just

The Bridge

My father’s family comes from a small Danish farming community in Als parish in Jutland, where it was customary for young people to marry the sons and daughters of neighboring farmers. It was a closed community, largely because of a policy known as adscription (restricting peasants to the estate of their birth) that did not allow able-bodied men to leave the parish. This policy was in place for most of the eighteenth century, but in 1788, adscription was abolished. In the same period, the population in Denmark was increasing rapidly, due to, among other things, better hygiene and lower child …

Prairie Roots Run Deep: A Geologically Grounded History Of Elk Horn, Iowa, Warren Watson

The Bridge

Clay Township is located in the southeast corner of Shelby County, Iowa. It is made up of thirty-six one-mile square sections. The top tier of sections one through six are somewhat larger due to a surveying correction. It was one of the last townships in Shelby County to be settled. The first settlers were drawn to the northeast corner of Shelby County in the late 1840s and early 1850s. Once a Dane got a foothold in Clay Township in the 1860s, the area became populated quickly. It was eventually settled by the largest contingent of Danes in America. This is …

Six Objects From Sned: Remembering The Past On Jens Jensen’S Childhood Farm, J.R. Christianson

The Bridge

When Jens Jensen was growing up in Denmark, the past was never very far away. Sometimes it was way too close, like the day one of the great events of Danish history happened right there on their family farm. Jens was only three years old, but it was not something one would forget, even at his age. The day was April 18, 1864, when one of the fiercest battles in Danish history was fought on the hillside where their farm lay. Needless to say, it tore the place apart.

Jutland Goes Global (But Not Haywire): An Autobiographical View Of Danish Business Culture, Poul Houe

The Bridge

This essay—or review article, if you will—continues where my presentation at the October 2013 DAHS Conference in Des Moines, Iowa, left off.1 Much like its precursor, the present text is about innovation originating from Thy (and other regions of Jutland), but unlike the earlier piece, which dealt with three innovators ranging from the early to late nineteenth century and from spiritual to material domains of culture, the following discussion will be about more recent achievements by one individual in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Moreover, the window on Danish culture at large—its spiritual dimension and Danishness not least—that …

Review; Cooking Danish: A Taste Of Denmark, David Hendee, Polly Hendee

The Bridge

More than three decades after arriving in America, Danish immigrant and chef Stig Hansen published his first and only cookbook. Cooking Danish: A Taste of Denmark was the self-proclaimed Viking Chef’s gift to his family, his adopted countrymen, and all who love cooking and eating Danish foods. Although out of print since its 2007 publication, after selling out an initial print run of 10,000 copies, the award-winning, English-language cookbook is a staple of many Danish American kitchens. It remains available through the secondhand market.

Review; Laughter And Civility: The Theater Of Emma Gad, Susan Brantly

The Bridge

When Emma Gad is remembered in Denmark today, it is as the Danish version of Miss Manners, due to her book Takt og Tone: Hvordan vi omgaas (Tact and Tone: How We Act in Society, 1918), which is apparently still in print. However, as University of Texas, Austin professor Lynn Wilkinson so ably illustrates, Emma Gad was much more than that. Gad was a highly successful playwright and cultural mediator in the Copenhagen of Edvard and Georg Brandes. Wilkinson’s book offers a comprehensive look at the life and work of this important Danish woman playwright and seeks to reinstate Gad …

Review; Danish Tutor. Grammar And Vocabulary Workbook, Nete Schmidt

The Bridge

In “How to Use this Book,” the introduction to their new Danish textbook Danish Tutor, authors Anne Grydehøj and Jesper Hansen, both of whom are experienced Danish instructors at University College London, describe their audience:

If you have studied Danish before but would like to brush up on or improve your grammar, vocabulary, reading and writing skills, this is the book for you. The Danish Tutor is a grammar workbook which contains a comprehensive grammar syllabus from advanced beginner to upper intermediate and combines grammar and vocabulary presentations with over 200 practice exercises. (xvii)

They go on to clarify …

Full Issue

The Bridge

No abstract provided.

Danish Cedar Falls, Carrie Eilderts

The Bridge

In 1855, Frederick Petersen’s family became the first Danish immigrants on record to settle in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The Petersens came from the Schleswig area on the Danish/German border, and in 1860, Christian Petersen came to Cedar Falls, also from Schleswig. More Danish families moved to Cedar Falls from Pine River, Wisconsin in 1866, and the next year Danes began arriving directly from their homeland after enduring a long journey by ship and train. By the early 1870s, Danes were settling in Cedar Falls in large numbers. By 1871, three hundred Danes called the city home, making up about ten …

Danish Settler-Colonial Communities In Australia And New Zealand, Julie K. Allen

The Bridge

The vast majority of Danish emigrants in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, around four hundred thousand people between 1850 and 1950, settled in the United States, from whom more than 1.3 million Americans claim descent. Significant numbers of Danes also went to other countries, however, including about 15,000 Danes who settled in Argentina; 3,500 Danes who immigrated to New Zealand, reaching their peak at one percent of the New Zealand population in 1878; and around 50,000 Danes who immigrated to Australia,1 a significant percentage of which later re-immigrated to Denmark; in 1988, approximately 165,000 people, or one percent of Australia’s …

Front Cover

The Bridge

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents

The Bridge

No abstract provided.

Danes In Kenmare, North Dakota, Bertel Schou

The Bridge

The town of Kenmare, in Denmark Township in the northern part of Ward County, North Dakota, is famous for its Danish windmill, one of only three in the United States (the other two are in Elk Horn, Iowa and Solvang, California). The mill, with its gears of hand-hewn maple, was built eleven miles north of Kenmare by a Danish immigrant named Christian C. Jensen in 1902 and was in daily operation until 1918. It was transported into the center of Kenmare in 1958, restored in 1961, and moved to its current location on downtown Park Square in 1965. It doesn’t …

Lives Well-Lived: My Danish American Ancestors In Shelby And Audubon Counties, Iowa, Cindy Larsen

The Bridge

My childhood was filled with my parents’ voices describing their love of history and knowledge of their Danish heritage in conversations that linger in my memory. My mother, Elizabeth Aagaard Larsen, and dad, Chester B. Larsen, were both children of Danish immigrants to the communities of Elk Horn and Kimballton, Iowa.

From Bornholm To Jamestown: C. C. Beck And The Settlement Of Danish Immigrants In Chautauqua County, New York And Warren County, Pennsylvania, John Everett Jones

The Bridge

One of the earliest Danish immigrant settlements in North America was a community in western New York and northwestern Pennsylvania called Jamestown. Marcus P. Jacobsen has been recognized as the first person from Bornholm to settle in the Jamestown area1 in 1855 or 1856, and early on, members of this community came almost exclusively from Bornholm. However, histories have not recognized the importance of Charles C. Beck in the origin of this community. Emigration from Bornholm has been written about by Henning Bender2 this article adds to that research by situating Beck within the larger community of Danish immigrants who …

Nordlyset And The New York City Danish Community, 1891-1953, Catrine Kyster Giery

The Bridge

The Danish community in New York City was never more than a speck on the Big Apple. At the same time, however, New York City and the surrounding area was for decades—and still is—home to a larger number of Danish-born people than most other places in the United States. Unfortunately, New York City’s popularity among Danes has not translated into a large amount of historical research about the city’s Danish community.

Front Matter

The Bridge

No abstract provided.