Introduction

Syncretism and Christian Tradition ◽

10.1093/oso/9780197532195.003.0001 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-16

Author(s):

Ross Kane

Keyword(s):

Religious Studies ◽

Greek Language ◽

Multiple Audiences ◽

Methodological Considerations

Syncretism has been a part of Christianity from its very beginning, when early Christians expressed Jesus’s Aramaic teachings in the Greek language. Yet the category “syncretism,” defined as phenomena of religious mixture, has been poorly understood in both religious studies and theology. Syncretism carries a range of connotations—neutral descriptor, pejorative marker, celebration of indigenous agency. Such differing uses indicate challenges of interpreting religious mixture, challenges that today relate primarily to race and revelation. After outlining the primary arguments of the book, the introduction provides an overview of how the concept of race figures in the book’s overall arguments. It also explains methodological considerations regarding why the book speaks to multiple audiences, notably both theology and religious studies.

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Zen and Material Culture

10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190469290.001.0001 ◽

2017 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Keyword(s):

Material Culture ◽

Art History ◽

Zen Buddhism ◽

Religious Studies ◽

Multiple Audiences ◽

History Of ◽

Interdisciplinary Study ◽

Tea Ceremony ◽

Economic Considerations ◽

Vast Range

The stereotype of Zen Buddhism as a primarily minimalistic or even immaterial meditative tradition persists in the Euro-American cultural imagination. By contrast, this volume calls attention to the vast range of “stuff” in Zen by highlighting the material abundance and iconic range of the Sōtō, Rinzai, and Ōbaku sects in Japan. Chapters on beads, bowls, buildings, staffs, statues, rags, robes, and even retail commodities in America all shed new light on overlooked items of lay and monastic practice in both historical and contemporary perspectives. Nine authors from the cognate fields of art history and religious studies as well as the history of material culture analyze these “Zen matters” in all four senses of the phrase: the interdisciplinary study of Zen matters (objects and images) ultimately speaks to larger Zen matters (ideas, ideals) that matter (in the predicate sense) to both male and female practitioners, often because such matters (economic considerations) help to ensure the cultural and institutional survival of the tradition. Zen and Material Culture expands the study of Zen Buddhism, art history, and Japanese material/visual culture by examining the objects and images of everyday Zen practice, not just its texts, institutions, or elite masterpieces. As a result, this volume is aimed at multiple audiences whose interests lie at the intersection of Zen art, architecture, history, ritual, tea ceremony, women’s studies, and the fine line between Buddhist materiality and materialism.

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Neoliberalism and Political Theologies of the Post-Secular: Historical, Political, and Methodological Considerations in a 20th and 21st Century Discourse

Religions ◽

10.3390/rel12090680 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (9) ◽

pp. 680

Author(s):

Kieryn E. Wurts

Keyword(s):

Political Theory ◽

21St Century ◽

Political Theology ◽

Religious Studies ◽

Economic Discourses ◽

Methodological Considerations ◽

Methodological Reflection

Carl Schmitt’s controversial 1922 Political Theology: Four Chapters on the Concept of Sovereignty initiated a long-standing, lively, and oft misunderstood discourse at the intersections of religious studies, theology, and political theory. Political theology as a discourse has seen something of a revival in recent decades, which has raised genuine problems of interpretation. These include questions of what is at stake in political theology, how political theology can be applied to economic discourses, and how it can be understood in relation to secularity and post-secularity. This study takes Giorgio Agamben’s The Kingdom and Glory as a conceptual bridge that helps to situate contemporary political theologies of neoliberalism historically and theoretically. A survey of four recent political theologies of neoliberalism yields a methodological reflection on the limits and potential of political theology as a discourse. A distinction is made between descriptive-genealogical political theologies and normative-prescriptive political theologies. The former is privileged in its philosophical potential, insofar as it reveals both the contingency and genuine variety of normative-prescriptive political theologies.

