The main purpose of this practice-led research is to explore the relevance of present day Taiwanese aboriginal weavers’ work to contemporary society and how it might be integrated into today’s production processes, and used on stage as well as in exhibition. My research focuses on my costume design work for two theatrical productions, Africussion and Romeo and Juliet, for which the costumes were made with traditional Taiwanese aboriginal woven textiles, and is based on the assumption that the process of costume design affords a space to explore other aesthetic possibilities for aboriginal woven textiles, and that the theatre provides a context in which the conventional conceptions of Taiwanese aboriginal textile design can be challenged, broken apart and renewed. This research deals with both the theoretical and the practical considerations that apply to aboriginal weaving, and examines the intellectual traditions of the philosophy of art and aesthetics to be found in its theory and application. My thesis challenges the notion upheld by many of today’s aboriginal weavers that their ‘traditions’ are fixed and unchangeable, and argues for the importance of individual creativity if modern, contemporary needs and tastes in textiles are to be met by materials woven in the aboriginal way. My practice-led research is grounded on the techniques of aboriginal backstrap loom and weaving and basket weaving, which were learned from aboriginal weavers in a 20-month tribal fieldwork. This project approaches aboriginal woven textiles as artistic objects in the context of theatre productions and performances instead of as mere commercial entities. It also argues that theatrical costume design is much more than just the making of simple costumes that complement performances.

Montaigne has widely been regarded as one of the most significant sceptics of the XVI Century. Yet, if we consider his Essais as a whole, he turns out to be more a sceptical thinker like Socrates or Saint Augustine rather than a pyrrhonist like Sextus Empiricus. He is closer to the Academic scepticism rather than to the absolute scepticism of Pyrrhonism. This thesis contends that despite most of modern research, Montaigne’s biggest debt to ancient sources is with Socrates, Plato, Cicero, Saint Paul, Saint Augustine and Plutarch rather than with Sextus Empiricus. I argue that Montaigne was familiar with the distinction between Academic and Pyrrhonian scepticism and his quest for truth meant that he had more affinity with Socrates and St. Augustine than with Sextus Empiricus or Pyrrho. He did not suspend his judgment more pirronico: on the contrary, he exerted it in every occasion. The Christian tradition left a more important mark than it was initially thought in Montaigne’s Essais. This reconsideration of Montaigne’s scepticism leads to a re-evaluation of different aspects of the sceptical tradition since the ancient times. In this thesis I show that Montaigne’s scepticism was partly shaped by the presence of scepticism in the Judeo-Christian tradition, the Old Testament and in St. Paul, Lactantius and St. Augustine. Powerful currents of scepticism permeated different traditions during the Middle Ages and although their existence has been acknowledged, their potential debt to Greco-Roman antiquity and their influence in the recovery and transmission of scepticism in the early modern period still need further investigation. I argue that in the sceptical crisis of the early modern period Sextus’ writings may have fuelled this crisis, but they did not initiate it. I claim that Sextus Empiricus revival was more a result rather than a cause of the sceptical crisis. Considering that scepticism is a fundamental part of the Essais as a whole we can say that Montaigne was an important part of the sceptical crisis but his scepticism was not shaped by Sextus. I present in this thesis Montaigne’s originality and the complexity of his thought, and even though sometimes it is difficult to follow, his vision is utterly harmonious and consistent. Montaigne considered the ideas of many who had gone before him, sometimes following them, sometimes taking his own path. Montaigne believed in the possibility of real knowledge, even if, in the tradition of Socrates and Augustine, he despaired of achieving it in one person’s life. Montaigne was a sceptic who believed in the existence of truth and he sought that truth through the medium of the essay.

This project will be using an Action Research methodology to reflect on my own practice as a dundun practitioner. It examines the roots of my practice in the traditions of the dundun in the Yoruba tradition in Nigeria - both from oral and literary sources - and in my experiences in Hungary. It concentrates on my work in Hampshire where I worked in a number of different contexts. It examines in detail two case studies in which I attempted to recontextualise the dundun in two separate institutions - church and prison. These will be examined and analysed using the frames of post-colonial theory and Foucauldian social constructionism. Five concepts arise from these analyses which permeate the thesis: 'cultural dialogue, understanding and integration'; 'representation and presentation of culture and notions of identity'; 'tradition, authenticity and originality'; 'construction of meanings' and 'empowerment' . An important thread in this thesis on reflexive practice in the area of recontextualisation is the part the dundun plays in identity construction, contrasting Yoruba with European practice. The conclusions reflect the complexity of the processes involved in recontextualisation, especially the role of gatekeepers, the place of plurality in value systems in openness to change, the role experience plays in approaching new contexts, the complexity of the issues involved in cultural dialogue, the different types of power found in the various contexts and the relationship between tradition, authenticity and originality in various cultures. It analyses how my own practice has been influenced by these case studies.

