The reign of Pope Boniface VIII is a tapestry of papal agendas fashioned for the creation of empire under the guise of the Holy Roman Church. His papacy materializes as kingship rather than pure Apostolic See. The papacy is a relic of the spiritual body. Empire is the incarnation of
by Shawn D. Mathis, PhD, MSc (Oxon), MA
In the heart of Florence once stood “the temple where the baptistery is now located.”[1] Positioned as a Florentine centerpiece, the temple served as a sacred relic to Mars, son of the king of the gods in Roman mythology, Jupiter.[2] Mars, the god of war, was the lover
Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) is founded on a simple yet demanding premise: decisions should be grounded in the best available research evidence, informed by professional expertise, and shaped by contextual factors such as organisational priorities or patient values. In healthcare and other leadership contexts, this balance is not achieved by chance
To live the life of the mind is to navigate the deep currents of thought and the restless tides of the world with the scholar’s precision and the poet’s eye. Here, the arc of a life bends toward the True, the Good, and the Beautiful, and the work
The keynote address for incoming doctoral students at Freed-Hardeman University, titled On Being Scholarly, was delivered by Dr. Shawn D. Mathis, PhD, on May 13, 2018, in Henderson, TN. You are a scholar; these are your fellows. Individually, you are scholars. A scholar is one given to serious academic inquiry.
Reflective Commentary (2025) The following essay was written in 2014 for one of my earliest doctoral courses at Faulkner University. Dr. Robert Woods led the course titled “Introduction to Human Letters." An Evaluative Inquiry into the Life of the Modern Liberal Individual Leisure and festivity together form the foundation
