Year of Award
2026
Document Type
Thesis - Campus Access Only
Degree Type
Master of Fine Arts (MFA)
Degree Name
Creative Writing (Nonfiction)
Department or School/College
College of Arts and Sciences
Committee Chair
Christopher Dombrowski
Commitee Members
Robert Baker, Jacobs Hammond
Keywords
Christianity, education
Subject Categories
Environmental Studies | Nature and Society Relations | Social and Philosophical Foundations of Education | Social Justice
Abstract
As a young Millennial, this narrator entered high school during the economic crash of 2008 and graduated college months before the first Trump election. The world she entered as she came of age was a world she had not been prepared for, as someone raised in the evangelical Christian tradition.
The last few decades of American history have posed unique answers to the question every generation asks: what is “the good life” in our current historical moment? This collection explores that question, as well as related ones: “Is there an ethical way to practice a religion that is consistently used as a tool of oppression in this country?” and “How do we pursue lives of love and justice amidst societal instability?”
Spanning four states and four distinct periods of life, this collection examines these questions through lenses of religion, education, and relationships. In a spiraling, cyclical pattern, it explores what it means to repeatedly build new systems of support in new locations, as well as repeatedly uproot and begin again. Ultimately, it contrasts place-based living as the experience of obtaining and acquiring stability with the experience of living in a place as adapting to the character of that place, living at the mercy of life and enduring whatever experience awaits. This collection posits that the rewards of relationship, vocation, and geographical connection are wrapped up in the experience of those things.
Recommended Citation
Wartnik, Hannah Arwen, "THE PROMISED LAND: ESSAYS ON HOMECOMING AND HOMEGOING" (2026). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 12754.
https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/12754
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© Copyright 2026 Hannah Arwen Wartnik