Why has the resurrection once again become the centre point of a new storm brewing in both popular and academic culture? Because of the combination of a realisation of death, and of human beings’ need to interpret its (death’s) mysteries; a question innate to the human experience. In a fear-filled world where war, terrorism, and economic collapse bring the question of death (and the afterlife) to the fore, people are asking – perhaps more than ever – what happens after we die. This popular fascination with the end, with death, and with what (if anything) lies beyond it, has also influenced the theme and the direction of academic work in the theological field. For this reason an informed analysis of the resurrection debate has become necessary – a process of analysing the different strata of understanding as it relates to current resurrection research. Any consideration given to gender or power, birth or burial, money or food is made in an effort to situate the debates being studied. Could a reason for these still varied conclusions on the subject be that those writing on it are not equipped for the task of analysing and interpreting history and historical method? In order to be able to begin answering this question, one of this study's main objectives is to learn and apply the approach of historians – outside of the community of Biblical scholars – to the question of whether Jesus of Nazareth rose from the dead; thus providing interaction with philosophers of history related to hermeneutical and methodological considerations. The method proposed here is a combination of historiography and an ethics of understanding, with the use of Correspondence theory (in which history is described as knowable, and some hypotheses as truer than others in a correspondence sense). This study wants to address both the different questions and analyses of the debate by asking: What if we see things differently? What if we were to ask a different set of questions? In order for this to be possible, we need to develop an ethics of interpretation – instead of asking the expected questions, this study aims to ask: What interests and frameworks inform the questions we ask and the way in which we interpret our sources? How does scholarship echo (and even participate in) contemporary public discourses about Christian identity? These questions will be attended to through three intersecting practices – critical reflexivity, complemented by the use of the two related practices of textual re-reading and public debate. However, these are not methodical steps in a linear progression, they are mutually interacting practices that draw on each other; raising new possibilities for the way in which we historically reconstruct the Jesus movement, allowing us to enter into the public debate about Jesus and eschatology in a way that takes the ethical possibilities and consequences of our reconstructions of Christian origins and identity seriously. For, though fragmentary and broken human words may be, they nevertheless possess a capacity to function as the medium through which God is able to disclose himself. Copyright / Dissertation (MTh)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / New Testament Studies / unrestricted

This quantitative study examined relationships of attending a new student orientation program related to student retention and academic success. A research group of 464 students of Tarrant County College Northwest, a community college campus in Fort Worth, Texas, who voluntarily attended a 2-hour pre-semester new student orientation program was compared to a group of 464 students on the same campus who did not attend the program. Comparisons were made with regard to retention and GPA. Ethnic ratios of both groups are 4% Black, 26% Hispanic, 66% White, and 4% other ethnicities. Chi square data analysis was utilized to determine if statistically significant differences relating to student retention existed between the groups. The independent t-test was used to compare means of calculated GPAs between groups. A one-way ANOVA was used to compare the means of GPAs for ethnic sub-groups. The total group and the Black sub-group showed statistically significant higher levels of second-semester retention (total group p = .018; Black sub-group p = .008) and higher calculated GPAs (total group p = .016; Black sub-group p = .019). No statistically significant results were found among Hispanic students.

The diploma thesis was elaborated for as part of design documentation for new multifunctional building in Litovel. The building will be used for purposes of bus and train station, another way for administration purposes. The building contains the second and a third floor with a modern look suitably fits into the surrounding countryside. The significant emphasis was on both nice appearance of the building, so the correct process engineering and dispositional solution. The building is designed so that in terms of design and implementation easily accomplishable. Furthermore, to meet all the requirements for building physics and fire safety. During seminar work was solved problems of summer overheating of the room situated on the south side of the building. For the preparation of project documentation for construction was used CAD software and specialized software for structural calculations of statics and construction.

