The Good Catastrophe: Tolkien on the Consolation of the Happy Ending

When describing the nature of fairy-stories, Tolkien famously coined the term eucatastrophe ( eu meaning good ) to express the effect of the sudden joyous turn that leads to the story\u27s happy ending regardless of the dark events preceding it. Tolkien applies that word specifically to fairy-stories, but I would like to explore its meaning in relation to other genres and mediums that Tolkien was either unable or unwilling to consider. Classic literature and modern popular culture alike are ripe with the use of the good catastrophe, and this device is well-known by cultures from all parts of the globe. If it seems like a stretch to connect Greek linguistics, fairy-stories, British literature, Japanese film, and Korean TV dramas, come listen and let me have the chance to surprise you by demonstrating how much all of these have in common

Tale as Old as Time: A Study of the Cupid and Psyche Myth, with Particular Reference to C.S. Lewis\u27s Till We Have Faces

In 1956, C.S. Lewis saw the publication of his final novel, Till We Have Faces. Considered by Lewis himself to be among his best work, the novel’s plot is essentially a reworking of the myth of Cupid and Psyche, a myth first recorded in Apuleius’s Metamorphoses. In this presentation, I will trace the various adaptations of the Cupid and Psyche myth and its echoes in works as various as the poetry of John Milton, Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight novels, and Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. What do all these stories have in common? Come listen and find out

Review of The Abolition of Man: The Deluxe Edition

Review of Carson Grubaugh, Midjourney AI, Sean Michael Robinson, and Luciano Floridi, The Abolition of Man: The Deluxe Edition (St. Paul, Minnesota: Living the Line, 2023). 228 pages, including an Afterword to each issue and essays. $35.00. ISBN 9781736860571

Traditional Medicine Practices among Community Members with Diabetes Mellitus in Northern Tanzania: An ethnomedical Survey.

Diabetes is a growing burden in sub-Saharan Africa where traditional medicines (TMs) remain a primary form of healthcare in many settings. In Tanzania, TMs are frequently used to treat non-communicable diseases, yet little is known about TM practices for non-communicable diseases like diabetes. Between December 2013 and June 2014, we assessed TM practices, including types, frequencies, reasons, and modes, among randomly selected community members. To further characterize TMs relevant for the local treatment of diabetes, we also conducted focus groups and semi-structured interviews with key informants. We enrolled 481 adults of whom 45 (9.4 %) had diabetes. The prevalence of TM use among individuals with diabetes was 77.1 % (95 % CI 58.5-89.0 %), and the prevalence of using TMs and biomedicines concurrently was 37.6 % (95 % CI 20.5-58.4 %). Many were using TMs specifically to treat diabetes (40.3 %; 95 % CI 20.5-63.9), and individuals with diabetes reported seeking healthcare from traditional healers, elders, family, friends, and herbal vendors. We identified several plant-based TMs used toward diabetes care: Moringa oleifera, Cymbopogon citrullus, Hagenia abyssinica, Aloe vera, Clausena anisata, Cajanus cajan, Artimisia afra, and Persea americana. TMs were commonly used for diabetes care in northern Tanzania. Individuals with diabetes sought healthcare advice from many sources, and several individuals used TMs and biomedicines together. The TMs commonly used by individuals with diabetes in northern Tanzania have a wide range of effects, and understanding them will more effectively shape biomedical practitices and public health policies that are patient-centered and sensitive to TM preferences

Old MacDonald Had a Farm: An Exploration of Animal Literature and its Subtext through the Theology of George MacDonald

Tales all the way from Grimms’ The Frog Princess to C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia all tell us that there is more subtext to animals in literature than we realize. They can represent the meaning of family, as in the werewolves in Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series, or the character of our soul, as in the Harry Potter series. I will touch on each of these elements while centering on George MacDonald’s view of animals as representing one of God’s miracles, amazingly similar to humans in their feeble nature and yet just as capable of being redeemed in the end. Matthew 15:27 says, “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” MacDonald, taking this verse to heart, shows us the extent of God’s love and mercy for every one of his creation

A Simple Tale Told Simply : The Cultural Importance of R. D. Blackmore\u27s Neglected Novel Lorna Doone

A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of the Caudill College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences Morehead State University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in English by John Stanifer on September 18, 2014

Investigating the Relationships Between Disorder, Structure, and Dynamics in Amorphous Systems

In this thesis, we investigate the relationships between the disorder, structure, and deformation in amorphous materials. First, to understand the surprising low-frequency vibrational modes in structural glasses, and how it arises from the microscopic disorder in the system, we study the spectra of a large ensemble of sparse random matrices where disorder is controlled by the distribution of bond weights and network coordination. When there is a finite probability density of infinitesimal bond weights, we find a region in the vibrational density of states that is consistent with the low-frequency behavior in structural glasses. Next, in order to investigate structural properties of active systems, we develop a novel method to generate static, finite packings in an artificial potential that reproduce the packing structures observed in a class of point-of-interest active self-propelled particle simulations. This allows us to compute structural measures, such as the vibrational modes, in an unstable active system. Finally, we evaluate the evolution of structure during strain-induced avalanches in athermal, amorphous systems using numerical simulation of soft spheres. We find that these avalanches can be decomposed into a series of bursts of localized deformations, and we develop an extension of persistent homology to isolate these bursts of localized deformations. Further, we extend existing tools for the structural evaluation of mechanically stable systems to generically unstable systems to identify how soft regions evolve and change throughout an avalanche