Date of Award

8-7-2008

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

History

First Advisor

Laycock, Mary Ruth

Abstract

This study explored the intellectual and inner life of Ellen Murphy, a poet, nun, and teacher who grew up in Eastern North Dakota, and spent most of her adult years in urban Minnesota. The study employed an interpretive biographical methodology, with “The Story” of Ellen's life written in a creative nonfictional format. The focus of the study was Ellen's working years from 1937 through 1984, with women's intellectual educational foundations forming the theoretical backdrop. The study sought to determine the people, places, and things that influenced Ellen's creativity and scholarly endeavors. The four themes of family and friends, school (including Ellen's teaching experiences and formal education), community/convent (including religion, God, and spirituality), and poetry (including Ellen's reading and writing of it) emerged from the study as having the most influence on Ellen's creative and scholarly endeavors, demonstrating the importance of personal experience to more formal types of learning. The themes also show how women draw on things other than the traditional, more detached, third-person texts for scholarly inquiry. In addition, Ellen's life story demonstrates the importance of personal papers and documents, particularly letters and journals, in helping us to reconstruct out intellectual and historical past. Finally, the study adds to our understanding of women who chose religious vocations, particularly to the concept of the “calling,” giving us insights into why women choose religious vocations, and stay in them, even when confronted with extreme stress and unhappiness.

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