CU Dissertations

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A Study of "The Cloud of Unknowing" from the Perspective of the Psychology of Consciousness
Degree awarded: Ph.D. Spirituality. The Catholic University of America, This dissertation analyzes the teachings on contemplative prayer of the anonymous fourteenth century author of The Cloud of Unknowing by utilizing recent studies on the psychology of conscious awareness and states of consciousness. The specific source for the psychological side of the comparison is the work of three psychologists, Arthur Deikman, Robert Ornstein and Charles Tart, authors who have written extensively on mystical traditions in relation to the phenomenon of human consciousness. The medieval author's grasp of the working of the human psyche is remarkably consistent with modern psychological theories of our day. Because of this complementarity psychological theories generally serve as particularly useful lenses through which the teachings of The Cloud can be accessed by modern sensibilities. When analyzed through the specific lens of the scientific study of the nature of human consciousness, new insights emerge. The author's strong apophaticism and unrelenting insistence upon "unknowing" is particularly elucidated when brought into conversation with these psychological studies of the nature of human consciousness. This study proceeds as follows. Following a brief introductory chapter chapters 2, 3 and 4 will be presented in three parts. In part 1 and 2 of each chapter presents material representative of the teachings of The Cloud author followed by related topics from the perspective of our psychology authors. Part 3 of each chapter turns to the task of analysis and integration of the two parties' perspectives, utilizing the criteria for analysis consistent with the constructive-relational model for interdisciplinary study set forth by William R. Rogers., Made available in DSpace on 2011-02-24T20:49:02Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Sanchez_cua_0043A_10054display.pdf: 1433481 bytes, checksum: 519f3be86da83915ff0c2d6c7bba4d76 (MD5)
A Study of the Impact of Prior Catholic and Public School Experiences on the Spiritual Leadership of Lay Principals in Catholic Elementary Schools
Degree Awarded: Ph.D. Education. The Catholic University of America, This study explored the predictive nature of the relationship between lay Catholic elementary school principals' professional experiences in Catholic and public schools, demographic information, school demographics, religious formation, and spirituality on the frequency of their spiritual leadership behaviors. Spiritual leadership was conceptualized using Ciriello's (1994) spiritual leadership framework and the behaviors of spiritual leadership were more fully defined using Catholic Church writings and Catholic educational research that describes the responsibilities of spiritual leadership (Barry and Brennan, 2008, Belmonte and Cranston, 2009; Campbell, 2000; Cook, 2001; Curran, 1996; Helm, 1989; Jacobs, 1996, McDermott, 1997; Miller, 2006; Muccigrosso, 1994, Robinson and Cirello, 1994a, 1994b, 1994c, 1994d). Data for this national study came from anonymous surveys responded to by 253 lay Catholic elementary school principals. Principals were invited to participate using a purposeful representative sampling to ensure inclusion of principals from the eight regions represented on National Catholic Educational Association's board. The Catholic Elementary School Principals' Spiritual Leadership Survey (CESPSL) used in this study was developed by the researcher. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Q-Q plots, a series of one-way, between-subjects analysis of variance (ANOVA), linear regression and stepwise regression analyses.The results of these analyses revealed no significant correlation between the combined years of experience a lay Catholic school principal has in Catholic schools, as a teacher and principal, and the frequency of their spiritual leadership behaviors. However, Catholic school experience was found to be predictive of the frequency of principal's spiritual leadership behaviors when their experience in Catholic schools was limited to only those years they served as a principal in their current Catholic school. This study did not find any correlation between the combined years of experience a principal had in public schools prior to their employment as a Catholic elementary school principal and the frequency of their spiritual leadership behaviors. This study did find nine demographic, religious formation and spirituality factors that were predictive of the frequency of lay Catholic elementary school principals' spiritual leadership behaviors. These factors include: the principal's age, catechetical certification, ongoing adult religious education, participation in Church Sacraments, support for Catholic Church teachings, participation in the cultural life of a Catholic parish, feeling close to God, daily prayer, and the practice of reflection and contemplation. It is hoped that the results of this study provide diocesan leaders and Catholic colleges and universities with a better understanding of the combination of factors that are correlated with the frequency of principals' spiritual leadership behaviors and that this understanding will help inform decisions that are made regarding the preparation, hiring and ongoing formation of lay Catholic elementary schools principals as spiritual leaders.Recommendations for future research suggest new ways to gain additional insights into the complex relationship between the lay Catholic school principal's professional school experiences, demographic information, religious formation, and spirituality factors and the frequency of their spiritual leadership behaviors as Catholic elementary school principals.
