For many young adults, career decision-making is a challenge that may lead to feelings of disequilibrium, stress, and anxiety. This disequilibrium may be especially problematic for young Christian women. On one hand, their belief system may provide a stabilizing anchor, and embue them with a sense of purpose (Fowler, 1981). On the other hand, distinct Christian values may further perpetuate traditional male-female roles and thus limit their labour force participation (Scott, 2002). To better understand this dichotomy and add to the limited research on this topic, my study explored the relationship between Christian faith and career development with a sample of four women (ages 33 to 51) already established in their careers. Research data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews. Each interview was preceded by the construction of a lifeline, or timeline of major events in the participant’s life (Campbell & Ungar, 2004). Themes emerging from case and cross analyses were (a) life story, (b) centrality of motherhood, and (c) spiritual grounding. These three themes were first reported for each participant as an individual case, and then in an overview of findings across cases. Implications for post-secondary career counsellors, based on this study’s results, as well as on relevant literature, focus on incorporating the notion of calling into three traditional career development activities: (a) self-discovery; (b) exploration and research; and (c) formulating a plan. Implications for career development researchers include: (a) creating a comprehensive theory reflecting spiritual and non-spiritual factors in women’s career development; (b) studying this topic with different methodologies; and (c) undertaking a best practices study of career programs integrating calling at secular or non-secular universities. These practical and theoretical implications may provide post-secondary career counsellors guidance on how to direct young women of diverse faith backgrounds to explore and pursue their fields of choice. / Thesis (Master, Education) -- Queen's University, 2008-05-27 13:40:29.543

In Canada, writers of long fiction have recently begun to employ representations of science and to use scientific theories to construct narratives that investigate issues of class, race, sexuality, faith, truth and the ontological understanding of human existence. This turn towards science in creative works of art suggests that scientific discourse in the early twenty-first century has become a space from which to respond to questions about the search for truth after the rise of poststructuralist theory and postmodern culture. My work investigates this recent turn towards science in contemporary Canadian literature as a way of reevaluating the idea that science is associated with a teleological movement towards human progress, and to analyze how scientific representations re-imagine faith and ethics from a secular perspective. The recent shift towards science in the literature of Canada in English suggests a questioning of social conditions which place the human within epistemological spectrums between truth and fiction, faith and reason, and the individual and the universal. In my dissertation questions related to belief and truth are bound up in a cross-textual study that looks at how Canadian literature reevaluates important debates among theology, art, and science in order to access a humanist interpretation of different possible realities. My dissertation investigates: The Bone Sharps (2007) by Tim Bowling; Curiosity: A Love Story (2010) by Joan Thomas; The Origin of Species (2008) by Nino Ricci; The Memory Artists (2004) by Jeffrey Moore; Player One: What is to Become of Us (2010) by Douglas Coupland; Atmospheric Disturbances (2008) by Rivka Galchen, and The Evolution of Inanimate Objects: The Life and Collected Works of Thomas Darwin (1857-1879) (2010) by Harry Karlinsky. / Thesis (Ph.D, English) -- Queen's University, 2012-01-26 11:50:12.999

Sustainability, the work of building a world that is ecologically, socially and economically just, is essentially a learning process. To move more effectively toward this goal, a deeper understanding of learning is necessary. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have come to play a significant role within the sustainability project, and thus form the context for much learning toward sustainability. Faith-based organizations (FBOs) are a significant but understudied segment of the NGO family. This research investigates learning among individuals within FBOs doing environmental and development work in Kenya, using the framework of Mezirow’s transformative learning theory. The identity and function of these FBOs is profiled, highlighting the key role churches and faith-based agencies can play in effecting sustainable and holistic change in Global South countries, due to their rootedness in the community, the social capital they help produce, and the respect they receive from local people. Learning for sustainability is examined through interviews with participants from two case FBOs: A Rocha Kenya and Rural Service Programme of the East Africa Yearly Meeting of Friends. Attention to the context these organizations provide for learning highlighted the influence of supportive community, mentor relationships, teamwork, and training and evaluation structures. Learning outcomes covered a broad range of areas, with the highest proportion fitting within environment/conservation (e.g., linking faith and environmental concerns, and agriculture and birding skills) and community work (e.g., relating to people, managing groups, teaching and facilitation) umbrellas. Some transformative learning was experienced, mostly through learning in the instrumental domain. Key learning processes included observation and experience, training, practical application and learning from each other, highlighting the importance of embodied learning processes. Applying learning through action, both at work and in the home and community, was an important expression of learning for participants, though this expression was sometimes blocked by personal and social barriers that prevented the completion of the learning-action cycle.

Early Buddhists undisputably considered Nirvana to be the ultimate goal of their practice. However, not only was the meaning of Nirvana disputed, but so were the means (e.g., right view and no view) conducive to its achievement. The thesis proposes to examine the controversial status that scholars have accorded to faith and reason as elelments of the path. In this respect, the Buddha's attitude toward tradition, reasoning and experience is examined, along with the epistemological foundations of Pali canonical thought. Related issues such as identifying the ultimate criterion of reality advanced by Buddhism are also discussed. Moreover, since the Buddha suggested various ways leading to Nirvana, an attempt is made to discover how the paths of sila, samadhi and panna relate to each other and to the final goal.

