Scholarship & Research
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Item "Inter duas metas": urban memory and monumental transformation on the Vatican plain(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2024) Reinhardt, Margaret Cecile; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Regina Gee; Melissa Ragain (co-chair)During the Middle Ages, four funerary monuments in an area known today as the Borgo underwent a syncretic transformation of memory. These monuments are the Vatican Obelisk, Meta Romuli, Terebinth of Nero, and Mausoleum of Hadrian. All four were erected during the Imperial period, between the first-century BCE and the second-century AD. This thesis groups these four funerary monuments into a funerary program that shapes the historical narrative of the Vatican plain. They were established during the early Imperial period under a funerary precedent and contributed to the religious development of Rome into a Christian city after Saint Peter was martyred in Vaticanum during the first century. As a funerary program, they contributed to a shift in Rome's power dynamic as the religious narrative of the Empire changed from polytheistic to Christian during the Middle Ages. By analyzing these monuments' identities, architectural framework, historical progression and topographical connections, this study aims to explore how their legacy has been preserved and integrated within the ager Vaticanus from the Roman Empire through the Renaissance.Item To hell, heaven, and back again: language, religon, and the varied meanings of Yellowstone(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2024) Taylor, Joshua James; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Mark FiegeThis thesis examines the history of language and Yellowstone National Park from the early nineteenth century through the second decade of the twentieth century. I examine how the language used to describe Yellowstone's many features changed over time and how that language reflected the larger culture and the change that took place over time.Item The causal effect of income on religious participation(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 2017) Silveus, Neil Andrew; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Christiana StoddardReligion is an important factor influencing outcomes at both the individual and societal level. Participation in religious activities involves both time and money. As such, individuals who make decisions about whether to be religious and the intensity of participation are making decisions concerning these scarce resources. This paper examines how income changes for low-income individuals affect religious giving and attendance decisions. Change in the Earned Income Tax Credit across states, over time, and by number of children is used as an exogenous source of variation in income. Using an instrumental variables strategy, I find evidence that positive changes in income reduce religious participation for low-income individuals and households. To the extent that religious behaviors and institutions constitute net benefits to society, policymakers should be careful to include reduction in religious behaviors as a possible cost to public cash transfer programs.Item A survey of Montana public school superintendents on the employment of religious sisters(Montana State University - Bozeman, 1970) Pailliotet, Sister Mary DominicItem The effects of scientific practices in ninth grade religious education lessons(Montana State University - Bozeman, Graduate School, 2014) Haas, Jacquelyn Charlotte; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Peggy Taylor.High school religious education lessons were not effectively capturing students' attention or enhancing their understanding of basic faith concepts. From September 2013 to April 2014, scientific practices were integrated into newly designed ninth grade religious education lessons, using inquiry-based learning strategies and fundamental Catholic teachings. Classroom environment and Catholic resources were overhauled to provide students with Catholic Study Bibles, YouCats, YouCat Study Guides, YouCat Prayer books, Scripture reference sheets, Samsung tablets, and a lab-like setting, with elevated tables, stools, journals, and mini-whiteboards. Over the course of 20 lessons, scientific practices, including: asking questions and defining problems, developing and using models, planning and carrying out investigations, analyzing and interpreting data, using mathematics and simulation thinking, constructing explanations, engaging in argument from evidence, and obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information, were implemented with innovative demonstrations, case studies, peer-to-peer service projects, and mock court sessions to improve students' faith knowledge and engagement. With meaningful and relevant topics, mini-lectures with PowerPoint, Prezis, and video accompanied practices in lessons. Incorporating scientific practices proved to be an effective way for students to learn and personally engage in the Catholic faith. The Religious Education & Scientific Practices Questionnaire indicated that 92% of ninth grade students believed that scientific practices had a positive impact on their faith learning (N=12). One student reported, "This year I have learned more than I ever had in religion." Another student said scientific practices "made class more interesting than in other years." Ninety-two percent of surveyed students reported that using scientific practices in religious education lessons improved faith knowledge and 75% stated that scientific practices are an effective way of improving faith knowledge. Before scientific practices, 0% of students felt knowledgeable about their faith. After scientific practices, 75% of students surveyed strongly agreed that they felt knowledgeable about their faith. Data further revealed heightened engagement in students' religious education experience. Before practices, 17% of respondents strongly agreed that religious education classes were interesting and engaging. After practices, 75% strongly agreed that lessons were more engaging. One student reported, "It made the classes more interesting. I didn't know what was going to happen next."Item The spirituality within(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Nursing, 2004) Norman, Tammy Kay; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: M. Jean Shreffler-GrantHealth care providers have always focused on the well being of their patients; the issue of spirituality adds another dimension to this focus. The use of