Thesis advisor: Ruth Langer / This dissertation creates a Jewish theology of asceticism focused on articulating the ideals toward which Jewish observant life is directed, a method for reflecting on the ‘ends’ of a Jewish life well lived in relationship to practice. I apply this theological asceticism to an analysis of Jewish liturgical prayer (tefilat keva), arguing that it is a desire-forming practice that causes practitioners to reimagine human flourishing and what leads to true satisfaction. My approach to this topic is modeled on a careful analysis and evaluation of the Anglican theologian Sarah Coakley’s “new asceticism” in light of Charles Taylor’s “maximal demand.” I augment Coakley’s definition of asceticism to fit a Jewish theological anthropology articulated by Rabbi Israel Salanter. I then apply this ascetic discourse to the study of the daily practice of liturgy. The Jewish liturgical asceticism I develop draws together elements from the Catholic James Fagerberg’s liturgical theology, the Presbyterian theologian James K. A. Smith’s theories about how liturgy forms a social-imaginary, and R. Israel Salanter’s teachings on the formation of desire (ta’avah) through the practice of hitpa’alut. The dissertation ends with an application of this method for theologically reflecting on the desire forming power of a daily prayer life through a close reading of elements of the weekday morning service, shacharit. This dissertation offers a Jewish theological account of the formative power of liturgical prayer on human desire. It also creates an approach for thinking more broadly about desire formation as a key component in the ideal goals of a normative Jewish lifestyle. This theological project will benefit communities of practice looking to better understand the wisdom of their inherited spiritual practices, educators and communal rabbis looking to commend traditional Jewish ways of life, Jewish theologians looking for an approach to discussing the ideals within Jewish life in a way that stays rooted in practice, and scholars of Jewish liturgy who are looking for methods for studying liturgy as a formative act and not merely an historical text. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2022. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Theology.

Yes / In this article, I argue that there is a divide in social psychology between a mainstream paradigm for investigating the flow of power in a largely competitive social life (such as social cognition, social identity theory, and discourse analysis) and a fringe paradigm for investigating the experience of flourishing in conditions of social learning (such as ‘the community of practice metaphor’, ‘dialogical theory’, ‘phenomenological analysis’). Assumptions of power and flourishing demand different conceptions of the self and the social world (e.g. a strategic subject or motivated tactician in a social group versus a reflective learner/artist in a community of practice). The first goal of this article is to reveal the assumptions that lead to this new classification. The second goal is to draw dotted lines to the blind-spots within these paradigms that each reveals. These blind spots are: 1) internal goods could be useful to consider for the power paradigm and external goods for the flourishing paradigm; 2) communicative rationality is underplayed within the power paradigm; while instrumental rationality is underplayed for the flourishing paradigm; 3) judgements and skill are underplayed in the power paradigm; self-interested motivations are underplayed in the flourishing paradigm.

Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE) agents build local relationships with participants and stakeholders to translate evidence-based information to improve "economic, environmental, and social well-being" of Virginians. However, Extension agents have reported high rates of employee burnout and stress. To mitigate the impacts of agent stress and burn-out, application of mindfulness and yoga through health coaching is emergent, but the impact is yet to be empirically tested. To holistically evaluate the individual-level impacts (i.e., behavior) as well as the system impacts (i.e., costs and sustainability), this project tested the initial feasibility, cost, reach, and efficacy of a virtual health coaching program for VCE agents. The CHAT (Coaching for Health and Togetherness) program consisted of nine weekly, one-hour modules including goal setting, self-reflection, behavior change strategies, group yoga and grounding exercises as well as resources on Ayurveda (an ancient Indian system of medicine and sister science to yoga). The program facilitated group dynamics through relationship building, group goal setting, group distinctiveness, and support. The impacts of the coaching module were measured longitudinally (pre, post, and 3-month follow up) through previously validated scales in flourishing (i.e., complete human well-being), group cohesion, physical activity behaviors, and yoga self-efficacy. Additionally, qualitative data were collected at the 6-month follow up point through semi-structured interviews. Participants in CHAT reported increased flourishing scores from baseline to post-program, t(7)=4.42, p=0.003 with a medium effect size (d=0.53) as well as at the three-month follow-up, t(7)=3.06, p=0.018 with a small effect size (d=0.14). Participants significantly increased aerobic physical activity behaviors from pre-program to post program, X2(1, N=11) =7.21, p=0.007, as well as at the three-month follow up, X2(1, N=11) = 4.95, p=0.026. Participants did not show significant changes in yoga self-efficacy or group cohesion. Future implications of this project include sustainability and scalability of virtual group health coaching programs for behavior change. / Master of Science / Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE) agents build local relationships with participants and stakeholders to translate evidence-based information to improve "economic, environmental, and social well-being" of Virginians. However, Extension agents have reported high rates of employee burnout and stress. To mitigate the impacts of agent stress and burn-out, application of mindfulness and yoga through health coaching is emergent, but the impact is yet to be empirically tested. To holistically evaluate the individual-level impacts (i.e., behavior) as well as the system impacts (i.e., costs and sustainability), this project tested the feasibility (initial implementation cost, reach) and efficacy of a virtual health coaching program for VCE agents. The CHAT (Coaching for Health and Togetherness) program consisted of nine weekly, one-hour modules including goal setting, self-reflection, behavior change strategies, group yoga and grounding exercises as well as resources on Ayurveda (an ancient Indian system of medicine and sister science to yoga). The program facilitated group dynamics through relationship building, group goal setting, group distinctiveness, and support. The impacts of the coaching module were measured longitudinally (pre, post, and 3-month follow up) through previously validated scales in flourishing (i.e., complete human well-being), group cohesion, physical activity behaviors, and yoga self-efficacy. Additionally, qualitative data were collected at the 6-month follow up point through semi-structured interviews. The results showed significant increases in participants' flourishing from pre-program to post-program as well as at the three-month follow up point, as well as significant changes in aerobic physical activity behaviors. Participants did not show significant changes in yoga self-efficacy, group cohesion from pre-program to post-program or at three-month follow up. Future implications of this project include sustainability and scalability of virtual group health coaching programs for behavior change.

O objetivo desta tese é analisar de que forma a Comunicação na perspectiva da Comunicação Pública poderá assumir a articulação e o debate para promover um novo paradigma em torno da sustentabilidade e de que forma o capital social está presente neste contexto. Adotamos como proposta para este estudo o pensamento complexo de Edgar Morin, que propõe uma abordagem transdisciplinar, propondo ver o mundo como um todo indissociável, no contexto, com traços inquietantes do emaranhado, da desordem, da ambiguidade, da incerteza, que para nós define as questões atuais referentes à Sustentabilidade. A pesquisa etnográfica nos permitiu observar no campo a presença de pressupostos da comunicação pública e de capital social e analisar as dinâmicas interativas e comunicativas no fato mais óbvio: o encontro e o relacionamento. Através da observação participante e de outros instrumentos de pesquisa aplicados com integrantes da OSCIP Rede Nossa São Paulo, foram colhidos os dados a fim de analisarmos a sua efetividade. A partir da constatação de que a problemática da sustentabilidade é de natureza políticoeconômica, acreditamos que a Comunicação Pública, regida pela força de múltiplos atores, se apresenta como uma nova proposta em torno da palavra-problema \"sustentabilidade\" e para a proposição de novas políticas públicas em torno dos problemas ou soluções concernentes a ela. O estudo pretende trazer contribuições para o avanço da área do conhecimento, prenchendo lacunas, a exemplo de novos estudos em torno do conceito de Flourishing, com o objetivo de ampliar as possibilidades de entendimento, crítica e alternativa diante do olhar reducionista e simplificador de como o problema da sustentabilidade vem sendo apresentado, além de trazer a possibilidade de reflexão acerca das práticas utilizadas pelas organizações do terceiro setor, que a partir do pressuposto de que estas têm a missão de ocupar o espaço público e dada a sua importância na condução do advocacy, possibilitam o debate em construção coletiva para problemas ligados ao interesse público e ao bem comum para o desenvolvimento da sustentabilidade. Assim, na Rede Nossa São Paulo nos deparamos com um modelo de comunicação pública e de capital social legítimos, modelo que poderá inspirar novos atores, organizações, instituições a revitalizarem o espaço público aberto para mudanças concretas, a partir de uma comunicação pública transparente, que promova a confiança, a cooperação, a reciprocidade e a participação a fim de encontrarmos respostas às grandes questões e complexidade que o termo sustentabilidade carrega. / The objective of this thesis is to analyse how Communication in the perspective of Public Communication can assume the articulation and debate to promote a new paradigm around sustainability and the way social capital is present in this context. We adopt as a proposal for this study the complex thought of Edgar Morin, who proposes a transdisciplinary approach, proposing to see the world as an indivisible whole, in the context, with disturbing traces of the entanglement, disorder, ambiguity, uncertainty that defines us the current issues related to Sustainability. The ethnographic research allowed us to observe in the field the presence of the presuppositions of public communication and social capital, and analyse the interactive and communicative dynamics in the most obvious fact: the encounter and the relationship. Through participatory observation and other applied research instruments with the members of the OSCIP Rede Nossa São Paulo, we collected data with the objective of analysing its effectiveness. Based on the fact that the issue of sustainability is political and economic in nature, we believe that Public Communication, governed by the force of multiple actors, is presented as a new proposal around the problem word \"sustainability\" and the proposition of new public policies around the problems or solutions concerning it. The study intends to bring contributions for the advancements of the knowledge area, filling in gaps, as example of new studies around the concept of Flourishing, aiming at expanding the possibilities of understanding, critique and alternative towards the reductionists and simplistic view of how the issue of sustainability is being presented, besides bringing the possibility of reflection about the practices used by third sector organizations, based on the presupposition they have the mission of occupying public space and given its importance of leading the advocacy, enabling the debate under collective construction for problems related to the public interest and the common good for the development of sustainability. Therefore, at Rede Nossa São Paulo we faced an authentic model of public communication and social capital, model that can inspire new actors, organizations, institutions to revitalize the public space to concrete changes, having as starting point a transparent public communication, which promotes confidence, cooperation, reciprocity and participation in order to find answers to great questions and complexity that the term sustainability holds.

