The aim of this study was to determine the impact of appreciative inquiry (AI) on the development of organisational culture after a merger. The empirical study was con-ducted among the employees of a telecommunications company in South Africa. AI was conducted after a merger of teams within a department of the organisation to assist in the development of a new and combined team culture. Interactive qualitative analysis (IQA) was used to determine the impact of AI on the new culture. The sample size for the study was 35 for the AI session and 20 for the IQA. A qualitative approach was adopted in this study in order to understand and explore the experiences of individuals who had recently been a part of the change process. The research design was based on IQA, a structured approach which constructs a systematic representation of the experience. It was found that AI allowed the teams to gain a new understanding of and insight into what it meant to work together as a unit. A significant difference was noted in the IQA facilitation that was performed six months after the AI session. This re-search therefore confirmed that the AI had a significant positive impact on the culture of the organisation under investigation. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M. Com. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-28T18:23:11Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Samanta Malta Pereira da Silva.pdf: 2959705 bytes, checksum: e4b98aecb20fe87c5cc81a0350f777d5 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-11-18 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This research aims at investigating whether and how the work with Multiliteracies through Social Activities in English provides opportunities to children of an Educational Center in the central area of São Paulo build new ways of acting in the world. In order to achieve this goal, this research relies on the Pedagogy of Multileracies, which is based on the variability of meaning conventions present in various contexts of cultural and social representation, multimodality and multimedia. It is also supported by the curricular organization based on Social Activities (LIBERALI, 2009) which, in turn, is based on the Activity Theory a socio historical and cultural approach (VYGOTSKY, 1930/1934; LEONTIEV, 1977; ENGESTRÖM, 1987). This study also works with the conception of language as constitutive in building diverse knowledge, enabling individuals to experience different ways of knowing and living in a different language. This is a Critical Collaborative Research - PCCol (Magalhães, 2002, 2004, 2007), based on the theoretical and methodological framework and supported by collaboration categories and contradiction, introduced by Marx (1845) and discussed by Vygotsky (1934), which allows analysis and understanding of discourses by many perspectives and the transformation of the context through the creation of new action guidelines. This study was developed with children from two to four years old in a Children's Educational Center located near the downtown area. The production of data was conducted through multimodal transcription of video-recorded classes during one year and a half. Lesson planning documents and the corresponding classes were analyzed according to the dialogic-enunciative-multimodal perspective. Results show that the high level of engagement of the children in the Social Activities and the use of a variety of media and modes collaborated in the production process of new knowledge by the children / Esta pesquisa tem como objetivo investigar se e como o trabalho com os Multiletramentos a partir de Atividades Sociais em língua inglesa oferece oportunidades para que crianças de um Centro de Educação Infantil da zona central de São Paulo construam novos modos de participação no mundo. Para alcançar tais objetivos, esta pesquisa apoia-se na Pedagogia dos Multiletramentos, que tem como base a variedade de significados presentes em diversos contextos de representação cultural e social, a multimodalidade e a multimídia. É pautado também na proposta de organização curricular com base em Atividades Sociais apresentada por Liberali (2009) que, por sua vez, está embasada na Teoria da Atividade Sócio-Histórico-Cultural elaborada, inicialmente, por Vygotsky (1934) e ampliada por Leontiev (1978), Engeström (1999), entre outros. Esta dissertação trabalha com a concepção de linguagem como constitutiva na construção de conhecimentos diversos, permitindo aos sujeitos vivenciarem diferentes formas de saber e viver em uma língua diferente da sua. Esta é uma Pesquisa Crítica de Colaboração PCCol (MAGALHÃES, 2002, 2004, 2007), baseada no quadro teórico-metodológico e apoiada nas categorias de colaboração e contradição, introduzidas por Marx (1845) e discutidas por Vygotsky (1934), que possibilitam a análise e a compreensão de discursos por perspectivas diversas e a transformação do contexto por meio da criação de novas diretrizes de ação. Este estudo foi desenvolvido com crianças de dois a quatro anos em um Centro de Educação Infantil conveniado à prefeitura de São Paulo e localizado próximo à região central da cidade. A produção dos dados foi realizada por meio da transcrição de aulas gravadas em áudio e vídeo durante o período de um ano e meio. Foram analisados, segundo a perspectiva dialógico-enunciativa-multimodal, os documentos de planejamento de aulas e as aulas correspondentes. Resultados apontam que o alto nível de engajamento das crianças nas Atividades Sociais somada ao uso de uma variedade de mídias e modos colaboraram com o processo de produção de novos conhecimentos pelas crianças

