Sociology of Religion Commons^™

The Motivations Behind Westerners’ Obsession With The Islamic Veil, Claire K. Alexander

What All Americans Should Know About Women in the Muslim World

In a world where we are constantly bombarded with countless images of Islamic terrorism, violence, and danger, it is not surprising that we have come to associate all aspects of Islamic society with malevolence. This destructive way of thinking has impacted the way we—as Westerners— think about, portray, and perceive Muslim men and women. While Muslim men are often depicted as hostile, cruel, and savage-like, on the other hand, Muslim women are usually depicted as powerless, obedient, and docile. These stereotypical representations of Muslim men and women have harmful consequences—consequences that not only promote Western ignorance, but also tarnish the …

Gender Roots: Conceptualizing "Honor" Killing And Interpretations Of Women's Gender In Muslim Society, Brittany N. Barry

What All Americans Should Know About Women in the Muslim World

The phenomenon of “honor” killing is one that has formed out of deeply rooted concepts of sexuality and gender roles in Muslim societies. These conceptions have been implemented into everyday life and social infrastructure and have created, in some places, a generally accepted power dynamic that subjugates women and generates conceptualizations about women’s sexuality and their assumed obedience. In recent decades the gender constructions of, predominantly, the Middle East and of other Muslim populations have captured the attention of Western thinkers, especially with regards to feminist thought. The Western gaze has produced a number of responses, some of which have …

Ms. Marvel: Changing Muslim Representation In The Comic World, Casey L. Trattner

What All Americans Should Know About Women in the Muslim World

Examines the representation of Muslim women in the comic book world, and how Kamala Khan (the titular Ms. Marvel) along with some other characters usher in a new wave of how Muslim women are depicted in comics.

The Pedophile Prophet? Breathing A Culturally Relative Point Of View Into A Controversial Cultural Debate, Samuel S. Thompson

What All Americans Should Know About Women in the Muslim World

This work focuses on a controversial topic within women studies of the Islamic world, the very young marriage of Mohammad's second wife Aisha. The work attempts to meet the issue on level ground and explain that while this may seem as a spark on conflict between non-Muslim cultures and the Islamic world this marriage was not altogether that uncommon for the time.

The Myth Of “Sharia” And Child Marriage, Megan S. Luckenbaugh

What All Americans Should Know About Women in the Muslim World

In American media, the term "sharia law" is repetitively used as a reason behind practices and actions linked to Islam which would be considered counter to Western morals. The term "sharia" is first clarified as having many definitions, but in legal terms each Islamic nation has their own version of "sharia." Child marriage is one of many topics often blamed on "sharia" and this essay attempts to debunk the Western portrayal of "sharia" by exploring the reality of child marriage in some Islamic nations. The examples depict both situations in which the people, despite the laws, are actively keeping this …

Seventh-Day Adventists And ‘Race’ Relations In The U.S.: The Case Of Black-White Structural Segregation, Cleran Hollancid

Dissertations

A worldwide Christian denomination of some eighteen million in global membership, and with a presence in over 200 countries and territories (i.e., in just about every country on the globe), the Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) Church is one with a distinctive arrangement in the U.S., insofar as it concerns its racial segregation practice. The SDA Church professes and preaches unity in the pulpit, as in all members being equal and one in the faith, yet the actual practice says otherwise. Such is the case since it is officially segregated along black-white lines.

The segregation arrangement, essentially a black-white schism, falls …

Los Médicos No Creen En La Brujería: El Choque Entre La Psicologia Occidental, El Catolicismo Y Las Creencias Ancestrales En La Salud Mental Boliviana, Olivia Legan

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Este ensayo explora el concepto de salud mental en Bolivia y discute cómo las creencias ancestrales y el catolicismo determinan el entendimiento boliviano sobre la salud. También se toma en cuenta el rol de la salud mental en la migración interna y la tensión entre el estilo de vida rural y urbano. En base a mis experiencias en un centro de terapia alternativa y un hospital psiquiátrico católico, voy a comunicar algunas maneras en que se recibe e implementa la psicología occidental en la sociedad boliviana.