Subgroup Differences in the Effects of a Universal Preventive Intervention on Risk for Future Suicide Attempt
Suicide represents a significant public health problem for both adolescents and adults. The Good Behavior Game (GBG), a universal classroom-based preventive intervention directed at reducing early aggressive/disruptive behavior and improving children's social adaptation into the classroom, is one of the few universal preventive interventions delivered in early elementary school that has been shown to reduce the risk of suicide attempt by young adulthood. Given that the GBG is a universal preventive intervention delivered to broad-based populations that are inherently heterogeneous, there is likely variability in the GBG impact on suicide attempt due to individual differences in baseline risk. For the present study, latent profile analysis (LPA) was used to identify subclasses of first-grade children characterized by discrete patterns of externalizing (aggressive/disruptive behavior, inattention/concentration problems), internalizing (depressive and anxious symptoms), and social (peer rejection) risk, and to determine whether risk profiles were predictive of suicide attempt between ages 13 and 30. In addition, the variation in GBG impact on future suicide attempt across subgroups was examined. Data were drawn from an epidemiologically based randomized trial, which tested the GBG among two cohorts of urban, primarily African American first- and second-grade children. The application of LPA resulted in the identification of three distinct and meaningful latent classes in cohort 1 (n = 976). These classes were replicated using the cohort 2 sample (n = 873). The latent class characterized by high levels of aggressive/disruptive behavior, attention/concentration problems, and peer rejection in first grade was 2.64 times more likely to make a suicide attempt between age 13 and 30 compared to the class characterized by low levels of risk, and 2.13 times more likely to make an attempt compared to the class characterized by moderate levels of attention/concentration problems and peer rejection. These associations corroborate the value of the identified latent classes and may have prevention implications. Latent class membership was not found to moderate the impact of the GBG. Larger samples may be needed to provide adequate statistical power for examining subgroup differences in the GBG impact on suicide attempt., Psychology, Good Behavior Game, latent profile analysis, suicide attempt, Psychology, Degree Awarded: Ph.D. Psychology. The Catholic University of America
Successful Fundraising by Child Welfare Agencies: An Explanatory Model of Organizational Practices and Individual Donor Motivations
The United States’ economy experienced a significant downturn from mid-2007 through 2011. Government and private sources of revenue for nonprofit organizations (NPOs) decreased, forcing them to adjust processes, partners, and service populations. This study focused on ten NPOs in the mid-Atlantic region that provide direct child welfare services and successfully raised funds from individual donors during the recession. For child welfare NPOs, individual donations are a source of coveted, unrestricted revenue. It was hypothesized that these organizations shared common fundraising behaviors and processes. Using a mixed methods design, this study developed an explanatory model of nonprofit child welfare direct service agencies that successfully raised funds from donors who responded to individual solicitations. It also explored what motivates individuals to donate to these organizations. Grounded theory was used to understand the fundraisers’ processes. A quantitative method in the form of a survey was used to determine what motivates donors to give to these NPOs. The findings suggest that donors are motivated by an awareness of an NPO’s need for funds; trust that their funds will be used for positive impact; and the perception that they have a relationship or connection to the NPO. In both good and difficult economic times, the findings indicate that fundraisers must build relationships to recruit and retain volunteers and donors using adequate fundraising staff and tools; develop personalized engagement techniques and passionate stories; send frequent invitations to give; and take advantage of an extraordinary circumstance or characteristic available to the agency. Social work educators are urged to include basic fundraising education as a required competency in the graduate curriculum. Social workers who know how to raise funds from individuals can make the difference between survival and failure of an important community resource, a nonprofit organization., Degree awarded: Ph.D. Social Work. The Catholic University of America
Suicide Risk in Children and Adolescents in a Pediatric Emergency Department: Effects of Race, Income, Gender, and Age
