bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
From the “Beloved Community” to “Family Values”: Religious Language, Symbolic Repertoires, and Democratic Culture
Authors: Williams Rhys H 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
One of Karl Marx’s most frequently quoted observations is that “men make their own history, but they do not make it just as they please; they do not make it under circumstances chosen by themselves, but under circumstances directly found, given and transmitted from the past” (in Tucker 1978: 595). Presumably this calls attention to Marx’s careful balancing of the fact that society is created by humans and through active human agency, yet any given set of historical actors is constrained powerfully by social settings that they did not create and cannot control completely.
As it is with history, so it is with “meaning.” People construct the social world symbolically, but they do not do it de novo. Rather, they use symbolic tools handed down to them from previous generations—the “symbolic repertoire”—and these are bounded, at least to some extent, by the conventions established within a culture. Only by operating within boundaries recognizable to people in the extant culture can humans communicate and create meanings—and this is true even when those meanings are intended to foster innovation, creativity, or social change.
Greek Nymphs
Authors: Larson Jennifer 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
Greek Nymphs: Myths, Cult, Lore is the first comprehensive study of the nymph in the ancient Greek world. This well-illustrated book examines nymphs as both religious and mythopoetic figures, tracing their development and significance in Greek culture from Homer through the Hellenistic period. Drawing upon a broad range of literary and archaeological evidence, Jennifer Larson discusses sexually powerful nymphs in ancient and modern Greek folklore, the use of dolls representing nymphs in the socialization of girls, the phenomenon of nympholepsy, the nymphs’ relations with other deities in the Greek pantheon, and the nymphs’ role in mythic narratives of city-founding and colonization. The book includes a survey of the evidence for myths and cults of the nymphs arranged by geographical region, and a special section of the worship of nymphs in caves throughout the Greek world.
Loosening the Category That Binds: Modern “Religion” and the Promise of Cultural Studies
Authors: Cady Linell E 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
As this volume attests, there is a growing interest among theologians in engaging in cultural analysis, including that which falls under the general rubric of cultural studies. It would be easy to greet this development with cynicism, as just the latest example of the search for relevancy, perhaps for a subject, in a discipline that has become increasingly discredited and marginalized in late twentieth-century America. As Van Harvey has noted, “the slightest breezes that have stirred the trees of the groves of academe have been frantically harnessed for the purpose of generating energy for some new theological ‘movement’—a ‘theology of the death of God,’ a theology of play,’ a ‘theology of hope,’ a ‘theology of liberation,’ a ‘theology of polytheism,’ a ‘theology of deconstruction.’ “2 Perhaps “theology and cultural studies” is simply another episode in this continuing chapter of disciplinary decline,
The Great Debate
Authors: Katz Jonathan I 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
Science is full of controversies. One may even say it is about controversy, because experiments are usually performed to decide which of two (or more) proposed views of the world is correct.
The BATSE results tilted the scales toward cosmological distances for gamma-ray bursts, but not all astronomers were convinced. Dis agreements about astronomical distance scales were not new. The most famous such controversy had occurred early in the twentieth century, and had two parts.
Creating Better Futures
Authors: Ogilvy James A 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
As a founder and managing director of Global Business Network, James Ogilvy helped develop the technique of scenario planning, which has become an integral part of strategic thinking in both business and government. Now Ogilvy shows how we can use this cutting-edge method for social change in our own neighborhoods. In Building Better Futures, Ogilvy presents a profound new vision of how the world is changing--and how it can be changed for the better. Ogilvy argues that self-defined communities, rather than individuals or governments, have become the primary agents for social change. Towns, professional associations, and interest groups of all kinds help shape the future in all the ways that matter most, from schools and hospitals to urban development. The key to improvement is scenario planning--a process that draws on groups of people, both lay and expert, to draft narratives that spell out possible futures, some to avoid, some inspiring hope. Scenario planning has revolutionized both public and private planning, leading to everything from the diverse product lines that have revived the auto industry, to a timely decision by the state of Colorado to avoid pouring millions into an oil-shale industry that never materialized. But never before has anyone proposed that it be taken up by society as a whole. Drawing on years of experience in both academia and the private sector, where he developed both a keen sense of how businesses work best and an abiding passion for changing the world, James Ogilvy provides the tools we need to create better communities: better health, better education, better lives.
