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One-fifth the U.S. public, and over a third of young Americans under twenty-five years of age, report they are religiously unaffiliated (termed the “Nones”). Campus ministry programs, typically arranged by denomination or tradition, often neglect this group and need to be recalibrated in order to serve Nones better. Chapter Two synthesizes key findings from three prominent commercial surveys about the current religious landscape in the country, among young adults, and on campuses in general. Chapter Three reviews recent works about the larger role of religion on campus and introduces a topology of the Nones. Chapter Four outlines a series of concrete initiatives taken at one site, Simmons College, and draws some conclusions.

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The slogan: “Self-restraint is life,” forms the philosophical ideal behind the Anuvrat Movement. The purpose of my thesis is to evaluate the Anuvrat Movement introduced by Acharya Tulsi as a non-sectarian, ethical-spiritual movement. The study considered in some detail the historical context within which the movement emerged. The thesis provides a much-needed analysis of the 11 vows formulated by Tulsi in the model of the traditional vows in Jainism. It explored the question whether these vows are relevant and effective in the contemporary Indian society, and whether Tulsi’s movement can cross the geographical boundaries of the Indian sub-continent to be a part of larger global initiatives. The study explored the social significance of the concepts of nonviolence, social justice and sustainability in the wider global community. The study suggests a positive association between the exemplary charismatic role of a leader and the popularity and longevity of social movements in India.

Universities have traditionally been thought of as “secular enclaves” (Bryant, 2006: 2) that have the capacity to liberalise or even eradicate personal religious beliefs. Despite this assumption, religious activity on university campuses shows no sign of declining, due in part to the failings of the secularisation thesis and the rise of religious pluralism. In the media more recently, there have been frequent references to religious organisations on campus, in particular to clashes between Christian societies and Student Unions, and between Islamic and atheist societies. The management of religion on university campuses has also become a political issue with the Prime Minister David Cameron intervening on recent guidelines (proposed by Universities U.K.) advising that external religious speakers be allowed to segregate student audiences based on gender. As a direct result of Cameron’s intervention the advisory comment was removed. In light of the above, the aim of this thesis is to explore how Christian, Jewish and Muslim students navigate the terrain of the university and whether such an environment is challenging or conducive to their faith in terms of degree content, interactions with peers and involvement in relevant societies and/or chaplaincies. This thesis also explores student reactions to the New Atheism, a label attributed to a group of provocative authors – Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens – all of whom are united in their belief that religion is irrational, false and evil. Often described as the chief proponent of the New Atheism, Richard Dawkins has also recently shown his support for UCL’s atheist society in their disagreement with the Student Union over the uploading of a satirical religious cartoon to their Facebook page. The research which forms the basis of this thesis was carried out between 2011-2013 and features the use of qualitative semi-structured interviews and the presentation of New Atheist extracts from Dawkins, Hitchens, Dennett and Harris. Over 30 participants were included in the project with a minimum of 10 students from each (Islamic, Christian and Jewish) faith group. The multi-faith angle of this project offers a unique insight into how different faith groups navigate the university, with some common issues emerging across all faith groups as well as faith-specific issues. Sociological research in this area has tended to focus on Christian students and this has meant that certain concerns (such as dietary provisions and prayer space) have tended to be overlooked by researchers. The findings of this research project are multi-layered and complex. Religious students differed in terms of their expectations of higher education institutions: some students viewed the university in purely educational terms (and as having no religious function), while others saw the university as a place for both educational and spiritual development and where personal faith could be integrated with their academic studies and social life. The experience of religious students in using chaplaincies and societies was also mixed, with some students reporting fears of being “judged” by other members of the same faith group. There also appeared to be intra-religious tension across all faith groups but this was more prevalent among the Christian and Islamic societies due to denominational differences. Inter-religious (as opposed to intra-religious) tension emerged particularly in the students’ responses to the New Atheism. Rather than seeing New Atheist literature as a direct challenge to their own faith, the participants recognised that “other” religious believers might be guilty of the New Atheist’s accusations – therefore highlighting a surprising degree of convergence between religious participants and New Atheist arguments.

Ring is a composition for orchestra (piccolo [doubling flute], two flutes, two oboes, English horn, two clarinets in B-flat, bass clarinet, two bassoons, contra-bassoon, four horns, four trumpets, two tenor trombones, bass trombone, tuba, three percussion parts [including glockenspiel, vibraphone, tubular bells, snare drum, toms, bass drum, suspended cymbal, drum kit, triangle, and gong], timpani, harp, piano, and standard strings) and spatially separated women's choir (SA right, SA left). This arrangement of media is intended to "ring" the audience with performers. At the notated tempo of two quarter-notes per second, the duration of the piece is exactly 17'40". The title of Ring comes from a poem of the same name written by the composer which is the principal text sung by the choir in the piece. The text of the poem is as follows: Wendy is a ring / A beginning and an end / Connected / The finest gold / Melted by touch / Cooled by breath / She fits my every finger / Without constraint / But permanent / Priceless, Precious, Beautiful / Alone / She clothes me. The poem and composition were written for, and dedicated to, the composer's wife. The ring metaphor ("ring" meaning cyclical, unending, complete) underlies many of the compositional choices in the work. Much of the surface of the music and its deeper structural elements are palindromes, which, because they end as they begin, have a circular nature. Also, the pitch structure of the piece involves the climactic completion of the "cycle" of the twelve available equal-tempered pitch classes. A further organizational element is the Fibonacci series, a mathematical construct which is used to determine small-scale rhythms and the duration of the larger sections of the work. These components, taken together, have resulted in a composition filled with variety and contrasts, which, nonetheless, is quite organically cohesive. / Arts, Faculty of / Music, School of / Graduate

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