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-29T13:31:20Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Maria Angelica da Silveira Correa Mangiacavalli.pdf: 860937 bytes, checksum: 109fb01e3705c3c9ffe8446efb0b9dad (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-10-05 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This work starts stating that Brazilian education is crossed by the split between manual and intellectual work, offering a one-sided education of children. Search subsidies to overcome this condition, putting on two theoretical frameworks dialogue, a psychology and other education, both concerned with social transformation and integral formation of man: the educational theory of Paulo Freire and the Socio-Historical Psychology. Therefore, elects five analytical categories: the subject , the work, the práxis, the autonomy and the social transformation. Highlights the analysis of praxis, as indissolubility between intellectual work and practical work material, and the omnilaterality as the core element of the other categories. The methodology used was the analysis of two works by Freire: Pedagogy of the Oppressed and Pedagogy of Autonomy in the light of these categories raised in the work of Vygotsky, particularly the book Educational Psychology. The relevance of this work is to collaborate with the possibility of overcoming the disciplinary divide between education and psychology, in order to align a branch of Socio-Historical Psychology, call Social Psychology of Education, when designing the revolutionary education as its praxis and omnilaterality as a regulatory idea. Thus, Freire's revolutionary education was established as a praxis of the Socio-Historical Psychology / A presente dissertação parte da constatação de que a educação brasileira é atravessada pela cisão entre trabalho manual e intelectual, oferecendo uma formação unilateral da criança. Busca subsídios para a superação dessa condição, colocando em diálogo dois referenciais teóricos, um da psicologia e outro da educação, preocupados ambos com a transformação social e formação integral do homem: a teoria educacional de Paulo Freire e a Psicologia Sócio-Histórica. Para tanto, elege cinco categorias analíticas: o sujeito, o trabalho, a práxis, a autonomia e a transformação social. Destaca a análise da práxis, como indissolubilidade entre o trabalho intelectual e o trabalho prático material, e a omnilateralidade como elemento basilar das demais categorias. A metodologia utilizada foi a análise de duas obras de Freire: Pedagogia do Oprimido e Pedagogia da Autonomia à luz das mesmas categorias levantadas na obra de Vigotski, com destaque ao livro Psicologia Pedagógica. A relevância desta dissertação é a de colaborar com a possibilidade de superar a cisão disciplinar entre Educação e Psicologia, no sentido de alinhar uma vertente da Psicologia Sócio-Histórica, chamada Psicologia Social da Educação, ao conceber a educação revolucionária, como sua práxis e a omnilateralidade como sua ideia reguladora. Dessa forma, a educação revolucionária de Freire constitui-se como uma práxis da Psicologia Sócio-Histórica

[pt] Esta dissertação tem por objetivo analisar e compreender os significados, os modos de organização e as particularidades dos movimentos sociais de imigrantes bolivianas/os na cidade de São Paulo, a partir da década de 1980. Busca também, por consequência, examinar as transformações sociais provenientes da presença e ação coletiva destes movimentos, que modificam, direta ou indiretamente, relações na sociedade receptora, na comunidade migrante e nas políticas estatais. Para tanto, fez-se necessário compreender, preliminarmente, a realidade complexa na qual se inserem os/as sujeitos/as da ação social, bem como a que permeia sua origem. Assim, uma série de dinâmicas, macro e microestruturais, foram examinadas, por meio das contribuições da teoria crítica e da cartografia social como técnica metodológica. Ao final do trabalho, foi possível identificar lugares que estas/es migrantes ocupam tanto no atual ordenamento mundial – marcado por diferenciações dicotômicas como norte/sul, centro/periferia, desenvolvido/subdesenvolvido – quanto no próprio espaço urbano e sócio-político da cidade de São Paulo – superfície/subterrâneo, público/privado, nacional/estrangeira/o. Entende-se, portanto, que a definição de tais espaços passa, obrigatoriamente, pela produção geográfica de desigualdades advinda do processo de desenvolvimento do capitalismo neoliberal na América Latina, agravada pelo arranjo excludente do espaço urbano nas megacidades e pela composição do complexo estrangeira/o – pobre – indígena – latino-americana/o – indocumentada/o – mulher, os quais configuram tais movimentos sociais como marginais e subalternos na busca pela alteração, ainda que parcial, deste quadro. / [en] This thesis aims to