Degree awarded: Ph.D. Psychology. The Catholic University of America, Suicide in adolescents is a leading cause of death and a public health concern. Suicide screening in the pediatric emergency department (ED) has emerged as a promising method of suicide prevention, as this setting treats many at-risk children and adolescents and has potential resources to manage positive screens. While suicide screening tools exist, they have not been validated on diverse samples, particularly in minority and lower-income populations. Additionally, clinical and demographic suicide risk factors that are specific to diverse, lower-income ED populations have not been identified. For the purposes of this study, a retrospective medical record analysis was conducted to evaluate the utility of a suicide screening tool in a predominately African American, low-income population. Specifically, responses to the Risk of Suicide Questionnaire (RSQ), a suicide screening tool developed to evaluate patients presenting to the pediatric ED for psychiatric reasons, were evaluated against other demographic, clinical and administrative variables. The study also aimed to identify clinical and demographic factors related to suicide risk to facilitate the development of targeted interventions. From a logistic regression analysis of 493 patient visits to an urban pediatric ED over a nine-month period, a positive score on the RSQ was associated with increased odds of psychiatric hospitalization. RSQ score was not associated with foster care or insurance status. Female gender was associated with suicide risk; however, given a depression diagnosis, there was no difference in suicide risk between the genders. There was no association between a history of violent behavior and suicide risk. While there was no direct relationship between abuse and suicide risk, using multiple regression, there was an interaction between age and abuse history with older adolescents demonstrating a stronger relationship between abuse and suicide risk. Overall, a suicide screening tool can predict hospitalization and may identify children and adolescents in most need of psychiatric resources in a pediatric ED. Potential targets for intervention include suicidal behavior, depression diagnosis and trauma, particularly for older adolescents. Implications for assessment and intervention in pediatric EDs are discussed., Made available in DSpace on 2012-11-01T17:08:08Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Ballard_cua_0043A_10250display.pdf: 565341 bytes, checksum: 35bfedbe1520dfef32cbf56d0cad3625 (MD5)
Surrealist Poetics in Contemporary American Poetry
Degree awarded: Ph.D. English Language and Literature. The Catholic University of America, The surrealist movement, begun in the 1920s and developed and articulated most visibly and forcefully by André Breton, has unequivocally changed American poetry, yet the nature and history of its impact until recently has not been thoroughly and consistently recounted. The panoramic range of its influence has been implicitly understood but difficult to identify partly because of the ambivalence with which it has been received by American writers and audiences. Surrealism's call to a "systematic derangement of all the senses" has rarely existed comfortably alongside other modern poetic approaches. Nevertheless, some poets have successfully negotiated this tension and extended surrealism to the context of postmodern American culture.A critical history of surrealism's influence on American poetry is quickly gaining momentum through the work of scholars, including Andrew Joron, Michael Skau, Charles Borkuis, David Arnold and Garrett Caples. This dissertation joins these scholars by investigating how selected American poets and poetic schools received, transformed, and transmitted surrealism in the second half of the twentieth century, especially during the mid-`50s through the early `80s, when the movement's influence in the States was rapid and most definitive. First, I summarize the impact of the surrealist movement on American poets through World War II, including Charles Henri Ford, Ezra Pound, William Carlos Williams, and Philip Lamantia, and briefly examine Julian Levy's anthology, Surrealism (1936). Next, I investigate how surrealism was transmitted to the Beats and elucidate surrealist elements in the work of Gregory Corso and Bob Kaufman. Then I analyze the deep image poets (especially Jerome Rothenberg, Robert Kelly, Robert Bly, and James Wright) and how their attempt to combine surrealism with imagism and Jungian depth psychology framed the discourse about surrealism during the `60s and `70s. The implications of this assimilation are explored further in a study of George Hitchcock and Kayak magazine. Finally, I consider the complicated relationship between the language poets and surrealism, and how the complementarity of the two movements is worked out in the writing of Clark Coolidge., Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-20T16:22:01Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Lampe_cua_0043A_10510display.pdf: 2836861 bytes, checksum: 4e452881cadd4884aac0694caf340612 (MD5)
