This dissertation brings together two well known interpretative problems in the understanding of the formation of the American nation and self how a meaning of an American self arises as different from traditional cultures, and how religion is understood in the formation of the American national self. Since the 1950s in the works of Will Herberg, Sidney Mead, Robert Bellah, and Catherine Albenese, there has been a continuing discussion about the meaning of the American Republic in the terms of a “civil religion.” Several other works in literary criticism from Perry Miller to Sacvan Bercovitch have explored the religious dimension in the structuration of the American self from the point of view of literary texts. My dissertation falls within the context of these two problematics. I work within the context of an American civil religion and specify the meaning of civil religion in the terms of Conversion, Revolution, and Reconstruction. The chapter on Jonathan Edwards deals with the structure of conversion and community in pre-Revolutionary Northampton. The chapter on Herman Melville addresses the options and dilemmas—the “ambiguities”—in the attempt to construct a post-Revolutionary self. The chapter on W. E. B. Du Bois reflects on the recurring meaning of revolution as a confrontation with a limit, re-birth and reconstruction, following the Civil War, America's Second Revolutionary War. I follow Hannah Arendt's political theory on Revolution and provide a commentary on the cultural and philosophical meaning of the revolution as a basis for a civil order. Although the dissertation makes use of a notion of civil religion and the American “self,” unlike other exemplars of these issues, I address a civil religious self as processual and consistent with a revolutionary formation, rather than with an established master narrative. I find that many uses of the “ironic” in American criticism presuppose the origin of the American Republic as normative instead of invoking the meaning of a revolutionary democracy. The inclusion of Du Bois enables new and different readings of both Edwards and Melville, and because all three are placed together, Du Bois is not a marginal figure, but rather, his work is essential to understanding an American soul. / Graduate

This thesis examines the ‘Awakening movement’ (Erweckungsbewegung) in German Protestantism during the Vormärz period (1815-48) in German history. Many historians have noted that the Awakening was the last nationwide Protestant reform and revival movement to occur in Germany. This thesis interprets the Awakening movement as a product of the larger social changes that were re-shaping German society during the Vormärz period. Theologically, Awakened Protestants were traditionalists. They affirmed religious doctrines that orthodox Protestants had professed since the confessional statements of the Reformation-era. However, Awakened Protestants were also distinctly modern. Their efforts to spread their religious beliefs were successful because of the new political freedoms and economic opportunities that emerged in the early nineteenth century. These social conditions gave members of the emerging German middle class new means and abilities to pursue their religious goals. Awakened Protestants started many academic and popular publications, voluntary societies, and institutions for social reform. Adapting Protestantism to modern society in these ways was the most original and innovative aspect of the Awakening movement. After an introductory chapter, this study proceeds to discuss Awakened Protestants’ religious identity in relation to the history of the German Protestant tradition. Chapter one examines the historical development of the conception of religious ‘awakening’ within German Protestant thought from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century. Chapter two then analyses how the Awakening movement was animated by a particular set of objections to the eighteenth-century religious Enlightenment and to the Christianity of those who called themselves Protestant ‘rationalists’. Chapters three through six consider how the Awakening movement developed within four distinct areas of Protestant religious life: preaching, academic theology, organised evangelism, and pastoral initiatives. The thesis concludes that the Awakening movement represented the realisation of certain long-term reform goals that Martin Luther had defined in the 1520s. It was a type of Protestantism, whose appearance had previously been inhibited by the limitations of the social, political, and economic conditions of the early modern period. This thesis is the first substantial analysis of the Awakening written in English.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Department of History, August 2002. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

No description available.

No description available.

The Production of Spring Awakening by Nathan Halvorson Master of Fine Arts (Directing) Thesis - May 2013

<p>At the turn of the 19th century, ideas promoting women’s rights were sweeping across America. During that time Kate Chopin’s The Awakening was published, portraying a young woman, Edna Pontellier, who after several years of emotional unfullfilment in her marriage questions her place as a woman in her marriage as well in society. Edna’s Presbyterian Kentuckian upbringing is in opposition to Catholic Creole society that her husband belongs to. Creole society, at that time, was governed by its unwritten social codes, which were especially clear on issues concerning women’s traditional roles in society in connection to marriage and social duties. In this essay I present how Edna’s emotional awakening and her struggle to achieve independence are in conflict with the cultural norms that exist in Creole society. Also, I argue that the reason why Edna fails in her search for individual freedom is because her awakening is emotional and not intellectual; she lacks knowledge and cannot perceive herself beyond the conventions that limit and oppress her. Additionally, Edna cannot find guidance in any of the other women because they all act within the frames of the role they are playing.</p>

Thesis (D. Min.)--Trinity International University, 2000. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 271-285).

Goal: To determine whether the Cortisol Awakening Response (CAR) associates with treatment response and course in hospital for inpatients with major depressive disorder (MDD). Methods: The CAR was measured at admission and discharge in patients completing a four-week inpatient program for MDD. Self-report questionnaires were used to assess changes in depression, anxiety, and perceived stress. Results: Over the four week hospital stay measures of CAR reactivity (Delta, AUCi) decreased, but there was no significant correlation between the change in CAR reactivity and change in clinical symptoms. Cross-sectional measurements of the CAR reactivity at both admission and discharge were strongly correlated with the drop in depression scores in hospital. Furthermore, poor treatment responders had a significantly lower CAR reactivity at both admission and discharge than did good responders. Conclusion: Individuals with higher CAR reactivity at admission and discharge had the greatest reduction in depression over the course of treatment.

Goal: To determine whether the Cortisol Awakening Response (CAR) associates with treatment response and course in hospital for inpatients with major depressive disorder (MDD). Methods: The CAR was measured at admission and discharge in patients completing a four-week inpatient program for MDD. Self-report questionnaires were used to assess changes in depression, anxiety, and perceived stress. Results: Over the four week hospital stay measures of CAR reactivity (Delta, AUCi) decreased, but there was no significant correlation between the change in CAR reactivity and change in clinical symptoms. Cross-sectional measurements of the CAR reactivity at both admission and discharge were strongly correlated with the drop in depression scores in hospital. Furthermore, poor treatment responders had a significantly lower CAR reactivity at both admission and discharge than did good responders. Conclusion: Individuals with higher CAR reactivity at admission and discharge had the greatest reduction in depression over the course of treatment.