I denna uppsats ställer jag mig frågan vilken praktisk kunskap jag har, i min yrkesroll som professionell facilitator.  En professionell facilitator är en för gruppen neutral mötesledare vars huvudsakliga syfte är att planera, förbereda och genomföra arbetsmöten och workshops som bygger på dialog, engagemang och delaktighet. Inte sällan med inriktning på erfarenhetsutbyte och kunskapsutveckling. Men, vad är det jag gör när jag skapar delaktighet och engagemang i en grupp, när jag får deltagarna att se sakfrågan i ett större sammanhang och genom olika metodval ger dem förutsättningar till konstruktiva dialoger? När jag underlättar för deltagare att inte bara närvara fysiskt under ett möte utan säkerställer att alla i gruppen aktivt deltar och bidrar till ett konkret resultat. Uppsatsen har skrivits inom ramen för magisterprogrammet i yrkeskunnande och professionsutveckling vid Linnéuniversitetet i Växjö under våren 2013. Empirin utgörs av de reflekterande texter som jag har skrivit inom ramen för kurserna mellan åren 2011-2013, baserade på 18 års erfarenhet av att leda och facilitera arbetsmöten och workshops. Mina erfarenheter har jag kopplat ihop med de olika teorierna inom ämnesområdet yrkeskunnande och professionsutveckling. Resultatet av uppsatsen vittnar om att mina erfarenheter och min praktiska kunskap har jag fått genom att öva och utveckla en känsla för olika människors och gruppers beteenden. Jag har också utvecklat en förtrogenhetskunskap beträffande vilka metoder och tekniker som fungerar i olika situationer och för olika sakfrågor. Varje möte som jag leder är direktsändning och det finns aldrig någon möjlighet att generalrepetera några repliker. I realtid reflekterar och analyserar jag vad som händer i gruppen. Jag använder olika metoder och tekniker. Planerat eller improviserat. Jag kallar det ibland för planerad improvisation. Jag kommer nämligen alltid väl förberedd och med en skräddarsydd mötesplan i handen, för att i själva mötessituationen kunna improvisera. Det är något jag vet av erfarenhet alltid blir fallet. Vad som kommer att hända under ett möte går aldrig att förutse. För att lyckas med denna konst behöver facilitatorn tro på varje individs lika värde, bortse från förutfattade meningar, lyssna och höra, både vad som sägs, men också lyssna efter vad som inte sägs. Facilitatorn underlättar för gruppen genom att driva mötet framåt utifrån ett specifikt syfte och önskat slutresultat. Att som facilitator vara mentalt närvarande under hela mötet och förhålla sig neutral till sakfrågan, gruppen och slutresultatet, men även till uppdragsgivaren, även om det är svårt, är kärnan i facilitatorns yrkesroll. Uppdragsgivarens betydelse ska aldrig underskattas och jag har myntat följande uttryck: Jag kan aldrig facilitera ett möte bättre än vad min uppdragsgivare tillåter. / This thesis explores a number of questions around the skills of a Professional Facilitator. It has been completed as part of the Programme on Skill and Professional Development, within the Faculty of Technology at Linneaus University, Sweden. A Professional Facilitator is a person who is both neutral to the group, and the subject under discussion. The facilitator plans, prepares, and runs workshops where dialogue, commitment and neutrality all play a central role. The practical insights presented within, are derived from the texts that I have submitted as part of the programme requirements during 2011-2013. The insights are based on my direct experience from facilitating professional workshops over the last 18 years. These insights have been presented in the context of the relevant literature and research within the areas of skill and technology. The conclusions from my work clearly show that the development of my skills is as much grounded in a structured approach to continued Professional Development as it is in experiential learning. I have developed skills regarding group dynamics, as well as methods and tools that can be appropriately applied in different contexts, subjects and groups. Every meeting I facilitate is completed in real-time, which means that I do not have the opportunity to rehearse or prepare for all eventualities. However, I am always very well prepared and have a tailor-made plan for every meeting. Improvisation is key, and is always required no matter what level of planning has been completed. My experience clearly shows that a Professional Facilitator needs to believe in the individuals potential, show no prejudice, and listen and hear what is being said both directly and indirectly. A facilitator needs to be alert throughout the whole meeting and take a neutral stance in relation to the group, the subject and the Meeting Sponsor.

