Integrating Spectral and Reflectance Transformation Imaging Technologies for the Digitization of Manuscripts and Other Cultural Artifacts

Final report on experiments conducted and lessons learned through the NEH Digital Humanities startup grant that tested methods of combining spectral imaging and RTI

The Status and Interpretation of Jubilees in 4Q390

The study of the book of Jubilees connects several areas of scholarship on Jewish thought and literature in antiquity. The Dead Sea Scrolls cast light on our understanding of Ethiopic Jubilees, and Ethiopic Jubilees casts light on our understanding of the Scrolls. Jubilees witnesses to the growing authority of the Pentateuch, and the ongoing pluriformity of texts. Jubilees can be studied as interpretation, and also as a source for interpretation. This contribution addresses the authority of Jubilees as reflected in the way it is used in 4Q390. Parallels between Jubilees and 4Q390 have long been noted. Careful examination of the parallels indicates that 4Q390 interprets Jubilees as Scripture. The two parts of this essay treat two major foundations of this claim. The first is the way 4Q390 continuously adopts language and themes from Jubilees. The second is the way 4Q390 wrestles with the plain sense of the text to fit a different set of beliefs. This creative adaptation does not negate the claim that Jubilees was used as authoritative literature, but rather strengthens it. One measure of a text's authoritativeness is the attention paid to adapting it to fit new and different meanings.2 This example from 4Q390 has broader implications. It adds to the evidence challenging the use of the category "biblical" in the study of the Scrolls, especially if the category excludes Jubilees. The appreciation of 4Q390 as a form of scriptural interpretation in turn casts light on our understanding of scriptural interpretation in general

An Evaluation of the Primary Prevention of Substance Abuse Program of Mattoon Community Unit School District Number Two

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Primary Prevention of Substance Abuse Program grades kindergarten through six in Mattoon Community Unit School District Number Two, Mattoon, Illinois. In order to accomplish this purpose the study utilized the Purpose--Input--Process--Outcome—Decision Model for program evaluation. The study was divided into four chapters. Chapter 1 presents the background and statement of the problem of substance use and abuse by America’s youth. Chapter 2 is a review of current literature and related research. For organizational purposes, the literature and research are divided into two sections: the problem of substance abuse and educational programming for the prevention of substance abuse. The latter section includes research on prevention program strategies, prevention program effectiveness, characteristic prevention program weaknesses, and prevention program models. Chapter 3 contains an overview of the design of the study. It presents discussions of the general design of the evaluation study utilizing pretests and posttests, the 80 third and fourth grade students used as the sample population, the data collection and instrumentation, and data analysis. A secondary process evaluation is also discussed which measures teacher opinions by use of a survey. The results, conclusions, and recommendations for the study are presented in Chapter 4. The results are reported in the format of the evaluation model. Conclusions about the effectiveness of the substance abuse program show that while the program is effective in cognitive gain of information concerning the use and abuse of substances, the program affects no statistically significant gain in self-image or appropriate, socially-acceptable attitudes. The study concludes with recommendations for improvement of the Primary Prevention of Substance Abuse Program

Jubilees

The book of Jubilees stands out for its combination of length, antiquity, and coherence. The structure of the book is considered from four perspectives: as a rewriting of Genesis and Exodus, as a chronology, as an apocalyptic revelation, and as a literary unity that shows seams from the process of reconciling a variety of sources already in tension. The themes and emphases discussed are the reaction assimilation to Hellenism, the eternality of the law, eschatology, separation from Gentiles, women, the festival calendar, God’s perfect justice, and angelology and demonology. The historical context is Jerusalem in the 150s BCE, perhaps in a school for study of the law. The Dead Sea Scrolls evidence use of Jubilees as scripture. Jubilees went on to be influential for legal, narrative, and chronological details and themes in the interpretation of Genesis. It survived as canonical only in the Ethiopic (Abyssinian) Orthodox Church

Moses Has His Interpreters: Understanding the Legal Exegesis in Acts 15 from the Precedent in Jubilees

Acts 15 relates a council in Jerusalem discussing the legal status and requirements of gentiles who tum to Christianity. The resulting decree asserts that gentiles can be included as gentiles without adopting the status of a "convert" obligated to the complete laws from Sinai. They are still bound to the law of Moses, however, inasmuch as it specifies laws that are binding on gentiles. These laws are specified as four prohibitions: meat sacrificed to idols, blood, meat with blood in it, and illicit sex. In the absence of a pithy verse that neatly supports the point, the reason given is that this interpretation of Moses is widely taught in synagogues. The interpretation presented in Acts is evident first and foremost in the book of Jubilees, which rewrites the unconditional covenant of the rainbow in Genesis 9 into a conditional covenant binding on all gentiles, all of whom are descended from Noah. In addition to the fundamental concept of "Noachide laws," Jubilees emphasizes as universally binding law the four issues presented in Acts 15. Although Jubilees itself was not a citable legal source for many in the first century c.E., the ideas developed in Jubilees influenced the legal interpretation of the narratives in Genesis