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The Cambridge Companion to Religious Studies

10.1017/ccol9780521883917 ◽

2011 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Keyword(s):

Religious Studies

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Maternal Perception of Infants’ Expressions of Emotion

Journal of Psychophysiology ◽

10.1027/0269-8803/a000008 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 24 (3) ◽

pp. 173-185 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Martin Krippl ◽

Stephanie Ast-Scheitenberger ◽

Ina Bovenschen ◽

Gottfried Spangler

Keyword(s):

Response Pattern ◽

Electrodermal Activity ◽

Startle Amplitude ◽

Caregiving System ◽

Parental Caregiving ◽

Opponent Process ◽

Opponent Process Theory ◽

Valence And Arousal ◽

Methodological Considerations

In light of Lang’s differentiation of the aversive and the approach system – and assumptions stemming from attachment theory – this study investigates the role of the approach or caregiving system for processing infant emotional stimuli by comparing IAPS pictures, infant pictures, and videos. IAPS pictures, infant pictures, and infant videos of positive, neutral, or negative content were presented to 69 mothers, accompanied by randomized startle probes. The assessment of emotional responses included subjective ratings of valence and arousal, corrugator activity, the startle amplitude, and electrodermal activity. In line with Lang’s original conception, the typical startle response pattern was found for IAPS pictures, whereas no startle modulation was observed for infant pictures. Moreover, the startle amplitudes during negative video scenes depicting crying infants were reduced. The results are discussed with respect to several theoretical and methodological considerations, including Lang’s theory, emotion regulation, opponent process theory, and the parental caregiving system.

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Effectiveness of Programs for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse

European Psychologist ◽

10.1027/1016-9040/a000379 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 25 (1) ◽

pp. 1-15 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Amaia Del Campo ◽

Marisalva Fávero

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Sexual Abuse ◽

New Zealand ◽

Critical Analysis ◽

Prevention Programs ◽

The United States ◽

Sexual Abuse Prevention ◽

Negative Effects ◽

The United Kingdom ◽

Methodological Considerations

Abstract. During the last decades, several studies have been conducted on the effectiveness of sexual abuse prevention programs implemented in different countries. In this article, we present a review of 70 studies (1981–2017) evaluating prevention programs, conducted mostly in the United States and Canada, although with a considerable presence also in other countries, such as New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The results of these studies, in general, are very promising and encourage us to continue this type of intervention, almost unanimously confirming its effectiveness. Prevention programs encourage children and adolescents to report the abuse experienced and they may help to reduce the trauma of sexual abuse if there are victims among the participants. We also found that some evaluations have not considered the possible negative effects of this type of programs in the event that they are applied inappropriately. Finally, we present some methodological considerations as critical analysis to this type of evaluations.

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Challenges of Fear Conditioning Research in the Age of RDoC

Zeitschrift für Psychologie ◽

10.1027/2151-2604/a000303 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 225 (3) ◽

pp. 189-199 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Tina B. Lonsdorf ◽

Jan Richter

Keyword(s):

Fear Conditioning ◽

Clinical Diagnosis ◽

Research Domain Criteria ◽

Major Focus ◽

The Future ◽

Definition Of ◽

Methodological Considerations ◽

Research Domain

Abstract. As the criticism of the definition of the phenotype (i.e., clinical diagnosis) represents the major focus of the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) initiative, it is somewhat surprising that discussions have not yet focused more on specific conceptual and procedural considerations of the suggested RDoC constructs, sub-constructs, and associated paradigms. We argue that we need more precise thinking as well as a conceptual and methodological discussion of RDoC domains and constructs, their interrelationships as well as their experimental operationalization and nomenclature. The present work is intended to start such a debate using fear conditioning as an example. Thereby, we aim to provide thought-provoking impulses on the role of fear conditioning in the age of RDoC as well as conceptual and methodological considerations and suggestions to guide RDoC-based fear conditioning research in the future.

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