Master of Arts in Catholic Studies, Mount St. Mary's Seminary & School of Theology, 2022, School of Theology

A marked trend of 20th Century Catholicism is the move in the direction towards “immanence apologetics.” A major figure in this movement was the founder of the ecclesial movement Comunione e Liberazione, Fr. Luigi Giussani. His work, though, has yet to have much influence in English speaking countries. The goal of this paper is to analyze the apologetical method of Giussani, particularly as is presented in his trilogy of books, The Religious Sense, Origin of the Christian Claim, and Why the Church? While the books themselves move from a need for the existence of God, to the need for revelation specifically through Jesus Christ, and finally to a need for the existence of the Church, the aim of this paper will be to show how these books show the overall apologetical method of Giussani as a move from freedom through education toward union, communio. This paper will serve then, as an accessible introduction to the heart of Giussani's thought for English readers.

Committee: Anthony Brausch Ph.D. (Advisor) Subjects: Bible; Philosophy; Religion; Theology

BA, Oberlin College, 2020, Philosophy

Modernity has always contained the threat of destruction. Mostly, the threat has been shapeless. It has manifested itself in the collective psyche as a vague fear of a far-off wasteland: an unknown apocalypse. The more tense moments of history have sometimes lent the fear real shape. For many years, it seemed as if atomic destruction was just over the horizon. Indeed, the early years of atomic testing wrought significant ecological damage. In the post-Cold War era, the fear of atomic destruction, at least by full nuclear exchange between the superpowers, has receded, but the apocalyptic threat has not. Climate change, over population, anti-biotic resistant “super-bugs,” economic collapse, and war all seem, to varying degrees, to threaten the equilibrium of human society.The purpose of this project is not to determine the likelihood of such an event, but to investigate the philosophical ramifications of such an eventuality. Further, the project will focus on the central question of whether or not humans can live a meaningful life in a post-apocalyptic scenario. The framework for this investigation will be firstly to take traditional theories of meaning and see if their argumentation remains cogent in an apocalyptic scenario. Second, if traditional theories fall short, I will try to see if there is any way in which a recognizable theory of meaning can be constructed.

Committee: Todd Ganson (Advisor) Subjects: Ethics; Philosophy

Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing, Cleveland State University, 2016, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences

This thesis consists of ten short stories that are structured, formatted and thematically aligned with the yamas and niyamas, the ten moral tenants of yoga philosophy. The yamas and niyamas are the first two limbs of Patinjali's eightfold path, or the path to enlightenment through yogic practices. The yamas account for five principles that guide ethical living and instruct followers on how to interact with others and the world. The yamas consist of: ahimsa (non-violence), satya (truthfulness), asteya (non-stealing), brahmacharya (non-excess), and aparigraha (non-possessiveness). The niyamas are guidelines for personal practices that relate to, develop, and enhance one's relationship with self. The niyamas are: saucha (purity), santosha (contentment), tapas (self-discipline), svadhyaya (self-study), and ishvara prandihana (surrender). Each story in this collection loosely correlates with and comments on its assigned yama or niyama. As a collection, the stories function as glimpses of being—fractal pieces of life from inside differing existential or personal crises. The characters face moral, personal and spiritual dilemmas, often grappling with ghosts from the past, striving to make sense of what is through varying tools and coping mechanisms. The highest goal for this thesis is to act as commentary on the modern condition by using the spiritual and existential lens to diagnose and categorize modern afflictions. Some characters reach towards being—towards harmony or enlightenment—as dressing for their wounds. Others merely grapple with their conditions of dis-ease. Still others contribute to, and worsen, the disharmony. Guided by ten moral principles, these stories stand alone and work together to lead readers into the depths of varying states of being, while shedding light on modernity's inherent conflict with ancient spiritual practices.

