http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/keyword/ritual Inquiries Journal provides undergraduate and graduate students around the world a platform for the wide dissemination of academic work over a range of core disciplines. en-us Fri, 22 May 2026 14:34:33 -0400 Fri, 22 May 2026 14:34:33 -0400 http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1849/the-role-of-native-american-healing-traditions-within-allopathic-medicine By Rachna Vemireddy - Although spirituality has been an essential part of healing for most of mankind, modern medicine is more likely to embrace a mechanistic view of the human body where illness is an engineering problem and the body is the sum of discrete parts, rather than a complex whole. This may be the accepted norm today, but it is in complete contrast to the Native-American tradition, where the spirit is inextricably linked to healing. Neither approach is wholly sufficient in modern times and Native American (NA) groups have adopted their healing beliefs and practices to work in tandem with allopathic medicine... Thu, 10 Dec 2020 12:14 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1849/the-role-of-native-american-healing-traditions-within-allopathic-medicine http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1844/pain-and-power-bdsm-as-spiritual-expression By Alicia Charles D'Avalon - Western society is becoming increasingly secular as religion disappears from the public sphere. This developing identification has created a void as people move away from the traditional, established symbols and maps of meaning. People are still finding and inventing systems to fulfil their existential questioning, increasingly in areas that are traditionally seen as secular. Popular culture and contemporary subcultures are being utilized not just as art, entertainment and community but as religious expression. A prime example of this ‘secular religioning’ can be found in the practice... Sat, 28 Nov 2020 09:27 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1844/pain-and-power-bdsm-as-spiritual-expression http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1191/the-origins-of-cuban-music-and-its-cultural-and-spiritual-importance-within-the-cuban-diaspora-community By Sonia Gil - This paper explores how the Cuban Diaspora has formed connections and forged a new identity around music, meanwhile reinforcing the resiliency, adaptability, creativity and autonomy of the Cuban people in the midst of crisis and uncertainty. Arts and culture are not just forms of entertainment, but messengers and affirmations of culture and spirituality. These are all manifestations of a collective identity, which becomes personal. Popular music acts as a conduit that people filter their own experiences through. Throughout Cuban history, patterns of travel and emigration have molded the identity... Fri, 02 Oct 2015 11:24 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1191/the-origins-of-cuban-music-and-its-cultural-and-spiritual-importance-within-the-cuban-diaspora-community http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/945/spiritual-autobiography-and-dave-eggers-what-is-the-what By Johanna L. Beck - Spiritual autobiographies have a long and rich history as a form of memoir, beginning at about 397AD with the release of Saint Augustine’s Confessions. Since this time, many spiritual works have evolved out of this tradition and are still being produced today. Although not labeled as such, Dave Eggers’ What is the What is a modern version of the spiritual autobiography, following the form and contextual aspects of many of its predecessors as it traces the journey of a Lost Boy and Sudanese refugee to America. This paper serves to compare the traditionally accepted spiritual autobiography... Sat, 06 Dec 2014 08:45 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/945/spiritual-autobiography-and-dave-eggers-what-is-the-what http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/680/toward-a-neurobiological-understanding-of-religion-examining-ritual-and-the-body By Joanna H. Gross - One of the numerous working definitions of religion includes "a belief in a divine or superhuman power or powers to be worshipped," and "an expression of such a belief in conduct and ritual" (Johnson, 2012 p. 1). Rituals are generally a religion’s defining characteristic. Further, religion seems to be a uniquely human phenomenon that can foster anything from hope to hate. Why do we have religion, and further, why has the phenomenon of religion and religious ritual persisted despite the conflicts it has spurred time and time again throughout the history of humanity? The issue becomes even... Fri, 17 Aug 2012 08:05 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/680/toward-a-neurobiological-understanding-of-religion-examining-ritual-and-the-body http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/553/impression-management-considering-cultural-social-and-spiritual-factors By Ashley R. Norris - According to Sinha (2009), "Impression management is an active self-presentation of a person aiming to enhance his image in the eyes of others" (p.104). A symbolic interaction theorist, Erving Goffman, coined the term impression management in 1959 and from then on, sociologists and theorists have been adding insight and importance to the concept. According to Newman (2009), impression management is an “act presenting a favorable public image of oneself so that others will form positive judgments” (p.184). Impression management is a fundamental and universal process that involves a... Fri, 22 Jul 2011 08:05 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/553/impression-management-considering-cultural-social-and-spiritual-factors http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/367/the-influence-of-religion-on-health By Iulia O. Basu-Zharku - Religion is a subject that we encounter daily, either because we follow a specific faith and the rules established by it, or because we meet people who proclaim their faith unabashed, or because we know it is a taboo subject in social conversations. It is probably better to ask someone how much they earn, or about their health history, then to ask them to what religion they practice. Religion is considered too personal a subject. In scientific discourse it is only recently that religion has received any special attention. Previously considered as outside of the sphere of research for the perceived... Wed, 19 Jan 2011 10:01 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/367/the-influence-of-religion-on-health http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/179/exploring-the-american-immigrant-experience-through-literature By Brian Richards - In “Amor de lejos: Latino (Im)migration Literatures,” B.V. Olguin writes, “Latino/a (im)migration narratives…often illustrate the traumatic aspects of displacement by focusing in part on how immigration, migration, exile, and colonization place people in a state of national limbo” (333). Similarly, in “The New Immigration and the Literature of Asian America,” Hye Suh and Robert Ji-Song Ku write, “Asian American literature bears the traces of global capitalism, technology, migration from south to north, new possibilities for national identity in... Tue, 23 Feb 2010 08:48 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/179/exploring-the-american-immigrant-experience-through-literature http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/162/restoring-the-social-justice-identity-of-the-black-church By Robert S. Harvey - The act of preaching motivates the soul and the melodies of song enlivens the emotion, yet motivation and enlivening are not enough for debt to be eliminated, graduation rates to rise, and affordable housing and healthcare to be attained—all parts of the social crisis. As part of the black church—parishioner and clergy—this is the moment to reclaim identity; and when the black church returns to its mission and restores its identity in this society, only then will it be able to serve as a collective utility of social transformation and positive change for “such a time as... Tue, 09 Feb 2010 09:03 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/162/restoring-the-social-justice-identity-of-the-black-church