analyze and understand the meanings, the modes of organization and the particularities of the social movements of Bolivians immigrants in São Paulo, from the 1980s. Also aims, in consequence, to examine the social transformations derived from the presence and social action of these movements that directly or indirectly modify relationships in the receiving society, in the migrant community and of the state policies. Therefore, it is necessary to preliminarily understand the complex reality in which the subject of the social action is originated and inserted. Thus, a set of dynamics, on macro and microstructure level were examined by means of the contributions of critical theory and the social cartography as methodological technique. Thereby it was possible to identify the places that these migrants occupy in the current world order – marked by dichotomous classifications as north/south, center/periphery, developed/underdeveloped – as in the urban and socio-political space of São Paulo – surface/underground, public/private, national/foreign. It is understood, therefore, that the definition of such spaces pass, necessarily, by the production of geographical inequalities arising from the development process of neoliberal capitalism in Latin America, aggravated by the exclusionary arrangement of urban space in the megacities and by the composition of the complex foreign – poor – indigenous – Latin-American – undocumented – woman, which constitute their social movements as marginal and subaltern in the quest for change, even partial, of this frame. / [es] Esta tesis tiene como objetivo analizar y comprender los significados, los modos de organización y las características de los movimientos sociales de inmigrantes bolivianas/os en la ciudad de San Pablo, a partir de la década de 1980. Busca también, examinar las transformaciones sociales originarias de la presencia y de la acción colectiva de estos movimientos las cuales modifican, directa o indirectamente, relaciones en la sociedad receptora, en la comunidad migrante y en las políticas del estado. Para tanto, es necesario entender, de manera preliminar, la compleja realidad en la que están insertados los/as sujetos/as de la acción social así como la de su origen. Así, se examinaron una serie de dinámicas, macro y micro estructurales, a través de las aportaciones de la teoría crítica y de la cartografía social como técnica metodológica. Al final del trabajo, fue posible identificar lugares que estas/os migrantes ocupan tanto en el actual orden mundial – marcado por diferenciaciones dicotómicas como norte/sur, centro/periferia, desarrollado/subdesarrollado – como en el propio espacio urbano y sociopolítico de la ciudad de San Pablo – superficie/subterráneo, público/privado, nacional/extranjera/o. Se entiende, por tanto, que la definición de estos espacios pasa obligatoriamente por la producción geográfica de desigualdades provocada por el proceso de desarrollo del capitalismo neoliberal en América Latina, agravada por la disposición exclusiva del espacio urbano en las grandes ciudades y por el complejo del extranjera/o – pobre – indígena – latinoamericana/o – indocumentada/ao – mujer, que configuran los movimientos sociales como marginales y subordinados en la búsqueda por cambios, mismo que parciales, de este cuadro.

The thesis explores the evolution of Chinese travel journalism since 1978, the year China launched its economic reforms and opened to the international community and examines its role in facilitating social changes. Discussion is based on texts from the print, television and online media. Four case studies illustrate how Chinese media are influenced by the state, the market and readerships. The central argument of this thesis is that Chinese travel journalism has established itself as a recognised genre of popular journalism due to rapid growth in tourism along with market-driven reforms. Travel journalism has developed within the official media (the Party press), negotiated media (commercially oriented) and flexible (online) media. These divisions promote a range of information, advice and discussion available to travellers and tourists. In the case of the official media, the information is framed by concerns to regulate; in the case of the negotiated media, there is more scope for commercial promotions; the flexible online media allows non-professional participation. As such, the development of travel journalism reflects the evolution of Chinese media from a propaganda institution to a modernising media industry, and more recently, to a platform for personal expression and alternative voices. The government support for the development of the tourism market has been a strong spur for the growth of travel journalism, and the discourses of Chinese modernisation are carried through the popularisation of travel as a subject in the media. Chinese travel journalism provides advice on social conduct for travellers, both in domestic and international situations, and it influences national self-perceptions and international outlook. Developing in the broader context of social, economic and cultural changes, travel journalism provides a valuable gauge for the study of transformations in Chinese society and Chinese lifestyles.