The Subversion of the Apocalypses in the Book of Jubilees

In spite of some scholars’ inclination to include the book of Jubilees as another witness to “Enochic Judaism,” the relationship of Jubilees to the apocalyptic writings and events surrounding the Maccabean revolt has never been adequately clarified. This book builds on scholarship on genre to establish a clear pattern among the ways Jubilees resembles and differs from other apocalypses. Jubilees matches the apocalypses of its day in overall structure and literary morphology. Jubilees also uses the literary genre to raise the issues typical of the apocalypses—including revelation, angels and demons, judgment, and eschatology—but rejects what the apocalypses typically say about those issues, subverting reader expectations with a corrected view. In addition to the main argument concerning Jubilees, this volume’s survey of what is fundamentally apocalyptic about apocalyptic literature advances the understanding of early Jewish apocalyptic literature and, in turn, of later apocalypses and comparable perspectives, including those of Paul and the Qumran sectarians

The Watchers in Rewritten Scripture: The Use of the Book of the Watchers in Jubilees

If we set aside the canon of scripture as it endured in Judaism, we see that Jubilees interprets the Book of the Watchers as scripture. Much as it does with Genesis, Leviticus, and Isaiah, Jubilees accounts for the Book of the Watchers, addresses problems in the apparent meaning, and provides a meaning consistent with a broader set of theological principles. Studying the manner in which Jubilees uses the Book of the Watchers leads us to a greater understanding of the concept of scripture held by at least one second-century teacher, the process of interpretation when the problems in the source are deeply theological, and the process of composition. Tracing the tensions in the sources used and produced by the author of Jubilees will lead us to a discussion of authorship that relies on rhetorical analysis rather than multiplicity of authorship to explain the use of the Book of the Watchers in Jubilees

Practical solutions: An analysis of challenges and obstacles facing today's offenders [abstract]

Abstract only availableThe United States has experienced a 400% increase its prison population over the past 24 years (Lynch & Sabol, 2001). Having been so successful on the “get tough on crime” agenda, the public's attention has now turned to the 600,000 offenders released to our communities each year. During FY 2004, the Missouri Department of Corrections released over 18,000 in Missouri alone (Clements, Johnston, Rollins, & Stringer, 2005). Research indicates over a three year period 7 of 10 released offenders will be rearrested, and over 50% will return to prison (Visher & Travis, 2003). Of all the issues addressed in current reentry policy, little attention has been paid to education as a form of rehabilitation. One hundred and ten male Missouri offenders provided responses on a survey to the often overlooked issue of post-incarceration educational opportunities and challenges. In addition, they were queried about educational attitudes. A Likert scale was created to measure how much respondents thought they would benefit from more education with “1” indicating “no benefit” and “5” indicating “very much benefit”. The mean score for the sample was 4.28 revealing the participants' awareness of the potential benefits of pursuing an education. Given the choices of “better work history”, “better work skills”, “more education”, or “better people skills” a majority of respondents reported a better education would help them get the job they want most. What participants planned to do educationally was compared to what they would do if given an educational opportunity and participants were asked what funding would be available to them should they decide to pursue more education. The study tested the hypothesis that Missouri offenders are not aware of educational opportunities available. The hypothesis was supported as only 46.8% acknowledged grants and loans could be accessed to fund their education and even fewer could count on family or friends. The respondents wrote many unsolicited comments asking how they could go to college. A discussion follows the results and includes a potential plan to address the offenders' educational needs. Possible policy implications are also discussed.McNair Scholars Progra

Seeing Colors Beyond the Naked Eye: Spectral RTI, a New Tool for Imaging Artifacts

The significance of Spectral RTI for Archaeolog

The Sin of the Gentiles: The Prohibition of Eating Blood in the Book of Jubilees

Jubilees exhorts Israelites to separate from Gentiles in every way. Jubilees does not simply repeat familiar arguments that Gentiles will lead Israelites to sin if they adopt their ways. Rather, Jubilees argues that merely being in the presence of Gentiles is dangerous because they are liable to a violent death at any moment for their abhorrent daily practices. At the same time, Jubilees maintains a strict standard for God’s justice such that sinners must be warned of the crime and its punishment in advance. Jubilees maintains that the ancestors of all nations willingly entered into a covenant which demands eradication of entire nations for the sin of eating blood. In order to make this point Jubilees interprets Genesis 9 and other sources to indicate that all nations are bound to a covenant which demands eradication for the crime of eating meat that was not processed according to Levitical procedure