Doctor of Philosophy in Urban Education, Cleveland State University, 2017, College of Education and Human Services

The purpose of this historical case study was to explore, through the lens of knowledge transfer, answers to the following two questions: how did the Sister-educators from one community in Northeast Ohio prepare themselves for leadership, and when it became clear that the future of their urban school depended on transitioning to lay leadership, how did Sister-principals prepare their religious communities and their school communities for that change. This qualitative study focuses on six members of one active, engaged, service-based community which has supported schools Northeast Ohio for over a century. The research revealed that a successful Sister-to-laity leadership transition will have its foundation in charismatic love, encourage faith-filled mentoring of faculty and students, honor the mission of the founding community, and support an overarching leadership culture of magnanimity to all stakeholders. This model can be employed in other educational and nonprofit settings where non-hierarchical servant leadership would be an effective approach.

Committee: Marius Boboc Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Catherine Hansman Ph.D. (Committee Member); Elizabeth Lehfeldt Ph.D (Committee Member); Adam Voight Ph.D (Committee Member); Matt Jackson-McCabe Ph.D (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Education History; Education Policy; Educational Leadership; Organizational Behavior; Personal Relationships; Religion; Religious Congregations; Religious Education; School Administration; Teaching

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 1966, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2024, Educational Studies

Historically, religion has been an understudied topic in higher education research, and Hindu students in particular have received insufficient attention. This qualitative study helps fill this knowledge gap by investigating how some Hindu students experience belonging at a large, public, Midwestern university. Using an emic/etic approach, I conduct a thematic analysis informed by descriptive phenomenology followed by a theoretical analysis using critical religious pluralism theory to understand how three Hindu students experience belonging on their university campus. The data collection methods used were semi-structured interviews and photo-elicitation. The four main themes which emerged from the data were religious and cultural identities, religious literacy, the importance of community, and individual spirituality. The critical religious pluralism theory-based analysis focused on religious literacy as a justice issue, the way neutrality perpetuates privilege, and the role of Christian privilege, drawing insights from these content areas about students' experiences of belonging. Overall, this study demonstrates the importance of providing both neutral and sectarian safe spaces on campus for Hindu students; building religious literacy into training and programming for faculty, staff, and students; and giving attention to Hindu students' spiritual development to support Hindu students' sense of belonging. This study also demonstrates how critical it is to analyze religion separately from culture.

Committee: Matthew Mayhew (Advisor); Cynthia Porter (Committee Member); Penny Pasque (Committee Member); Amy Barnes (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Higher Education; Religion

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2023, Educational Studies

Worldview diversity education is an integral aspect of preparing students to negotiate difference in an interconnected world and to work together toward solving global problems. It intersects with diversity and intercultural learning, contributing the missing piece of religious, secular, and spiritual worldviews to global learning. This study utilized a survey and comparative case study to explore non-U.S. global liberal arts colleges and universities' engagement in worldview diversity education, common approaches, and how senior campus leaders expressed worldview diversity education in relation to larger education purposes, policyscapes, and priorities. Incorporating a view of education practice as policy and of worldviews as representing not just systems of belief but also cultures of belonging, this study contributes to the identification and development of worldview diversity education policy and practice among global liberal arts colleges and universities.

Committee: Matthew Mayhew (Committee Chair); Amy Barnes (Committee Member); Tatiana Suspitsyna (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Educational Leadership; Higher Education; Higher Education Administration; International Relations; Religious Education

Master of Arts, Case Western Reserve University, 2022, History

As Ohio rural public schools' administration transitioned from local control to county and state control, Amish families allied with each other and with non-Amish rural families to retain their influence in the schools their children attended, negotiating a mediated freedom to educate their children. When it became clear by the mid-twentieth century that school officials prioritized following state education policy and keeping state funding over allowing school patrons to run the local schools, Amish families started parochial schools. In these schools, Amish women gained both a professional space and cultural influence, as school classrooms became a feminized domain. Amish schools' gendered organization resembled early twentieth-century public schools' masculinized administration and feminized workforce. I contend that just as rural public schools carved out a space of mediated freedom in administering their schools, even with ever-growing county and state bureaucracy, Amish women have developed their own space of mediated freedom, within the confines of male school administration.