O objetivo desta tese é analisar de que forma a Comunicação na perspectiva da Comunicação Pública poderá assumir a articulação e o debate para promover um novo paradigma em torno da sustentabilidade e de que forma o capital social está presente neste contexto. Adotamos como proposta para este estudo o pensamento complexo de Edgar Morin, que propõe uma abordagem transdisciplinar, propondo ver o mundo como um todo indissociável, no contexto, com traços inquietantes do emaranhado, da desordem, da ambiguidade, da incerteza, que para nós define as questões atuais referentes à Sustentabilidade. A pesquisa etnográfica nos permitiu observar no campo a presença de pressupostos da comunicação pública e de capital social e analisar as dinâmicas interativas e comunicativas no fato mais óbvio: o encontro e o relacionamento. Através da observação participante e de outros instrumentos de pesquisa aplicados com integrantes da OSCIP Rede Nossa São Paulo, foram colhidos os dados a fim de analisarmos a sua efetividade. A partir da constatação de que a problemática da sustentabilidade é de natureza políticoeconômica, acreditamos que a Comunicação Pública, regida pela força de múltiplos atores, se apresenta como uma nova proposta em torno da palavra-problema \"sustentabilidade\" e para a proposição de novas políticas públicas em torno dos problemas ou soluções concernentes a ela. O estudo pretende trazer contribuições para o avanço da área do conhecimento, prenchendo lacunas, a exemplo de novos estudos em torno do conceito de Flourishing, com o objetivo de ampliar as possibilidades de entendimento, crítica e alternativa diante do olhar reducionista e simplificador de como o problema da sustentabilidade vem sendo apresentado, além de trazer a possibilidade de reflexão acerca das práticas utilizadas pelas organizações do terceiro setor, que a partir do pressuposto de que estas têm a missão de ocupar o espaço público e dada a sua importância na condução do advocacy, possibilitam o debate em construção coletiva para problemas ligados ao interesse público e ao bem comum para o desenvolvimento da sustentabilidade. Assim, na Rede Nossa São Paulo nos deparamos com um modelo de comunicação pública e de capital social legítimos, modelo que poderá inspirar novos atores, organizações, instituições a revitalizarem o espaço público aberto para mudanças concretas, a partir de uma comunicação pública transparente, que promova a confiança, a cooperação, a reciprocidade e a participação a fim de encontrarmos respostas às grandes questões e complexidade que o termo sustentabilidade carrega. / The objective of this thesis is to analyse how Communication in the perspective of Public Communication can assume the articulation and debate to promote a new paradigm around sustainability and the way social capital is present in this context. We adopt as a proposal for this study the complex thought of Edgar Morin, who proposes a transdisciplinary approach, proposing to see the world as an indivisible whole, in the context, with disturbing traces of the entanglement, disorder, ambiguity, uncertainty that defines us the current issues related to Sustainability. The ethnographic research allowed us to observe in the field the presence of the presuppositions of public communication and social capital, and analyse the interactive and communicative dynamics in the most obvious fact: the encounter and the relationship. Through participatory observation and other applied research instruments with the members of the OSCIP Rede Nossa São Paulo, we collected data with the objective of analysing its effectiveness. Based on the fact that the issue of sustainability is political and economic in nature, we believe that Public Communication, governed by the force of multiple actors, is presented as a new proposal around the problem word \"sustainability\" and the proposition of new public policies around the problems or solutions concerning it. The study intends to bring contributions for the advancements of the knowledge area, filling in gaps, as example of new studies around the concept of Flourishing, aiming at expanding the possibilities of understanding, critique and alternative towards the reductionists and simplistic view of how the issue of sustainability is being presented, besides bringing the possibility of reflection about the practices used by third sector organizations, based on the presupposition they have the mission of occupying public space and given its importance of leading the advocacy, enabling the debate under collective construction for problems related to the public interest and the common good for the development of sustainability. Therefore, at Rede Nossa São Paulo we faced an authentic model of public communication and social capital, model that can inspire new actors, organizations, institutions to revitalize the public space to concrete changes, having as starting point a transparent public communication, which promotes confidence, cooperation, reciprocity and participation in order to find answers to great questions and complexity that the term sustainability holds.

