Readers’ Advisory, Slideshow Synopsis of James Baldwin’s Giovanni’s Room

An unsubmitted draft of a chapter from my dissertation that discusses the creation, definition, and study of the concept of religion and why the concept has no analytical value to my dissertation.

This paper argues that the practice of description is frequently understood as definition, which is too often precisely prescription. It contends that reduction to necessary and sufficient features is alien to the natural development and use of conceptual categories like religion, and so an alternative approach to description is recommended.

This thesis has two primary goals: (1) to analyze the countours and extent of the generic category of deity in the Hebrew Bible, and (2) propose a semantic base for the term. It begins with a description of the fields associated with cognitive theory, and particularly cognitive linguistics. Chapter 2 examines the cognitive origins of notions of…[Read more]

This paper examines the conceptualization of mercy, justice, and the law in the prophetic literature’s deployment of the “prophetic critique” and in its deployment by Jesus in the Gospels.

This paper demonstrates that the phrase “after all we can do” (2 Nephi 25:23) was in wide circulation in the early nineteenth century, including in the context of discussions about grace, and was always used to mean “despite all we can do.”

This chapter interrogates the conceptualization and creation of divine bodies in the Hebrew Bible through the lens of the cognitive science of religion.

The audiobook, in its modern form, was created in the 1930s to assist the blind community, World War I veterans and others unable to engage in Sustained Silent Reading (SSR). This dissertation investigates exactly how the audiobook and, to a lesser extent, the podcast have been received and celebrated by the world of library and information…[Read more]

Abstract

The audiobook, in its modern form, was created in the 1930s to assist the blind community, World War I veterans and others unable to engage in Sustained Silent Reading (SSR). This dissertation investigates exactly how the audiobook and, to a lesser extent, the podcast have been received and celebrated by the world of library and…[Read more]

An information resource guide on the history, meaning and applicability of “Western” Shamanism for would-be clients and enthusiasts.

The fall of 2001 was a time of crisis in the analogue world. Society witnessed the World Trade Center attacks, the spectre of cultural collision, and a rapid economic downturn. The digital world was not spared. With the storied dot-com stock market peaking in March 2000 (Lowenstein, 2004), the following couple of years saw the dot-com…[Read more]