Committee: Renee Sentilles (Committee Chair); John Grabowski (Committee Member); Peter Shulman (Committee Member) Subjects: History

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1982, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Education

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2017, History

This dissertation examines the relationship between faith and reason in the nineteenth-century United States by analyzing the lives and educational philosophies of six educators of different religious backgrounds: Frederick Packard, evangelical Protestant; Horace Mann, non-evangelical Protestant; Rebecca Gratz and Isaac Leeser, Jews; and Mother Angela and Orestes Brownson, Catholics. To varying degrees in their writings, each of these educators explored the relationship between faith and reason while expressing their hopes for how children should be taught to think in the context of their faiths. In general, they saw no conflict between faith and reason. Rather than calling for young people to obey authority slavishly, they advocated for them to develop independent reasoning skills. They also promoted the idea that young people should develop internal moral compasses, which would lead them to truthful conclusions and encourage them to act morally, even when no authority directed them. Although all of the educators demonstrated advocacy of independent thought to some degree, the Jewish and Catholic educators showed more restraint. Their position as minorities in American society may account for this reluctance. Given the pressure to convert to Protestantism, they likely feared giving their young people too much license to think for themselves. Yet they still advocated the idea that faith and reason supported each other and that both would vindicate their chosen religions. This dissertation primarily analyzes the writings of these six individuals, including their letters, lectures, newspaper and journal articles, and educational texts for children and adults. The analysis is set in the context of the history of the Enlightenment, especially Scottish common sense philosophy, as well as the histories of childhood, antebellum reform, and education. This dissertation contributes to nineteenth-century American educational history by providing a much-nee (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: John Brooke Ph.D. (Advisor); Joan Cashin Ph.D. (Committee Member); Harvey Graff Ph.D. (Committee Member); Margaret Sumner Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: American History; Education History; History; Religious Education; Religious History

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2015, Arts and Sciences: Sociology

Even though sociologists have researched religion for many years, the exact mechanisms involved in religious effects on adolescent outcomes remains unclear. In recent years researchers have turned to social capital, and more specifically religious social capital, in an effort to more accurately predict life outcomes. However, despite findings indicating that religious social capital improves behavioral outcomes and educational achievement, contradictory results have emerged due to methodological and measurement limitations. Therefore, using data from The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) survey I determined the factors associated with the accumulation of religious social capital and the effects of demographic and geographic factors on religious social capital. In addition, a new religious social capital measure was created and a more in-depth classification of religious groups was used in these analyses. Findings suggest that there are unique differences in the accumulation of and the effects of religious social capital on adolescent outcomes by religious groups with conservative Protestants experiencing the most beneficial effects of religious social capital. The results also indicate that the geographic location of a school and the religious composition of a given area created significant differences within and between religious groups. This dissertation advances the body of religious research on adolescents by adding a unique perspective to a crowded research area.

Committee: Littisha Bates Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Sarah Mayorga-Gallo Ph.D. (Committee Member); Jeffrey Timberlake Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Sociology

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2015, Cross-Cultural, International Education