The emerging dialogue between the arts and humanities and professional health care education is explored by considering ethical practice in nursing via several narratives of student nurses and nurse educators in one Scottish university. Adopting a narrative methodology based upon the literary hermeneutic of Paul Ricoeur, this thesis is presented as a ‘narrative research text’ in which my own role as a narrative researcher is critically developed. Utilising two different narrative frameworks, narratives are ‘constructed’ from data drawn from the research methods of focus groups, one-to-one interviews, reflective practice journals and documentary sources. Contemporary approaches in professional health care ethics education tend to share features of deduction, universality and generalisability. Their merits notwithstanding, perspectives drawn from the arts and humanities can offer valid critiques and alternative perspectives. Reading literature and poetry is offered as an engaged and interpretive contribution to a teleological ethic characterised by attention to ends (e.g. human flourishing), cultivation of virtue, telling of narrative, recognising relationality and in acknowledging the significance of contextual factors. These perspectives can all contribute to an ‘eclectic’ approach to ethics education in nursing. These narratives of student nurses support the careful inclusion of the arts and humanities within nurse education curricula for their potential to encourage self-awareness, critical thinking and concern for others. Narratives of nurse educators support these insights in addition to demonstrating ways in which the arts and humanities themselves can offer critical perspectives on current curriculum philosophies. These narratives suggest that the reading of literature and poetry can contribute to an eclectic approach to ‘ethical competency’ in nurse education. This is a broad-based educational approach which draws upon shared interpretive dimensions of the arts and humanities via engagement, action and response. This thesis contributes to current literature in the field of professional health care education by demonstrating the significance of findings derived from inclusion of a teleological ethic within ethics education.

Economic indicators such as GDP have been a main indicator of human progress since the first half of last century. There is concern that continuing to measure our progress and / or wellbeing using measures that encourage consumption on a planet with limited resources, may not be ideal. Alternative measures of human progress, have a top down approach where the creators decide what the measure will contain. This work defines a 'bottom up' methodology an example of measuring human progress that doesn't require manual data reduction. The technique allows visual overlay of other 'factors' that users may feel are particularly important. I designed and wrote a genetic algorithm, which, in conjunction with regression analysis, was used to select the 'most important' variables from a large range of variables loosely associated with the topic. This approach could be applied in many areas where there are a lot of data from which an analyst must choose. Next I designed and wrote a genetic algorithm to explore the evolution of a spectral clustering solution over time. Additionally, I designed and wrote a genetic algorithm with a multi-faceted fitness function which I used to select the most appropriate clustering procedure from a range of hierarchical agglomerative methods. Evolving the algorithm over time was not successful in this instance, but the approach holds a lot of promise as an alternative to 'scoring' new data based on an original solution, and as a method for using alternate procedural options to those an analyst might normally select. The final solution allowed an evolution of the number of clusters with a fixed clustering method and variable selection over time. Profiling with various external data sources gave consistent and interesting interpretations to the clusters.