Committee: Imad Rahman MFA (Committee Chair); Caryl Pagel MFA (Committee Member); Christopher Barzak MFA (Committee Member); David Lardner PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Fine Arts; Language Arts; Literature; Modern Literature; Religion; Spirituality; Theology

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), University of Dayton, 2016, Educational Leadership

This study demonstrates the value of organization-specific articulations of exemplary leadership. The research topic relates to leadership and organizational studies in general, and higher educational leadership and organizational commitment in particular. The focus of inquiry is the complex, human-organizational phenomenon of exemplary leadership commitment to mission and identity among lay leaders in the Catholic and Marianist tradition of one top-tier research university in the United States. The context of inquiry is the emerging prominence and critical role of lay leadership in Catholic higher education. The researcher offers an in-depth examination of how exemplary lay leaders experience and practice their personal commitment to Catholic-Marianist mission and identity. The research objective is to understand and describe the essential meanings in the lived experiences of exemplary lay leaders, presenting individual descriptions and collective syntheses of the phenomenon in focus. The intended audience includes leaders in Marianist and Catholic higher education; administrators involved in leadership development and mission and identity enculturation; and researchers in higher education, phenomenology, and interdisciplinary studies in leadership and organizational behavior. Using the transcendental phenomenological research method, the researcher generates eight individual “portraits-in-words,” containing multilayered human portrayals that allow the reader to intuit and empathize with the interior experiences and meaning making of the exemplary lay leaders in this study. The researcher also analyzes the experiential data collectively, presenting numerous “composite syntheses” of the apparent textures and underlying structures of the phenomenon in focus. Finally, the researcher describes three “streams” within the lived experience of the phenomenon, namely: exemplary lay commitment, exemplary Marianist leadership, and the experience of Catholic and (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Molly Schaller (Committee Chair); Carolyn Ridenour (Committee Member); Joseph Watras (Committee Member); David Fleming S.M. (Committee Member) Subjects: Education Philosophy; Educational Leadership; Ethics; Higher Education; Higher Education Administration; Management; Organizational Behavior; Personal Relationships; Philosophy; Spirituality; Teaching

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toledo, 2008, History

In 1966 the Japanese New Left thinker Yoshimoto Taka'aki published his seminal book on Karl Marx. The originality of this overview of Marx's ideas and life lay in Yoshimoto's stress on the young Marx's theory of alienation as an outgrowth of a unique philosophy of nature, whose roots went back to the latter's doctoral dissertation. It echoed Yoshimoto's own reformulation of “alienation” (and Marx's labor theory of value) as key concept in his theory of literary language (What is Beauty in Language), which he had just completed in 1965, and extended his argument – ongoing from the mid-1950s – with Japanese Marxism over questions of literature, politics, and culture. His extraction of the theme of “communal illusion” from the early Marx foregrounds his second major theoretical work of the decade, Communal Illusion, which he started to serialize in 1966 and completed in 1968, and outlines an important theoretical closure to the existential, political, and intellectual struggles he had waged since the end of the Pacific War. Karl Marx thus offers a powerful microcosmic glimpse of Yoshimoto's achievements at the height of his seminal influence on the Japanese New Left.Presented here are the complete translation of Karl Marx and a selection of related materials relevant to Yoshimoto's reading of Marx, along with a commentary that situates this text in the context of his life, with some suggestions as to its significance within the comparative context of contemporary Western Marxism. What emerges is Yoshimoto's existentially committed, conceptually bold rereading of Karl Marx that refuses trucking with all Marxist traditions and that is firmly grounded in the actuality of popular experience that Yoshimoto learned viscerally from the three major defeats of his life: Japanese defeat in World War II in 1945, defeat of labor union struggle on the shop floor in 1953-54, and defeat of the anti-Anpo (U.S.-Japan Mutual Security Treaty) movement in 1960.

Committee: Peter Linebaugh PhD (Advisor); Alfred Cave PhD (Committee Member); Harry Cleaver PhD (Committee Member); Michael Jakobson PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: History

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toledo, 2012, Higher Education

This study attempts to show a relationship between being spiritual and choosing a college major. Using one public research institution, this quantitative, longitudinal study used secondary data from the Cooperative Institutional Research Program from the years 2000–2011. The survey included items that asked students about their spiritual preference, their confidence in choosing a major, philosophy of life, and participation in community service. Results indicated direct effects from choosing a major and being involved in community service. The study also showed direct effects of choosing a major and developing a meaningful philosophy of life. The strongest finding in this study was the gap in students changing their major (90% of college students from this institution say that they will change their major).

Committee: David Meabon Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Alan Cureton Ph.D. (Committee Member); Mary Edwards Ph.D. (Committee Member); Malinda Matney Ph.D. (Committee Member); Toni Sondergeld Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Higher Education