Studien syfte var att undersöka pedagogers uppfattningar gällande kultur – och traditionsskapande. Forskningsfrågor lyder: Hur tycker pedagogerna att de arbetar med traditioner på förskolan? Hur uppfattar pedagogerna att kultur- och traditionsarbetet på förskolan bidrar till barnen i deras barngrupp? I studien har en kvalitativ forskningsansats använts med semistrukturerade intervjuer som metod. Det har medverkat sex pedagoger på tre olika förskolor. Bearbetning av det insamlade materialet analyserades med utgångspunkt i det sociokulturella perspektivet. Detta perspektiv berör det som handlar om att den kultur barnen lever i påverkar sedan hur barnen leker och hur de lär. Analysen kommer att presenteras med hjälp av tre olika begrepp, nämligen: Bevara och överföra, skapa nytt och bidra. Resultatet visade på att kulturbundna traditionella firanden inte kan ses ur ett enhetligt synsätt. Slutsatsen som dras utifrån resultat och diskussion är att arbetet med traditioner på förskolan är komplext och kräver tid och kunskap för att kunna bidra till den komplexitet som den mångkulturella förskolan utgör.

This submission for a PhD by Published Work contains a selection of my published work from the period 2002-2012. The submission demonstrates my contribution in the field of practical theology to the quest to find a critical space in the dialectic between tradition and experience. The motor of my work has been the varied character of my context, and the discovery within that context of critical spaces to reflect upon its diversity. The publications are divided into three groups. The first outlines and explores the features of this foundational dialectic, with particular emphases on feminist theology and on the Bible. The second discusses and disseminates my pioneering work in developing the Professional Doctorate in Practical Theology, through a pedagogy in which this dialectic is illuminated. The work on the Professional Doctorate programme, which began in 2003 with the first student intake in 2006, constitutes the professional and practical context in which the majority of the publications submitted have been written. The third group of publications identifies the contribution which my research on John Ruskin’s interpretation of the Bible makes to our understanding of Ruskin and to the discipline of practical theology. The work on Ruskin includes the discovery and discussion of unpublished lectionary annotations and diary material, and analysis of these, both in order to demonstrate the ongoing significance of the Bible to Ruskin, and to understand and categorise Ruskin's biblical interpretation. Ruskin offers an analogue to the contemporary dialectic between experience and text/tradition/Bible. Through this exploration an innovative argument is made for the use of an historical figure in the work of practical theology. Conceptualising the pedagogical philosophy and practice of the Professional Doctorate is inextricably entwined with the research on Ruskin, and together they have given shape and form to the finding of a critical space.

Syftet med denna studie är att analysera tre musikbolag och hur dessa bolag använder sig av socialiseringsprocessen för att anpassa nyanställda till organisationen. En del av socialiseringsprocessen som vi fokuserar på i arbetet är traditioner. Hur traditioner inom en organisationen är ett sätt att lära anställda om organisationen. För att besvara detta har vi i studien utgått från en kvalitativ forskningsmetod och har genomfört tre intervjuer med personer som har varit eller är verksamma inom olika musikbolag. I studien har vi kommit fram till vissa traditioner som är viktiga inom de olika organisationerna och även kommit fram till en koppling mellan socialiseringsprocessen och traditioner.

“Truth happens only by establishing itself in the strife and the free space opened up by truth itself. Because truth is the opposition of clearing and concealing, there belongs to it what is here called establishing.”[i]—Martin Heidegger All things contain their own individual existence. When I look at objects I notice material, tradition, individual history. These are starting points for my imagination to seed and germinate. My ideas are fragmented, nonlinear and nonsensical to others but they hold honesty to me. Honesty is powerful and is worth sharing. This document is an examination of my work during my graduate studies. I will explain the importance of my relationship with: the imagination, jokes, materials, traditions and process as these are constant variables of my art practice. [i] Martin Heidegger, “The Origin of the Works of Art” in Tanke, Joseph J., and Colin McQuillan. The Bloomsbury Anthology of Aesthetics. 394. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2012

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.