This paper explores mental health in Bolivia and discusses how both ancestral beliefs and …

“Whatever God Has Yoked Together, Let No Man Put Apart:” The Effect Of Religion On Black Marriages, Cassandra Chaney Phd, Lucy Shirisia, Linda Skogrand

Faculty Publications

This qualitative study examined how religion strengthened the marriages of three (n = 6) African American couples. An ancillary purpose of this study is to examine the extent that spirituality influences the marriages of these couples. Through the use of a family-strengths framework, this study examined how a religious orientation (Hill, 1968) stabilized Black marriages. Qualitative analysis revealed the following four themes: (1) Religion is The Foundation of the Marriage; (2) Couples Consistently Practiced their Religion; (3) Couples Turned to Religion during Difficult Times; and (4) Religion Transcended Race. The findings indicate these couples practiced their religion …

Re-Building Coal Country: A Church/University Partnership, Carl Milofsky, Brandn Green

Faculty Journal Articles

This paper describes a developing partnership between a church-based service learning center and a university initiative to build a field station in a low-income community in the anthracite coal region of Pennsylvania. It is a case study of how secular and religious institutions have been collaborating to achieve the shared goal of improving social conditions in specific communities. The theoretical focus of the paper is on how a change from a “glass is half empty” to a “glass is half full” perception of the community opens new possibilities for change. This paper concentrates on the story of one partnership as …

Tupac’S Quest For Black Jesus: God As Deadbeat Dad And Afeni, The Migdala, John Freeman

Journal of Interdisciplinary Feminist Thought

Although Tupac Shakur, American rapper, maintained in a late interview that he had gotten past his abandonment by his father, the absence of that father no doubt left him to fend for himself, scarred and confused. This sense of abandonment extended to the theological realm. For Shakur, God the Father “can’t come where I’m at.” He is, in a sense, a “deadbeat dad.” Like the absentee father, He has placed him here, abandoned, the product of a broken home and broken world, with few resources by which to find his way. Understanding a father-less Tupac Shakur and his syncretic quest …

Understanding Religious Leaders’ Motivations For And Perceptions Of Interfaith Collaboration, Michelle Hansmann

All College Thesis Program, 2016-2019

This thesis presents the results of an exploratory study examining reasons why religious leaders participate in interfaith collaboration. I conducted in-depth interviews with religious congregational leaders in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, in an attempt to identify their professional and personal motivations, and the organizational pressures influencing participation. Interfaith collaboration consists of intentional constructive cooperation and positive interactions among individuals or institutions of different religious traditions. Interfaith initiatives occur throughout the world at the local, national, and international level. Despite the growing increase in faith-based collaborations, there has been little research examining why religious leaders and congregations choose to participate …

Faroosh And Elina, Faroosh, Elina, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Faroosh was a cameraman for a private television program in Afghanistan working on a documentary about the Taliban. When he and his crew were discovered, the Taliban attacked them and he and his wife fled to Turkey, walking 12 hours to get there. Upon arrival the police arrested and harassed them. Turkey was not a safe place. After several suicide bombings in the area, they decided to move on to Greece, where they are in a refugee camp without any progress in their situation. They have no money to move forward and no ability to work and the economic situation …

“Becoming Ioway: Using Auto-Ethnography To Understand The Fourteen Ioways’ Journey Of Colonization, Spirituality And Traditions Through Tribal Dance Exhibitions, Sarita R. Mc Gowan

Pitzer Senior Theses

This thesis analyzes the colonization and traditional spiritual practices of the Ioway people to show that their traditions have survived the effects of colonization also known as white settlers. I focus on issues of cultural traditional exhibition dance and that complicates the question of the nation-state’s exclusively trying to dissemble the Native Ioway Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska of colonization and the effects on the Ioway people past and present. I use personal experience of being a tribal member to discuss how the tribes’ oral history allows for the preservation of Ioway cultural identity and religious traditions.