Survival Encoding of Spatial Location in a Virtual Environment
Recent studies have suggested a retention benefit for stimuli processed under a survival encoding context that exceeds other methods of self-referential encoding. That is, individuals recalled more details about a stimulus when previously asked to evaluate how the stimulus would help them survive versus other purposeful methods of evaluating how the stimulus relates to the individual (e.g., its pleasantness, value in a scavenger hunt game, difficulty of moving the stimulus, etc.). The survival processing effect (SPE) was initially found for word stimuli, then images and eventually spatial location. However, no studies have examined the SPE from an egocentric perspective, whether the SPE can assist path navigation, and whether the SPE provides a retention benefit when landmarks are present. Furthermore, few studies have replicated the SPE on spatial memory to date. To further examine this link, three experiments were designed to determine how the SPE affects spatial memory.Experiment 1A was modelled after Nairne et al.’s (2012) study, with a few exceptions. In the original design participants were asked to assess how hard it would be to retrieve eight objects that were placed equidistantly in two circles on a blank screen from a survival or scavenger hunt encoding perspective. In contrast, our design added a map to the background to provide landmark cues to participants, object distance was varied, and objects could appear at near or far locations. Results were inconsistent with Nairne et al., showing no benefit for survival processing. In order to rule out explanations attributable to the study’s design, Experiment 1B replicated Nairne et al.’s using their design and files. Again, results indicated no SPE regardless if the same experiment was used (Block 1), the stimuli were changed to animals (Block 2), or if tool stimuli were presented with landmarks (Block 3). Experiment 2 diverged from the design of the previous two experiments with the introduction of a 3D virtual environment that allowed for more realism and the addition of an egocentric perspective. A top-down (i.e., allocentric perspective) map drawing task was added to study map navigation, and the allocentric object placement task paralleled the previous memory tests used in Experiment 1A and 1B. Results from Experiment 2 indicated no benefits for survival processing. Survival encoding appears to be of limited generalizability as a means to explain location memory., Psychology, adaptive memory, location memory, navigation, spatial memory, survival processing, virtual environment, Psychology, Degree Awarded: Ph.D. Psychology. The Catholic University of America
Suscipe Munera Nostra: A Liturgical Theology From The Prayers Over the Gifts for Sunday in Ordinary Time
Degree awarded: Ph.D. Liturgical Studies/Sacramental Theology. The Catholic University of America, Many liturgical theologians understand the Church's euchology as a primary source for theological reflection. This dissertation examines the Prayers Over the Gifts (super oblata) for Sundays in Ordinary Time in their liturgical context in the current Order of Mass as such a theological source. The study begins by examining the presentation of bread and wine and other gifts at the altar in early Eucharistic liturgies. It shows how a practical activity took on cultic and sacrificial connotations. This led to the increasing elaboration of the ritual actions and prayers associated with the presentation, with the super oblata appearing in the seventh century as the sole prayer of preparation for the Eucharistic prayer in the earliest sacramentaries of the western Church. The development of the preparation rite into the highly sacrificial Offertory in the Missale Romanum 1570 is followed. Here, the numerous offering prayers obscured the liturgical and theological import of the super oblata, which were now said silently. Next, in the revision of the Order of Mass following Vatican II the Offertory became the Presentation of the Gifts, in which the sacrificial elements were lessened and the super oblata recovered an approximation of their original significance. A study of some of the critiques of the current preparation rite and the role of the super oblata within it follows. The dissertation then proceeds to a detailed analysis of the thirty-four super oblata for Ordinary Time. It shows how the orations elucidate the role of the liturgical act of offering in the whole sacramental economy of the Eucharistic sacrifice and give particular expression to theological themes including grace, providence, Christology, soteriology, ecclesiology, sacramentality