Chicano Folklore
Authors: Castro Rafaela G 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
Did you know that barrio is a term for a Chicano neighborhood, and that some of the oldest barrios can be found in major U.S. cities, like Los Angeles, Chicago, El Paso, and San Antonio? Or that menudo is actually a soup-type dish made with tripe, the stomach lining of a cow, and typically eaten early in the morning after big holiday celebrations to cure a hangover? Chicano Folklore is replete with such interesting and often surprising facts about Mexican American culture. Even before the United States-Mexican War in 1848, when 80,000 Spanish-Mexican-Indian people suddenly became inhabitants of the United States, people of Spanish and Mexican descent had a rich and unique culture in what is now the American southwest. Understanding Chicano folklore, or the customs, rituals, and traditional cultural forms that Mexican Americans share, is extremely significant to comprehending the Chicano experience. Chicano Folklore is the first reference book to focus wholly on this subject. From burrito (literally little burro or little donkey) to zoot suit (a style of suit worn by Mexican Americans, African Americans, and Filipino Americans during the 1930s and 1940s), the dictionary’s more than 225 in-depth passages thoroughly explain the meaning and background of each cultural term. We learn about the music, religious practices, food, and key historical and mythical figures that make Chicano folklore so vibrant. The detailed, immensely informative passages of Chicano Folklore will entertain and educate anyone interested in understanding Chicano culture and the colorful impact it has had on America as a whole.
Feminist Fieldworker: Connecting Research, Teaching, and Memoir
Authors: Kleinman Sherryl 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
Fieldwork is about paying attention. We don’t primarily attend to what outsiders might consider the attention-grabbing moments-a fistfight, or an outburst of tears-but to mundane, systematic patterns. Yet, knowing that one is meant to notice patterns hardly tells us where to look or what to focus on. As a symbolic interactionist, I was trained to notice patterns of speech, interaction, identity, meanings, and so on. I learned to cultivate the double vision of the qualitative symbolic interactionist: individuals are products of social-historical circumstances and act with or upon them. Actions are broadly defined and can include anything from resistance to resignation.
Bibliography
Authors: Floridi Luciano 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
It is usually difficult to separate the literature dealing primarily with Sextus Empiricus from the literature on ancient skepticism in general. Moreover, works on Sextus are often concerned only with the information provided by him about other authors or texts. The following bibliography is therefore selective. Because of the extensive bibliographies compiled on ancient skepticism (see next paragraph), only essential or more recent works relevant to the study of the fortunes of Sextus Empiricus and the transmission of his texts are listed.
Against the Mathematicians
Authors: Floridi Luciano 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
This is the partial translation of Against the Mathematicians from M IIl.37 to M V.25 that we have already encountered when analyzing T2a, the Latin translation in the Marcianus. To the information already given above it can be added that, because of the linguistic style, the person who translated Against the Geometicians, Against the Arithmeticians, Against the Musians, and Against the Astrolo.
Halloween
Authors: Rogers Nicholas 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
Boasting a rich, complex history rooted in Celtic and Christian ritual, Halloween has evolved from ethnic celebration to a blend of street festival, fright night, and vast commercial enterprise. In this colourful history, Nicholas Rogers takes a lively, entertaining look at the cultural origins and development of one of the most popular holidays of the year. Drawing on a fascinating array of sources, from classical history to Hollywood films, Rogers traces Halloween as it emerged from the Celtic festival of Samhain (summer’s end), picked up elements of the Christian Hallowtide (All Saint’s Day and All Soul’s Day), arrived in North America as an Irish and Scottish festival, and evolved into an unofficial but large-scale holiday by the early 20th century. He examines the 1970s and ‘80s phenomena of Halloween sadism (razor blades in apples) and inner-city violence (arson in Detroit), as well as the immense influence of the horror film genre on the reinvention of Halloween as a terror-fest. Throughout his vivid account, Rogers shows how Halloween remains, at its core, a night of inversion, when social norms are turned upside down, and a temporary freedom of expression reigns supreme. He examines how this very license has prompted censure by the religious Right, occasional outrage from law enforcement officials, and appropriation by Left-leaning political groups. Engagingly written and based on extensive research, Halloween is the definitive history of the most bewitching day of the year, illuminating the intricate history and shifting cultural forces behind this enduring trick-or-treat holiday.
Border Crossings
Authors: Rogers Nicholas 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
As I suggested in the preceding chapter, Halloween was revitalized in the 1970s as a holiday of youthful license and difference. It continued to retain some of the spirit of premodern festivals, whose topsy-turvy rituals and liminal spaces afforded some opportunity to parody mainstream culture, to blow off steam, and to express alternative sexualities and ways of seeing the world. Yet since the 1920s, Halloween has also been seen as a homogenizing force or, at the very least, a marker of the cultural mainstream. French-Canadians living in Quebec City did not celebrate Halloween until the 196os. Only those living in Montreal, or on the borders of Ontario, would have come into contact with and arguably participated in what must have seemed an “Anglo” holiday.
