This work seeks to provide new insight into understanding how the Lucanian sanctuaries were conceived, built, and used during a chronological period which ranges from the fourth century B.C. to the first century A.D. Within this time, the end of the third century B.C. and the bloody events of the Hannibalic war represented a crucial turning point for the Lucanian communities, concomitant with more infiltration of the southern peninsula by Rome. The last two centuries B.C. are therefore generally neglected in literature as a period of decline. The basic line of thought of this research is that changes in function and form of sanctuaries reflect political, socio-economic and cultural transformations and development of those communities who built and frequented them. The function of the sanctuaries went well beyond the merely religious, for they also functioned as gathering, political and economic centers. The evidence used in this thesis was mainly archaeological, and therefore the analysis of the realia represents the starting point and grounds for historical reconstructions. Archaeological data are diachronically analyzed at different levels: topographic location and relationship of sanctuaries with inhabited settlements, architectural structure and spatial organization of the complexes, and systems of votive offerings. During the fourth and the third centuries B.C. the picture of the Lucanian sanctuaries appears at a first glance quite homogeneous, as the cultural expressions of the Lucanian communities derived from the same models. However, archaeological evidence does not support the theory regarding the existence of a collective sanctuary which belonged to the Lucanians as a whole ethnos, as has been hypothesised for the Rossano di Vaglio sanctuary. After the end of the third century B.C. archaeological evidence from the sites under scrutiny attests that the sanctuaries continued to be used, despite the abandonment of the surrounding inhabited settlements. Nevertheless, such continuity did not mean full frequentation of the sanctuaries, as the majority of them noticeably contracted. Thus the second century B.C. is greatly under-represented at the archaeological level, although in some cases a revival is attested during the first century B.C. In this scenario, the only sanctuary which experienced a phase of revitalization during both of the last two centuries B.C. was the Rossano di Vaglio complex, as it became the point of reference for a new, specifically Roman, territorial entity, the praefectura of Potentia. This analysis, therefore, is a further contribution to current studies concerning the transformations which occurred in Italy in conjunction with the rise of Roman power, the conquest of Italy, and the consequent diffusion of hegemonic culture. / Classical Archaeology

A criminal is thrown from a high cliff into the sea. He has been covered in feathers, live birds attached to him to slow his fall. Fishermen wait below, hopeful of being able to carry him safely away. The people are punishing the criminal with death, yet simultaneously rooting for his survival. This startling image from Strabo, with its delicious ironic tension, is the center‐piece of “Civic Poetics.” The thesis consists of a cycle of poems imagining life in a city where this bizarre ritual is performed, coupled with a number of essays written for several Religious Studies courses on related themes. The interplay of poetry and essay aims to illuminate the experience of my own journey from criminal outsider to re‐integrated citizen. The lenses of (1) my own experiences in 21st century Atlanta and (2) poetic imaginative reconstruction of this ancient ritual reveal a startling picture: a criminal’s relations with the divine, as mediated by his state, and a state’s relations with the divine as mediated by its criminals.

The Halloween ritual, trick-or-treat, has compelled suburban residents in Atlanta, Georgia to parade throughout the shared public spaces of their communities’ streets for nearly a century. In recent years, however, privatized children’s rituals beyond the realm of the neighborhood seemingly compete for trick-or-treat’s participants: trunk-or-treats in church parking lots now rise in popularity. I parse the impetuses behind the construction of these innovative ritual spaces using in-depth interviews and participant observations alongside the Christian churches who host them and the parents and guardians who participate in them. Cursorily appearing solely as privatized defangings of otherwise venomous and pagan-aligned public rites, trunk-or-treats embody social action in other ways: by actualizing and expanding faith communities’ networks of social capital, they not only afford churches the means to surmount various challenges they face in the New South, but also provide safe and attractive options for security-conscious parents and guardians in contemporary suburban Atlanta.