Research shows that many international students are coming into the United States from countries with high prevalence rates of sexually transmitted diseases, minimal sexual health knowledge, and pre-conceived notions surrounding sexual health. What results from this at colleges across the country is an unavoidable intersection of international students and sexuality, with many administrators of such institutions feeling uncertain or unwilling to include sexual health in their education model. Through my unequivocal belief that resources related to sexual health education are a crucial need on every college campus, for every population, I decided to focus specifically on international students. The overall purpose of this case study is three-fold: (a) to explore the differences in backgrounds in sexual health education and practices for a diverse cross-section of international students studying at BGSU, (b) to investigate whether there is a need for colleges to implement sexual health education for international students in the United States, and (c) to speculate what strategies/curricula could be implemented. Through 24 written, qualitative surveys and 13 follow-up interviews, I sought to answer two research questions, with the first being: From international students' perspectives, how have their social, cultural, familial, and religious backgrounds and practices shaped their home country's stance on sexual health and, subsequently, their own upbringing? My second research question is: From international students' perspectives, what is their perception of the influence of American culture, their perception of access to sexual health information and education programs, level of interest in and preferred format of this kind of education? In an effort to answer these questions, I investigate five major themes in my research that serve as the core foundation of this thesis: (a) prior sexual health knowledge and educational accessibility; (b) cultural ideals about vi (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Sherri Horner Ph.D (Advisor); Christopher Frey Ph.D (Committee Member); Mary Krueger Ph.D (Committee Member) Subjects: Comparative; Early Childhood Education; Education; Education Policy; Ethics; Families and Family Life; Gender; Health; Health Education; Higher Education; Multicultural Education; Personal Relationships; Teaching; Womens Studies

PHD, Kent State University, 2009, College of Education, Health, and Human Services / Department of Educational Foundations and Special Services

This foundational study was designed to track the decline of urban Catholic parochial elementary schools in the former steel-production center of Youngstown, Ohio — a situation that I examine from historical, sociological, and philosophical perspectives. While my study employs standard historical research methods, it also features a strong theoretical dimension that draws on literature pertaining to American Catholic identity. The study will argue that Catholic disunity — a product of both sociological trends and religious reforms — played a significant role in the decline of urban parish schools. While the fragmentation of U.S. Catholic identity has often been addressed in general studies of American Catholicism, it has been discussed less frequently in research concerning the decline of one of the Catholic community's most iconic institutions: the urban parochial school. Hence, this study of Youngstown's parochial schools draws upon two distinct bodies of literature — dealing with American Catholic identity and American Catholic education, respectively — in an effort to identify and interpret factors contributing to the decline of a once robust system of parochial education.

Committee: Natasha Levinson PhD (Committee Co-Chair); Averil McClelland PhD (Committee Co-Chair); Joanne Dowdy PhD (Committee Member); Paul McBride PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: African Americans; American History; Education; Education History; Educational Sociology; Elementary Education; History; Minority and Ethnic Groups; Religion; Religious Congregations; Religious Education; Religious History

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2025, Leadership and Change

The transformation to the curriculum taught in chaplain training in Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) will now address the spiritual needs of a more diverse, nonreligious, and interfaith population in the United States. Historically rooted in religious frameworks, CPE curricula are evolving to incorporate non-religious spiritual care interventions and promote research literacy among chaplains. This dissertation study uses descriptive analysis to present a study surveying CPE educators across over 300 U.S. based CPE centers to explore teaching practices and adaptation strategies. Findings reveal that integrating evidence-based methods and interdisciplinary collaboration is key to addressing inclusivity and professional competency in chaplaincy. By examining quantitative and qualitative data, this research emphasizes the need for adaptive and inclusive approaches to meet modern spiritual care demands. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA (https://aura.antioch.edu) and OhioLINK ETD Center (https://etd.ohiolink.edu).

Committee: Stewart Burns PhD (Committee Chair); Betty Overton-Adkins PhD (Committee Member); Debby Flickinger PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Educational Leadership; Ethics; Health Education; Higher Education; Judaic Studies; Literacy; Medical Ethics; Mental Health; Multicultural Education; Music Education; Pastoral Counseling; Peace Studies; Personal Relationships; Psychobiology; Psychotherapy; Religion; Religious Education; Social Psychology; Social Research; Spirituality; Teacher Education; Teaching; Therapy

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 1916, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 1946, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