and eschatology. These liturgically founded notions can be applied in the construction of a comprehensive Eucharistic theology, which in turn can contribute to the ongoing development of systematic theology. Moreover, the theological content of the super oblata prayers can be employed in Eucharistic catecheses, mystagogy and homiletics. The prayers also provide language and imagery for further prayer and meditation, which can assist in the development of a spirituality and ethics of self-offering at both the ecclesial and personal level., Made available in DSpace on 2012-09-11T17:13:06Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Nursey_cua_0043A_10247display.pdf: 3546511 bytes, checksum: 55054b8b4b6d2a37951c7d0e031a4322 (MD5)
Symptoms of Importance to Primary Caregivers of Children with Cerebral Palsy
Degree Awarded: Ph.D. Nursing. The Catholic University of America, AbstractFew studies have explored the nature and significance of symptoms experienced by children with cerebral palsy (CP) over time (O'Mahony, 2010). Given the inherent limitation of a child with CPs self-report, the purpose of this study was to define the dynamic factors that assign importance to given symptoms from the point of view of the child's primary caregivers. A grounded theory methodology that applied observation and semi structured interviews with forty-three primary caregiver participants was conducted. The research generated The Theory of Reconstruction to describe the dynamic product of three sources of influence, meaning, language and thought that determine the assignment of importance to a given symptom. The slowly evolving and elusive declaration of the condition of cerebral palsy mean that primary caregivers are faced with repetitive cycles of clinical changes that challenge the immediate balance in all aspects of the child's life. The research described the process of "tribulation" that occurs as caregivers confront a crisis or significant change in their child's status. As symptom properties and conditions evolve caregivers go through a process of learning, a complex re-assignment of meaning and importance to their child's symptoms that this research describes as "reconstruction." The impact on child's overall health, wellbeing and quality of life determines the assignment of importance to a child's symptoms. This research challenged certain basic assumptions about motor function, arguing that symptoms associated with changes in motor function are not the primary determinants of quality of life for a child with cerebral palsy.
Synchronization Sliding Mode Control of Closed-Kinematic Chain Robot Manipulators with Time-Delay Estimation
Closed-kinematic chain manipulators (CKCM) can provide higher positioning accuracy and greater payload handling capability than the conventional open-kinematic chain manipulators (OKCM), composed of serial linkages or rigid bodies. Their motions are achieved in all degrees-of-freedom (DOF) by the combined motion of their active joints. Despite the above advantages, CKCMs possess several drawbacks, such as the required synchronization of joint control due to the manipulator structure, limited workspace, and nonexistent closed-form solutions of forward kinematics. The implementation of model-based control schemes requires an accurate mathematical dynamic model of CKCMs, which is difficult, if not possible to obtain. As a result, control approaches proposed for CKCMs can achieve asymptotic stability, but require infinite time to converge to an equilibrium point. In this dissertation, to resolve the above issues, we propose a new control scheme for CKCMs. It is a model-free synchronization control scheme based on the concept of Sliding Mode Control (SMC), called Nonsingular Fast Terminal Sliding Mode Control (NFTSMC), in conjunction with the Time-Delay Estimation (TDE) method. This new control scheme is referred to as Syn-TDE-NFTSMC, whose operation principle and solutions for the above-mentioned drawbacks are briefly described as follows. First, the cross-coupling error is derived by combining position errors and synchronization errors to achieve the synchronization goal and then used to form a sliding mode surface for the NFTSMC. After that, a control law is developed based on the sliding mode surface to ensure faster asymptotic convergence of the errors of both position and synchronization of CKCMs, in a finite and minimal time. Then, the TDE control scheme with no prior knowledge of the manipulator dynamics is employed to estimate the unknown dynamics and disturbances, thereby rejecting the effects of chattering caused by the NFTSMC. Lyapunov stability theorem is employed to prove that the overall system, controlled by this new control scheme, achieves asymptotic convergence of errors, thereby achieving the system’s asymptotic stability. To investigate the new control scheme, computer simulations will be conducted to study its control performance using MATLAB-Simulink. In the computer simulations, comparative performance studies with other existing control schemes will be conducted, presented, and discussed. Then, experiments of the developed control scheme applied to control the motion of a real 2-DOF CKCM will be carried out, presented, and discussed. Finally, directions for future research and investigations to further explore this newly developed control scheme will be provided. , Electrical engineering, Philosophy, CKCM, SMC, Synchronization, TDE, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Degree Awarded: Ph.D. Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. The Catholic University of America