South Africa currently has one pharmacist per 3849 of the population, which is considerably below the recommendation of one per 2300 of the population. Pharmacists are under a lot of pressure to perform at a certain level with not much to aid them in their day-to-day duties and their psychological needs. If pharmacists‟ stress levels are not managed, their physical and mental health may be compromised, as may their patients‟ safety. The construct of basic need satisfaction may be useful to gain insight in employees‟ functioning and to examine the motivational potential of organisational factors. Information about the need satisfaction of pharmacy employees is important as it may heighten the functioning and productivity of employees to a degree which will reduce costs connected with stress and turnover. This information will aid organisations to create environments that lessen the stress and turnover intentions of employees, thereby reducing the costs related to stress and turnover. The aims of this research were divided into general and specific aims. The general aim of this study was to investigate work related basic need satisfaction and flourishing of employees in a corporate pharmacy environment. A cross-sectional survey design was used. Data was collected through questionnaires in the empirical investigation, namely the Work-related Basic Need Satisfaction Scale (W-BNS) and the Mental Health Continuum Short-Form (MHC-SF). The study sample was compiled from a corporate retail pharmacy group. The satisfaction of the need for relatedness reflected as the most prominent result of the three basic psychological needs. Respondents mostly chose “agree” (mean = 3.9) on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 which is totally disagree to 5 which is totally agree. This indicates that employees feel that their need for relatedness is being satisfied. Respondents that flourish and are moderately mentally healthy differ in how they feel with regard to the satisfaction of their needs for autonomy and relatedness. It was thus shown that the levels of need satisfaction for autonomy and relatedness of flourishing employees are higher than those of the moderately mentally healthy employees. Recommendations for further research are made. / MPham (Pharmacy Practice, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

South Africa currently has one pharmacist per 3849 of the population, which is considerably below the recommendation of one per 2300 of the population. Pharmacists are under a lot of pressure to perform at a certain level with not much to aid them in their day-to-day duties and their psychological needs. If pharmacists‟ stress levels are not managed, their physical and mental health may be compromised, as may their patients‟ safety. The construct of basic need satisfaction may be useful to gain insight in employees‟ functioning and to examine the motivational potential of organisational factors. Information about the need satisfaction of pharmacy employees is important as it may heighten the functioning and productivity of employees to a degree which will reduce costs connected with stress and turnover. This information will aid organisations to create environments that lessen the stress and turnover intentions of employees, thereby reducing the costs related to stress and turnover. The aims of this research were divided into general and specific aims. The general aim of this study was to investigate work related basic need satisfaction and flourishing of employees in a corporate pharmacy environment. A cross-sectional survey design was used. Data was collected through questionnaires in the empirical investigation, namely the Work-related Basic Need Satisfaction Scale (W-BNS) and the Mental Health Continuum Short-Form (MHC-SF). The study sample was compiled from a corporate retail pharmacy group. The satisfaction of the need for relatedness reflected as the most prominent result of the three basic psychological needs. Respondents mostly chose “agree” (mean = 3.9) on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 which is totally disagree to 5 which is totally agree. This indicates that employees feel that their need for relatedness is being satisfied. Respondents that flourish and are moderately mentally healthy differ in how they feel with regard to the satisfaction of their needs for autonomy and relatedness. It was thus shown that the levels of need satisfaction for autonomy and relatedness of flourishing employees are higher than those of the moderately mentally healthy employees. Recommendations for further research are made. / MPham (Pharmacy Practice, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

The presence of art and artists in health care settings raise many questions of an ethical nature. The presence of art in such milieux challenges the manner in which notions of art, persons, health, healing, community, ethics and aesthetics are presently conceptualized. This thesis will argue that art ought properly be considered an essential human need - integral to the health, flourishing and well-being of all persons - particularly those who are sick and suffering. An ethical care of sick persons would demand that both artistic practice and health care practice be revisioned in the light of this different understanding.