Après la crise des années 1990, le monde rural, à l’image de la société russe, est traversé, à partir des années 2000, par un processus de normalisation économique et sociale. Cette thèse étudie ce phénomène – par le bas – à partir d’une enquête ethnographique menée au sein des espaces ruraux russes, portant sur les pratiques de la vie quotidienne dans divers lieux et auprès de différents acteurs en situation de précarité. L’argumentation développée obéit à un double mouvement. Elle montre d’une part comment le développement de l’économie de marché a généré au sein de la population rurale des formes diverses de précarité et d’autre part que l’investissement des individus au sein de l’économie domestique peut être considéré comme un moyen de se protéger contre le risque de précarisation, en se reconstruisant des formes de vie stables et en réduisant par là-même l’incertitude de leur existence. D’une part, l’examen de l’organisation de l’économie domestique est centré sur la mise en place des mécanismes de protections rapprochées en réponse à la situation de précarité vécue par les acteurs. D’autre part, cette thèse met en évidence que le mouvement de repli des hommes vers la sphère domestique entraine une redéfinition de leur rôle au sein de la famille et comment leur intégration à un collectif de travail domestique permet à ceux-ci de retrouver une place légitime dans la société. Enfin, ce travail révèle la manière dont les logiques marchandes véhiculées par le développement du capitalisme sont retraduites dans les pratiques économiques ordinaires et comment elles expriment un mouvement conjugué de domestication du marché et de marchéisation de la sphère domestique. / After the crises of the 1990’s, like the overall Russian society, the rural world experienced a process of economical and social normalization. This thesis studies this phenomenon – from below – on the basis of an ethnography of the practices of everyday life carried in the Russian rural territories, in various places and concerning different people in precarious situation. The argumentation of this thesis follows a double movement. On one hand, she explains how the development of the market economy generated in the rural population various form of precarious situations, and on the other hand she demonstrates how the work of people in the household production can be interpret as a protection toward this risk and a way of rebuilding some stability and security into the conditions of their daily life. Firstly, the analysis of the organisation of the household economy is focusing on the constitution of the family solidarities and on the way they help people dealing with the insecurity of their daily life. Secondly, this thesis emphasis that the movement of retreat into the household experienced by the men lead to a redefinition of their role in the family and highlight how by their integration in the household production they manage to rehabilitate themselves within the society. Thirdly, this study shows how the market logics spread by the development of the capitalism economy are translated in the ordinaries economics practices and how these practices reveal the existence of a combine movement of domestication of the market and marketization of household economy

Si « Rock » dans le monde occidental est marqué par ses traits subversifs et politiques à certaines périodes historiques spécifiques pour être ensuite entièrement récupérée par la raison marchande, son histoire a été prolongée avec son appropriation environ trente ans après en République Populaire de Chine. Ainsi, le Yaogun, dénomination commune du Rock en Chine est depuis son émergence imbriqué dans la constitution d'une « nouvelle Chine socialiste » calquée sur le modèle de « l'État-nation » : « une démarche mimétique par rapport au système occidental, un système, couplé d’idéologies, qui s’est avéré avec la première guerre mondiale non seulement politico-économique mais de plus scientifique et technologique » selon les expressions du Gregory Lee. En même temps, cette construction de « l’État-nation chinois socialiste » est depuis le début véhiculée par les mécanismes de la « mondialisation » économique, culturelle et idéologique selon une logique capitaliste. Cette thèse présente le Rock comme un acteur social qui représente et traduit la société chinoise prise dans la transition radicale et structurelle, d’une société considérée comme « ex-socialiste » vers une société de consommation et spectacle depuis les années 1980. Par ses propres transformations, ses tentatives contestataires et ses récupérations par la consommation, le Yaogun se réapproprie des schèmes, des images et des notions hérités à la fois du Mythe du Rock daté d'un demi siècle, et de « l'Occident » dont il réinterprète le sens originel. Pour ce faire, il sollicite inévitablement des éléments « propres » à la Chine - gestuel ou symbolique – qui pourrait amener à la revendication (ou non) d'une spécificité culturelle propre. Avec cette analyse, nous avons tenté d’une part de démontrer la complexité et les contradictions voilées derrière l'apparence homogène de la production de cette société du spectacle et de consommation qu’est la Chine actuelle, et d’autre part de démystifier la circulation hégémonique sur le plan des connaissances scientifiques du monde actuel. Ce travail est le fruit d’une réflexion alimentée par deux parcours parallèles et complémentaires en Études sur la Chine contemporaine et « Cultural Studies », s’inspirant des différentes approches théoriques transdiciplinaire dans les domaines des sciences sociales et humaines. Il traite la question