Despite a resurgence of religion in the provision of public welfare and care, geography has only recently begun to make sense of this public phenomenon (Kong, 2011). In keeping with recent calls to allow religion to ‘speak back’ to geography (Yorgason & Della Dora, 2009), this thesis presents a re-reading of one particular arena of Christian faith-praxi in socio-economically deprived neighbourhoods across the UK. Much of the literature on faith-based organisations has so far focused on service-provision and political advocacy roles adopted by faith-motivated groups, and there has been little, to no, acknowledgment of re-emeregent forms of ‘incarnational’ mission. Incarnational approaches differ from mainstream service-provision in the sense that faith-inspired individuals and organisations come to permanently ‘live amongst’ marginalised people and places, rather than physically serve from a distance. This thesis seeks to address this lacuna in the literature by critically assessing the faith-inspired praxis of ‘living amongst’, and developing a socio-temporal and ethical account of ‘incarnational geographies’. Drawing upon ethnographic research with one Christian incarnational FBO, this thesis investigates the historical development of the FBO and the experience and practices of staff and volunteers who relocate to live in one particular socio-economically deprived neighbourhood of Greater Manchester. In contrast to essentialist academic accounts of faith-praxis that might present ‘living amongst’ as either a form of self-betterment (see Allahyari, 2000) or proselytisation (see Woods, 2011), this thesis argues that ‘incarnational geographies’ need to be re-read as complex, emergent and performative landscapes that often involve a reconfiguration of purpose and praxis through proximate participation.

This dissertation investigates the praxis of kechien, forming a karmic connection, evidenced in various religious picture scrolls produced during the Golden Era of their production in Japan, the late thirteenth through the early fourteenth century. This study is inspired by two goals: (1) to define the concept and practice of kechien, and (2) to challenge the widely accepted idea that picture scrolls, emaki, were used solely as a didactic and proselytizing tool. This absence of scholarly work focusing on kechien is rather astonishing considering that a variety of kechien practices are still omnipresent today and were especially so in medieval Japan. Inspired by Miya Tsugio's suggestion that some emaki were created for the purpose of kechien, I examine text and painting within picture scrolls as well as Buddhist scriptures and contemporary literary works in order to understand the role they played in the formation of kechien. I propose that emaki scrolls served as both a means and a site of kechien in medieval Japanese religious praxis.The dissertation starts with the concept of kechien seen through various modern dictionaries and the writings of Zhiyi and Genshin, two early monks whose works are often cited as the locus classicus for the term. As my study aims to explore praxis, I then turn to various practices of kechien performed by two types of people: producer and audience. I argue that production and consumption of religious picture scrolls were both regarded as valid and legitimate religious practices, especially near the perceived beginning of the age of mappo, the Final Age of the Dharma. People believed that once they had formed a kechien link with the subject of emaki scrolls through its production and viewing, they would be reborn into a Pure Land and ultimately achieve enlightenment sometime in the future. They also performed meritorious acts utilizing emaki scrolls in order to strengthen their karmic affinity and improve their conditions for enlightenment.

The MARTA collection, held by Georgia State University, is a large collection of archaeological materials excavated in the late 1970s that documents the heritage of Atlanta. The current Phoenix Project is building on those original efforts and represents an ideal opportunity to explore praxis through civic engagement by making the collection easily accessible and interactive to the public through online community archaeology outreach. Key to this civic engagement is the digitization of artifacts and associated metadata as well as the use of the Heurist online data management system. In particular, I outline a three phase plan of implementing an online website that employs gamification methodologies integrated with existing social media formats to promote a diverse community of self-sustainable interaction with digital material that will benefit both Georgia State University and the community it serves. The main goal of the thesis is to provide a proof-of-concept web interface. I discuss why this is a critical first step to the broader civic engagement goals of the project, and I outline the next two phases of implementation.

In this thesis I claim that dominant realist, interpretive and postmodern research methodologies, taken together, provide necessary but not sufficient tools for use within educational research. Understandings of material, social and linguistic worlds do not, in themselves, cater for teachers' pragmatic needs to consider (a) the social consequences of educational practices, both their own and those of the institutions within which they work, and (b) the complexity of teaching in a postmodern world. I draw on ideas from pragmatism, post-structuralism, critical pedagogy, complexity theory, reflective practice, and personal experience in order to invite the emergence (or social construction) of new phenomena: these I hope, may enable teachers and other educationalists to take a vibrant part in ongoing debates and actions concerning educational policy and practice. I argue that the assumption that educational theory can be applied in practice is flawed and needs to be replaced by theory which recognises the dynamic nature of theory-in-practice: all theory is data within practice. This is a late-career thesis written by a practitioner with an unusually broad experience of the New Zealand educational system. I argue that the purpose of theory is to guide practice, that practice must drive theory, and that theory and practice need to join together to focus on the consequences of planned actions. This is neo-pragmatism, but, as stated thus far, it is not enough for my purposes because it does not include a commitment to social justice. Praxis is a term which ties emancipatory political goals to theory-and-practice. I invite the construction of the understandings of praxitioner activities where collective praxis and individual praxis might co-emerge in the interests of social justice. I promote the expansion of fresh discourses through research into collective praxis within teaching and teacher education.

Univ., Habil.-Schr.--Dortmund, 1998.

