Thesis (Ph. D.)--Oregon State University, 2001. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the World Wide Web.

This thesis takes a longue dureé approach to the manifold ways in which those engaging with English cathedrals have been able to physically interact with the bodies, burials, and monuments of the dead. Three themes are explored to that effect: Haptic Experiences, Haptic Interactions, and Haptic Connections. Haptic Experiences takes a fresh, nuanced look at the evolution of English shrine architecture in relation to tensions between the sight and touch of pilgrims. Haptic Interactions employs new and different data surveyed from monuments within five cathedral interiors: historic graffiti, iconoclastic damage, and haptic erosion and staining. This is explored through a lens of touch as a component of early modern masculinities. Haptic Connections explores the presencing of the absent and displaced dead through touch and bodiliness of both the living and the dead in the (late) modern cathedral. Such an approach requires a multi-strand methodology, harnessing archaeological and documentary evidence, and multiple datasets. This allows the thesis to examine both period-specific practices and recurring themes of touch and emotion, identity, and re-connection which have been central to haptic explorations of the dead in past and present incarnations of the English cathedral.

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This thesis encompasses the design and production process for Southern Illinois University Carbondale Department of Theater’s production, Evil Dead: The Musical. The writing focuses on the scene designer’s process of analyzing a script to putting it on stage. Through the document the reader will gain insight into the process of a live production from the pre-design phase to post production.

This study represents a contextualized analysis of the perimortem trauma and postmortem treatment of an assemblage (n=9) of naturally mummified individuals recovered from the Hets Mountain Cave in southern Mongolia. The assemblage dates AD 1434-1651, a period characterized by political instability and widespread conflict. Analysis of the trauma was completed utilizing radiological evaluation of 3D CT data. The perimortem trauma and postmortem treatment are contextualized within documentary and archaeological data on contemporary Mongolian mortuary and cultural practices to understand the social identities of these individuals. The trauma patterns are consistent with execution methods reserved for higher status Mongolians; the mortuary treatment is suggestive of a hybrid of Shamanistic and Lamaistic mortuary practices reserved for higher status Mongolians. These findings speak to the utility of case-study based analyses in complementing more top-down historical studies for understanding the effects of political instability and widespread conflict upon individuals during poorly documented time periods.

Apotropaism is a word used to describe a number of texts from the Dead Sea Scrolls that are meant to deal with the problem of evil, especially the demonic. Yet, scholars of Early Judaism have labeled some texts as apotropaic while others have described them as exorcistic. Drawing on the criteria of proximity and time suggested by Philip S. Alexander, this dissertation argues the following points: 1) That the difference between an apotropaic ritual and an exorcistic ritual is the proximity of evil to the human being and the expected temporal efficacy of the ritual. By closely examining the language of each individual text, evidence suggests that such delineations can be based on these two criteria; 2) That some texts that have otherwise been neglected in the study of apotropaism at Qumran may be part of this group of protective rituals; 3) That there is a difference between works concerned primarily with protection from evil spirits (anti-demonic) and those concerned with Sin (anti-peccable); 4) That a number of shared elements within the apotropaic texts at Qumran emphasize themes such as covenant faithfulness, obedience, predestination, among others. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

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