How do we build for a specific place and culture in the age of globalization, where the notion of culture has become fluid and drawn from a multiplicity of locations? This thesis argues that rather than relying on ideologies of symbols, an authentic regional architecture must derive its meaning through the experience of localized rituals that take place over time, and thus give constancy to place. The notion of cultural identity in this thesis is explored through the story of the Baths and the Mineral Spring in Sofia, Bulgaria. This story takes us from the origins of the city, through its cultural mutations and transformations and finally to the questions posed by the decommissioned Baths. The thesis design proposal outlines an alternate architectural strategy to the current proposal: converting the Bath House into a prestigious spa center and ‘Museum of Sofia’. The alternate design in contrast, addresses the importance of place specific ritual and the still enduring practice of spring water collection - which has now been dislocated from the main Baths square. The question of authenticity in the design for the Baths Square is connected to the changing notion of cultural identity. The origins of which are rooted in our response to a particular environment; a rapport which has framed our social ideologies, cultural practices, and their formal manifestations. However, within the regimes of globalization cultural identity has become uprooted from ‘place’ and has come into crisis. In response to this crisis of identification, there is a frantic desire to reaffirm the local and re-envision a collective identity. This thesis proposes an architecture of the material imagination - which recognizes the multiplicity of our cultural reality today. It creates spaces that are not designed primarily on the visual level of the symbol but rather spaces which are to be experienced sensorially and habitually; only then becoming part of the collective experience and identity of the culture. These spaces reduce the specificity of the symbol as a depiction of ‘one’ identity, and rather derive cultural meaning from the experience of a unique and hierophantic place, and its living practice.

Jag ville i denna studie redogöra för vilken betydelse portabelt musiklyssnande har för människor i rörelse i det samtida urbana samhället. Jag frågade mig inledningsvis om musiklyssnandet har någon rituell funktion, samt huruvida det är en företeelse som existerar i ett liminalt tillstånd. Jag undrade följaktligen vilka miljöer som musiklyssnande gör sig gällande i. Har miljöerna någon inverkan på upplevelsen av musiken, och påverkar upplevelsen individerna? I denna studie har jag redogjort för att musiklyssnandet sker i samband med återkommande rörliga situationer. Dessa situationer har tydlig geografisk avgränsning och har både tydlig början som slut. Därför är musiklyssnandet en ritual. Den geografiska avgränsningen är dessutom ett argument för varför ritualen sker i ett liminalt tillstånd. Det liminala tillståndet är något som tar plats i rörliga urbana icke-platser, mellan tydligt avgränsade tillstånd och situationer. Tillståndet hör inte arbetet eller hemmet till, och har inga tydligt tillskrivna aktiviteter eller beteenden, annat är att man ska vara på väg någonstans. Miljöerna hör massan, färden och ansiktslösheten till. Här uppehåller man sig inte, här färdas man från en plats till en annan. I dessa miljöer skapas en känsla av anonymitet, varför musikens förmåga att skapa subjektiva individualistiska känslor blir extra viktigt för individerna. Jag frågade mig vidare om det finns särskilda konventioner eller beteenden för hur man lyssnar på musik. Portabelt musiklyssnande utförs som jag beskrivit enligt särskilda beteendenormer. Genom att (re)producera dessa upprätthåller vi fenomenets – och dessutom samhällets – normer, samt undviker kaos. Musiklyssnandet föder hotfulla impulser, vilka vi dock i stora drag håller tillbaka genom att upprätthålla förnuftet. Har då musiken något symboliskt värde? Musiklyssnandets existens har visat sig vara ett medel med vilket vi bibehåller massans främlingsskap och därmed undviker mer socialisering än nödvändigt. Detta samtidigt som musiken och upplevelsen av subjektiv individualism kan få individer att ignorera eller avdramatisera verkligheten och därmed bli blinda för de hot och faror som verkligheten kan innebära. På vilket sätt skapar då musiken dessa upplevelser? Den musik vi aktivt väljer att lyssna till är ordnat och Strukturerat ljud, vilket undanhåller de ovalda och ostrukturerade vardagsljuden som tonsätter de urbana miljöerna. Massans innehåll är till synes meningslös, varför individer vill känna att de är något mer än bara en del av massan. Musiklyssnandet och dess mening är bl.a. att, genom att i det liminala mellantillståndet agera soundtrack, försätta individer i en känsla av att vara något mer än en del av omgivningen, massan. Den aktivt valda musiken, som är en metafor för rörlighet eller transport, kan ha Upprätthållande av tempo som uppgift i dessa liminala tillstånd som tar plats i de rörliga urbana rummen. På Den reflexiva arenan, som jag anser att upplevelsen av portabelt musiklyssnande i ett liminalt mellantillstånd vara, ges utrymme för individualistisk reflexivitet. Genom musiken bearbetas känslor som symboliserar nyligen inträffade eller pågående vardagliga händelser, stora som små. Genom musiken skapas och återskapas och (re)produceras minnen, känslor av minnen och minnesbilder. Genom musiken skapas ordning genom att upprätthålla återkommande känslomönster i symbios med återkommande årstider. Det är med hjälp av musiken som individer tar fram olika sorters sinnesstämningar och känslostrukturer, vilka genom sina egenskaper föder olika subjektiva världsbilder och därmed inger en känsla av att skapa och bevara sin individualism i massamhället.