Bachelor of Arts, Walsh University, 2022, Honors

Over the past few years, the nationwide protests over the long-standing plague of racism in our country, most recently manifested in the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, and Breonna Taylor, have placed our nation before a “fork in the road.” We stand on the precipice of monumental change or devastating regression in the area of race relations within our nation. This has been most vivid in the relationship between law enforcement and the African American community. What comes next between these two parties will depend on how law enforcement responds to the cries of the people in these affected communities. Historically, particularly in African American communities, there has been an intimate connection between social movements and sensitives to injustice and faith. At the same time, there appears to be a decreasing appreciation of faith among law enforcement officers. If the disparity between the attitude towards faith by law enforcement and the significance of faith in communities of color continues to increase, it will undoubtedly lead to more tension between these two communities. I hypothesize that reconciliation between law enforcement and African American communities can be achieved through the inclusion of religious literacy in the training and formation of law enforcement officers. As a disclaimer, it is important to understand that the building of trust and the reparation of relationships is an effort that requires the cooperation of both sides. This means that there has to be a willingness and an understanding from both law enforcement and communities of color for any real difference to be made. It is also important to recognize that this is not a “black versus white” issue, this is an issue that affects society as a whole. This understanding will be made present throughout this research, but the primary focus will be on the inclusion of religious literacy in the formation of law enforcement officers.

Committee: Fr. Louis Bertrand Lemoine O.P. (Other); Cary Dabney (Advisor) Subjects: Behavioral Sciences; Behaviorial Sciences; Criminology; Divinity; Law; Legal Studies; Minority and Ethnic Groups; Psychology; Religion; Religious Education; Religious History; Sociology; Theology; World History

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2021, Leadership and Change

The issues that this research addressed were the changes related to engagement in religious education (RE) in the Unitarian Universalist (UU) church in the past several decades. To address this problem, the purpose of this research was to innovatively problem-solve with other religious professionals and consider how to redefine engagement to support families in their faith formation. The research aims to answer the question: How could UU RE professionals more effectively engage families in faith formation opportunities designed to meet the desired outcomes of RE parents/caregivers? To gather data, interviews with seven Millennial and Generation X parents/caregivers from the Baja 4 UU congregations in Southern Arizona were conducted. The interviews were transcribed, coded, and analyzed. The data from interviews provided insight about Gen X and Millennial parents'/caregivers' needs, desires, and expectations and gaps in their RE program, types of multigenerational offerings, and alternative approaches to engagement. A new RE engagement pilot study was designed by a team of innovators and launched for three weeks. Following the pilot study, a summarizing focus group was facilitated. Parents/caregivers had the opportunity to offer additional thoughts, suggestions, and ideas. Together we made meaning of the data from the interviews and focus groups and synthesized it to redefine engagement and offer pedagogical indications for the future of faith formation in the UU church. This dissertation is accompanied by one MP4 file. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA, https://aura.antioch.edu/ and OhioLINK ETD Center, https://etd.ohiolink.edu/etd.

Committee: Lize (A. E.) Booysen DBL (Committee Chair); Lemuel Watson EdD (Committee Member); Joseph Wegwert PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Curriculum Development; Demographics; Families and Family Life; Organizational Behavior; Pedagogy; Religious Congregations; Religious Education; Spirituality

Master of Arts, Case Western Reserve University, 2021, Religious Studies

This thesis seeks to bring together three separate, yet ever-communicating entities -- the healthcare (HC) patient, the healthcare system (HCS), and the HC chaplain. Utilizing wisdom from feminist, postcolonial, and affect theorists, this thesis seeks to conceptualize and visualize this triad dynamic. The format is non-traditional in that concepts are expressed and developed through both an art installation and in written form. Largely diagnostic, this work highlights what it is like to be “other” concerning something as personal as bodily illness, how the HCS and its' relationship to capitalist society contributes to the “othering” of chronically ill patients, and how the HC chaplain may also be an “other” who can potentially mediate the relationship between the HCS and the patient.