No description available.

Alina Kiseliova katalikų tikybos katedros studentė. Magistro darbo tema EUCHARISTIJOS SAMPRATOS PROBLEMATIKA PAAUGLIŲ TIKĖJIMO RAIŠKOJE. Darbo vadovas doc. dr. kun. Mindaugas Ragaišis. Darbo problema - Tikėjimas išpažįstamas ir švenčiamas sakramentais, ypač Eucharistija, o tam svarbų vaidmenį turi sampratos problematika, nes Eucharistijos sampratos nesupratimas įtakoja tikėjimo raišką Eucharistijoje. Paaugliai nesuprasdami Eucharistijos sampratos negali įvardinti kas jiems padeda išreikšti tikėjimą. Darbo objektas - Eucharistijos sampratos problematika paauglių tikėjimo raiškoje. Darbo tikslas - Atskleisti Eucharistijos sampratos problematiką paauglių tikėjimo raiškoje. Darbą sudaro trys dėstomosios dalys. Pirmoji dalis kalbės apie Eucharistijos sampratą. Antroji dalis kalbės apie Eucharistijos vietą tikėjimo raiškoje. Trečia dalis kalbės apie Eucharistijos sampratą paauglių tikėjimo raiškoje. Šioje Dalyje bus atliktas kokybinis tyrimas sudarant anketinę apklausą. / Alina Kiseliova Catholic religion department student. Master’s thesis EUCHARIST THE CONCEPT OF ADOLESCENT PROBLEMS expression of faith. Labor leader Assoc. Dr. Padre Mindaugas Ragaisis. Labor problem - Faith professed and celebrated in the sacraments, especially the Eucharist. So problematic of concept plays the major role and misunderstanding of concept of Eucharist affects the expression of faith in the Eucharist. Teen cannot identify what helps them to express their faith without understanding the concept of the Eucharist. The object - the concept of the Eucharist teen faith expression. The goal – to reveal the concept of the Eucharist in teen faith expression. The paper consists of three parts. The first part covers the concept of the Eucharist. The second part talks about the place of the Eucharist faith expression. The third part talks about the concept of the Eucharist teen faith expression. There is qualitative study conducted through a questionnaire survey in this part.

The purpose of this dissertation was to determine the concepts, characteristics, and variables addressed in other dissertations deemed highly relevant to the literature on adult faith development. The principle contribution of this dissertation was a 44-page matrix and an accompanying 29-page index that reveal the "Primary" and "Secondary" concepts addressed in these other documents. The study employed meta-analytical techniques to design this pictorial tool for future faith development researchers.A search for the keyword "faith development" on the CD-ROM Dissertation Abstracts database yielded 141 documents written from 1980-1994. One hundred and thirty-six abstracts were obtainable for review. Based on these abstracts and aided by a second reader, the author deemed 60 dissertations as being highly relevant to the adult faith development literature. These dissertations were then ordered via interlibrary loan for further analysis of their concepts, etc.Following the pilot study, a decision was made to include an analysis of the dissertations in terms of three tpes of classification. A classification code was assigned to all 60 dissertations in terms of their "Type of Research," "Type of Methodology," and "Type of (Religious) Tradition."Over 900 "Primary" and "Secondary" concepts, etc., were gleaned from the 60 documents. Using Spradley's ethnographic technique of organizing concepts, the concepts were arranged in 35 clusters. The clusters were tallied in 10 possible ways.The results suggest that the dissertations were fairly balanced in terms of those which constituted "Application" research and "Theoretical" research. The most frequently used methodology was "Creative Project," followed by "Qualitative" methods. The vast majority of dissertations were written from the "Protestant" tradition, followed by "Catholic," and "Other."Of the 35 clusters of concepts, etc., analyzed, the results suggest a gap in doctoral research in terms of studies pertaining to concepts related to "Transcendence," "Symbolism," "Evangelism," and "Gender." Much "Secondary" emphasis has been give to concepts, etc., related to "Devotional" but this cluster was not of "Primary" emphasis in any of the 60 studies. The work of faith development pioneer James W. Fowler was of "Primary" emphasis in 37 of the 60 dissertations. / Department of Educational Leadership

