Worship in the Nartex: identifying a contemporary site for the Eucharist

The aim of this thesis is to describe a contemporary site for eucharistic celebration. In the Introduction, we begin with the premise that a common context for understanding the liturgy, and in particular the Eucharist, as the public language of the Roman Catholic Church, has been lost. In order to restore the practice of the Eucharist, it is therefore necessary to restore a common context in relation to which the Eucharist makes sense. In Chapter One, we begin this task by exploring the history of the relationship between the Eucharist and the Church with the help of an important recent book by P.J. FitzPatrick, In Breaking ofBread: The Eucharist and Ritual. We look in particular at how the form of the Eucharist is shaped by the centralization and clericalization of power in the Church. In Chapters Two and Three, we take up FitzPatrick's suggestion that the way forward for our understanding of the Eucharist is to describe it as a ritual. What this accomplishes is to situate us within the arena of human action. In these two chapters, we explore what it means to say that the world is linguistically-structured. Language, as we discover, is not simply a tool for naming objects, rather, it embodies patterns of meaning and relationship which form us at a pre-conscious, bodily level. Likewise, the purpose of the liturgy as the Church's public language is not to pass on consciously-held beliefs or knowledge, but to give Christians a particular, pre-conscious bodily formation. Describing the Eucharist as a ritual is not sufficient, because the Church's rituals express whatever kind of life the Church is actually leading. Unless the Church is living the Gospel in practice, her rituals will not provide an adequate Christian formation. In Chapter Four, we situate this discourse in relation to the discourses of modernity and post-modemity. With the breakdown of the unified social vision of the Middle Ages, we find, in modernity, the hope that differences can be united through a common rationality. In post-modemity, we discover the extent to which our rationality is itself contingent - tied to our formation at particular locations in space and time. This awareness of the limits of what we say creates a crisis in human action. We can find no basis for common action which does not appear to eliminate differences, and we cannot act individually without being aware that what we do and say is put in question by the position of others. It is within this context that the theologian John Milbank proposes a return to Christianity as a metanarrative. Only Christianity, he argues, provides an account of difference which is not simply the occasion of violence. Milbank demonstrates how secular rationality, which presupposes the inevitability of violence, arises out of an heretical departure from Christian orthodoxy. The problem with Milbank, however, is that he creates a dichotomy between the Church and the secular which gives the impression that there is such a thing as the Christian Church uncorrupted by collusion with the secular order. Milbank creates what the philosopher Gillian Rose calls a "holy middle", a sociality outside time and space, and therefore, not a real beginning for action. Rose, by contrast, is concerned in her idea of the broken middle of modernity with the problem of how to act, aware of the limits which always already constrain us, but not paralyzed by them. We explore Rose's metaphor of modernity in Chapter Six. In the Conclusion, we return to the question of the Eucharist to show how Rose's broken middle of modernity locates for us a contemporary site for eucharistic celebration. The revolution which Christ embodies has to do with his relationship to those who fall outside the Law. Jesus teaches that love is the medium of this encounter. This love, however, demands the kind of risk which Gillian Rose describes, because it involves a movement outward from our present categories of understanding towards a greater vision which we cannot yet articulate. The poor are those who fall outside our present vision of the social whole. It is only from the perspective of the poor, therefore, that the Church can celebrate the Eucharist as the sacrament of Christ's real presence in the world

Improving Students\u27 Comprehension of Character Development in Plays

This article is divided into three sections, each a development of theory or practices which relate to direct teaching of thinking in the reading or language arts classroom. These are: 1. the need for a reader to use inductive reasoning when reading a play; 2. the importance of understanding character development in a play; and, 3. the presentation of a method to teach inductive reasoning directly so that students can use the strategy when analyzing character development in plays

Incorporating innovations into practice: Professional learning of genetic counselors

Genetic counselors are healthcare professionals who work with patients and families affected by or at risk for conditions with a genetic cause or component. They act as purveyors of genetic and genomic testing and support the translation of test results into targeted and personalized medical care. Innovations, which arise and are introduced into practice continuously, compel genetic counselors to update their skills, knowledge, and approach quickly to ensure adequate and appropriate care of patients. The purpose of this study was to explore the professional learning strategies utilized by genetic counselors, with particular attention to learning which occurs in response to innovation. Utilizing critical incident questionnaires, interviews, and a database of credits accrued for continuing education, this study sought to contribute to a detailed understanding of genetic counselors’ professional learning and how strategies may vary by specialty or years of experience. Genetic counselors were found to utilize reflection to identify learning needs arising within uncertain, complex, and ambiguous circumstances of practice, and match those needs to appropriate learning strategies. Prized learning strategies included reading to gather information, discussion with colleagues to curate alternative perspectives and past experiences, and experimentation to actively test ongoing apprehension. Through strategies which were permeable, complementary, and active, genetic counselors demonstrated their abilities to synergize learning, practice, and novel, complex, ambiguous, and uncertain environments