Aniconism Versus Iconism in Thai Buddhism
Authors: Swearer Donald K 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
Westerners whose knowledge of Buddhism comes primarily from textbooks, even those with relatively expansive descriptions of Buddhist practices, are often startled upon observing temple rituals in Thailand or other Asian Buddhist countries. Usually they see devotees prostrating themselves before large Buddha images and performing other devotional acts such as lighting incense, making flower offerings, and praying. These devotional activities appear to be far removed from a common preconception of the Buddha’s rejection of Brahmanical ritualism and the singular dedication of Buddhist monks to the path of meditation. Did not the Buddha teach his disciples to be “lamps unto themselves”; to pursue their own inner journey to enlightenment without relying on external rituals? Was not the Buddha a religious philosopher, the teacher of the Noble Eightfold Path to awakening, rather than a divine being to be venerated? The temple practices that the Western student of Buddhism observes in Buddhist Thailand are at odds with a commonly held view of Buddhism as a nonritualistic, nontheistic religion of mystics, meditators, and philosophers. The contradiction becomes even more acute with the realization that the Buddha image, toward which ritual offerings are directed, is considered by many devotees as the living presence of the Buddha himself.
Why Does God Allow Evil?
Authors: Swinburne Richard 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
The world . . . contains much evil. An omnipotent God could have prevented this evil, and surely a perfectly good and omnipotent God would have done so. So why is there this evil? Is not its existence strong evidence against the existence of God? It would be unless we can construct what is known as a theodicy, an explanation of why God would allow such evil to occur. I believe that that can be done, and I shall outline a theodicy. . . . I emphasize that . . . in writing that God would do this or that, I am not taking for granted the existence of God, but merely claiming that, if there is a God, it is to be expected that he would do certain things, including allowing the occurrence of certain evils; and so, I am claiming, their occurrence is not evidence against his existence. It is inevitable that any attempt by myself or anyone else to construct a theodicy will sound callous, indeed totally insensitive to human suffering. Many theists, as well as atheists, have felt that any attempt to construct a theodicy evinces an immoral approach to suffering. I can only ask the reader to believe that I am not totally insensitive to human suffering, and that I do mind about the agony of poisoning, child abuse, bereavement, solitary imprisonment, and martial infidelity.
Christian Asceticism and the Emergence of the Monastic Tradition
Authors: Rubenson Samuel 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
Christian asceticism has, since the fourth century, been closely linked to the monastic tradition. Ascetic practice is at the roots of monasticism, and most of the ascetic writings in Christian traditions stem from monks or nuns and have been produced, copied and read primarily in monasteries. At the same time, it is obvious that Christian asceticism does not originate in the monastic setting: it preceded it and goes back to a tradition older than the New Testament. It has its roots in a common heritage of the Hellenistic world, a heritage christianized in the first centuries. Tertullian and Origen, the most famous advocates of ascetic practice in the early church, both died decades before the first known monks established themselves in the desert.
Asceticism and Mysticism in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages
Authors: McGinn Bernard 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
Scaramelli's two-stage view of Christian perfection remained normative down to living memory in Roman Catholicism. Among its last great monuments was the Precis de theologie ascetique et mystique of the Sulpician Adolph Tanquerey, who taught for fifteen years in the United States, before retiring to France, where his magnum opus appeared in 1923-1924. It went through nine French editions, was translated into at least ten languages, and remained a basic textbook in Catholic seminaries down to Vatican II.
Rejecting the Body, Refining the Body: Some Remarks on the Development of Platonist Asceticism
Authors: Dillon John M 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
It will be my purpose in this paper to examine the Platonist contribution to the European tradition of asceticism, with a view to elucidating what seem to me to be two significant strands in that tradition, both stemming from Plato himself, but developing separate histories in later times: that of straightforward rejection of the body, or at least of the soul's association with it, which involves what I would identify as a negative attitude to the world; and that of the disciplining and refining of the body, to make it a worthy, or at least noninjurious receptacle of the soul, which might be seen, I think, as essentially world-affirming. Both of these objectives involve practices that might fairly be termed ascetic—and, indeed largely the very same practices—but it will become evident, I think, that the perspectives on the body are distinct.