Table of Sacrifice, Table of Plenty: Toward a Sacramental Family Food Ethic
This dissertation addresses the problem of the environmental crisis by focusing on food in the family. God’s gift of food to human beings in the form of his other creatures both symbolizes and enacts God’s loving care for the only creatures made in his image and likeness. In receiving the gift of food with gratitude, human beings will maintain right relationship with God, nonhuman creatures, and other humans. In receiving the gift of food badly—taking too much, or brutalizing the creatures who are or produce the food, or wasting the gift—human beings damage their relationships with God, nonhuman creatures, and each other. Because these three relationships are intimately connected, I propose an ethic which relies upon liturgical and sacramental participation to strengthen and inform Catholics in healing their broken relationships with God, nonhuman creatures, and other humans. I focus on the family and the family’s food practices for two reasons. First, there is a lacuna in current literature on environmental food ethics regarding eating in the family. Secondly, in its role of domestic Church, the family is well positioned to promote and maintain right relationships with God, nonhuman creatures, and other people amongst its members. For the purposes of this dissertation, I define family broadly as household, that is, the people who live together under the same roof, related by blood, marriage, affection, or circumstance. The thesis of this dissertation is that Catholic families, strengthened by participation in the sacraments of the Church and informed particularly by the Eucharistic sacrifice and baptismal call can and should view the family table as a locus of ecological ethics where, in feasting and fasting, they rightly celebrate God’s gifts in the form of food. After presenting a theology of gift and gratitude focused on the reception of food as divine gift, I suggest families enact an ecologically conscientious gratitude for food at their family tables on a regular basis. In order to counteract the ecological crisis while maintaining right relationship with God, other humans, and nonhuman creatures, I suggest adopting a seasonal ethic of sacrifice during Advent, Lent, and Wednesdays and Fridays, and a seasonal ethic of abundance during Christmas, Easter, and Sundays. Each seasonal ethic is accompanied by corresponding food practices which, together, enrich the earth and strengthen relationships between the Catholic families and other human beings, nonhuman creatures, and God., Ethics, Theology, Environmental studies, ecology, environmental ethics, family, food, moral formation, sacrament, Moral Theology/Ethics, Degree Awarded: Ph.D. Moral Theology/Ethics. The Catholic University of America
Tailoring Chitosan Membrane-based Microfluidic Platforms to Tackle Biological Challenges
Membranes have been broadly employed in biological and biomedical engineering with versatile functions. Chitosan membrane, one of the most recognized biopolymer membranes, is a selective barrier used for separating or removing components from biological solutions and can be controllably designed and fabricated on site. This dissertation presents several strategies to tailor the properties of and a new process to fabricate chitosan membranes that meet various biological challenges. First, flow-assembled chitosan membrane was crosslinked with glutaraldehyde (GA) to enhance its anchoring onto microchannel surface and withstand the compromising impact of Pluronic F-127 to address the challenge of common nonspecific cell adhesion to microfluidic devices. Second, the semi-permeability of chitosan membrane was utilized to generate a chemoattractant gradient within a three channels microfluidic device for bacterial chemotaxis study. The chemotactic movement of E. coli was quantified in chemotactic indexes and individual trajectory was tracked and analyzed. Third, an electrofabrication process was innovated to fabricate freestanding chitosan membrane with direct current signal between biopolymer solutions. The innovative interfacial electrofabrication was characterized by different pH, current density, and pH indicators