Committee: Timothy Beal PhD (Committee Chair); Brian Clites PhD (Committee Member); William Deal PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Religion

Doctor of Ministry , Ashland University, 2020, Doctor of Ministry Program

The purpose of this project was to create a resource for Christian Caregivers that would educate them concerning formative practices for children. A group of sixteen experts in the three fields of ministry, psychology, and education were asked to evaluate the effectiveness of the resource through the completion of a survey. The response indicated that the resource was successful in educating Christian Caregivers concerning formative practices for children. The qualitative section of the survey also revealed that most respondents, though unfamiliar with the practices, were eager to implement them in their lives and the lives of those in their care.

Committee: Dawn Morton Dr (Committee Chair); Thomas Gilmore Dr (Advisor) Subjects: Pastoral Counseling; Religious Education; Spirituality

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 0, Curriculum and Instruction (Education)

As the world observes paradigm shifts in almost every aspect of human life, educational processes in Saudi Arabia are also undergoing significant changes. The learning needs of contemporary Saudi Arabian students differ from the education requirements prioritized in previous centuries. Thus, there is a need for today's teachers to employ innovative teaching mechanisms appropriate to the students' needs in the present times. The purpose of this study was to identify the various teaching methods currently used by Islamic teachers in Saudi Arabia and to understand their rationale for utilizing these techniques. A total of 20 Islamic teachers were interviewed in this study. The findings show that lecturing, narrative method, teaching by practice, iterative, role modeling, preaching, indoctrination, and recitation methods are the most commonly used teaching methods that are used in religious courses. At the same time, several reasons, including teachers' beliefs, rigid course contents, and students' characteristics were found to be influential in determining the type of teaching method selected in their classrooms. Teachers in this study demonstrated that they do not understand learning theories, and therefore do not use them in their classrooms. From this study, the researcher concluded that Islamic teachers in Saudi Arabia are influenced by several barriers that limit their use of modern, more effective, technology-based teaching methods.

Committee: Geist Eugene (Committee Chair) Subjects: Elementary Education; Religious Education; Teaching

Doctor of Ministry , Ashland University, 2020, Doctor of Ministry Program

The purpose of this project was to impact the spiritual life of women from the greater Columbus, Ohio area who self-report a history of sexual abuse in childhood by participating in the safe place prayer. The design of this project utilized a pre-test and post-test survey based on the project goals. The goal of impacting the participant's sense of being loved by others gained the highest mean of change. The women were able to sense they are loved by others and as a result, their spiritual life improved by participating in the safe place prayer.

Committee: Dawn Morton Dr. (Committee Chair); JoAnn Shade Dr. (Advisor) Subjects: Pastoral Counseling; Religious Education; Spirituality

Bachelor of Arts, Walsh University, 2019, Honors

The purpose of this study was to analyze the factors that contributed to the development of a young adult's attitudes toward intimacy. Two hundred forty-seven participants (191 females, 48 males, 7 other) completed the survey which utilized four measures. The Intimacy Attitudes Scale was used to measure attitudes toward various intimate situations, including physical and emotional closeness. Questions taken from a survey by Harvard University and the Kaiser Family Foundation were used to gauge the type of sex education that a person received in their youth. The Parent-Adolescent Communication Scale was utilized to measure the quality of parental communication as being more positive or more problematic. The Religious Commitment Inventory-10 was used to measure the level of religious commitment. It was hypothesized that the impact of sex education would vary according to a person's religious commitment as well as their quality of parental communication. Sex education did not interact significantly with religious commitment or the quality of parental communication. It was hypothesized that parental communication would have the strongest impact on intimacy attitudes. Parental communication has significant relationships with fear of intimacy and avoidance of intimacy. There was no relationship between parental communication and attraction or sexual closeness.

Committee: Treasure Byrge (Other) Subjects: Behavioral Sciences; Psychology; Social Psychology; Social Research