w00t!
"On behalf of the Undergraduate Research Award Selection Committee, I am pleased to advise you that you have been selected as one of 58 recipients of these new Awards for summer 2006. We received a total of 186 applications from 12 different faculties: the fact that yours was one of the successful applications speaks to the strength of your proposal and of your sponsor’s support."
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And here's my winning proposal....
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Baptism was one of the most important rituals in early Christianity; however, much is still unknown about how baptism was actually practiced. Using primary texts, together with archaeological records, I will work towards reconstructing an actual baptism ritual in the 3rd and 4th centuries CE.
Using archaeological evidence, I will study the physical layout and artwork found in pre-Constantinian house churches – and their baptisteries in particular – in order to determine how the rituals could have functioned within the physical environs. Studying the extensive documentation of Dura Europos, the oldest known house church, will allow me to understand these environs. The frescos and artwork found at this site, as well as other contemporary sources, will allow for a detailed analysis of the interaction between the ritual participants and the ritual places.
Framing the discussion in terms of ritual studies will allow me to examine primary sources by early Christian authors for evidence of how baptismal rites would have actually been performed. This will involve careful readings of the texts, in order to distinguish between the idealistic representations of the rituals described by the authors and the actual lived religiosity of early Christians.
When this study is complete, I will have compiled the information necessary to digitally recreate the early Christian baptism ritual in an interactive environment. I intend to create a simplified digital model of my findings, which will visually paraphrase my findings. This model will serve as the foundation for the more comprehensive and detailed three-dimensional environment which I will build for my undergraduate thesis. Building a simplified model will also allow me to begin an investigation into the use of technology as the basis of a methodology for the study of religion.
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This summer, I intend to research early Christian baptism rituals, in preparation for my undergraduate thesis. My thesis will be an interdisciplinary project, incorporating ritual studies, art, architecture and early Christian beliefs and practices. I will create an interactive 3D environment on computer through which a researcher could experience an early Christian baptism. Determining actual ritual behavior from textual rituals, as well as how such descriptions fit into the archaeological record, requires a great deal of preliminary research, which I intend to complete this summer. Working with primary texts and archaeological resources, I will attain the necessary academic foundation for a digital recreation, as well as compiling the results of my research for submission to a number of undergraduate essay competitions. This summer's research will not only help prepare me for my undergraduate thesis, but also for a master's program in which I will investigate ways of using technology in the study of religion. I hold a BSc (Great Distinction) in Computer Science, and, combined with courses I have taken in early Christian studies, I believe I can contribute a great deal to the development of a methodology for integrating the study of religion with technology. The research I will perform this summer will help prepare me by building upon my already strong foundation in both computer science and early Christian studies.
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And here's my winning proposal....
------------------------------
Baptism was one of the most important rituals in early Christianity; however, much is still unknown about how baptism was actually practiced. Using primary texts, together with archaeological records, I will work towards reconstructing an actual baptism ritual in the 3rd and 4th centuries CE.
Using archaeological evidence, I will study the physical layout and artwork found in pre-Constantinian house churches – and their baptisteries in particular – in order to determine how the rituals could have functioned within the physical environs. Studying the extensive documentation of Dura Europos, the oldest known house church, will allow me to understand these environs. The frescos and artwork found at this site, as well as other contemporary sources, will allow for a detailed analysis of the interaction between the ritual participants and the ritual places.
Framing the discussion in terms of ritual studies will allow me to examine primary sources by early Christian authors for evidence of how baptismal rites would have actually been performed. This will involve careful readings of the texts, in order to distinguish between the idealistic representations of the rituals described by the authors and the actual lived religiosity of early Christians.
When this study is complete, I will have compiled the information necessary to digitally recreate the early Christian baptism ritual in an interactive environment. I intend to create a simplified digital model of my findings, which will visually paraphrase my findings. This model will serve as the foundation for the more comprehensive and detailed three-dimensional environment which I will build for my undergraduate thesis. Building a simplified model will also allow me to begin an investigation into the use of technology as the basis of a methodology for the study of religion.
------------------------------
This summer, I intend to research early Christian baptism rituals, in preparation for my undergraduate thesis. My thesis will be an interdisciplinary project, incorporating ritual studies, art, architecture and early Christian beliefs and practices. I will create an interactive 3D environment on computer through which a researcher could experience an early Christian baptism. Determining actual ritual behavior from textual rituals, as well as how such descriptions fit into the archaeological record, requires a great deal of preliminary research, which I intend to complete this summer. Working with primary texts and archaeological resources, I will attain the necessary academic foundation for a digital recreation, as well as compiling the results of my research for submission to a number of undergraduate essay competitions. This summer's research will not only help prepare me for my undergraduate thesis, but also for a master's program in which I will investigate ways of using technology in the study of religion. I hold a BSc (Great Distinction) in Computer Science, and, combined with courses I have taken in early Christian studies, I believe I can contribute a great deal to the development of a methodology for integrating the study of religion with technology. The research I will perform this summer will help prepare me by building upon my already strong foundation in both computer science and early Christian studies.