The aim of this study was to investigate the specific role that the nuclear family as a primary faith unit has to play in a postmodern context, and the challenges that confront it, as well as the ways in which the church can support the family in this. The study was done through a basis-theoretical investigation of Biblical evidence about the family and about its destiny as well as about the historical development and vicissitudes of the family over the past two millennia, through a meta-theoretical investigation into and analysis of sociological and psychological evidence and views about the relationship between the family and value transfer and faith formation, and through a qualitative empirical investigation into the situation of a number of families in a suburban reformed church, the latter part being informed by the insights derived from the basis- and meta-theoretical study. On the basis of the aforesaid a practice theory was formulated that aims to support the ministry to families. In the basis-theoretical study of Biblical evidence it was indicated that, in spite of widely divergent family forms and situations over many centuries, there were a number of basic functions always common to families, among which the most important is that of the family as the conduit of salvation, as well as its role of nurturance and education. Strong emphasis was also put on the interactive relationship between the church and the family, not only in the family being a part of the church but also in it being a metaphor for the church. On the basis of an analysis of the history of the family over centuries, certain basic aspects of the family were again identified. In this part of the study specific attention was paid to the postmodernism as phenomenon and its implications for the experience of community and for the family. In the empirical study interviews were conducted with six families on the basis of a number of essential themes identified from the study thus far, to determine what their experience of and problems with those facets of their family life are. An interview with a focus group about the same themes was also conducted. On the basis of these conversations the basic themes were further reduced to six in number, and a variety of common concerns or problems, or merely ways of handling certain matters, were identified. In the development of a practice theory emphasis was put on the fact that the address of such a theory or model cannot be in the first place only the church as it performs its work through its offices, but it needs also be the faithful, with the family itself as the autonomous body. Without running the risk of making to rigid a distinction between the various responsibilities of these three, recommendations were made about a number of fields in which the ministry to families can concentrate to counteract the growing danger of privatisation and isolation of families, and again to make families viable building blocks of the church of Christ. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Pastoral))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

Sustainability, the work of building a world that is ecologically, socially and economically just, is essentially a learning process. To move more effectively toward this goal, a deeper understanding of learning is necessary. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have come to play a significant role within the sustainability project, and thus form the context for much learning toward sustainability. Faith-based organizations (FBOs) are a significant but understudied segment of the NGO family. This research investigates learning among individuals within FBOs doing environmental and development work in Kenya, using the framework of Mezirow’s transformative learning theory. The identity and function of these FBOs is profiled, highlighting the key role churches and faith-based agencies can play in effecting sustainable and holistic change in Global South countries, due to their rootedness in the community, the social capital they help produce, and the respect they receive from local people. Learning for sustainability is examined through interviews with participants from two case FBOs: A Rocha Kenya and Rural Service Programme of the East Africa Yearly Meeting of Friends. Attention to the context these organizations provide for learning highlighted the influence of supportive community, mentor relationships, teamwork, and training and evaluation structures. Learning outcomes covered a broad range of areas, with the highest proportion fitting within environment/conservation (e.g., linking faith and environmental concerns, and agriculture and birding skills) and community work (e.g., relating to people, managing groups, teaching and facilitation) umbrellas. Some transformative learning was experienced, mostly through learning in the instrumental domain. Key learning processes included observation and experience, training, practical application and learning from each other, highlighting the importance of embodied learning processes. Applying learning through action, both at work and in the home and community, was an important expression of learning for participants, though this expression was sometimes blocked by personal and social barriers that prevented the completion of the learning-action cycle.

The aim of this study was to investigate the specific role that the nuclear family as a primary faith unit has to play in a postmodern context, and the challenges that confront it, as well as the ways in which the church can support the family in this. The study was done through a basis-theoretical investigation of Biblical evidence about the family and about its destiny as well as about the historical development and vicissitudes of the family over the past two millennia, through a meta-theoretical investigation into and analysis of sociological and psychological evidence and views about the relationship between the family and value transfer and faith formation, and through a qualitative empirical investigation into the situation of a number of families in a suburban reformed church, the latter part being informed by the insights derived from the basis- and meta-theoretical study. On the basis of the aforesaid a practice theory was formulated that aims to support the ministry to families. In the basis-theoretical study of Biblical evidence it was indicated that, in spite of widely divergent family forms and situations over many centuries, there were a number of basic functions always common to families, among which the most important is that of the family as the conduit of salvation, as well as its role of nurturance and education. Strong emphasis was also put on the interactive relationship between the church and the family, not only in the family being a part of the church but also in it being a metaphor for the church. On the basis of an analysis of the history of the family over centuries, certain basic aspects of the family were again identified. In this part of the study specific attention was paid to the postmodernism as phenomenon and its implications for the experience of community and for the family. In the empirical study interviews were conducted with six families on the basis of a number of essential themes identified from the study thus far, to determine what their experience of and problems with those facets of their family life are. An interview with a focus group about the same themes was also conducted. On the basis of these conversations the basic themes were further reduced to six in number, and a variety of common concerns or problems, or merely ways of handling certain matters, were identified. In the development of a practice theory emphasis was put on the fact that the address of such a theory or model cannot be in the first place only the church as it performs its work through its offices, but it needs also be the faithful, with the family itself as the autonomous body. Without running the risk of making to rigid a distinction between the various responsibilities of these three, recommendations were made about a number of fields in which the ministry to families can concentrate to counteract the growing danger of privatisation and isolation of families, and again to make families viable building blocks of the church of Christ. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Pastoral))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.