to investigate the working mechanism behind the fabrication process. Finally, and most importantly, the electrofabricated chitosan membrane was adapted to construct artificial cell membrane that was partially tethered on the cytoskeleton-like biopolymer scaffold with extraordinary stability up to two months. The combination of lipids (20% CAPE and 80% DPhPC) was chosen to ensure both stability and flexibility of this artificial cell membrane. Proteins including gramicidin A (grA) and α-hemolysin (α-HL) were incorporated in the HSLB platform for ionic activities study. The single incorporated α-HL channel was further utilized for RNA strands translocation, with the potential application for rapid SAR-CoV-2 detecting. The demonstrated strategies and innovation presented in this dissertation pave the way to develop versatile chitosan membrane-based microfluidic platforms that help address biomedical and biological challenges difficult to tackle otherwise., Mechanical engineering, Bioengineering, Mechanical Engineering, Degree Awarded: Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering. The Catholic University of America
Taken, Blessed, Broken, and Given: Formation of Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion for Pastoral Care of the Sick Through Mystagogical Catechesis
Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion (EMHC) are needed to assist the diminishing number of diocesan priests with Pastoral Care of the Sick (PCS) ministry for the increasing number of elderly, infirm, and homebound. This project offers a workshop to increase the number of trained EMHC for PCS ministry. The training follows the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Norms for Distribution and Reception of Holy Communion Under Both Kinds in the Dioceses of the United States of America which states that “Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion should receive sufficient spiritual, theological, and practical preparations to fulfill their role with knowledge and reverence” (Norms, no. 28).Since most PCS ministers are senior-citizens, an andragogical model for adult learning is well-suited to draw upon their life experiences with liturgy and illness. Mystagogical catechesis, a methodology for post-sacramental discernment, will elicit memories of their encounter with the manifold real presence of Christ in the Eucharistic Liturgy. The minister will become aware that, like the Eucharist, the minister, the Word, and the assembly are taken, blessed, broken, and given as Christ for others. Mystagogy provides spiritual formation for PCS and ongoing conformation to Christ. Theological formation reveals that PCS ministry is a response to the call of all the baptized to share in Christ’s threefold ministry as priest, prophet, and king. A practicum session familiarizes ministers with PCS Rites and practical and pastoral considerations for fruitful PCS visits. Comparing pre-training surveys with post-training surveys reported an increased sense of awe during proclamation of the scriptures, reception of the Eucharist, and with the gathered assembly suggesting a heightened awareness of the encounter with the real presence of Christ and confirmation that mystagogical catechesis offers effective spiritual formation for PCS ministry. Post-training PCS visits reported an increase in pastoral activities that connected the sick with the worshipping community and enriched the visit. Ninety-five percent of attendees were veteran PCS ministers eager for ministerial support and five percent were new. In conclusion, the training proved beneficial though uncovered the need for PCS minister renewal sessions in addition to new PCS minister training., Theology, Religious education, Religion, Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion, Liturgical Catechesis, Mystagogical Catechesis, Mystagogy, Pastoral Care of the Sick, Taken, Blessed, Broken, and Given, Religious Education/Catechetics, Degree Awarded: D.Min. Religious Education/Catechetics. The Catholic University of America
Targum Song of Songs: Language and Lexicon
Degree Awarded: Ph.D. Semitic and Egyptian Languages and Literatures. The Catholic University of America, Targum Song of Songs (TgSong) contains linguistic features from "literary" Aramaic as found in Targum Onqelos and Targum Jonathan, western Aramaic, eastern Aramaic, Biblical Aramaic, and Syriac. A similar mixing of linguistic features is evident in other targumim, and their language is collectively termed Late Jewish Literary Aramaic (LJLA). Though several of these LJLA texts have been linguistically analyzed, one text that has not received such an analysis is TgSong. Since TgSong expands well beyond the underlying Hebrew, it provides an excellent example from which to analyze distinct linguistic features. This dissertation approaches TgSong in two ways. First, it is a descriptive grammar and includes standard