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- Creators: School of Politics and Global Studies
Over the course of 2020, individuals and organizations were thrown various unprecedented obstacles that necessitated flexibility, empathy, and understanding. Many organizations were forced to reevaluate their financial status, their purpose, and how they could provide for their employees. The COVID-19 pandemic meant that most companies had to introduce a ‘work from home’ policy, drastically decreasing the face-to-face contact that employees had with each other and leadership. The virus, coupled with the social and political unrest in the U.S. in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement and the 2020 presidential election, inspired many companies to reframe their organization and redefine their goals.<br/> The B2B (business-to-business) Marketing Agency, The Mx Group, is preparing for a change in leadership, with the current Chief Executive Officer and Founder stepping down, being replaced by the President of the company. The company plans to execute the transition in the spring of 2022, allowing them the rest of 2021 to plan for the change, catering to employees’ individual and the company’s collective needs. It was also prompted by factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic to reevaluate the values that it upholds as an organization, coinciding with the change in leadership. Leaders of the company are actively encouraging employees to engage with these values by recognizing when a colleague performs in alignment with a value.<br/> In reframing their organization, The Mx Group has a significant opportunity to uniquely position itself in the industry. Lee G. Bolman and Terrence E. Deal (2017) introduced four frames: human resources, symbolic, structural, and political, as a way to guide a transformative application of leadership and management in business. Analyzed from these perspectives, The Mx Group can utilize contemporary ideas to efficiently and effectively seize its opportunity of embedding new values and a change in leadership.
The primary research question is, “How does involvement in Christian ministries at ASU relate to the wellness of students?” The study will examine multiple dimensions of wellness: occupational, physical, social, intellectual, spiritual, and emotional. Each component is essential to understanding the health and well-being of an individual, which is why this study will measure wellness levels in each dimension among samples of students at ASU.
The methodology chosen was a short, anonymous survey that 148 ASU students participated in—73 involved in Christian ministries at ASU and 75 not involved. The quantitative component included a wellness assessment using questions from The National Wellness Institute. These wellness scale questions were broken up into 5 randomized sections, each with one question per dimension, for 30 questions total. Each question response was assigned a rating on a 1 to 5 scale, 1 associated with low wellness and 5 high wellness. The qualitative component, comprised of short answer questions, only applied to students who were involved in a Christian ministry. This portion allowed respondents to explain if and how the ministry impacts each dimension of wellness uniquely.
The quantitative results showed some evident differences between students involved in Christian ministries and students not involved. The social and spiritual dimensions concluded much higher levels of wellness for involved students, both statistically significant with p-values of 0.028 and 0.004. Although some of the wellness differences between involved and not involved participants were not statistically significant, there is also notable variation among questions within each dimension. For the qualitative data, most students in Christian ministries said they believe their involvement increases their wellness in all six dimensions. For each dimension, over 75% of participants said that the ministry impacted their well-being. For the social, spiritual, and emotional dimensions, at least 97% of respondents said their ministry involvement impacted their wellness.
In examining the conclusions of the study, one recommendations is to strengthen the partnership between the greater ASU community and Christian ministries by collaborating and combining resources for programming that relates to their common goals and shared values. Additionally, other faith-based organizations at ASU may benefit from replicating this study to observe their unique wellness impact.
Each chapter of this thesis closely studies a different object of a different medium to trace relationships between Constructivist objects and Soviet community. El Lissitzky’s PROUN Manifesto illuminates the creation of an artistic community. Alexander Rodchenko’s print Propaganda communicates between a state and its people. Varvara Stepanova’s Sportswear designs facilitate a society of workers. Alexandra Exter’s Marionettes combine common everyday objects and children’s theater. Vladimir Tatlin’s Monument to the Third International, envisions the ideal Soviet society as place in which socialists could convene. And Liubov Popova’s Painterly Architectonics relates the functional and aesthetic goals of Constructivism from Russia to the international art world. Benedict Anderson’s Imagined Communities, Bruno Latour’s Reassembling the Social, and Pierre Bourdieu’s Distinction each provide the framework for discussing the intersections of art objects and community. Anderson explores nationhood through the lens of language and print media, Latour studies how social interaction on an individual basis might rely upon the physical objects around them, whereas Bourdieu addresses hierarchies in distinguishing objects of art in class-based societies by outlining the conflicts between cultural capital and tastemaking in the analysis of objects.
Through the exploration of each Constructivist object, this thesis explores individual, national, and international communities while considering their changing political, social contexts.
