Based on the analysis of interviews with young Muslim women in South Australia, and the analysis of two daily newspapers, The Australian and The Advertiser, this thesis looks at themes of religious racism, representation, identity, and resistance to racism. This thesis offers critiques of existing terminology used to describe negativity and hostility based on religious affiliation. It also offers strong arguments for the use of new terminology : religious racism. This thesis argues that the lived experiences of young Muslim women in South Australia are fraught with this racism. It argues that claims of a 'secular' society mask the continuing influence of a Christian heritage and assist in the subordination of religious minorities, particularly Muslims. Following similar research in other contexts, this thesis argues that the news media in Australia ( especially newspapers ) plays a significant role in the ( re ) production of religious racism, primarily through the repeated use of negative representations and stereotypes of Muslims. A number of textual strategies are utilised in this process such as the use of negatively loaded words ( eg 'terrorist' or 'fanatics' ), the types of photographs used, and the kinds of stories deemed newsworthy. Numerous examples of such racism are presented in the discourse analysis of representations of Muslims and Islam in the two newspapers. This thesis also addresses the direct impact of such representations on the participants in the study. Although this thesis presents a number of narratives of religious racism as experienced by the women, it does not present these women as passive victims. It argues that in negotiating, dealing with and challenging such racism, these women exhibit personal agency as well as courage and resourcefulness. This thesis acknowledges both the significant impact of religious racism on the women as well as their resistance to it. This thesis utilises literature from the field of race and whiteness studies to critique concepts of hegemonic national identity that marginalise Muslim communities and individuals. It argues that, although Muslims may not figure in hegemonic national identity, they construct they own sense of national belonging that encompasses their identities as Muslims, as women and as Australians. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--School of Social Sciences, 2006.

This project examines recent fiction by ex-Mormon authors and highlights how these novels reinforce an American ideal of “good religion.” These texts reveal the boundaries of American religious freedom by illustrating examples of “bad religion” and providing favorable alternatives. The paper looks at scholarship on 19th century anti-Mormon literature, which provides a foundation for the more modern literature at hand. Through the recent narratives, authors point to an abstract concept of benign, acceptable religion, marking as harmful that which does not share these key characteristics. While these fictional sects appear differently in each work, they comment on similar themes, such as the threat of rigid authority structures and figures, community isolation and insulation, coercive proselytizing and manipulation, and an emphasis on escaping the sect. These themes highlight the existence of a particular brand of American “good religion,” which is antithetical to such groups illustrated in these texts.

Tez (Yüksek Lisans) - Süleyman Demirel Üniversitesi, Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, Felsefe ve Din Bilimleri Anabilim Dalı, 2008. / Kaynakça var.

This investigation examined attitudes towards Middle-Eastern Muslims held by non-Muslim undergraduate students and was conducted in three phases. Phase one explored these attitudes through focus groups and found that although participants had little information about Muslims, they had definite attitudes. Focus group participants reported that Muslim men and women possessed particular characteristics and that much of their information was learned through movies and/or media sources. During phase two of the study, all measures utilized in the present study were examined for reliability of at least .70. In addition, the ATMS was developed from a review of the literature and of focus groups. All measures were shown to be reliable except the cognitive complexity measure. During phase three, factor analyses were conducted to address the validity of the ATMS. A final five-factor, 25-item scale resulted. The five factors were interpreted as Positive Feelings about Muslims, Muslims as Separate or Other, Lack of Personal Choice/Freedom, Fear of Muslims, and Dissimilarity with Muslims. Correlation analyses supported initial evidence of construct validity. A discussion of the results and its implications are provided. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität Würzburg, 2007.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Rutgers University, 2010. / "Graduate Program in History." Includes bibliographical references (p. 232-248).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Duke University, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2010. / Title from first page of PDF file (viewed March 29, 2010). Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 193-199).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--School of Business and Public Administration and School of Education. University of Missouri--Kansas City, 2004. / "A dissertation in public affairs and administration and urban leadership and policy studies in education." Advisor: Joseph F. Singer. Typescript. Vita. Description based on contents viewed Feb. 27, 2006; title from "catalog record" of the print edition. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 154-160). Online version of the print edition.

Focusing on consumer trust in science, this dissertation explores the societal and ecological factors that can influence consumer’s science denial tendency, and also explores how to leverage consumers’ input with crowdsourcing to rate scientific article veracity and hence create a trustworthy media environment. In the first chapter, I find that lower religious diversity in a region, or an individual’s experience, predicts lower religious tolerance and greater science denial. The belief that my religion trumps other religions precipitates the attitude that it trumps science too. I find supporting evidence from seven studies using U.S. mobile location data, census data, worldwide archival data, national surveys conducted in different countries with participants from different religious groups, and experiments. In the second chapter, I propose a novel crowdsourcing method to leverage the input of general consumers into the fact-checking efforts. I validate the use of similarity judgments to facilitate unbiased consumer responses and prove that asking lay consumers to rate the similarity between scientist-rated and unrated articles provide an unbiased and efficient way to scale up veracity ratings of scientific articles. In order to increase consumer trust in science, I argue that policy makers should emphasize religious integration and heterogeneity in communities. In order to build a better news environment with more trustworthy scientific information, I argue that news companies, news platforms, and third-party fact-checkers can engage general consumers’ input by asking the right questions to get unbiased and reliable responses.