#11: How Religion Can Both Uplift and Oppress — Presentation Detail — Celebration of Scholars

Instructions

Student presentations must have a faculty sponsor.

Abstracts must include a title and a description of the research, scholarship, or creative work. The description should be 150-225 words in length and constructed in a format or style appropriate for the presenter’s discipline.

The following points should be addressed within the selected format or style for the abstract:

A clear statement of the problem or question you pursued, or the scholarly goal or creative theme achieved in your work.
A brief comment about the significance or uniqueness of the work.
A clear description of the methods used to achieve the purpose or goals for the work.
A statement of the conclusions, results, outcomes, or recommendations, or if the work is still in progress, the results you expect to report at the event.

Presenter photographs should be head and shoulder shots comparable to passport photos.

Additional Information

More information is available at carthage.edu/celebration-scholars/. The following are members of the Research, Scholarship, and Creativity Committee who are eager to listen to ideas and answer questions:

Jun Wang
Kim Instenes
John Kirk
Nora Nickels
Andrew Pustina
James Ripley

#11: How Religion Can Both Uplift and Oppress

Name: Emily Van Dixhorn
Major: Social Work, Chinese
Hometown: Eden Prairie, MN
Faculty Sponsor:
Other Sponsors:
Type of research: Course project

Abstract

My essay responds to the prompt, “using examples drawn from two different works, discuss the relationship between the actions of humans and the commands of higher powers in these literary works.” I am interested in human interpretation of religious texts, which I explored by comparing the Bible with speeches from the suffrage movement. During our study of the Bible, we discussed other depictions of the creation story, which presented creation from Eve and Satan’s perspective. Seeing these different aspects encouraged me to question how humans understand the Bible and used it to both oppress and uplift others.

Later in the semester, when we read a series of speeches from the suffrage movement, I noticed mentions to the Bible. My family’s church differed from the suffragists in understanding the Bible, causing me to wonder how multiple ideas came from the same text. When writing this essay, I looked into why people believe differently. This exploration taught me there might be numerous answers, which encourages me to listen to others’ beliefs, especially if we have contrasting backgrounds. Aside from developing my willingness to hear other views, writing this essay helped me feel confident asking questions and analyzing things for myself.

Poster file