More Than a Pretty Face: Using Embodied Lutheran Theology to Evaluate Community-Building in Online Social Networks

Oesch, Joel, C. More than a Pretty Face: Using Embodied Lutheran Theology to Evaluate Community-building in Online Social Networks. Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2015. 264pp. The human body holds a special place in Christian theology. Jesus gives of his body in the crucifixion and experiences bodily resurrection on Easter morning. The sacrament of Holy Communion is a common partaking in the actual body and blood of Christ. But what of the human body for the Christian, and of what import does this have for the broader community? The dissertation seeks to build on these facts and make a case for a Lutheran embodied theology and apply this theology to the online social network phenomenon. Such a theology is composed of three crucial pillars. First, humans exist as limited but redeemed creatures. Second, the sacramental life of the Christian is wholly embodied. Third, Christians look forward to bodily resurrection of the dead at the end of time. Each of these pillars reinforce the uniquely physical nature of the human—whether as individual or in his/her relationship to the broader community. Dietrich Bonhoeffer\u27s theological anthropology argues for an individual who is simultaneously embodied and communal. One cannot be a Christian apart from the community, nor can they understand their status as creature without respecting their own somatic form. His theology of embodiment ultimately outlines three constitutive features of the Christian community: depth, local bondedness, and reciprocal trust. With these three features in mind, this dissertation offers criteria for evaluating other claims of community, particularly those found in online environments

De La Mettrie's Ghost

This book is about how we make choices. Drawing together evidence from 21st century chemistry to Victorian politics, enlightenment philosophy, Roman drama and beyond, it is a compelling hunt for the nature of free will

Ouroboros: The Evolution From Industrialized Mass Production to Auteurism in American Animation

The evolution of animation in the United States and its resulting classification varies significantly from its global counterparts. Through a convergence of complex cultural, regulatory, and entrepreneurial influences, the medium\u27s experimental artistic principals have remained firmly rooted in the mass-production style studio pipeline codified by Hollywood. Through the advent of academically centered animation education, the development of the internet, self-distribution, and the growing affordability of industry level hardware and software, the industry has expanded beyond the traditional narrow scope. This re-globalization of entertainment in the United States encourages an auteur approach to animated filmmaking that is challenging the strict association of animation as a children\u27s medium

Rational Creatures: Using Vector Space Models to Examine Independence in the Novels of Jane Austen, Maria Edgeworth, and Sydney Owenson (1800–1820)

Recent trends in digital humanities have led to a proliferation of studies that apply ‘distant’ reading to textual data. There is an uneasy relationship between the increased use of computational methods and their application to literary studies. Much of the current literature has focused on the exploration of large corpora. However, the ability to work at this scale is often not within the power (financial or technical) or the interests, of researchers. As these large-scale studies often ignore smaller corpora, few have sought to define a clear theoretical framework within which to study small-scale text collections. In addition, while some research has been carried out on the application of term-document vector space models (topic models and frequency based analysis) to nineteenth century novels, no study exists which applies word-context models (word embeddings and semantic networks) to the novels of Austen, Edgeworth, and Owenson. This study, therefore, seeks to evaluate the use of vector space models when applied to these novels. This research first defines a theoretical framework - enhanced reading - which combines the use of close and distant reading. Using a corpus of twenty-eight nineteenth century novels as its central focus, this study also demonstrates the practical application of this theoretical approach with the additional aim of providing an insight into the authors’ representation of independence at a time of great political and social upheaval in Ireland and the UK. The use of term-document models was found to be, generally, more useful for gaining an overview of the corpora. However, the findings for word-context models reveal their ability to identify specific textual elements, some of which were not readily identified through close reading, and therefore were useful for exploring texts at both corpus and individual text level

Rational Creatures: Using Vector Space Models to Examine Independence in the Novels of Jane Austen, Maria Edgeworth, and Sydney Owenson (1800–1820)

Recent trends in digital humanities have led to a proliferation of studies that apply ‘distant’ reading to textual data. There is an uneasy relationship between the increased use of computational methods and their application to literary studies. Much of the current literature has focused on the exploration of large corpora. However, the ability to work at this scale is often not within the power (financial or technical) or the interests, of researchers. As these large-scale studies often ignore smaller corpora, few have sought to define a clear theoretical framework within which to study small-scale text collections. In addition, while some research has been carried out on the application of term-document vector space models (topic models and frequency based analysis) to nineteenth century novels, no study exists which applies word-context models (word embeddings and semantic networks) to the novels of Austen, Edgeworth, and Owenson. This study, therefore, seeks to evaluate the use of vector space models when applied to these novels. This research first defines a theoretical framework - enhanced reading - which combines the use of close and distant reading. Using a corpus of twenty-eight nineteenth century novels as its central focus, this study also demonstrates the practical application of this theoretical approach with the additional aim of providing an insight into the authors’ representation of independence at a time of great political and social upheaval in Ireland and the UK. The use of term-document models was found to be, generally, more useful for gaining an overview of the corpora. However, the findings for word-context models reveal their ability to identify specific textual elements, some of which were not readily identified through close reading, and therefore were useful for exploring texts at both corpus and individual text level

De La Mettrie's Ghost

This book is about how we make choices. Drawing together evidence from 21st century chemistry to Victorian politics, enlightenment philosophy, Roman drama and beyond, it is a compelling hunt for the nature of free will