La ricerca approfondisce il ruolo svolto da Adriano Bernareggi, sacerdote milanese, poi dal 1932 vescovo di Bergamo, nel movimento di rinnovamento degli studi ecclesiastici che ha attraversato il primo trentennio del Novecento. Formatosi presso le Università Gregoriana e Lateranense, nel clima segnato dal modernismo e dalla reazione pontificia, Bernareggi insegnò presso il Seminario di Milano, dal 1909 al 1932, e presso l’Università Cattolica, dal 1922 al 1926. In queste sedi, si sforzò di dare una risposta moderna – non modernista – all’ansia spirituale dell’uomo contemporaneo, attraverso un nuovo linguaggio religioso, capace di valorizzare la storia della Chiesa e, soprattutto, la sua liturgia. Particolare attenzione è stata dedicata: all’insegnamento seminariale, compreso il tentativo di promuovere un aggiornamento della ratio studiorum della Facoltà teologica in senso universitario, seguendo linee che anticipavano la Deus scientiarum Dominus; alla direzione della rivista “La Scuola Cattolica”, che tentò di trasformare in un periodico di scienze sacre nazionale, per riqualificare gli studi religiosi attraverso l’applicazione di una prospettiva storica e del metodo critico-filologico; alla partecipazione al movimento artistico-liturgico milanese, con la riscoperta, guardando all’insegnamento francese e all’abbazia di Maria Laach, del valore iniziatico dei riti; alla prevostura a S. Vittore al Corpo, laboratorio di una nuova “prassi liturgica”; alla sua partecipazione al dibattito sulla Questione Romana e sulla Conciliazione. / The research focuses the role played by Adriano Bernareggi, priest in Milan, then bishop of Bergamo since 1932, in the renewal movement of ecclesiastical studies during the first three decades of the twentieth century. Trained at the Gregorian and Lateran Universities, in a climate marked by modernism and vatican reaction, Bernareggi taught at the seminary of Milan, from 1909 to 1932, and at the Catholic University, from 1922 to 1926. In these sites, he strove to give a modern response - not modernist – to the spiritual anxiety of modern man, through a new religious language, able to enhance Church history and, especially, its liturgy. Particular attention has been paid to: the teaching, including the attempt to promote an update of the Ratio Studiorum of the Theological Faculty, following lines that anticipated Deus Scientiarum Dominus; the direction of the magazine “La Scuola Cattolica”, that he attempted to transform in a national periodic of sacred sciences, to regenerate religious studies through the application of an historical perspective and critical-philological research method; the participation in the liturgical and artistic movement in Milan, looking to french teachings and Maria Laach, especially to rediscovery the initiation value of rites; the prevostship at St. Vittore al Corpo, a laboratory of a new “liturgical practice”; the role in the debate on the Roman Question and Conciliation.

“The Purloined Letter,” Edgar Allan Poe's third and final tale featuring the detective Dupin, has evoked a long history of critical response. Criticism has tended to read the text for its role in the development of detective fiction and as illustrative of various theoretical positions. However, the implications of the “The Purloined Letter,” as a tale of ratiocination, has largely been left unexplored. “The Purloined Letter” explores logical processes of value and exchange, particularly economic exchange, in a manner very similar to what Charles Sanders Peirce will call pragmatism several decades later. Dupin's deductive methods and Peirce's abductive logic express the nature of objects in terms of social systems of preference and perception rather metaphysics. Peirce's classification of signs as icon, index, or symbol provides a framework of signification which can be read in conjunction with “The Purloined Letter” to flesh out the role of materiality and value in the theory of economic criticism. Reading value and exchange as part of a social system of signs, perceptions, and representations of value will serve to expose a penchant for material fetishism in economic criticism and provide a theory of currency, value, and exchange that contextualizes representational and material notions of value within the social and economic system that provides the processes and mechanisms of value determination. The way that the Prefect, the Minister D___, and Dupin each conceptualize the purloined letter as having a different representational relationship with value can be used to demonstrate Poe's abductive framework for economy.

The focus of this practical theological study is Pentecostalism, and the relationship between the hermeneutics of Pentecostalism and Postmodernism. Through a literary search, we observe the points of congruency between the hermeneutics of early Pentecostals and the key tenets of Postmodernism. We note the unprecedented acceptance of Pentecostal scholars into the larger theological world and question whether this is a result of the increased Modernization of Pentecostal hermeneutics. The Postmodern world of youth is explored, and we observe their tremendous openness to spirituality. This thesis will show that Pentecostals may contribute to the Christian world a Pentecostal hermeneutic that will speak a relevant message to generations of youth. Chapters two and three examine the convergent viewpoints of Pentecostalism with Postmodernity, in terms of rationalism, narratives, and the place of experience in life and theology. Chapter four highlights the hermeneutical debate between Gordon D. Fee and his Pentecostal responders, noting the Modern approach in the principles debated. Chapter five seeks to provide interaction with a giant of theology seldom engaged by Pentecostals - Rudolf Bultmann - and his modern followers, and explores the world of Postmodern youth. Chapter six explores the work of Kenneth Archer, who has proposed a specific Pentecostal hermeneutical approach, and chapter seven discusses the role of the Holy Spirit in hermeneutics, including whether Pentecostal experience may be considered an ”edge” in hermeneutics. Chapter eight summarizes the findings of this study. / Practical Theology / D. Th (Practical Theology)

