Medieval church history and queer ministry: using the historical imaginary to build theological community

<p>“A woman who takes up devilish ways and plays a male role in coupling with another woman is most vile in My sight, and so is she who subjects herself to such a one in this evil deed…..”1</p> <p>This statement, made by Hildegard of Bingen is representative of much of the vitriol the medieval church liked to produce in response to same sex sexual activity. Indeed, even for as innovative (and on occasions heretical) an author as Hildegard there was neither space nor any evidence of her desire to do other than uphold traditional approaches to two women having sex.2 In the face of such prejudice it is hard not to wonder whether the medieval church has anything positive to offer the queer ecclesial community. Of course, by implication this quote suggests that queer folk existed in the distant past and are not just a figment of our fertile (if not furtive), libidinous, post‐modernist imaginations. Indeed, this quote indicates the existence of not only woman to woman sex, but also role playing of a type that sounds (comfortingly or disquieteningly dependent on your personal view point) like the butch/femme dichotomy. Obviously, this is a translation from Latin and linguistically at least, conveys an inherently post‐medieval reading of the text. However, it is hard to know how a literal interpretation of this particular text would differ. It clearly implies same sex coupling.</p> <p>In this paper I wish to elaborate on why and how medieval church history can be used to benefit of the queer community and those whom identify as its ministers. To do this, I have broken the paper into three key areas: firstly, theoretical frameworks; secondly, the practical implications of these frameworks for queer ministry; and thirdly, a case study of using the historical imaginary and what it suggests as areas for exploration in queer theology.</p&gt

Considering Teaching Excellence in Higher Education: 2007-2013: A Literature Review Since the CHERI Report 2007

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Dual turbopump liquid hydrogen feed system experience

Design and development of dual turbopump liquid hydrogen feed syste

A Generalization of Haldane state-counting procedure and π\pi-deformations of statistics

We consider the generalization of Haldane's state-counting procedure to describe all possible types of exclusion statistics which are linear in the deformation parameter $g$. The statistics are parametrized by elements of the symmetric group of the particles in question. For several specific cases we determine the form of the distribution functions which generalizes results obtained by Wu. Using them we analyze the low-temperature behavior and thermodynamic properties of these systems and compare our results with previous studies of the thermodynamics of a gas of $g$-ons. Various possible physical applications of these constructions are discussed.Comment: 17 pages, latex, 6 figures small corrections were made, reference and acknowledgments are adde

Couples as Partners and Parents over Children’s Early Years

We use data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to examine couple how couple relationship quality and parental engagement are linked over children’s early years. Our sample includes 1,630 couples that are co-resident over years 1 to 3 and 1,376 over years 3 to 5 (1,196 over both periods). Overall, we find that better relationship quality predicts greater parental engagement for both mothers and fathers—especially from children’s infant to toddler years; we find little evidence that parenting predicts future relationship quality. Married and cohabiting couples are generally similar in how relationship quality and parenting are linked. When couples are having their first birth, relationship quality is more strongly tied to parental engagement for fathers (but not mothers).Couple relationship quality, parenting, fragile families

Adaptive sampling in context-aware systems: a machine learning approach

As computing systems become ever more pervasive, there is an increasing need for them to understand and adapt to the state of the environment around them: that is, their context. This understanding comes with considerable reliance on a range of sensors. However, portable devices are also very constrained in terms of power, and hence the amount of sensing must be minimised. In this paper, we present a machine learning architecture for context awareness which is designed to balance the sampling rates (and hence energy consumption) of individual sensors with the significance of the input from that sensor. This significance is based on predictions of the likely next context. The architecture is implemented using a selected range of user contexts from a collected data set. Simulation results show reliable context identification results. The proposed architecture is shown to significantly reduce the energy requirements of the sensors with minimal loss of accuracy in context identification

Enhancing our understanding of small bowel function using modern imaging techniques

Small intestinal function is critical to digestive health and patients believe an abnormal reaction to food is responsible for many of their symptoms. Despite this, our ability to assess disturbed function in clinical practice has been limited, particularly after ingestion of the complex nutrients which make up normal food. Recent advances in both wireless capsules and magnetic resonance imaging have provided new insights. This review will briefly describe the limitations of past techniques and focus on how these newer techniques are changing our understanding, particularly of how patients’ gastrointestinal tracts respond to food

Preservice Teachers’ “Revelations and Connections”: Fostering Deep Conversations While Reading Multicultural Literature

We investigated strategies that a literacy teacher educator used to develop preservice teachers’ culturally responsive pedagogy. This study focused on (a) implementation of literature circles, (b) preservice teachers’ (n= 29) reading and analysis of multicultural children’s literature, (c) preservice teachers’ reader response reflective journals (RRRJ), and (d) reading comprehension strategies. We analyzed interviews with the professor and RRRJ (87 responses) as well as the course syllabus, reader response guidelines, and course evaluations to understand the lived experiences of the participants. We found preservice teachers recognize the benefits of literature circles and the utilization of RRRJ to develop an understanding of reading comprehension strategies and ways to talk about culture