Thesis (M.A.)--Wheaton College Graduate School, Wheaton, IL, 2000. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 99-100).

Thesis (M.A.)--Wheaton College Graduate School, Wheaton, IL, 2000. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 99-100).

xv, 198 p. : music / Music has meaning. But what is the nature and source of meaning, what tools can we use to illuminate meaning in musical analysis, and how can we relate aspects of musical structure to our embodied experience? This dissertation provides some possible answers to these questions by examining the role that metaphors and models play in creating musical meaning. By applying Mark Johnson and Steve Larson's conceptual metaphors for musical motion, Larson's theory of musical forces, perspectives on musical gesture, and a wide variety of models in music analysis, I show how meaning is constructed in selected works by Bach and Schubert. My approach focuses on our experience of musical motion as a source of expressive meaning. The analysis of two gigue subjects by Bach shows how we create expressive meaning by mapping musical gestures onto physical gestures, and five detailed case studies from Schubert's Winterreise show how the same basic underlying pulse leads to different expressive meanings based on how that pulse maps onto walking motion. One thread that runs through this dissertation is that models play a significant role in creating meaning; this idea is central to my analysis of the prelude from Bach's fourth cello suite. Questions of meaning are not new to musical discourse; however, claims about meaning often lurk below the surface in many musical analyses. I aim to make the discussion of meaning explicit by laying bare the mechanisms by which meaning is enacted when we engage with music. The view of musical meaning adopted in this study is based on several complementary ideas about meaning in general: meaning is something our minds create, meaning is not fixed, meaning is synonymous with understanding, and meaning emerges from our embodied experience. Other scholars who address musical meaning (for example, Hatten and Larson) typically adopt a singular approach. Although I do not create a new theory of meaning, I employ numerous converging viewpoints. By using a multi-faceted approach, we are able to choose the best available tools to discuss aspects of our musical experience and relate the expressive meaning of that experience to details of musical structure. / Committee in charge: Stephen Rodgers, Chairperson; Jack Boss, Member; Lori Kruckenberg, Member; Steven Larson, Member; Mark Johnson, Outside Member

Experts have called for greater diversity in the nursing workforce; however, men remain underrepresented in the nursing profession. The presence of cultural dissonance among male nursing students has been documented in prior research but little is known about their values that are culturally influenced. The purpose of this study was to understand and interpret the meaning of core professional nursing values to male baccalaureate nursing students. The research question was: what is the meaning of core professional nursing values to nursing students who are men. The study setting was an undergraduate baccalaureate school of nursing in the Midwest. Using a purposive, convenience sampling method and van Manen's interpretive phenomenological method, ten semistructured interviews were conducted with nine participants. Documents and images were also analyzed. Data analysis followed the hermeneutic process. The overarching theme of this study was caring, illustrated by the metaphor of a puzzle. In the first theme, entering program with pieces of the puzzle of caring, participants' personal values aligned with those of the nursing profession and professional values began to form before the nursing education experience. The second theme, finding more pieces of caring, included subthemes of disconnect and change in professional nursing values during the nursing program. Caring as patient-centered relationships (theme three) involved patient interactions, honesty, teamwork, respect and dignity, and privacy/confidentiality. A fourth theme of caring as helping was described in subthemes of altruism, empathy/compassion, advocacy, and competency and safety. Solving the puzzle of caring was theme five, as participants described learning through clinical experiences, both recognizing values and failing to see them demonstrated in nursing practice. Implications for nurse educators include values clarification and development, experiential teaching strategies, cultural sensitivity, teamwork, and conflict management. Inclusive workplace environments, where nursing and organizational practices reflect professional values, may enhance nurse satisfaction, recruitment, retention, and patient care. Further research is needed; strategies to enhance professional values development and core professional nursing values in different cultures warrant further study. Theories of nursing values that are culturally appropriate could be developed and tested. Implications for public policy include academic-practice partnerships, inclusive admission and hiring practices that promote diversity, and identification of common values in the profession.

Purpose. Brigham Young is best remembered for his role in the colonization of the American West and as a religious leader. He was also involved with the creation of schools and the development of an educational system in Utah. The purpose of this study was to examine Brigham Young as an educational administrator and to explore Young's administrative style. The study was also to investigate the school system established during Young's administration and evaluate him as a school leader. Procedure. A working hypothesis and questions to consider were developed through preliminary research. Information, including much primary material, was then collected and examined with the hypothesis in mind. Sources were scrutinized for biases and analyzed to determine probable causes and effects of Young's decisions and of the events that occurred. After the materials were gathered and critically evaluated, questions weighed, and hypotheses established, the findings were interpreted and reported. Findings. Brigham Young cannot, by common standards, be considered an educational administrator. What Young attempted to do for education he did through his influence as Mormon Church President and as the first Territorial Governor of Utah. Young's administrative style was that of a servant-leader, with education as part of his stewardship. Although Young opposed public education, much was done in Utah during his era to build schools and create a program for education. Conclusions and recommendations. Young championed the building of schools and stressed the importance of education in the lives of young and old. Despite his opposition to a public school system, the people of Utah received more opportunity for education and the state was better prepared to receive public schooling because of Young's influence in the Utah Territory. A study might be done to determine how many of the Mormon schools became state-owned public schools. Other related topics that could prove interesting or valuable are examinations of the curriculum and values taught in Mormon schools and a study of how many Mormons were enrolled in non-Mormon schools and vice versa.