Trajectories of Ascetic Behavior: Response to the Three Preceding Papers
Authors: Corrington-Streete Gail P 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
To those who work with the trajectories of ascetic behavior, West and East, attempts to define (that is, put limits around) or to describe (that is, write concerning) asceticism as a phenomenon or series of phenomena are decidedly frustrating. But these attempts—according to what Geoffrey Galt Harpham has termed "the ascetic imperative"—seem to be compulsory and inevitable.1 When such attempts are attempted (the redundancy is deliberate), it appears that we are always confronted with layers of meaning. When we attempt to peel away these layers, the presumed inner core eludes us, is perhaps itself an illusion. Hence, the conclusion we come to is that there is no essential asceticism: the best we can do is allude to it, to "play" at it, in the root meaning of the term ludere, while it "plays away" (e-ludere) from us. Such word play (I almost said "world-play") may seem a sight too clever for a serious discussion of asceticism, which after all involves discipline in the sense of both learning and training, but the "sporting" root of our term asceticism is never far from us, and thus is one of the concepts underlying my response. Askesis is serious play, or even at times "a play," a dramatic performance, live theatre. To complicate the matter further, this response of mine is yet a response to three responses to responses.
Pain, Power, and Personhood: Ascetic Behavior in the Ancient Mediterranean
Authors: Bruce J. Malina 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
When I began to prepare this essay, my first step was to read through the splendid collection of documents, as well as the perceptive and insightful essays, prepared by Professor Vincent Wimbush and his colleagues in the Society of Biblical Literature Group on Ascetic Behavior in Greco-Roman Antiquity (Wimbush 1990, 1992). A distinctive feature of these presentations is the lack of a specific definition of the subject to which the group has dedicated its efforts.
Asceticism—Audience and Resistance: Response to the Three Preceding Papers
Authors: Castelli Elizabeth A 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
First of all, I would like to thank Professors Sfameni Gasparro, Cameron, and Malina for their very engaging papers, which collectively demonstrate the evocative possibilities of the overarching theme, the hermeneutics of asceticism. Indeed, although each essay in its own way addresses early Christian asceticism, each pursues the task so differently from the others that I found myself, initially, wondering what, in fact, these essays had in common, beyond their broad subject matter. Several rereadings produced a list of themes and concerns that the papers share; and so my response is largely an attempt to explore these shared interests, although I also have some questions for the presenters.
Ascetic Moods in Greek and Latin Literature
Authors: Pinsent John 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
It has been said that there is no word in French for "home" and none in British English for the American "home town." Similarly, there is no word in Greek for "asceticism," even though the word itself is derived from the Greek. The explanation is the same in all three cases: that the concept is in each case peculiar to the culture in which the word belongs. In our case, "asceticism" is a concept peculiar to the Christian culture of late antiquity. Since its history and development in this and other less closely related cultures will be the business of other contributors to this conference, I shall hope only to give some indication of how that use of the word derived from its earlier use in classical Greek literature.
Asceticism and the Compensations of Art
Authors: Harpham Geoffrey Gait 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
Within the broad range of practices that can be called ascetical, the creation and reception of art plays a crucial role. One of its primary functions has been in the area of what has since been called "self-fashioning" (Greenblat) or "self-forming" (Foucault). The contemporary emphasis on performance in contemporary ethnography, gender studies, drama, and literary theory also characteristically suggests an ascetic genealogy. For the performing subject is a disciplined subject, one trained, often by long and tedious practice, to produce a certain kind of display. So while performance sounds more like a hobby and less like a necessity—more like a choice or preference and less like a blood passion—its capacity to hone itself through discipline reflects its ideological and historical affiliation with those practices of selfdenial, or self-fashioning, that arose as testimonials of grace and faith within early Christian asceticism.
Sensuality and Mysticism—The Islamic Tradition: Response to the Three Preceding Papers
Authors: Awn Peter J 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
The challenge every respondent faces is to analyze cogently and succinctly the common themes articulated by the three authors. I have to admit honestly that I have failed miserably in this effort since there is, I believe, very little in common among these three papers. Methodologically and thematically, they are worlds apart, ranging from a phenomenological study of food, through a careful analysis of textual sources relating to Simeon's understanding of asceticism, ending with a sophisticated (and highly speculative) analysis of psycho-sexual themes in iconographic images of ascetics.
Asceticism and the Moral Good: A Tale of Two Pleasures
Authors: Milhaven J Giles 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
In the present essay I write primarily as philosopher, secondarily as historian. My overriding aim is to stimulate constructive discussion of a certain value question: what pleasures are worth having for themselves? The question is pertinent to certain contemporary value discussion, particularly some led by feminists; and yet the discussers have not brought out the question so openly, lucidly, and fruitfully as they might; or so it seems to me.
Toward a Politics of Asceticism: Response to the Three Preceding Papers
Authors: Deal William E 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
The perdurance of asceticism within and across religious traditions and cultures suggests the need for historical, cross-cultural, and multidisciplinary perspectives. . . . Thus, the main objective of the Conference is to test whether and to what extent asceticism can be discussed across the boundaries of academic disciplines and fields, historical periods, religious traditions, sensibilities and cultures.