Trends in vegetation productivity and seasonality for Namaqualand, South Africa between 1986 and 2011: an approach combining remote sensing and repeat photography

This thesis presents an assessment of vegetation change and its drivers across a subset of Namaqualand, South Africa. Namaqualand forms part of the Succulent Karoo biome, which is characterised by exceptionally high species biodiversity but which has undergone severe transformation since the arrival of pastoral colonists. Vegetation productivity in Namaqualand is of great importance since there is a high dependence on natural resources, livestock and agriculture for both subsistence and income. However, there is considerable debate on the relative contribution of land-use change and climate change to vegetation change and land degradation in Namaqualand. Early studies based on bioclimatic envelop models suggest that an increase in temperature and more arid conditions could result in the vegetation cover of the Succulent Karoo being significantly reduced. On the other hand, more recent studies show that less extreme changes in rainfall could result in the vegetation of the biome remaining fairly stable with possible increases in the spatial extent by 2050. Furthermore, field observations and repeat photography, suggest that the change in vegetation in the region over the course of the 20th century generally portrays an increase in cover largely as a result of changes in land-use. By combining repeat photography and satellite data from NOAA-AVHRR and TERRA-MODIS sensors as well as baseline climatology data from the CRU TS 3.2 data set this study aimed to: (1) Determine the critical pathways of inter-annual and intra-seasonal vegetation change in the Namaqualand; (2) Investigate the role of land-use and climate variability as key drivers of vegetation change in Namaqualand

Using confocal scanning laser microscopy to characterise as-cast microstructures using cooling rates representative of thin slab direct cast steels

To meet the increasing demand for better energy efficiency and higher production rates, a range of accelerated cooled continuous casting methods are being used. Replicating the solidification conditions in the laboratory is challenging but essential if issues such as segregation and microstructure development are to be understood. In this paper a method for analysing an as-cast structure both in- and ex-situ at cooling rates of 1 and 50 °C/s, using a high temperature confocal scanning laser microscope, has been detailed. The method has been developed to obtain directional dendritic solidification in an orientation that allows for solute rejection 360° around the dendrite arms, replicating that seen in bulk casting. Experiments using an Fe-Al-0.1Ti alloy at rates of 1 and 50 °C/s from 1540°C are discussed. A significant retarding effect, due to segregation, on the liquid-solid transformation kinetics was observed for the 50 °C/s sample. Thermodynamic predictions, based on the Lever-Rule (ThermoCalc) and back diffusion via the Clyne-Kurz model, have been used to predict the levels of segregation. The higher segregation expected at the faster cooling rate results in the formation of TiC in the liquid after approximately 80% solidification, whilst at the slower cooling rate TiC is only predicted to form in the liquid after approximately 93% solidification. The predictions have been supported with optical analysis of the resultant TiC precipitate shape, distribution and morpholog

Near net shape casting : is it possible to cast too thin?

With increased efforts across the steel industry to produce steel in more economical ways, interest in near net shape casting has increased. Although much has been reported on the production of exotic alloys via these methods, to make the investment in new casting equipment, capability to produce current high value steels by these methods would derisk the capital expenditure. This study assesses the production of a dual phase steel (DP800) by belt casting and compared to that of conventional continuous casting. Although a drop in yield and tensile strength was seen in the belt cast-produced material, the increased elongation allowed for a comparable/improved UTS × elongation factor. A combination of in situ dendrite measurements, thermal modeling, and lab-scale belt casting has allowed insight into the relationship between cast thickness and final band spacing. The inherent lack of deformation of near net shape casting results in coarser band spacing and is not accounted for by the refinement of the secondary arm spacing caused by the faster solidification rates. This limits the strength achievable for a given martensite volume fraction. This has been predicted across the full range of casting thicknesses (1 to 230 mm) and good agreement has been shown with experimental results