The focus of this practical theological study is Pentecostalism, and the relationship between the hermeneutics of Pentecostalism and Postmodernism. Through a literary search, we observe the points of congruency between the hermeneutics of early Pentecostals and the key tenets of Postmodernism. We note the unprecedented acceptance of Pentecostal scholars into the larger theological world and question whether this is a result of the increased Modernization of Pentecostal hermeneutics. The Postmodern world of youth is explored, and we observe their tremendous openness to spirituality. This thesis will show that Pentecostals may contribute to the Christian world a Pentecostal hermeneutic that will speak a relevant message to generations of youth. Chapters two and three examine the convergent viewpoints of Pentecostalism with Postmodernity, in terms of rationalism, narratives, and the place of experience in life and theology. Chapter four highlights the hermeneutical debate between Gordon D. Fee and his Pentecostal responders, noting the Modern approach in the principles debated. Chapter five seeks to provide interaction with a giant of theology seldom engaged by Pentecostals - Rudolf Bultmann - and his modern followers, and explores the world of Postmodern youth. Chapter six explores the work of Kenneth Archer, who has proposed a specific Pentecostal hermeneutical approach, and chapter seven discusses the role of the Holy Spirit in hermeneutics, including whether Pentecostal experience may be considered an ”edge” in hermeneutics. Chapter eight summarizes the findings of this study. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / D. Th (Practical Theology)

The question leading to this study is whether the facts and theories pertaining to the Bible and Jesus Story as presented by The Authors (H Schonfield, D Joyce, B Thiering, M Baigent, R Leigh, H Lincoln; M Starbird, and D Brown) could be verified by the Archaeology evidence. I have adopted a multidiscipline and holistic approach considering information gathered from all media sources to ascertain what theories, if any could replace the traditional Jesus Story of the New Testament. I considered whether the alternative theories or traditional theories were believable due to the evidence presented by Biblical Archaeology or by the techniques used by The Authors in presenting their facts. By using Thouless’ system of Straight and Crooked thinking I was able to ascertain that the theories used in the novels written by The Authors may have been persuasive, but lacked substance. / Biblical and Ancient Studies / M. Th. (Biblical Archaeology)

