Rolling with advantage: Why Dungeons & Dragons provides new insight into the Christian concept of the imago Dei for autistic Christians

What is clear through an exploration of disability theology is that the imago Dei is a crucial component of a proper understanding of disability and creation. Whilst the imago Dei provides excellent utility in terms of the spiritual engagement of autistic Christians, there is much to be discovered concerning new pioneering methods of approaching dialogue between autistic and non-autistic Christians. As I shall explore through an autoethnographic study drawing from my own experiences, Dungeons & Dragons is one of these pioneering methods that is a creative tool for autistic Christians. Thus, new methods emerge regarding what the imago Dei means for those on the autism spectrum

Learning the Meaning of the Sacraments of the Catholic Church Through Metaphorical Thinking

This study examines a teaching method to help fifth-grade students understand the meaning of the symbols of the sacraments of the Catholic Church. The method implements physical objects in the classroom followed by the development of metaphors to ascertain the meaning of those objects. First, possible metaphors were explored dialogically in class. Then, through individual metaphorical thinking, students create their personal metaphoric statements for each sacrament. The study shows that students given the treatment, on average, scored higher on assessment questions related to the meaning of the sacraments than the control group. Fifth-grade students in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD) program historically score below a desired level on questions about the personal meaning of the sacraments in ways deemed appropriate by the church according to The Assessment of Catechesis/Religious Education (ACRE). The sacraments are metaphoric. Therefore, it makes sense that these fifth-graders may improve their scores with a method that employs metaphorical thinking. The literature on pedagogies using metaphor tends to focus on subjects such as science and math. The literature, however, does not reach out to areas of study such as CCD religious education. Furthermore, the methods suggested in the literature do not incorporate group dialogue, semiotic objects, and the writing of spontaneous metaphors in one treatment. Since the sacraments are metaphoric, and the symbols are actual objects, it follows that in students’ search for meaning they should experience semiotic objects from which to generate metaphor. In the development of metaphor, the literature supports making a connection between one domain of thought to another. This cross-domain mapping involves cognitively connecting one concept, like the emotional effect of a sacrament, to the object that, in this case, is the symbol of a sacrament. The foundation of my method follows Abrahamson’s implementation of semiotic objects and spontaneous metaphors with students. Abrahamson demonstrates that his treatment helps students learn the meaning of complex ideas. This dissertation includes a description of the treatment, and the quantitative instruments used

Call of Cthulhu and Vampire: the Masquerade: invocation, spatiality, and ritual transcendence in two tabletop role-playing games

Includes bibliographical references.2015 Fall.In 1974 the world's first Tabletop Roleplaying Game (TRPG) was published, Dungeons and Dragons. Since that time hundreds of TRPGs have been published in multiple genres. In this thesis I explore the rhetoric of two of the most popular horror-themed TRPGs: Call of Cthulhu and Vampire: the Masquerade. I focus on explaining how these games came to be, how they serve their players as equipment for living, how they rhetorically (re)construct real-world places and spaces, and finally, how they encourage transcendence and jamming through ritual play and participation. This thesis hopefully helps to show the complex multi-layered rhetoric taking place in a relatively ignored form of media. Additionally, I introduce the concept of textual invocation as a complimentary theoretical construct to that of textual poaching as an explanation for how players and designers engage in a give and take of authorship

An application of proxemics to restaurant interiors: tabletop cooking and its implications for the millennial user

This study is an investigation into the relationship between tabletop cooking and designed restaurant interiors, attempting to better understand how Edward T. Hall\u27s notion of proxemic theory might involve itself as a significant proponent in the recent growth of this restaurant typology, specifically for millennial users. In order to investigate this concept, a multi-method research approach has been implemented that attempts to examine current restaurant preferences of millennial users, current tabletop cooking culture, and its current relationship to proxemics; ultimately identifying the commonalities that might explain a significant correlation between these entities. The purpose in conducting this study is essentially two fold. First, analyzing the current context in which tabletop restaurants exist. This means understanding the existing conditions that define tabletop cooking facilities as a typology and place, in addition to investigating what they might look like in the future. Second, introducing proxemic theory as a framework for analyzing millennial user behavior and preferences within this context. As a continuation and expansion of both the analyses, interior design implications will be discussed as a means of indicating how this data might impact the future of restaurant design. This study employs mainly qualitative research methods to determine the relationship between the analyzed topics, gathered in a rather heuristic manner

The Official Student Newspaper of UAS

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Framing Strategies in Role-Playing Games. 'My Pleasure': Toward a Poetics of Framing in Tabletop Role-playing Games

The dissertation discusses the use and impact of “literary” framing (as by Werner Wolf) in generating and negotiating fictional spaces, narratives and meanings within the medium of tabletop role-playing games (TRPGs). In a second step, the text describes some of the specific and most salient framing features and strategies used by players during game sessions. By analyzing these through actual gameplay it is possible to identify the ‘transceptional’ border (Bunia) between reality and fiction to be the constitutive moment of role-play where players are both aware of, and immersed in, the fiction they collaboratively construct. Finally, the dissertation adapts Wolf’s theoretical framework in order to discuss and analyze the often overlooked category of “storytelling” TRPGs - one that, as the text argues, rather than focusing on narrative as such, aims at creating gameplay texts with heightened aesthetic and literary value while also enabling players to experience particular forms of immersion and deep emotional involvement. In the conclusion, the dissertation proposes re-conceptualizing literary framing as a defining characteristic of the fictional practice in general across media. In this regard, the dissertation argues, TRPGs reveal how framings are used and adapted in order to enable a specific mode of human interaction which is based on the figuration of emotional complexes via fictional “masks.

