In the aftermath of the American revolution, elites sought to defend their power and status against newly empowered popular governments and egalitarian demands. They developed new discursive and political strategies, transforming pre-revolutionary ideas about authority and legitimacy, moving from traditional forms of hierarchy based on deference and allegiance, towards a structure of power relations based on the inviolability of property and contractual rights. A new American ruling class began to constitute itself through these strategies and ideas during the 1780s, replacing structures of British imperial rule. It did so in response to threats from popular and (white male) egalitarian politics—that is, class struggle and class formation drove each other. Both, in turn, generated identities and ideologies that were central to the development of capitalist ideology in the following century. This thesis gives an account of that process from the perspective of a variety of American elites, focusing on the fragmented and contradictory nature of elite discourse and strategy as well as on the emergence of commonalities and the role of class interests. It deals with the formation and early controversy around the Society of the Cincinnati; with the development and debate over new conceptions of public education; with the elaboration of various legal and discursive mechanisms for the defence of property rights; with the interrelated roles of land claims, banking, corporations, and the rights of contract; and with the elite sense of the dual threat posed both by state legislative democracy (tyranny) and by rural insurrection (anarchy). It also assesses the role of the 1787 constitutional convention within this process, as a radical move that can be seen as both a culmination and a break from prior elite strategy.

The aim of this study is to explore the relationship between United States and French cultural expectations and symptoms of menstruation. The study works first to demonstrate that the French culture holds a more positive view of menstruation and the United States a more negative one. This study then proposes the following hypotheses: 1) United States women will report more PMS and other debilitating symptoms, while French women will report less 2) Older, French, menstruating women will rate higher on positive items than any other category of women in France and the United States 3) Younger, French and U.S. American women will rate similar experiences and expectations of menstruation, due to the globalization of cultures. Finally, the study proposes establishing scales that are more multicultural­friendly.

The main goal of the diploma thesis is the analyse of government interventions during the economic crisis and the evaluation of the efficiency on the example of the economy of Unites States of America. The thesis is divided into three main parts: Part I is a theoretical approach to the interventions and focuses on the impact of monetary and fiscal tools. Part II analysis the fundamental background of the crisis with the empasis on unique circumstances. Part III is the longest shows the real interventions on the example of USA and analysis the success of them. At the very end of the thesis is a comparison of the interventions with the European Union.

The following study aims, through a narratological and discourse analysis, to discuss and make visable, how two films, both named The Birth of a Nation, directed by G.W. Griffith and Nate Parker respectively depict violence and sexuality in relation to race. The theoretical framework, consists of postcolonialism, race, violence, masculinity and sexuality. However, the different parts of the theoretical framework are intertwined as race, sexuality and violence are interlinked and dependent on each other. These theories were chosen in accordance to the feature films’ narratives as well as their relation to each other. The results of this study were mainly in line with previously conducted research regarding the films. However the analysis of Nate Parker’s production provided a more neuanced perspective regarding the depiction of the interlinked expressions of sexuality and racial hegemony mainly from whites. Both films use similar style figures regarding the depiciton of violence, hegemony and sexuality even though the style figures serve to portray, in Parker’s film – the whites, and in Griffith’s film – the blacks, as perpertrators. Finally, the study raises new questions for research. I claim that a larger study, containing the collected canon of feature films from 1915 until today would make for an enriched and more complete picture of how black slaves are depicted in feature films as well as how these films reflect their contemporary times.

A tese de Doutorado em questão analisa o relacionamento, as experiências e os intercâmbios ocorridos entre profissionais da arquitetura brasileiros e americanos (ou imigrantes na América do Norte) em um período que se estende desde o reconhecimento da arquitetura moderna brasileira no âmbito internacional, entre o final dos anos 1930 e início dos quarenta, atravessando o segundo pós-guerra até o início dos anos 1960. Inúmeras foram as trocas entre os dois países, muitas vezes desmerecidas em detrimento daquelas ocorridas com o continente europeu, e que neste trabalho procuramos dar espaço e buscar seu entendimento. De modo que o foco da pesquisa foi demonstrar que outras frentes de diálogo se consolidaram, justamente quando a arquitetura moderna que se fazia no Brasil passava, também, a dialogar internacionalmente, e, dentro deste panorama, os Estados Unidos da América, novo centro cultural do mundo, teve um papel essencial. Partindo do pressuposto que o relacionamento entre o Brasil e os Estados Unidos foi decisivo no processo, na divulgação e no fortalecimento do modernismo brasileiro em âmbito internacional, o objetivo do trabalho foi compreender, através da identificação dos personagens e da análise das experiências e trocas entre os dois países, como estes fatos incidiram no campo arquitetônico brasileiro. O tema se desenvolveu a partir de uma visão síntese da interação entre a historiografia do movimento moderno e o contexto histórico e cultural em que os profissionais arquitetos se inseriam naquele preciso momento histórico. / The doctoral thesis examines the relationship in question, the experiences and professional exchanges occurred between the Brazilian and American architects (or immigrants in North America) in a period that extends from the recognition of Brazilian modern architecture at the international level, between late 1930s and early forties, through the second post-war until the early 1960s. Many were the exchanges between the two countries, often undeserved in detriment of those that occurred with the European continent, and in this paper we give space and seek their understanding. So the focus of the research was to demonstrate that other fronts of dialogue have been consolidated, just as the modern architecture that was done in Brazil was also beginning to dialogue internationally, and within this framework, the United States of America, new cultural center of the world, played a key role. Assuming that the relationship between Brazil and the United States was instrumental in the process, dissemination and strengthening of Brazilian modernism at the international level, the objective of the work was to understand, through the identification of the characters and analysis of the experiences and exchanges between the two countries, how these events have focused on the Brazilian architectural field. The theme was developed from a synthetic view of the interaction between the historiography of the modern movement and the historical and cultural context in which professional architects were inserted at that precise moment in history.