spirituality in the health care visit directs this project Although interest in spirituality has waxed and waned, references to it exist throughout history. Spirituality is mentioned in Greek times, with the druids, in Christianity, by Viktor Frankl, and by Florence Nightingale. Although difficult to define, a review of literature reveals that connectedness, meaning and purpose, God or God-like being, and transcendence are all commonly accepted components of spirituality In addition to addressing the question of what spirituality is, answers to the following questions are provided: when spirituality should be used, who should use it, why it should be used, and how it can be used in the health care visit. Betty Neuman provided the conceptual framework that was used in gathering and presenting this information. The goal of this project was to increase providers’ knowledge about spirituality and how to utilize it in the patient care setting. A CE program was offered that was developed in various phases that included a literature review, preparation of the CE program, application for CE credits, environmental arrangement, delivery of the program, and final evaluation. Material was presented with the Powerpoint format in 21/2 hours. Following this, three guest speakers spent the next 1 1/2 hours discussing how they have been affected by spirituality with their various health care needs. They also gave ways that the health care providers they encountered influenced their spirituality in positive ways. While attendance was limited, the providers that attended the program indicated that they received valuable and practical information about the use of spirituality in health care. Health care providers can add to their professional growth by staying abreast of research in the area of spirituality. While some providers may feel reluctant to raise spiritual issues with their patients, others will revel in the newfound freedom in discussing a relevant, yet often intangible, element of health care with their patients.Item The Eastern foundations : Near Eastern influence on the Ionian Presocratics and the transmission of Eastern religious ideas to Ionia(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 1998) Camac, Steven; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: David CherryIn the Ionian town of Miletus, at the beginning of the sixth century B. C. E., Thales emerged as Greece's first philosopher. After Thales came Anixamander and Anaximenes of Miletus, Xenophanes of Colophon, and Heraclitus of Ephesus. As a group, these philosophers are the Ionian Presocratics. In Early Greek Thought and the Orient. M. L. West showed similarities between early Greek philosophy and Near Eastern religious ideas. But West’s work is not widely accepted. It also raised more questions than it answered. How were Near Eastern ideas transmitted to Ionia? How do they fit into Near Eastern concepts? How was Ionia different from the rest of the Greek world? Strong Near Eastern influence on Ionian Presocratic philosophy must have come from consistent contact with the Near East. Similarities in the ideas of different cultures are not evidence of a transmission of ideas: all that this shows are parallels. To go beyond parallels requires pinpointing the routes of transfer. The Archaic ivory carver is singled out as a medium of transfer for religious ideas. Ivory carvers had a knowledge of both Near Eastern and Greek religion. As ivory carvers traveled throughout the religious centers of the Aegean, they spread Near Eastern religious ideas to Greece. The transfer of the Phoenician alphabet to Greece demonstrates a transfer of ideas. The transfer of the alphabet shows both that there was an intimate level of contact between Greeks and Phoenicians, and that the two peoples communicated complex knowledge effectively, Ionia's cultural and political context exposed it to Near Eastern ideas. The author argues that Ionia adopted Anatolian religion, making it religiously part of the Near East. Ionia's elite families inter-married with the Lydian aristocracy thus closely connecting Ionia to Lydia. Also, political conquest by Lydia and Persia opened Ionia to Anatolian and Iranian culture. Near Eastern influence on Ionian Presocratics demonstrates that Greeks and people of the Near East communicated complex ideas. Transmission of Near Eastern ideas to Greece provides compelling proof that the foundations of Ionian Presocratic philosophy are Near Eastern.Item The influence of critical thinking on Christians' belief and belief change with reference to the polarities of creationism and organic evolution(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Education, Health & Human Development, 1995) Towne, Margaret GrayItem Secular spiritual nature films : their use, misuse, and potential promise as roving biospheres(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2009) Beck, Jefferson Andrews; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Walter Metz.The central purpose of poetic techniques in nature films remains under-analyzed and the realm of spiritual motivations in filmic techniques under-explored. In this paper I examine historical and recent attitudes toward nature and the spiritual, highlighting in particular the work of Existentialists, and use those contexts to critique several broad categories of nature films. I find that all types of nature films, to varying degrees, contain a poetic impulse and often a secular spiritual motivation. I conclude that nature films, when carefully crafted, can be highly imperfect, yet highly potent proxies for spiritual experiences in nature.Item The evolution debate onscreen : unreliable narrators find a home(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2007) White, Libbey Katherine; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Theo LipfertFaced with increasingly influential opposition from fundamentalist religious groups, evolutionists could benefit from reexamining their strategies in the evolution vs. creation debate. This thesis is based on the understanding that the debate is not about scientific evidence, but rather warring ideologies. The religious fundamentalist ideology perceives materialism and moral relativism as threats that follow from the theory of evolution, and in this thesis both threats are debunked. Understood as warring ideologies, the debate broadens, and calls for a wider range of approaches. Art could be advantageously employed to draw these ideologies out and show them more clearly, and this thesis explores the possibility of using found footage films in particular to do so.