This essay aims to examine Martha Nussbaum's proposal for a classical defense of reform in liberal education and her critique of utility thinking in higher education. I want to explore how Nussbaum uses history to create an ethical alternative that cultivates both moral and intellectual virtues, which she considers to be crucial for the survival of democracy. In examining Nussbaum's use of Aristotle, I focus on her work as a proposal for institutional implementation of an Aristotelian epistemology and the cultivation of the individual as an ethical political subject. This study highlights the epistemological, educational and political ideas that form the basis of Nussbaum's ideals. I intend, however, to go beyond a contextualizing reading and thus establish a dialogue with a radical intersubjectivity to respond to Nussbaum's ambitions to recognize human vulnerabilities as assets for reason. From this perspective, I problematise Nussbaum's aspirations for reform and argue that she maintains a loyalty to an ideal that stands in contrast to the possibilities for epistemological and thus ethical political change.

Thesis (M.S.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of Communications, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 173-180).

This dissertation examines the feminist intersections of composition studies, visual rhetoric, and comics studies in order to identify a rhetorically interdisciplinary approach to composition that moves beyond composition studies’ persistent separation of qualitative and quantitative research methodologies, rhetoric and ideology, and analysis and composition. Chapter one transgresses the qualitative/quantitative divide using keyword analysis and visualization of 2,573 dissertation and thesis abstracts published between 1979 – 2012 to engage in what composition studies scholar Derek Mueller terms a “distant reading” of the extent and contexts of composition studies’ self-identified interdisciplinarity. Complementing my more traditional literature review, the results of this analysis validate the necessity of my analytical and pedagogical interventions by suggesting that composition studies has not yet addressed comics through the feminist intersections of visual rhetoric and critical pedagogy. Chapters two and three develop a rhetorical analytical approach to comics that moves beyond comics studies’ persistent separation of rhetoric and ideology by positing conflict as an identifiable form of rhetorical persuasion in the Martha Washington comics. These comics were collaboratively created by Frank Miller and Dave Gibbons between 1989 – 2007. Following feminist rhetorician Susan Jarratt’s case for rhetorical conflict as a pedagogical tool and extending Chicana feminist Chela Sandoval’s conceptualization of meta-ideologizing in which oppressive ideologies are re-signified via recontextualizations that juxtapose ‘old’ and ‘new’ signs of ideological meaning, I explore the rhetorically persuasive conflict arising from visual, conceptual, and embodied juxtapositions of race, class, and gender made visible in these comics. Chapter four outlines a feminist, critical, visual rhetorical – what I call prismatic – approach to composition pedagogy that requires (1) contexts in which differences and conflicts can be identified and engaged, (2) explicable sites of intersection between ideological perspectives and rhetorical construction, and (3) models for the transition from ideological critique to (re)composition. This is not an add-pop-genre-and-stir approach to composition pedagogy; rather, it intentionally deploys comics’ inherent multimodality as a challenge to students’ often narrow definitions of rhetoric and composition.

The emergence of Human Rights NGOs continue to influence the practice of human rights domestically and internationally. In connection with this development, as scrutinizers of human rights and human rights violations, the Human Rights NGOs must in turn be scrutinized. Guided by a theoretical framework consisted of theories of justification by Rainer Forst, Martha Nussbaum and Michael Ignatieff, a critical analysis of how Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch reveal the state of human rights in the respective annual report of 2017 is carried out. The aim is to scrutinize how the Human Rights NGOs interpretation, prioritization and justification of human rights affect the validity of human rights. The validity of human rights in turn, argues the thesis, presupposes that we must assess whether these strategies are reasonable. The thesis finds that human rights are understood as universal claims for the respect and protection of the underpinning values of human rights: dignity, freedom and equality. Human rights, interpreted in this sense, must have an abiding effect and protect human rights, but also to hold human rights violations accountable through means of justice. Accordingly, justice has a double meaning for the purpose of human rights in the sense that it firstly set out conditions for when human rights are protected and secondly, make this task possible. / I ljuset av framväxten av icke-statliga människorättsorganisationer och deras betydande inflytande på de mänskliga rättigheterna, syftar denna uppsats till att studera deras förståelse och tolkning av dessa rättigheter. Med hjälp av ett teoretiskt ramverk bestående av teorier om rättfärdigande av mänskliga rättigheter av Rainer Forst, Martha Nussbaum och Michael Ignatieff, genomförs en kritisk analys av hur Amnesty International och Human Rights Watch årliga rapporter om de mänskliga rättigheternas status ser ut. Syftet med denna analys är att kritisk granska hur organisationernas tolkning, prioritering och rättfärdigande av mänskliga rättigheter påverkar rättigheternas validitet. Validiteten i sin tur, förutsätter att en kritisk analys av dessa strategier förhåller sig till huruvida dessa är förnuftiga och godtagbara. Uppsatsen kommer fram till att mänskliga rättigheter förstås som universella anspråk vars syfte är att respektera och skydda de underliggande normerna av mänsklig värdighet, frihet och jämlikhet. Mänskliga rättigheter måste således ha en varaktig effekt för att skydda människor, men även för att kunna ställa brott mot mänskliga rättigheter inför rättvisa. Följaktligen har rättvisa mer än ett syfte, nämligen att först staka ut de förutsättningar som krävs för att respektera och skydda mänskliga rättigheter, och för det andra att göra detta möjligt.

