In this thesis I present a systematic comparison of religious education in state schools in England and Norway. Comparative studies in related fields and pioneering works in comparative RE informed the formulation of a methodology, essentially a template for comparative religious education. This is a synthesis of two sets of ideas. The first is an idea of three dimensions in comparative education: supranational, national and subnational processes. In supranational processes I distinguish between formal and informal processes. Formal processes refer to formal international (educational) policymaking which takes place in international organizations. Informal processes include social and/ or political developments which take place both in and through the formal processes but also outside them and, partly independently of them - such as secularisation, pluralisation and globalisation. My perspective is that comparison in religious education is about the study of the impact of supranational processes on national processes. Subnational processes refer to variations between regions within a country. The second set of ideas is levels of curriculum: societal, institutional, instructional and experiential. The thesis chapters explore these levels examining how they are affected by supranational, national and subnational processes. In discussing the societal level, the focus is on academic debates. The institutional level is represented mainly by relevant legislation plus key policy documents, the Non-Statutory National Framework for RE (QCA 2004) and Local Agreed Syllabuses in England, and the Norwegian National Curriculum for RE (UD 2005).The instructional level includes how teachers plan and deliver the curriculum and the experiential level corresponds to how learners receive the curriculum. The societal and institutional levels are explored through theory and documentary studies, while empirical studies are part of the material for the chapters concerning practice. Civil enculturation, social imaginaries and national imaginaries are important analytical concepts. The suggested methodology and some central findings are discussed further in a concluding chapter.

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<p> This dissertation proposed a quantitative research design to determine if there was a relationship between Wesleyan ministerial education and ministerial effectiveness as measured by the Ministerial Effectiveness Inventory (MEI), an instrument validated in the Church of the Nazarene and United Methodist Church, and used in ministerial effectiveness studies throughout denominations in North America. A survey was sent to ordained senior/solo pastors in the North American Wesleyan Church who have been in service at their local church for at least three years. Participants were asked to take a self -rated MEI, and a sample of the members of their board completed the other-rated MEI. The Wesleyan Church has multiple programs of study that lead to ordination, including seminary, college/university, and adult education programs. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) found a statistically significant difference between the MEI scores of pastoral leaders who had completed adult education and those who completed college.</p>

This thesis examines the work of the National Society of the Church of England in Religious Education, with particular reference to the use of illustrated material in Religious Education textbooks and pupils’ books at the end of the nineteenth century. It begins with an outline of the National Society’s early development and the start of its publishing house, The Depository, in 1845. It then looks at some aspects of teacher training, curricula for Religious Education and the importance attached by the National Society to the moral and Christian training of teachers who later taught in Board Schools as well as Church of England schools. The thesis briefly discusses the reasons for the National Society’s publications in the light of contemporary Victorian ideas and then considers in details the following publications: The life of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, The Childhood of Christ, The Ministry of Christ, The Passion of Christ and The Resurrection of Christ, the first of these being written by F.T. Palgrave and the others by an unknown author ‘R.E.H’, all being illustrated with twenty-four chromolithographs of Italian Renaissance Christian paintings dating from the fourteenth to the sixteenth centuries. Later materials, produced by the National Society and other publishers are then examined, in order to demonstrate the significance of The Life and The Stories. In revealing this part of educational history the thesis demonstrates that these publications were precursors for modern books, considered a success by contemporary teachers, in order to meet their own standards and the demands of the government regulations. The method used has been archival research into written sources and art historical research into the illustrations, with historical and theological method applied where appropriate.

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. / Religious terrorism, as most recently highlighted by the horrendous 9/11 attacks, is not a new phenomenon. It is not restricted to any one particular religion or belief system, nor is it reserved as a weapon against foreign lands. Domestic religious terrorism is just as prevalent throughout history and is brought about by certain converging factors at particularly susceptible times within the society, such as economic difficulties, new or modified technologies, and social uncertainties. Under these conditions, a charismatic leader with an appealing ideology and access to sufficient resources may become a very powerful threat to society, pitting the secular against the divine. This type of convergence may result in altogether new religious movements, or the unexpected growth of fringe groups that, until they act, are not even identified. Examining the historical convergences of the Reformation, First and Second Great Awakenings, and the trends of modern domestic society, we find that the threads which hold these movements together remain consistent throughout history. Enabled by the rapid growth of technology, these groups have unprecedented potential power. A group that decides to become offensive or use weapons of mass destruction, such as Japan's Aum Shinrikyo, may pose an unacceptable risk to our country. / Major, United States Air Force

