A poetry chapbook. / https://dc.etsu.edu/alumni_books/1011/thumbnail.jpg

Winner of the 2011 Split Oak Press Chapbook Prize. / https://dc.etsu.edu/alumni_books/1009/thumbnail.jpg

Social workers are subjected to experiencing job related stress due to high case loads, the severity of client cases, and vicarious trauma. In order to cope with these job stresses, it would be conducive for social workers to find alternatives to coping with job related stress. Practicing spirituality can be seen in many forms relating to religion, cultural practices, prayers, meditation, and to be one with nature to say the least. This research will explore the correlation between spirituality and job related stress among social workers. Quantitative data has been gathered amongst 133 social workers who have participated in answering the spirituality inventory and job stress questionnaire. Results from this data finds that spirituality brings forth positive attributes such as reducing stress and burnout. Furthermore, there is a negative correlation between spirituality and job stress. The greater spirituality is linked to lower levels of job stress. Therefore, it is vital to utilize spirituality as it may help with self care and lead to greater longevity in the social work field.

The broad purpose of ‘In A City Like Delhi’ is to make an argument in favour of the positive link between spirituality and sustainability. Sustainability, at its core, requires an ethical commitment, and the thesis proposes that spirituality may be that vital means through which sustainability may be truly animated, in theory and in practice. The thesis is particularly preoccupied with considering the yet fully unrealised competence of spirituality to enrich the understanding and practise of sustainability in the urban space. To this end, it uses a very particular case study to make a modest exploration of such a conceptual association – the city of Delhi. The concept of sustainability, as articulated in the West, is primarily a secular notion. While international religious and spiritual organisations have taken up the sustainability challenge, the reverse is less true – sustainability planning is rarely conducted in a dialogue with religious or spiritual institutions and resources. In this context the case study of an Indian megacity to examine the relationship between religion, spirituality, secularism and development, is particularly interesting. The thesis explores, as one example of the potential interface, how Hindu spirituality as interpreted by Mahatma Gandhi, may usefully inform a spiritual philosophy to enliven a sustainability consciousness in Delhi. The theoretical speculations of the thesis are grounded in the local context by seeking the perspectives of twenty primary informants from Delhi who are all associated with various levels of planning and implementing development in the city. I specifically chose my interviewees from secular development backgrounds (rather than religious and spiritual representatives) because this would enrich critical understanding of how spirituality may be viewed within a secular sustainability discourse. I use their views on spirituality, sustainable development, and any affinities between the two notions to balance my own perspective, derived from both my research and my personal experience of the city of my birth. The interviews gave added depth to the environmental, economic and social challenges confronting the city of Delhi, which were already evident in the literature review. Additionally however, the interviews confirmed the hypothesis that sustainable development and spirituality together could have a productive, coherent and an even inseparable grounding union in Delhi and that spirituality may be vital in facilitating that essential shift in consciousness that a sustainable mindset requires. These findings are crucial to any study or strategy considering comprehensive sustainable development for Delhi.

The research reported in this thesis is concerned with the spirituality of Chinese young people who attended a Chinese evangelical church in Melbourne, Australia. This research is a case study conducted in the framework of a qualitative approach using ethnographic methods, including fieldwork methods with data triangulation through participant observation, individual interviews and focus group interviews. Grounded theory was used to analyse data collected. The particular group of young people were Chinese in race, and Australian born, or had been living in Australia since early childhood. They attended the English speaking fellowship and services of a Chinese evangelical church in Melbourne, and their ages were between fifteen and eighteen years. They were born or had grown up in Australia, and had been exposed at least to two cultures, the Australian culture in the society, and the Chinese traditional culture in their family, in which the parents were the first generation in Australia. This research aimed to find out the characteristics of the spirituality of the Chinese young people through acknowledging the multicultural context in which they lived. Thus, it began with a cultural perspective and sought to study the cultural contexts that account for their distinctive Christian spirituality. In summary, the research reported in this thesis describes the young participants’ spirituality from their own perspectives, discusses their construction of identity that led to their distinctive spirituality, and studies their parents’ worldviews and the role of cultural institutions that have affected their spirituality. Finally, it concludes with development of theories of spirituality related to Chinese young people in a multicultural society, and proposes ways in which churches and families may encourage the development of spirituality for Chinese young people in a multicultural society.

The purpose of this study is to examine the most significant reasons evangelical Christian faith is compelling to its adherents. Through the interviews of nineteen Evangelical Christians, it becomes clear that evangelicals see the Bible and Christian theology in a literal and factual way. Thus, contrary to some strains of contemporary thought and scholarship, evangelicals affirm that the claims of the Bible and Christian theology should be taken at face value. Even though such claims are implausible to the modem mind, it is precisely through seeing the Bible and theology in this light that evangelicals enter into their powerful faith lives. In addition to this literal-factual orientation, evangelicals are empowered by their relationship with God in Christ. Along with analysis of interview data, brief studies of evangelical approaches to the Bible and spiritual-psychological development will further serve to explicate evangelical faith. / Graduation date: 2003

Animism and anthropomorphism have long been methods that humans use to deal with a complicated and changing world. It is infused within every aspect of human life from art to science to religion. In Japan we find that the Shinto religion itself is based on animism. Shinto is infused into the fabric of Japanese life and we find examples of animism and anthropomorphism in Japanese animated productions. I look at three films, My Neighbor Totoro, The Cat Returns and Haruka and the Magic Mirror to examine how Shinto Animism pervades the storylines and creative direction these films take. My contention is that animated productions in Japan incorporate Shinto into their films as a form of reassurance and education for their viewers, as a way to reaffirm the belief of Shinto. This is done via the use of anthropomorphism, which creates a unique dissociative space that removes the feeling of heavy-handed discourse and instead filters Shinto belief structure effortlessly through anthropomorphic characters.