Purpose. This study collected data that was used to determine whether principals' instructional leadership behaviors that researchers have determined to affect the teachers and students in the public school system can also be applied to the seminaries in the Church Educational System. It was hypothesized that where high incidents of instructional leadership behaviors were found in the seminary principal, teachers will perceive a more positive classroom environment, and more students will enroll, a lower percentage of students will be removed, and a higher percentage of students will complete the school year. Methodology. The research was descriptive and comparative. The study examined the relationships among three different variables: (1) The perceived behaviors of the principals were measured by administering the Principal Instructional Management Rating Scale, (2) The teachers' perceptions of the classroom environment were measured by administering the Classroom Environment Scale, (3) The enrollment totals, removal rates, and the completion rates were obtained from each seminary. Findings. This study concluded that the principals' instructional leadership behaviors that were identified in the public school system to significantly relate to a positive classroom environment and higher student outcomes did not relate significantly with seminaries in the Church Educational System. Of the 412 correlations produced by the analysis, only 26 were found to have coefficients $\ge$.30. Of the 120 possible independent variables that were regressed, only 17 significantly predicted the three dependent variables at the.10 alpha level. Each time the principals or the teachers perceived a leadership behavior it had a negative impact on the teachers' perception of friendship, innovation, and student involvement the classroom. Recommendations. Additional research could be conducted to determine: (1) Why each time the teachers or the principals perceived an instructional leadership behavior it had a negative impact on the teachers' perceptions of the classroom environment, (2) Whether new instruments that better reflect the uniqueness of the seminary classroom could determine any principals' behaviors that relate to teacher and student success measures, (3) What variables affect the seminary students' propensity to enroll, remain, and complete a full year of seminary more than the behaviors of one principal.

No description available.

This qualitative study sought to examine the perceived role that faith plays in helping teachers to cope with stress. Three research questions examined the ways in which teachers who claim to be sustained by their faith perceive that this faith assists them in coping with professional stress, personal stress, and at times when stress occurs in both contexts simultaneously. Using a phenomenological approach, ten Caucasian, predominantly Christian educators were questioned in a two-part interview over approximately two hours. Study participants were teachers who have been in stressful positions and who also had experienced a serious personal hardship and believed their faith helped them to cope. Each had between 3 and 40 years of experience within the education profession and had filled a variety of roles within the field. Interview transcripts were analyzed using the Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) approach. It was found that the teachers in this study perceived no difference in how they relied upon their faith to cope across the various contexts (i.e., when coping with professional stress, personal stress, or both). A central finding was that study participants tended to view their faith as a core part of their identity, framing how they cope in all areas of life. Teachers perceived that their faith was more a matter of "who they are" than of "what they would do" in any particular context, and reported that they rely on one set of faith-based coping behaviors in response to stress in all settings. Those faith-based coping strategies include prayer, meditation, spiritual/mystical experiences, beliefs, behaviors, feelings, and church involvement. Study participants noted a more intense coping effort when coping with stress in multiple contexts, but suggest that the coping strategies employed do not vary. Recommendations for future research include investigating the patterns of faith-based coping among a larger and more diverse group (e.g., more ethnic and cultural diversity, a broad range of religious beliefs, etc.), conducting a similar study that includes objective measures of stress and coping, as well as conducting studies that examine other personal strengths that may build resiliency within the teaching profession.

This thesis examines the rhetorical significance of visual metaphors as they occur in film. In particular, it provides a rhetorical analysis of Baz Luhrmann's film William Shakespeare's: Romeo + Juliet . The thesis analyzes how religious visual metaphors construct meaning by creating visual narratives that are just as powerful as spoken or written metaphors. The thesis relies on Gozzi's (1999) three levels of metaphors—surface, deep, and meta-metaphors—for the analysis of visual metaphors surrounding Father Lawrence and images of Christ that appear in Luhrmann's film. The analysis indicates that the visual surface metaphors of Father Lawrence depict a central character that is seedy, weak, and inactive. The visual surface metaphors of the images of Christ depict this religious figure as omnipresent yet impotent. The analysis indicates that the visual deep metaphors of Father Lawrence define this character as infirmed and culpable for the tragedy of the film. The visual deep metaphors of the images of Christ define him as infirmed and confined. Taken together, the surface and deep visual metaphors contribute to the development of a meta-metaphor in Luhrmann's film that depicts the Catholic religion as dark. Ultimately, the visual surface, deep, and meta-metaphors contained in Luhrmann's film contribute to the construction of meaning. They provide reasons for the character's inadequacies, establish narratives that are not part of the literal narrative as presented in Luhrmann's film and Shakespeare's original work, and provide a postmodern religious audience with substantial visual narrative with which they can identify.

Pastor Pete Peters is a minister in La Porte, Colorado. He operates a small church, an Internet website, a newsletter, and a worldwide cassette tape ministry. He teaches Christian Identity, the belief that the white race is Israel of the Bible. His rhetoric contains open derision of Jews, homosexuals, and racial minorities, although he never openly advocates violence toward any group. After tracing the roots of the Christian Identity movement and reviewing the literature on the movement, this thesis examines Peters' rhetoric at the metaphoric level, analyzing the metaphors in four of Peters' key works for their underlying meaning. Metaphoric criticism as a method of rhetorical analysis is introduced and then applied to the metaphors extracted from America the Conquered, Baal Worship, The Greatest Love Story Never Told, and Whores Galore. These books, all by Peters, employ his metaphor of Jews corrupting the United States government and attempting to destroy white Christians through media, courts, and banking, of which Peters asserts they control. Through extracting and analyzing the metaphors in the four books, it was found that Peters does more than warn against corrupt systems: through metaphor and Biblical parallels, he subversively condones and nearly commands violence against Jews, homosexuals, and the government.