This paper explores the representation of the Rohingya minority group in Rakhine State, Myanmar, through the methods of corpus-assisted discourse studies. The research is based on the NOW Corpus, curated and designed by Mark Davies at Brigham Young University. On the basis of concordance and collocation analysis, this paper draws several important conclusions, arguing that online media have in general depicted the Rohingya people as a homogenous, passive group of victims, while minimizing agency of the Myanmar Security Forces and Government of Myanmar, their persecutors. In addition, the data reveals that the representation of the Rohingya people focuses heavily on depicting them as Muslims and creating a sharp dichotomy between Muslims and Buddhists in Myanmar. This in turn neglects opportunities for Buddhist and non-minority supporters of the Rohingya people to be heard. This suggests that more should be done to counteract the homogenous representation of the Rohingya people, and provide more well-balanced online journalism which accepts the divisiveness of creating such religious dichotomies.

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I dag påverkar populärkulturella medier som film och tv hur vi människor uppfattar verkligheten omkring oss. Företaget Walt Disney Company är ett ledande företag när det gäller film och underhållning för barn. Hur Disney framställer vad som är gott och vad som är ont påverkar hur barn, men även vuxna ser på dessa fenomen. Syftet med uppsatsen är att analysera hur ondska framställs i tre olika Disneyfilmer. Filmerna som analyseras är Kejsarens nya stil, Prinsessan och grodan och Vaiana. Genom en kvalitativ analys undersöks framställningen av ondska i filmerna. Innehållet analyseras utifrån filosofen Lars Fr. H Svendsens filosofi där fyra typer av ondska presenteras. Av analysen framgår att den typ av ondska som framför allt framställs i filmerna är en instrumentell typ av ondska. De aktörer som utför onda handlingar i Disneyfilmerna har oftast därför motiv till handlingen som kommer leda till att de själva tjänar på att utföra den.

<p>ABSTRACT Title: An Evaluation of a Mentoring and Partnering Program to Mobilize Small Harlem Churches to Intentional Community Engagement Author: Carlton T Brown Degree: Doctor of Ministry Date: 3-1-17 Adviser: Dr. Frank Chan The purpose of writing "An Evaluation of a Mentoring and Partnering Program to Mobilize Small Harlem Churches to Intentional Community Engagement" is to address and evaluate a mentoring and partnering program designed to mobilize small Harlem churches to intentional community engagement. The approach of the project focuses on the modification of ministry views of the pastor and key leader(s) of small, less resourced churches through the intervention of the Pastor of a large 500 or more member church in the area of community engagement and potential partnership opportunities for that purpose. Chapter 1 provides the purpose, goals, context, and rationale of this project. This chapter includes the Researcher?s inspiration for the research, purpose of the study, ministry problem addressed, Bethel Gospel ministry and community context in which research was conducted, research questions and model of research, definition of terms ?Ark Mentality, black liberation theology, great commission, theology of the priestly and prophetic, storefront churches ? and possible limitations and delimitations of the current project. Chapter 2 provides literature review and theological foundations for historical and current state of the ministry of the black church inner-city and its approach to community engagements and partnerships dealing with the prevailing spiritual and social condition in context of the churches mission. Chapter 3 sets forth the research methodology utilized in approaching managing attitude changes of pastors and leaders of small less resourced churches, the instruments used to establish initial position, procedures employed during mentoring session, and data collection procedure. Chapter 4 presents an analysis of the findings including: quantitative and qualitative data of the 5 areas of assessment and intervention including: Discipleship, Mission and Vision, Community Engagement, Great Commission, and Shared Missional Commitment, along with information gleaned from interview and finally post-intervention Church Philosophy Questionnaire. Chapter 5 summarizes the purpose of the project, the findings as regards the attitudes and commitments of the participants. The research questions are restated. The Researcher?s conclusions include challenges of participants? schedules and ministry commitments, and the possibility of conflicts around theological issues.