Doktorspromotionen på Uppsala Universitet är en mycket gammal tradition, och en stor akademisk högtid. Syftet med denna uppsats är att få en djupare förståelse för vad doktorspromotionen förmedlar för mening till de som deltar och vad den har för betydelse. Hur upplevs doktorspromotionen av studenter? Förekommer det en paradox när nya upptäckter och framsteg inom vetenskapen firas med en traditionell ceremoni som har sett likadan ut under många år? Informanterna är studentmarskalkar som deltagit på en eller flera doktorspromotioner, och jag använder mig även av deltagande observation. I teorin redovisas olika definitioner av ritual, samt olika antropologiska ritualteorier. I empirin redogörs det för hur en doktorspromotion går till, och resultatet från tre intervjuer presenteras. I analysen fogas teori och empiri samman i en diskussion om kunskap som en process som länkar samman historia med nutid. Denna process är viktig att anspela på vid en ritual för att dramatiken i sammanlänkningen tilltalar sinnena. I slutsatsen reflekterar jag över huruvida det kan vara så att tradition i detta sammanhang används för att understryka framsteg.

The purpose of this thesis is to find evidence if cult houses existed on Gotland during the Bronze Age. The cult house is a common term in modern Bronze Age archaeology and the general definitions of cult house are discussed and why cult houses seem to be absent on Gotland. In this thesis the cult house are discussed as a phenomenon, and the possibilities to find Bronze Age cult houses on Gotland are evaluated by making comparisons between Gotland houses with already defined cult houses from the Swedish mainland. Some known cult houses are presented in more detail as case studies, together with house remains on Gotland which could have potential to be defined as cult houses.

This study examined the Texas Renaissance Festival as perceived and experienced by (serious) visitors for whom this was a form of regular, repeated and highly meaningful participation. Specifically, the focus was to gain understanding of the notion of serious leisure as defined by Stebbins, in the context of festivals, and to understand the meanings associated with festival participation. Following a qualitative (constructivism paradigm) research frame, the data were collected through participant observation and 37 in-depth interviews for highly committed tourists to the Texas Renaissance Festival. The collected data were analyzed through Grounded Theory techniques specified by Glaser (1978). In regard to the characteristics of participation, the results indicated that their continuous participation in the Texas Renaissance Festival displays qualities of serious leisure: 1) identification; 2) long-term career; 3) unique ethos; 4) significant personal effort; 5) perseverance; and 6) durable personal benefits. As they become more seriously involved in the festival participation, they tend to be a part of a well-integrated subculture of which prominent values include personal freedom, hedonism, and anti-materialism. The experiences constructed through the serious festival participation were reminiscent of tourism existential authenticity specified by Wang (1999) as two levels: intrapersonal authenticity (gaining one’s true self) and interpersonal authenticity (gaining true human relationship). A search of such authentic experiences at the festival seems to be partly driven by the perceived alienation in everyday life. When these aspects were examined from an interpretive and meaning-based approach, attending the festival in a serious manner is not just a simple matter of escaping from the reality (e.g., alienation) of everyday life, but is an active quest for an “alternative” to their lives at home as many indicated. Thus, the serious participation in a tourism activity such as the Texas Renaissance Festival could be best understood as a dynamic process of attaining existential state of Being in response to diverse sociocultural conditions. Several significant theoretical propositions were made based on the results derived from this study. Additionally, marketing and management implications associated with staging tourism events and festivals were discussed.

Zugl.: Erfurt, Univ., Diss., 2009

Kukeri is a documentary film investigating the Surva tradition performed in the Pernik region of Bulgaria. The film was shot in Bulgaria, in the winter of 2011/2012, over the course of three weeks, and will be completed in August of 2012. During this creation process, I acted as the creator, director, and guide, and facilitated an artistic process that was shared with my cinematographer, Drew Xanthopoulos. Surva is a ritual performance whose purpose is to chase away evil spirits, ensure a good harvest, health, and perpetuate the life cycle: birth, death, and rebirth. Much of the performance is strictly regulated by tradition and rooted in an agrarian society that is thousands of years old. The society is quickly changing due to urbanization and globalization, and this is having drastic effects on the tradition itself. Inspired by a sense of homesickness for my Bulgarian culture, this project was a study of the transitory aspects of cultural tradition. It assayed topics of ethnography, anthropology, and folk costume, but at its root were more complex topics of the value of cultural traditions and the effects of globalization on one of the oldest rituals in the world. / text