The Metaphor of Circle: Stanislavski, Phenomenology of Roundness and High Yoga

Stanislavski’s Eastern influence and his persistent fascination with Yoga is an established area of research. Stanislavski has two major yogic influences in the System: Hatha Yoga and Raja Yoga. The first is about training the body through postures, movements, stances and breathing exercises to make it active, relaxed and energetic. The second includes a range of exclusive practices on concentration and visualization that are an integral part of the actor’s creativity. However, in the current research, there is a clear lack of a comprehensive practical method that informs Stanislavski’s use of yogic practice in the System: what specific yogic exercises were used and what synergies were developed in the training? Scholars have, so far, only explored Stanislavski’s literary legacy of his encounter with yoga, identifying the Sanskrit terms appeared in his writings such as prana for breathing and the Indian anecdotes he used when answering the questions of his students. Focusing on the metaphor of the circle, the phenomenology of roundness and the Deleuzian notions of ‘the invisible forces of sensations’ and ‘the body becomes an event itself’, the present study, for the first time, offers useful insights into the fundamental principles of yoga and their methods of practice as a way of developing a new training to understand the significance of Stanislavski in the 21st century

Esports Enthusiasts and Gamers: Motivations, Behaviors, and Attitudes Towards Gambling

This study examined what the driving factors behind why people watch esports and play video games, and their views on casino gambling. This research takes into account several motivational models and theories for video game and media consumption, including the Uses and Gratifications Theory. In addition, motivations and behaviors in regards to gambling were also examined. Although there is plenty of research on gambling motivations, none looks primarily at how esports and video game enthusiasts in specific feel about gambling. In-depth Interviews were conducted on esports and video game enthusiasts to understand what they enjoy about esports and gaming, and what they like and don’t like about casino gaming. Results showed a wide range of motivations behind video game play, but challenge, skill, and socialization were the most common. For gameplay itself, people tended to really enjoy teamwork and collaboration. None of the participants gambled too often, and cited a lack of interactivity and value as primary reasons. One aspect of casino games that many found frustrating, is that their decisions seem to rarely have an impact on the outcome of a game, unlike video games. With video games, nearly each press of the button has a degree of significance. Casinos and casino game manufacturers alike should examine what it is that drives people to play video games and watch esports, and import those qualities into their casino gaming experience

A Player’s Sense of Place: Computer Games as Anatopistic Medium

This project works to understand how open-world computer games help generate a sense of place from the player. Since their development over a half century ago, computer games have primarily been discussed in terms of space. Yet the way we think about space today is much different than how those scientists calculated space as a construction of time, mass, and location. But as computer games have evolved, the language has failed to accommodate the more nuanced qualities of game spaces. This project aims at articulating the nuances of place through phenomenological methods to objectively analyze the player experience as performed through various behaviors. Using a conceptual model that partially illustrates sense of place, I demonstrate how players create out of place—or anatopistic—places through play. After a historical survey of play as it is manifested through interaction with miniaturized environments, I turn to computer games as they have helped embody their creators’ sense of place. The third and fourth chapters offer a pair of case studies that reflect upon the experiences of the individual player and player groups. First, I compare virtual photography with tourism to reveal an array of sensibilities suggestive of the pursuit of place. This is followed with a look at Niantic’s Pokémon Go and how player groups use the game to act out ritualistic forms of play. Positioning the player as a “ludopilgrim,” I demonstrate how players perform individual or intersubjectively meaningful places as a form of transgressive placemaking

Redefining Human Communication Space Culture and Time in the Epoch of Internet Spatiality

The concepts of time, culture and communication have undergone rapid changes since the advent of the Internet. This text examined the influence of digital spatiality on our social life based on the three concepts. The new media have detached humanity from previous understandings of space, physical setting and culture. Therefore, the arrival of any new media systems advanced the boundaries of time-space and refinement in human manipulation of massages. This paper's thrust was to critically look at the dialectic between spatiality through time, culture, and communication to define how digital spatiality has truncated our conception of reality. The human perceptions of space have shifted from previous primordial physical location and limitations to a world illimitable boundary beyond out of the grasp of the authorities and natural elements.  Time, space and culture have undergone rapid changes never experienced in human history. The finding's main conclusion was that advancement of the media brought about by the ubiquitous Internet had impacted heavily has adjusted our perception of living regulated by time-space constraints. The general context was that the Internet had abbreviated our conservative understanding of the concepts, challenging the perceptions of time, space and culture and constricted them as experienced in the epoch of Covid-19 in 2020 when humanity interconnected remotely. KEYWORDS: Digital, Spatiality, Regulated, Time, Conception Culture. DOI: 10.7176/RHSS/11-10-07 Publication date:May 31st 202