Cette thèse vise à analyser dans la contemporanéité (1980-2013) la trajectoire du catholicisme, dans le sillage de la microhistoire, par l’étude de ses acteurs, de ses territoires et de ses communautés, des modes de gouvernement ecclésial. Nous mettrons en lumière le paradoxe du tissu de l’Eglise locale qui se dilate et se morcelle, mais aussi se contracte et se polarise, obligeant l’Ordinaire, dans son gouvernement, à penser un changement de paradigme : passer du défi de la proximité à celui de l’unité, compte tenu de la pluralité des communautés et des territoires associés. Nous étudierons, pour appuyer nos analyses, les diocèses de Rennes, Autun et Fréjus-Toulon. Un glissement de la logique d’enclos à la dynamique de pôles centralisateurs sera appréhendé, parfois en tensions, par les acteurs d’Eglise, à la lumière de quatre enjeux structurant l’argumentation : le « biotope » (rural/urbain), la diversité communautaire, le militantisme et la question de l’identité (statuts des clercs, coresponsabilité, modalités de l’évangélisation, communautarisme…).L’histoire et la géographie sociale permettront de renouveler les problématiques de l’appartenance spatiale et religieuse en partant d’interrogations sur le territoire selon des indicateurs précis : réseaux de fidèles et des militants, apport des nouvelles communautés (effectifs, choix pastoraux, gouvernement), options épiscopales en faveur de tel territoire ou tel groupe ecclésial… Pour l’historien, l’espace peut être considéré comme un outil heuristique, dans lequel des changements d’échelle se sont imposés dans le temps court. En délimitant nos recherches (1980-2013), nous voulons nous attarder à l’intérieur d’espaces qui ne possèdent plus la relative homogénéité que l’histoire leur prêtait avant le XXème siècle.Nos recherches s’inscrivent dans une structure en trois parties. La première partie se veut avant tout contextuelle, à la lumière de la postmodernité et de la sécularisation qui modifient les modes d’appartenance à une religion déclarée par beaucoup en soins palliatifs. Nous analyserons les liens étroits entre le catholicisme et ses modes d’insertion territoriale (rural/urbain) à partir de nos diocèses de référence. Nous présenterons les dé/recompositions des formes de militantisme dans le diocèse de Rennes, terreau d’Action catholique de plus en plus stérile et laissant la place à une militance familialiste très urbaine.La seconde partie de la thèse abordera les enjeux de la gouvernance ecclésiale dans les trois diocèses d’étude. Nous étudierons, dans le temps court, l’évolution du « munus regendi » des évêques et des prêtres avec le croisement des générations, avec le principe de coresponsabilité et le développement différencié selon les diocèses du diaconat permanent et des laïcs en mission ecclésiale. Nous développerons tout particulièrement le cas toulonnais pour lequel peu d’études approfondies ont été réalisées.Enfin, la troisième partie mettra l’accent sur la problématique du développement croissant d’un catholicisme attestataire polarisé en quête de visibilité. Nous analyserons la genèse du Renouveau et sa trajectoire dans le diocèse de Rennes. Nous nous pencherons particulièrement sur la communauté de l’Emmanuel, sur sa promotion de la nouvelle évangélisation et l’intégralisme de ses modes pastoraux. Ensuite, fort d’une certaine fécondité sacerdotale et d’un dialogue chaotique avec Rome (Motu proprio en 1988 et 2007), la galaxie traditionaliste très hétéroclite reste le cadre de mutations contemporaines que nous étudierons dans les diocèses de Rennes et d’Autun. Enfin, nous changerons d’échelle en nous focalisant sur la ville-sanctuaire de Paray-le-Monial, pôle militant et laboratoire incubateur d’un « nouveau catholicisme », sur l’articulation entre les différents territoires (ville, sanctuaire, paroisse) et les acteurs en place. / This thesis aims at analysing, in the contemporary world (1980-2013), the trajectory of catholicism, in the wake of microhistory, through the study of its actors, its territories and its communities, the modes of ecclesial government. We will highlight the paradox of the fabric of the local Church which expands and fragments, but also contracts and polarizes, forcing the Ordinary, in his government, to think of a paradigm shift: from the challenge of proximity to the one of unity, taking into account the plurality of communities and associated territories. To support our analyses, we will study the dioceses of Rennes, Autun and Frejus-Toulon. A shift from the logic of enclosures to the dynamics of a centralizing pole will be apprehended, sometimes in tension, by Church actors, in the light of four issues structuring the argument: « biotope » (rural/urban), community diversity, activism and the question of identity (status of clerics, co-responsibility, modalities of evangelization, communautarism...).History and social geography will enable us to renew the problems of spatial and religious belonging by starting from questions about the territory according to precise indicators: networks of the faithful and militants, the contribution of new communities (numbers, pastoral strategies, government), episcopal options in favour of a particular territory or ecclesial group... For the historian, space can be considered as a heuristic tool, in which changes of scale have been imposed in short time. By delimiting our research (1980-2013), we want to focus on the interior of aeras that no longer possess the relative homogeneity that history lent them before the 20th century.Our research are presented in a three-part structure. The first part is intended above all to be contextual, in the light of postmodernity and secularization, which modify the modes of belonging to a religion declared by many in palliative care. We will analyse the close links between Catholicism and its modes of territorial integration (rural/urban) from our dioceses of reference. We will present the recompositions of the forms of militancy in the diocese of Rennes, a breeding ground for Catholic Action that is increasingly sterile and leaving room for very urban familyist militancy.The second part of this thesis will address the issues of ecclesial governance in our three dioceses of study. We will study, in the short time, the evolution of the « munus regendi » of bishops and priests with the crossing of generations; with the principle of co-responsibility and the differentiated development according to the dioceses of the permanent diaconate and of the laity in ecclesial mission. We will particularly develop the Toulon case for which few in-depth studies have been carried out.Finally, the third part will focus on the problem of the growing development of a polarized Catholic witness in search of visibility. We will analyze the genesis of the Renewal and its trajectory in the diocese of Rennes. We will look particularly at the Emmanuel community, its promotion of the new evangelization and the fundamentalism of its pastoral modes. Then, with a certain priestly fruitfulness and a chaotic dialogue with Rome (Motu proprio in 1988 and 2007), the very heterogeneous traditionalist galaxy remains the framework of contemporary mutations that we will study in the dioceses of Rennes and Autun. Finally, we will change scale by focusing on the city-sanctuary of Paray-le-Monial, militant pole and laboratory incubator of a « new Catholicism », on the articulation between the various territories (city, sanctuary, parish) and the actors in place. / La modernidad desafía "parroquia civilización". Los cambios en espacial e institucional llevada a cabo por la Iglesia católica, entre ellos diócesis, son simples adaptaciones renovadas o por el contrario, inauguran un proceso de desarrollo en el centro de nuevas áreas de distribución, en particular con el creciente impacto de los nuevos jugadores? Las iglesias se vacían todas partes en Francia, pero las comunidades y diócesis han recuperado algunos lugares para hacer los pilares de las nuevas formas de práctica religiosa, si es posible, la supervivencia no sólo de la institución, sino también la transmisión de la fe. ¿Cuál es el proceso? ¿Es sostenible en el tiempo? ¿Con qué herramientas?