des relations entre la musique populaire, le Rock, le pouvoir politique et économique ainsi que la vie quotidienne dans le monde chinois contemporain. Enfin ce questionnement dit « local » a par la suite suscité une réflexion critique sur la réalité dominant le monde actuel : « la mondialisation marchande ». / Born at the same time as the “30 years of China’s Reform and Opening" political discourse, Rock music in China (Yaogun) at its outset is often understood as an ideological weapon with a somewhat “revolutionary” touch to it against the Communist orthodox principles. This is mainly due to some values known as part of the Rock Myth, such as individual freedom, social equality and democracy.However, since the 1980s, there has been a significant transformation in the People's Republic of China (PRC): the shift to a free-market economy and the opening of the country to outside influence have led to the resurgence of a relevant social and cultural diversity. In the meantime, the new ideologies, technologies and mode of economy unavoidably brought about the commodification of the so-called “Chinese Culture” as part of the modern Chinese “Nation-State” construction, both at the level of the authority’s cultural policy and of the collective social imaginary, including the commodification of the so-called “Chinese Rock” or Yaogun. After one decade of development in the 1990s, generally speaking, China’s Rock or “underground” turned out to stay away from politics. It became hip, professionally organized, commercial and partly moving “overground” (not about revolution, but about everyday life). Similarly to other forms of art and cultural production in contemporary China, Rock also engaged in a complex and creative relationship with the PRC’s revolutionary heritage. From the late 1980s onwards, Yaogun has developed from being a rebelling voice in opposition to the ideology of the Chinese authorities to representing a subject of commodification by different agencies in sharing the same signs of the PRC’s revolutionary heritage. This dissertation attempts to shed some light on the complexities and contradictions involved in the tremendous social and cultural transformations of post-socialist China through the rock music scene. It brings into play the sociology of Rock music, Cultural Studies, together with the production and spreading of the culture and ideology of contemporary Chinese society.

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No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Dirlei de Azambuja Pereira_Tese.pdf: 1071105 bytes, checksum: 13df1af61878556fa583cb9635688377 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-03-31 / Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico - CNPq / Paulo Freire, ao construir a sua pedagogia, recebeu influências diversas. Na teoria do pedagogo brasileiro, podem ser encontradas categorias filosóficas provenientes da Fenomenologia, do Existencialismo, do Cristianismo, da Teologia da Libertação, da Hermenêutica, do Marxismo e do Humanismo. Diante dessa constatação, há a necessidade de ser questionada a viabilidade de um diálogo que tenciona articular tantas e complexas influências. Haveria na obra de Paulo Freire apenas uma justaposição de fontes filosóficas? Seria o pedagogo brasileiro um autor eclético? Ou Freire elabora uma síntese intelectual, criativa e original, sem lesar, em seu cerne, os paradigmas filosóficos com os quais dialoga? Por meio da investigação desenvolvida, de matriz bibliográfica, concluiu-se que a última possibilidade exposta é a mais coerente em se tratando da teoria freiriana. O pedagogo brasileiro, como já asseveraram muitos estudiosos de sua obra, realiza uma síntese. Feita essa verificação, constatou-se que resta ainda sem resposta o fundamento de tal síntese, ou seja: se Freire desenvolveu esse processo, qual seria o núcleo sintético que o realiza? A resposta apresentada, frente a essa interrogativa, é que o núcleo que sintetiza as diversas categorias, que influenciam a pedagogia de Paulo Freire e que são oriundas de diferentes correntes filosóficas, é a ideia de transformação social radical na mesma perspectiva desenvolvida na filosofia social marxiana, entendida, neste contexto, como o movimento que envolve uma discussão radical sobre classe social e alienação, que decorrem do modelo social do capital e que, obrigatoriamente, precisam ser superadas tendo em vista a plena realização da emancipação humana. A contribuição intelectual e criativa que Paulo Freire oferece para a conquista desse horizonte é uma elaboração pedagógica que rigorosamente pensou e pôs em prática. A pedagogia freiriana, é relevante explicitar, potencialmente embasa uma práxis educativa radicalmente transformadora. Ainda seria oportuno argumentar que só foi possível para Freire trazer para o seu construto teórico as contribuições de diferentes correntes filosóficas, porque todas elas, com suas especificidades, providenciam determinações mais precisas para um projeto educativo que tem como horizonte a transformação social radical, que leve à superação do sistema social do capital e efetive a emancipação humana. E esse objetivo é o fio condutor que permeia a teoria de Karl Marx. / In order to build his pedagogy, Paulo Freire was influenced by several theories and, in his pedagogy, there can be found philosophical categories from Phenomenology, Existentialism, Christianity, Theology of Liberation, Hermeneutics, Marxism and Humanism. Considering this fact, there is a necessity of questioning the feasibility of a dialogue that intends to articulate so many and complex influences. Would there