My intent is not to just rewrite Hindu stories. I am striving to make these stories as accessible as possible to Hindus and non-Hindus alike. If a person who has never heard of Krishna is able to read and understand the stories, I will have accomplished my goal. I am also trying to emphasize and draw out the philosophy inherent to each of these myths. To achieve this, I have made a number of creative changes to the original myths so that the philosophical lessons each character teaches us are prioritized.
For example, the main creative change I make to the story of Yudhisthira is the order of tests that the Lord of Righteousness faces. In the original tale, Yudhisthira first refuses to abandon the dog, and then refuses to leave his family behind. I change the order of tests to family, then people of other faiths, and then the dog, to better show Yudhisthira’s commitment to leaving no one behind. In addition, Yudhisthira’s attempt to save people of different religions from hell was imagined by me. I felt Yudhisthira’s discussion with Indhra is particularly relevant for the modern age. It also helps capture how Hinduism views other religions and faiths. Furthermore, in the original myth, Yudhisthira is liberated from the cycle of birth and death after exhausting the karma of his good deeds in heaven. In my story, Yudhisthira is reborn on Earth to demonstrate the effect of attachments and to reveal that heaven and hell, if they exist, are not the end goal in Hinduism.
The story of Rama is mostly faithful to the original legend. The key difference is the private conversation that occurs between Rama and Dasharatha. Rama’s entire life exemplified the path of action, but I felt that by having him explicitly teach Dasharatha to renunciate the fruits of action, the philosophy would become much clearer to the reader.
In contrast, I make several changes to the story of Karna. As my story encompasses Karna’s entire life, many of his legends are either abridged or omitted in order to maintain narrative flow and focus. The casteism that Karna experiences early in his life are inspired by the stories I have heard of how untouchables were abused in India. To eliminate casteism, we must acknowledge its rotten, immoral, and embarrassing existence. Additionally, in the original tale, Karna disguises himself as a Brahmin so that Parashurama will teach him. In my version, Karna presents himself as a Sudra in order to portray how he is constantly rejected based on caste until he finally achieves liberation. In the original myth, when Karna surrenders his armor and earrings to Indhra, the King of the Gods gives him the Brahmastra, a weapon with incredible power. Instead, I have Indhra promise Karna enlightenment, which helps focus on the philosophical lesson of the tale: liberation. Finally, the Brahmin’s second test to Karna, where he pretends to be repulsed by Karna’s caste, is imagined by me. This final test proves to Krishna that Karna sees the God in everyone, and that he is worthy of liberation.
My depiction of the Vishwaroopa, or Krishna’s true form, must also be explained. Karna and Raj’s visions of God differ based on their understanding of the world. They only see what they can comprehend. Because of this, Karna’s vision is similar to traditional descriptions of the Vishwaroopa in the Bhagavad Gita and other scriptures. In contrast, Raj’s vision reflects his understanding of modern science and the creation of the universe, as well as his awareness of religions like Christianity and Islam. I add these references to other religions to show the inclusive, all encompassing worldview of Hinduism
Finally, I would like to briefly discuss the scope of this project. Hinduism is incomprehensibly vast. It is the oldest living religion, and has more Gods than Peru has people. Hindus can be polytheist, monotheist, monist, atheist, and anything in between. Hindus understand that there is no single path for everyone. We all have different minds and internal biases and imagine God through these differing lenses. The stories told in The Cabin encapsulate the essence of Advaitha philosophy, the school of non-dualism. Advaitha Hindus believe there is no reality but God. There is no difference between us and God. In order to be liberated from the cycle of eternal life and death, the soul must realize this truth and return to God.
For three millenia, Hindus used storytelling to immortalize their values and pass their ideas on to the next generation. I am proud to be able to continue this sacred tradition.
CAPE TOWN IN BLACK, WHITE AND COLOURED:
https://youtu.be/7egRATDxKso
RELIGIOUS SECULARITY IN PARIS: FILLING IN THE GAPS THE LAW LEFT OUT
https://youtu.be/Xd6PsFIgj0M
A TASTE OF ROME AT PALAZZO DEL FREDDO:
https://youtu.be/iW60mxD_xTo
number of youth becoming politically active and civically engaged. Many of whom are active
and engaged are college students, seeking change not only within politics and society, but within
their institution. At Arizona State University (ASU), the institution is spread across four unique
campuses in which each of the campuses holds its own undergraduate student government.
Within the Associated Students of Arizona State University (ASASU), each Undergraduate
Student Government (USG) experiences low voter turnout every year in their elections and high
turnover rates. Understanding why students chose to be involved in the first place is a major
question.