grammatical categories: phonology and orthography, morphology, syntax, and lexical stock. Second, in order to determine how the language is mixed and where the language of TgSong fits into the spectrum of Aramaic dialects, each grammatical feature and lexical item is compared to the other pre-modern Aramaic dialects. This dissertation shows first, that the mixing of linguistic features in TgSong is not haphazard. Individual linguistic features are largely consistent in the text, regardless of their dialectal classification. Second, the language of TgSong is primarily modeled on the language of Onqelos and Jonathan, with a secondary influence being Targumic Jewish Palestinian Aramaic. Eastern Aramaic and Biblical Aramaic elements are not as centrally influential on the language of TgSong, and linguistic elements specific to non-Jewish dialects are rarely attested. Finally, based on the data, it is argued first, that the author is self-consciously writing a targum, in spite of its expansiveness; second, that the well-educated targumist is writing for laity, rather than exclusively for an educated elite; third, that the targumist's linguistic choices allow TgSong to be understood by Jews in all locales, making TgSong a text for Jews of all places.
Task And Motion Planning for Multi-Robot Systems with Dynamics
Robotic teams provide a viable venue to enhance automation in a wide range of applications ranging from transportation, exploration, to search-and-rescue missions. In these applications, as part of the overall operations, the robots are often required to move to different locations while avoiding collisions with obstacles and other robots. As a fundamental requirement to enhance the autonomy, the multi-robot system must possess a motion-planning framework that can efficiently generate feasible motion plans so that each robot safely reaches its goal. Multi-robot motion planning is challenging since it is not sufficient to plan the motions of the robots independently as the plans of one robot can interfere with the plans of another robot. The planned motions should also obey the physical dynamics of each robot, which impose differential constraints on the velocity, acceleration, direction, and turning radius. To address these challenges, this thesis brings together concepts from robotics, artificial intelligence, and logic to develop a motion-planning framework that makes it possible to automatically plan collision-free and dynamically-feasible motions that enable the multi-robot system to safely and effectively complete the assigned task, ensuring cooperation among the robots when necessary. The key insight is to tightly couple discrete search and logical reasoning over different levels of abstraction with sampling-based motion planning over the continuous space of feasible motions of the multi-robot system. Specifically, in order to develop an effective multi-robot motion-planning framework, this thesis couples the ability of sampling-based motion planning to handle the complexity arising from the obstacles and robot dynamics with the ability of multi-agent search to find solutions over a suitable discrete abstraction. Moreover, in the case of a single robot, this thesis makes it possible to specify the task using a high-level structured language, namely Planning-Domain Definition Language (PDDL), and automatically plans the collision-free and dynamically-feasible motions that enable the robot to accomplish the task. PDDL provides a powerful formal model that uses predicates and action schemas to express coverage, sequencing, partial ordering, inspection, pick-and-place, and numerous other sophisticated tasks. This is made possible by developing a multi-layered approach that tightly couples discrete search and PDDL planning over different levels of abstraction with sampling-based motion planning over the continuous space of feasible motions. Experiments using vehicle models with nonlinear dynamics operating in complex environments, where cooperation and coordination among robots is required, show significant speedups in runtime of one to two orders of magnitude over related work. The multi-robot motion-planning framework and the single-robot task-and-motion-planning framework developed in this thesis constitute important contributions that bring together concepts from robotics, AI, and logic and close the gap between planning in discrete and continuous spaces. Such research has the potential to make a significant contribution in enhancing automation in transportation, exploration, and search-and-rescue missions., Robotics, Artificial intelligence, cooperative, coordinate, motion planning, multi agent, multi robot system, task planning, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Degree Awarded: Ph.D. Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. The Catholic University of America

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