be, in Paulo Freire‘s work just an overlapping of philosophical sources? Would Brazilian teacher be an eclectic author? Does Freire develop an intellectual creative and original synthesis without damage, at its core, the philosophical paradigms? Through the research carried out, based on bibliographic literature, we conclude that the latter possibility is more coherent in Freirian theory. Freire, as asserted many scholars of his work, performs a synthesis. Accepting this thesis, it was found that remains unanswered the foundation of such a synthesis, i.e.: if Freire developed this process, which would be the synthetic core that performs the synthesis? The answer to this question is that the core summarizing the various categories that influenced Paulo Freire‘s pedagogy are from different philosophies. It is the idea of a radical social transformation in the same perspective outlined by Marxian social philosophy. It is understood in this context as the movement that involves a radical discussion of social class and alienation, under capitalism social model that needs to be overcome with a view to fulfill human emancipation. The intellectual and creative contributions that Paulo Freire offers to achievement of this horizon is a pedagogical preparation to rigorous thought and implement. Freire's pedagogy emphasized a radical transformative educational praxis. We argued that it was possible to Freire bring his theoretical contributions of different philosophical, because all of them, with their specific features, provide very precise determinations for an educational project which has a horizon of the radical social transformation. This transformation takes to overcome the social system of the capital and visualizes effective human emancipation. Human emancipation is the argumentative path that permeates Karl Marx‘s theory.

The aim of this thesis is an analysis of aspects of establishment of publicly political issue of homelessness in contemporary Czech society. It focuses in particular on the analysis of the dimension of the selected issue and on detecting and defining of various resolution examples applied to homelessness within the framework of the Czech Republic and European Union. It attempts to survey the contemporary homelessness situation in the Czech Republic by means of methods selected from the sphere of public politics from the perspective of experts, general public as well as the perspective of the people without shelter themselves by means of registration of their individual stories acquired by direct questioning. One of the substantial components of the thesis comprises the delimitation and definition of the cognitive problem which constitutes the initial stage for the comprehension of surveyed issue and implementation of the analysis from the perspective of public politics. The thesis focuses in particular on the issue of homelessness in the Czech Republic and on the aspects closely connected with the phenomenon, which reflects in the mirror of public politics at most.

The system of higher education in the United States of America has retained some of its original character yet it has also grown in many ways. Among the contemporary priorities of colleges and universities are undergraduate student learning outcomes and success along with a growing focus on diversity. As a result, there has been a growing focus on ways to achieve compositional diversity and a greater sense of inclusion with meaningful advances through better access and resources for individuals from non-dominant populations. The clearest result of these advances for sexual and gender diversity has been a normalization of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) identities through positive visibility and greater acceptance on campus. However, it appears that relatively few institutions have focused on improving academic diversity and students’ cognitive growth around LGBTQ issues. Through historical inquiry and a qualitative approach, this study explored the fundamental aspects of formal LGBTQ studies academic programs at some of the leading American research universities, including Cornell University, the University of Maryland, College Park, and the University of Texas at Austin – a purposeful sample chosen from the Association of American Universities (AAU) member institutions with organized curricula focused on the study of sexual and gender diversity. The analysis of primary and secondary sources, including documents and interviews, helped create historical narratives that revealed: a cultural shift was necessary to launch a formal academic program in LGBTQ studies; this formalization of LGBTQ studies programs has been part of the larger effort to improve the campus climate for sexual and gender diversity; and there has been a common pattern to the administration and operation of LGBTQ studies. Clearly, the research shows that LGBTQ studies, as a field of study and formal curriculum, has become institutionalized at the American research university. A key outcome of this research is the creation of a historiography of curricular development around sexual and gender diversity at a sample of premier research universities. This work also begins to fill the gap in the study of academic affairs at the postsecondary level of education related to LGBT and queer studies and the organization and administration of learning about diversity and inclusion. Ultimately, the results of this study can influence the continued advancement and maturity of this legitimate field of study as well as academic diversity and social transformation around sexual and gender diversity.