In His Image: A Content Analysis Of Evangelical Youth Books For Their Representation Of Gender Roles And Ideals, Taryn Renee Vis

Honors Projects

This content analysis discusses the results of the analysis of twelve major Evangelical books for young adults and their representation of gender roles and gender ideals. The background of the Evangelical church’s handling of gender, particularly in relation to media beginning in the 1970s is established and discussed at length in order to situate this analysis amongst previous discussion of Evangelical gender roles. This analysis found that each of the books discussed four main themes of gender roles and relations: biological essentialism, complementarianism, counter-cultural branding of gender, and sexual purity (especially for young women).

Liberal Arts, Religion, And Irreligion: A Cross-Sectional Analysis Of Student Religiosity And Secularity At The Claremont Colleges, Jennie Frishtick

Scripps Senior Theses

This study measures levels of religiosity and secularity among students at the Claremont Colleges, including students’ (ir)religious affiliations, beliefs, and practices. The religious landscape in the U.S. is shifting in multiple ways, and young adults feature prominently in these changes. Using data from an online survey of students, the present study addresses the following research questions: What is the (ir)religious makeup of the student body at the Claremont Colleges? Do the observed patterns mirror those of the general U.S. population? The results of this study show that the sample population at the Claremont Colleges is much less religious than the …

Disengagement From Ideologically-Based And Violent Organizations: A Systematic Review Of The Literature, Steven Windisch, Peter Simi, Gina Sott Ligon, Hillary Mcneel

Sociology Faculty Articles and Research

Research on disengagement from violent extremism is an emerging field of inquiry. As compared to the related field of radicalization, there have been fewer studies of disengagement. Further, little effort has been made to conduct a large scale, systematic review of what is currently known about disengagement from violent extremism. This type of meta-literature assessment can play an important role in terms of informing strategies and programs designed to facilitate exit. To help fill this gap, our project systematically examines the disengagement literature to determine the range and frequency of various exit factors identified in previous studies. We also rely …

The New Monastics And The Changing Face Of American Evangelicalism, William A. Samson

Theses and Dissertations--Sociology

American Evangelicalism is, indeed, “embattled and thriving,” as Smith et. al. (1998) have suggested, thriving precisely because it has remained in an embattled state as it cyclically seeks to establish itself as a counter to the dominant culture. However, over the last 40 years American Evangelicalism has become ingrained in the dominant culture and a new group of young Evangelicals are establishing themselves as the counter to that culture and thus defining themselves against Evangelicalism itself. Employing Smith’s (1998) “sub-cultural identity” theory of religious strength while drawing on interviews with movement leaders, members and published writings, the following research provides …

Racial Integration In One Cumberland Presbyterian Congregation: Intentionality And Reflection In Small Group, Carolyn Smith Goings

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Negative attitudes toward racial minorities and consequent maltreatment of non-Whites continue to be a crisis in America. The crisis of racism is still realized in phenomena such as residential segregation (Bonilla-Silva, 2014), health disparities (Chae, Nuru-Jeter, & Adler, 2012; Chae, Nuru-Jeter, Francis, & Lincoln, 2011), and in the not-so-uncommon unjust arrests and imprisonment of persons of color (Alexander, 2012). Improvement in race relations through the development of meaningful cross racial relationships in racially integrated settings is one avenue that may lead to reduction of racism (E. Anderson, 2010; Fischer, 2011; Massey & Denton, 1993). Christian congregations are common settings in …

Be Your Own Guru: Authoritarianism And The Problem Of The Guru In Conscious Evolution, Mcauley, Charles E.

Journal of Conscious Evolution

This paper is an exploration of the problematic nature of the guru/disciple relationship, specifically, in Western Society. It begins with a discussion of the nature of spirituality and the spiritual quest. To contextualize the process, I also discuss my own spiritual path based in Roman Catholicism, Taoism, Buddhism and my thoughts on the philosophy of Krishnamurti. I explore the topic of the authoritarian follower in some depth. Its connection is symbiotic to the existence of the authoritarian leader. This connection is demonstrated within this paper as well. Additionally, I look at the flaws in some well-known guru figures and how …

When Not To "Tie The Knot”: A Study Of Exogamous Marriage In Ezra-Nehemiah Against The Backdrop Of Biblical Legal Tradition, Gerald A. Klingbeil

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.