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This dissertation seeks to recover the relational quality of the Holy Spirit who is the Lord and the Giver of life as enshrined in the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed (381). Neo-Scholastic theology had utilized the conceptual categories of Aristotelian metaphysics with its orientation to foundationalism and immobility in a manner destructive of difference, plurality, and the relational language of the Spirit as witnessed in the Bible. One of the upshots became the totalizing bent of Western epistemology which eventually found concretion in colonialism and the slavery of Africans among others. This dissertation utilizes the category of "relationality," a core tenet of West African Weltanschauungen, as an organizing and interpretive device for reinterpreting the creedal affirmation in a way that allows for new understandings of the Spirit. In our world in which there is an increasing awareness of the simultaneity of the dialectic of differences and interconnectedness due to the process of globalization, we are compelled to seek ways of living together without subordinating difference to the regime of sameness. The thesis is that relational pneumatology provides template for negotiating an other discourse on the Triune God which recognizes and respects equality-in-difference. To develop this thesis, I utilize an anthropological, interdisciplinary, critical, and descriptive approach. I argue that relational pneumatology invites that subalternized epistemic potentials be foregrounded and legitimized in a manner that fosters "solidarity of others." I also draw the implications of this perspective for the Nigerian church with regard to ecclesial structures and authority, interreligious dialogue, and the question of holistic liberation that fosters justice and peace. / McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts / Theology / PhD / Dissertation

Instant messaging dialogue is used for communication by hundreds of millions of people worldwide, but has received relatively little attention in computational linguistics. We describe methods aimed at providing a shallow interpretation of messages sent via instant messaging. This is done by assigning labels known as dialogue acts to utterances within messages. Since messages may contain more than one utterance, we explore automatic message segmentation using combinations of parse trees and various statistical models to achieve high accuracy for both classification and segmentation tasks. Finally, we gauge the immediate usefulness of dialogue acts in conversation management by presenting a dialogue simulation program that uses dialogue acts to predict utterances during a conversation. The predictions are evaluated via qualitative means where we obtain very encouraging results.

The work in progress, Pick Up Styx, investigates re-sensing and extra-sensing of the world. It is an exploration of communications with reference to quantum theory which challenges current sense perceptions, while engaging and exploring the notion of communications as signals. The methodology is a winding, coiling motion between research and creative practice based on the way my grandmother used to wind wool from a skein into a ball. The project investigates the game as a tool to examine the ciphers of perfumes that have been designed for love and happiness since 2001. The project aims to develop aesthetic pleasure in game play beyond the industry focus on games technology. Picking up the sticks and experiencing the perfumes in them is procedural to encountering the War on Terror, and the perfumes that have accompanied its progression over the last 8 years. In a materialist culture where technologies are enabling psycho kinesis, via the transmission of information signals, and where thought can influence matter in a variety of ways, we are training ourselves out of separatist thinking and fixation on the Western scientific paradigm. This project has grown from my curiosity regarding anomalous forms of cognition and paranormal perception, motivated by the need to address current issues of human relationship and environmental concerns.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Duquesne University, 2008. / Title from document title page. Abstract included in electronic submission form. Includes bibliographical references (p. 151-163) and index.

Thesis (M. A.)--Catholic Theological Union at Chicago, 1995. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 145-149).

Thesis (M.A.)--Capital Bible Seminary, 1991. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 60-64).

Diss.--Philosophische Fakultät I--Universität Zürich, 1992-93. / Bibliogr. p. 259-272. Index.

Diss.--Philosophische Fakultät--München--Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, 1990/1991.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2008. / Title from first page of PDF file (viewed Sept. 9, 2008). Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 202-209).