Poderiam os direitos humanos, em vista das limitações que envolvem tanto a sua titularidade como o seu fundamento nuclear - a dignidade humana e dos desafios que permeiam a sua implementação, se valer de linguagens alternativas que contribuam para o seu avanço? Com fundamento nos estudos de Martha Nussbaum, o presente trabalho explora a viabilidade de aplicação da abordagem das capacidades como ferramenta para qualificação do discurso dos direitos humanos. / Could it be possible for human rights, in view of the limitations regarding the idea of being entitled to and its foundation the human dignity and also the challenges that surround its implementation, to make use of alternative languages that contribute to its achievement? Based upon Martha Nussbaums studies, the present work explores the possibility of using the capabilities approach as a tool to qualify human rights discourse.

No description available.

This thesis examines press coverage in the Deseret News and Salt Lake Tribune of five female politicians in Utah history: Martha Hughes Cannon (1896), Reva Beck Bosone (1948), Karen Shepherd (1992), Enid Greene Waldholtz (1994), and Olene S. Walker (2003). A total of 438 articles were reviewed using qualitative textual analysis. Coverage by candidate varied, though it was not in general overtly biased concerning candidate gender. However, the press did call attention to the gender of candidate and gendered commentary was present. The press also called attention to the rarity of women running for high political office and addressed the ability of candidates to balance the roles of wife/mother/homemaker with a political career. This thesis contributes to the overall understanding of newspaper coverage of female politicians and provides a window into the cultural as well as political history of Utah. Suggestions for further research about media coverage of female politicians are made.

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to explore the use of virtual distant Reiki as a healing modality to influence the human environmental field patterning. Specific Aims: (1) To determine if it is feasible to recruit and retain participants (through expressions of human choice) to participate in a study comprised of two distant Reiki administrations on a virtual platform. (2) To investigate the preliminary influence of a distant Reiki intervention on pattern of the whole as manifested by participant response in stress and anxiety. (3) To explore the participant’s reflections on their virtual distant Reiki experience within the human environmental field pattern of their home environment as a healing space. Theoretical Framework: The theoretical framework is grounded in Martha Rogers’ Science of Unitary Human Beings. Design: This study incorporates a feasibility, mixed method design. Data was collected through pre and post intervention individualized interviews and two tools (State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and Impact of Events Scale-Revised (IES-R)). Results: Described changed in pattern manifestation supported the need for home-based interventions during covid 19 pandemic. Quantitative response indicated a statistically significant reduction in perceived stress and anxiety (p< 0.001). Conclusion: The preliminary study findings support the feasibility of a distant Reiki and suggest that nurses, who are Reiki practitioners, may be influential in interacting with the human environmental field to promote change and foster healing.

Amartya Sen y Martha Nussbaum son dos de los principales teóricos que le dieron origen a la propuesta del desarrollo humano, también entendido como el enfoque de las capacidades y ampliación de libertades. Sus presupuestos filosóficos se han ido acentuando con el tiempo, siendo los más destacados aquellos que hacen referencia a la teoría aristotélica acerca del buen vivir. Desde esta perspectiva, el desarrollo de las capacidades del ser humano tiene por fin último la εὐδαιμονία, entendida como el florecimiento humano o la felicidad. Desde el enfoque, se propone que los individuos tengan acceso a las oportunidades básicas que le permitan tener libertad de elección para optar por el tipo de vida que tiene razones para valorar. En este sentido, la democracia y la deliberación pública cobran un rol fundamental para alcanzar los fines del desarrollo humano, en el marco de la ampliación de la libertad política. El principal objetivo de esta tesis reside, en este sentido, en una ampliación de la línea de investigación del enfoque de desarrollo humano en relación a la democracia y la deliberación pública. Para ello, en el desarrollo de esta investigación también se hará una fundamental referencia a las investigaciones de Iris Marion Young, quien por su parte, realiza una propuesta más inclusiva de la democracia.

Through examining the life of Martha Jane Knowlton Coray, a nineteenth-century Mormon woman, this thesis establishes an analytical framework for studying the lives of Mormon women in territorial Utah. Their faith, femininity, and the frontier form the boundaries in which their lives are studied. Their faith was primarily defined by the doctrines of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, such as a belief in a restored gospel and priesthood, temples, and polygamy. These unique beliefs also fostered an identity as a chosen people and contributed to hostile feelings from their neighbors. Persecution followed and the Latter-day Saint community responded by isolating themselves geographically and ideologically from their perceived enemies. This isolation, in turn, elevated the importance of LDS doctrine and culture in Mormon women's lives.Mormon women also brought to Utah territory Northeastern notions of domesticity promulgated through women's magazines of the time. In Utah, local newspapers also forwarded the ideals of purity, piety, submissiveness, and virtue. Mormon women claimed to implement these values in their lives, but Protestant women found their acceptance of polygamy an insult to womanhood.Finally, Mormon women lived on the western frontier, isolated from markets in a desert. Such circumstances inevitably affected their lives. They had to sacrifice convenience, economic stability, and physical comforts while establishing a reliable food supply, irrigation systems, schools, and homes. Domestic production of food stuffs and goods became essential to a family's survival.This picture of Mormon women, though generally accurate, is not enough to examine the many unique facets of their lives. The triad of faith, femininity, the frontier sets the boundaries for the study, but does not account for the differences between each woman's unique personality and circumstances. I have chosen Martha Jane Knowlton Coray to test the boundaries established in this framework. As a believer, Martha was concerned with building the Kingdom of God. She followed Brigham Young's 1870s directives and her own ambitions to sell medicinal products throughout Utah Territory. Doctrine regarding eternal families and her domestic ideals no doubt contributed to her choice to have twelve children. But Martha and Howard failed at their attempt to practice polygamy, and poverty prevented Martha from doing as much for her children as she would have liked. Martha's life illustrates that although the greatest influences in Mormon women's lives can be identified, the individual paths followed were forged by choice, personality, and determination.