Examining poetry under the rubric of religion, geography, and gender provides a lens through which I read postcolonial literatures, thus positing new emphasis in literary studies, and suggesting for African women empowerment as opposed to weakness, articulation as opposed to silence. Religion and poetry among Black people in Africa and the Black diaspora are sacred because religion pervades values, beliefs, and socio-political life, and religion saturates the environment; as well, the role of a poet is connected to that of a seer or a sage. Comparing Turn Thanks, a collection by Jamaican-born Afro-Caribbean poet Lorna Goodison with The Springs Last Drop, a collection by Nigerian poet Catherine Acholonu, reveals that African and Afro-Caribbean womens strong sense of community, spiritual sensitivity, holistic attitude of women fight for liberation, the quest for healing and hope through the power of crafted words and rituals present an ideology of Africana womanhood as embedded in African cultural traditions. The two poets are rooted in their culture and being rooted empowers them as members of the community and speaking voice to build on values in their communities. In terms of the structure and themes of their books, the diction of their poems and the titles of their works, the poets suggest that there is a spirit connected with the works that readers must discern and become attuned to in order to unravel the meaning and the significance of the works. Both poets go back to the primacy of the word in the spiritual and oral traditions. The thesis argues that spirituality will continue to interest scholars because it represents a strong desire of twentieth-centruy humanity to maintain equilibrium in the face of socio-political upheavals through a discerned integration of both the spirit and body for a holistic existence and survival of communities and to understand the potential of applying and realizing the power of the spirit in connecting rather than fragmenting individuals and communities. On the whole, African people in Africa and the diaspora have utilized their spirituality in order to survive, to maintain the sanctity of their culture, and to present communities that have the quality of constituting a complex unity. People from other cultures and vocations can apply the benefits that can be gained from spirituality in their communities and vocations, not only for creative empowerment but for wholeness in those communities and maximum benefits in their vocations.

Examining poetry under the rubric of religion, geography, and gender provides a lens through which I read postcolonial literatures, thus positing new emphasis in literary studies, and suggesting for African women empowerment as opposed to weakness, articulation as opposed to silence. Religion and poetry among Black people in Africa and the Black diaspora are sacred because religion pervades values, beliefs, and socio-political life, and religion saturates the environment; as well, the role of a poet is connected to that of a seer or a sage. Comparing Turn Thanks, a collection by Jamaican-born Afro-Caribbean poet Lorna Goodison with The Springs Last Drop, a collection by Nigerian poet Catherine Acholonu, reveals that African and Afro-Caribbean womens strong sense of community, spiritual sensitivity, holistic attitude of women fight for liberation, the quest for healing and hope through the power of crafted words and rituals present an ideology of Africana womanhood as embedded in African cultural traditions. The two poets are rooted in their culture and being rooted empowers them as members of the community and speaking voice to build on values in their communities. In terms of the structure and themes of their books, the diction of their poems and the titles of their works, the poets suggest that there is a spirit connected with the works that readers must discern and become attuned to in order to unravel the meaning and the significance of the works. Both poets go back to the primacy of the word in the spiritual and oral traditions. The thesis argues that spirituality will continue to interest scholars because it represents a strong desire of twentieth-centruy humanity to maintain equilibrium in the face of socio-political upheavals through a discerned integration of both the spirit and body for a holistic existence and survival of communities and to understand the potential of applying and realizing the power of the spirit in connecting rather than fragmenting individuals and communities. On the whole, African people in Africa and the diaspora have utilized their spirituality in order to survive, to maintain the sanctity of their culture, and to present communities that have the quality of constituting a complex unity. People from other cultures and vocations can apply the benefits that can be gained from spirituality in their communities and vocations, not only for creative empowerment but for wholeness in those communities and maximum benefits in their vocations.

The purpose of this thesis was to investigate how spirituality and religion could serve as a protective factor for depressed elderly (65 and older) who are victims of abuse. The review was carried out using scientific articles found through searches of various scientific databases with no limitation date.   Results found no studies which investigated that relationship across developed countries and especially not in the European context. However, the review gave some indications that spirituality might serve as an asset for depressed elderly. In addition the study found that professionals working with abused elderly should encourage them to be involved in spiritual actions and discussions. Studies on what role spirituality can influence and improve coping strategies across abused elderly are urgently needed in order to improve interventions aimed to curb the ever growing problem of elderly abuse.