Browsing by Subject "Community."
Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item "Alone in the front" : isolation and community in the hero's life in Beowulf.(2013-05-15) Ziehe, Mary E.; Marsh, Jeannette K.; English.; Baylor University. Dept. of English.This project seeks to clarify the paradox suggested by 'ana on orde' (“alone in the front”) and to show how it plays out on both the narratorial and verbal levels of Beowulf. Ultimately, I suggest reading Beowulf using the two sides of this paradox (held in tension with each other) as an interpretive lens. My approach focuses on linguistic and literary analysis of the words 'ana' and 'ord.' I first provide background material on topics of Beowulf scholarship relating to my analysis. Then, I trace the uses of 'ana' and 'ord' in Beowulf’s “pre-battle speeches.” Third, I analyze their use throughout Beowulf. Finally, I look at how they and their cognates are used in the poetry of Old English, Old Saxon, and Old High German in order to see how the Beowulf poet uses the phrase ana on orde in comparison to other literature in his larger literary and cultural milieu.Item Caste, class, and city : the shaping of religious social capital in contemporary India.(2010-06-23T12:33:31Z) Stroope, Samuel M.; Froese, Paul.; Sociology.; Baylor University. Dept. of Sociology.Building on the implications of qualitative work from India and urbanism theories, I aim to understand how religious bonding social capital in contemporary India varies along greater urbanization and whether social class or caste affects such differences. I use a multinomial logistic regression on 1,417 Hindu respondents in a nationally representative sample of India (World Values Survey-India 2001). Results indicate that religious social capital is fostered by urbanism and that this association is stronger for upper castes. Conversely, there is little evidence that social class similarly mediates the connection between urbanism and greater religious social capital. In light of these findings, religious bonding might be better understood as rooted in the interaction of caste dynamics and changes in the urban environment, rather than as a result of greater affluence. The data are also consistent with work underscoring the importance of disentangling social class and caste among Hindus in contemporary India.Item Harry Potter and the search for a church : spiritual community and sacrificial love in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series.(2010-06-23T12:15:50Z) Anderson, Dianna E.; Garrett, Greg.; English.; Baylor University. Dept. of English.Examining the Harry Potter series through the lens of late Baptist theologian Stanley Grenz and his theories on community as it reflects the triune God, the themes of love and sacrifice in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series are seen in new light. By placing Harry not as a member of an independently-acting community, but as one connected to a much higher calling—love, even over and above magic—I find that the author’s emphasis on community and family are crucial for understanding fully the sacrifice that Harry makes, and the redemption extended to Lord Voldemort. Understanding Hogwarts and the wizarding world as a church body reflecting a higher power of love, the ostracizing of Voldemort and Harry’s experience of sacrifice and protective love take on new meaning. The definition of community as found in the works of Stanley Grenz, Jürgen Moltmann and Stanley Hauerwas will be the theological lens.Item Social capital and its impact on the community.(2013-09-16) Fitz-Chapman, Brittany M.; Driskell, Robyn Bateman.; Sociology.; Baylor University. Dept. of Sociology.In this paper I examine the relationship between the community and an individual’s social capital. Operating from the assumption that social capital is beneficial to the community I build on this notion by discriminating between faith-based social capital and communal, trust-based social capital. I assert that the two types of social capital are associated and exclusive to with differing populations. In addition, I claim that faith-based social capital and trust-based social capital impact the community in different ways through the means of charitable giving and volunteering. Using the 2006 Faith Matters Survey and a combination of Ordinary Least Squares Regressions and Binary Logistic Regressions, I find that not only are the types of social capital specific to populations, but also that faith-based social capital has a larger impact on a respondent’s volunteering and charitable giving.Item Whose change is it? : a multimodal exploration of urban ecology and gentrification resistance in crumbling Black communities.(2011-01-05T19:41:20Z) Lusk, Jeniece Tyria.; Mencken, Frederick Carson, 1964-; Sociology.; Baylor University. Dept. of Sociology.An extensive body of literature notes the racial and ethnic patterns of gentrification categorizing Whites as antagonizing decisions to disinvest in communities and Blacks and other minorities as falling victim to renewal (Marcuse, 1986; Gale, 1984). However, the role of Blacks in not only resisting gentrification, but as countering with Black community and economic development is not well-represented in literature (Muniz, 1998). New literature is arising looking at Blacks as investors in revitalization, attempting to protect their identity and loyalty to the community (Hyra, 2006; Pattillo, 2003; Boyd, 2000). Michelle Boyd (2000) refers to this effort as "defensive development". To further explore the characteristics of a community's likelihood of achieving defensive development I chose to focus on the Elm Avenue area, a stark Black community located in Waco, Texas currently entering its own battle with gentrification. Due to the exploratory nature of this study, I chose to implement three methodologies: a quantitative phone survey of the local community's attitudes and opinions of the Elm Avenue area, a pair of focus groups, and one-on-one interviews with key informants serving as stakeholders in the area's development. Combined, these methodologies provide well-round insight into the perceptions of likelihood that the Elm Avenue area might achieve Boyd's defensive development.