Zugl.: München, Univ., Diss., 2007

Zugl.: Frankfurt (Main), Univ., Diss., 2005 u.d.T.: Knoll, Heiko: Zur Dialektik von Theorie und Praxis bei Adorno

The Revolutionary Breath is praxis of conscious breathing and values awareness. I explore the transformative potential of this praxis through a method I call axio-somatic ethnography, which is an expansion of traditional autoethnography that de-centers identity and valorizes body-sensing as the foundation for authentic storytelling. The Revolutionary Breath is juxtaposed to the State Sponsored Breath, a constellation of physical and cultural habits and values. The Revolutionary Breath, itself, is composed of three Allowings, or conscious sensing practices, all framed within a commitment to the depth and ease of one’s breath. Throughout the dissertation, I use axio-somatic ethnography to present my own experiences of putting this praxis into use.

Submitted by PPGE PPGE (pgedu@ufba.br) on 2014-07-23T14:07:46Z No. of bitstreams: 1 dissertação_em_movimento_final_17 04 2013 segurança.pdf: 1817366 bytes, checksum: 8f961708d8e585902aba2996fb5cbd52 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Maria Auxiliadora da Silva Lopes (silopes@ufba.br) on 2014-07-28T19:44:57Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 dissertação_em_movimento_final_17 04 2013 segurança.pdf: 1817366 bytes, checksum: 8f961708d8e585902aba2996fb5cbd52 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2014-07-28T19:44:57Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 dissertação_em_movimento_final_17 04 2013 segurança.pdf: 1817366 bytes, checksum: 8f961708d8e585902aba2996fb5cbd52 (MD5) / CNPq / Esta pesquisa se desenvolveu por meio de um estudo de caso, tendo o objetivo de compreender como os conceitos de Inter e Transdisciplinaridade se situam na práxis pedagógica universitária, no curso de Pedagogia, no contexto de uma experiência dirigida a segmentos sociais historicamente excluídos, como operam para uma mudança de mentalidade acerca da Ciência e dos seus processos de construção de conhecimento e que significados produzem para docentes e discentes. Com base no referencial da teoria da complexidade, da transdisciplinaridade e da etnografia crítica, analisou-se os discursos de estudantes e docentes de uma Instituição de Ensino Superior de Salvador. Para a coleta de dados, utilizou-se a análise documental, entrevistas coletivas e aplicação de questionário aberto. A análise dos dados não se mostrou conclusiva, mas apontou caminhos para a compreensão da práxis e possibilidades de construção de um educar interdisciplinar com vistas à transdisciplinaridade. / ABSTRACT This research was developed through a case study, with the aim of understanding how the concepts of Transdisciplinarity and Inter are in the university pedagogical praxis in Pedagogy course, in the context of an experiment aimed at social groups historically excluded, as they operate for a change of mindset about science and its processes of knowledge construction and to produce meanings that teachers and students. Based on the framework of complexity theory, transdisciplinarity and critical ethnography, we analyzed the speeches of students and teachers from a Higher Education Institution of Salvador. To collect data, we used the analysis of documents, interviews and questionnaire application open. Data analysis was not conclusive, but pointed ways to understand the praxis and possibilities of building a interdisciplinary education with a view to transdisciplinarity

Submitted by Oliveira Santos Dilzaná (dilznana@yahoo.com.br) on 2016-05-05T17:37:06Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação de Gismalia Luiza Passos Trabuco.pdf: 2809860 bytes, checksum: a6cb2b493e5a772bc682364804723f4c (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Oliveira Santos Dilzaná (dilznana@yahoo.com.br) on 2016-05-11T16:46:32Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação de Gismalia Luiza Passos Trabuco.pdf: 2809860 bytes, checksum: a6cb2b493e5a772bc682364804723f4c (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-05-11T16:46:32Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação de Gismalia Luiza Passos Trabuco.pdf: 2809860 bytes, checksum: a6cb2b493e5a772bc682364804723f4c (MD5) / O trabalho analisa o hábitus dos assentados e sua relação com os referenciais de sociabilidade introduzidos pela práxis do MST, observando se a condição de assentado do MST opera uma re-semantização das relações anteriormente vivenciadas, fazendo-os experimentar novas formas de relacionamento com a propriedade da terra. Nos 03 assentamentos do MST na Chapada Diamantina/BA pôde-se observar que, mesmo não produzindo um efeito dissolvente dos padrões tradicionais de sociabilidade, o MST desestabiliza alguns referenciais historicamente normatizadores no “campo” rural, configurando-se como mediatizador de novas formas de se relacionar com a propriedade da terra. Porém, o vínculo entre as “disposições” e a “orientação” é precário, pois a atuação dos assentados não corresponde integralmente aos propósitos do MST. Ainda assim, o processo de reelaboração do hábitus se dá num ritmo diferenciado dos processos “espontâneos” de transformação cultural, devido a intencionalidade presente na práxis do Movimento. The work analyzes the habitués of the settled people and its relationship with the references of sociability inserted by the MST praxis, observing whether the condition of a MST settled person operates on a re-significance of the previous relationships, making them improve their relation with the land property. Inside the 03 MST settlements at Chapada Diamantina/BA, although without producing an effect that dissolves the traditional sociability standards, it was possible to see that the MST disestablishes some of the references that use to be historical standards in the rural “field” , being something which mediates new sorts of relation with the land property. But the linkage between the “dispositions” and the “orientation” is precarious because the activity of the settled people does not correspond to the MST purposes integrally. In spite of that, the hábitus re-elaboration process occurs according to a different time from the “spontaneous” processes of cultural change, due to the intentionality that is present in the Movement praxis.