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

The diploma work "Some aspects of psychologic and spirit evolution" tries to track psychological and spiritual development, especially development of a child. The work deals with consequences of a wrong religions formation and outline basic principles of a healthy religions upbringing and teaching.

This study analyses the role and influence of rural Khmer women on their families and society, focusing on their formation of religious identity. Based on literature research, the role and influence of Khmer women is examined from the perspectives of history, the belief systems that shape Cambodian culture and thinking, and Cambodian social structure. The findings show that although very few Cambodian women are in high leadership positions, they do have considerable influence, particularly within the household and extended family. Along the lines of their natural relationships they have many opportunities to influence the formation of religious identity, through sharing their lives and faith in words and deeds with the people around them. A model based on Bible storying is proposed as a suitable strategy to strengthen the natural influence of rural Khmer women on forming religious identity and use it intentionally for the spreading of the gospel in Cambodia. / Research Institute for Theology and Religion / M. Th. (Missiology)

El propósito de este artículo fue documentar algunos de los hallazgos teóricos desarrollados en torno a la igualdad de género, la escuela y la educación religiosa en los últimos diez años. Para ello, se llevó a cabo un proceso de selección sistematizada de fuentes, que recopiló 38 artículos publicados entre los años 2010 y 2020. Los resultados revelan que se comparte un concepto discursivo a favor de la igualdad de género, independientemente del contexto social y cultural al que pertenecen las poblaciones de estudio en los artículos analizados. Así mismo, se halló que este discurso se contradice al seguir manteniendo actitudes y prácticas que refuerzan y perpetúan los roles tradicionales asociados a la masculinidad y a la femineidad. La evidencia muestra que este escenario es recurrente cuando el grupo de estudio se encuentra fuertemente ligado a la religión. Por otro lado, las investigaciones estudiadas muestran que los sistemas educativos homogenizan y normalizan a los estudiantes en un modelo de género, y que algunas actitudes de discriminación basadas en el sexo todavía prosperan en las aulas, las familias y la sociedad. A partir de esta investigación, se abren algunas líneas de estudio importantes, como averiguar si la educación religiosa influye en la actitud de los estudiantes frente a la igualdad de género. / The main purpose of this article was to document some of the theoretical findings developed around gender equality, school, and religious education in the last ten years. To this end, a systematized source choice process was carried out, which collected 38 articles published between 2010 and 2020. The results reveal that a discursive concept in favor of gender equality is shared, regardless of the social and cultural context to which the populations of study belong in the articles analyzed. It was also found that this discourse contradicts itself by continuing to keep attitudes and practices that reinforce and perpetuate the traditional roles associated with masculinity and femininity. The evidence shows that this scenario is recurrent when the study group is strongly linked to religion. On the other hand, research shows that education systems homogenize and normalize students into a gender model, and that some gender-based discriminatory attitudes still thrive in classrooms, families, and society. From this research, some important lines of study are opened, such as whether religious education influences the attitude of students towards gender equality. / Trabajo de investigación