Essa dissertação tem como objetivo analisar os contos da escritora Dorothy Parker em diálogo com seus poemas, tendo em vista a modernidade com a qual construiu suas histórias e o papel do humor em sua criação. Ao analisar as obras dessa autora de grande destaque nos Estados Unidos da América do Norte, nos anos 1930, veremos como o humor se transforma numa importante ferramenta que se relaciona com a construção do feminino e com a questão social da mulher, a fim de desestabilizar e transformar o status quo. O estudo, com o apoio teórico de Vladimir Propp e de Henri Bergson, intenciona demonstrar que, embora Dorothy Parker possa ser considerada uma escritora datada, seu senso satírico continua atual e reflete claramente o contexto no qual as mulheres estavam inseridas. / The aim of this study is to analyse Dorothy Parker´s short stories in dialogue with her poems in order to show the modernity of her writings and the function played by humour. Analysing the works of the great american writer in the thirties, we see how humour is used as a tool in the construction of the feminine and the social role of women, with the purpose of destabilizing and making a change in the status quo. The theoretical framework based on Vladimir Propp and Henri Bergson helps to demonstrate that in spite of Dorothy Parker´s work being considered dated by some, the satiric sense that emerges from her writings is still present in our times and reveals the context in which those women were inserted.

This study investigates the relations between Britain and the United States with regard to East Asia at the turn of the twentieth century with a view to establishing how far these conformed in practice to the ideal of the ‘great rapprochement’. It makes the case that interaction between the two powers, while generally cordial, was not characterised by cooperation or collaboration on a practical level. Through discussion of the issues of foreign investment and encroachment in China, the Boxer Rising, the Russo-Japanese War, Japanese immigration to the Pacific Coast of North America and the Chinese Revolution of 1911, the study considers why Britain and the United States failed to cooperate despite an apparent basis for joint action in both shared interests and ideological motivations. It argues that the community of interest of the two powers was generally nullified by the broader concerns of each power, principally the dictates of domestic politics for the United States and the global policy needs of an already overstretched British Empire. With regards to ideology, the study demonstrates that in spite of a significant body of shared ideas regarding race and civilisation, specifically the ideologies of Anglo-Saxonism and the Yellow Peril, British and American policymakers did not often employ such ideas or make use of ideological language in their interactions. It suggests that policymakers deliberately avoided or downplayed ideological considerations, apparently believing that these had the potential to be counterproductive. The key findings of the study are therefore that British and American policymakers were surprisingly sensitive and careful in their handling of ideas relating to race and civilisation and that very similar, if not identical, interests in a given region were not sufficient to overcome the wider limitations on British-American cooperation, bringing into question the notion that the ‘great rapprochement’ was effective beyond the level of rhetoric and friendly relations.

In 1974 following the Cyprus Crisis, the bilateral alliance between Greece and the United States entered a new period. The bilateral relations, traditionally close since the emergence of the Cold War, faced a set of challenges. Turkey’s invasion of Cyprus and the collapse of the Greek dictatorship, which enjoyed close ties with Washington, gave rise to anti-Americanism in Greek society. Moreover, Washington’s inability to contain Turkish aggression frustrated the Greek government. In response to the invasion of Cyprus, Athens announced Greece’s withdrawal from NATO with the hope of securing the active involvement of the US and NATO in the Greek-Turkish dispute. These developments required readjustments to Greek-US policies and strategies to overcome obstacles and secure their objectives. Greece’s withdrawal from and return to NATO after six years, in October 1980, symbolises best this distinct period of Greek-US cooperation. The traditional historical narrative states that after 1974 the priorities of successive Greek governments were increasingly directed at managing the country’s accession to European Economic Community while developing closer cooperation with the Balkan states. The United States remained another significant ally of Greece. This thesis emphasises that the Greek governments between 1974 and 1980 regarded the United States as the single most important ally for the Greek national security policy. The Greek governments realised that only Washington could assist Greece with both Soviet and Turkish threats. Washington, meanwhile, prioritised retaining close ties with both Greece and Turkey and an eventual re-build of NATO’s Southern Flank. What is significant is that President Carter put aside his idealistic declarations made on the campaign trail and adopted fully Ford/Kissinger’s approach toward Greece, Turkey, and Cyprus, i.e. the Eastern Mediterranean. Hence, the thesis underlines the element of continuity between the US administrations in the second half of 1970s. The thesis makes a significant contribution to Cold War scholarship regarding bilateral relations within the West during the era of détente. Scholars has largely overlooked the US’s relationships with Greece, Turkey, and Cyprus even though the Eastern Mediterranean region dominated the foreign policy agendas of both Ford and Carter administrations. This study argues that President Ford’s handling of relations with Greece was focused on crisis management rather than crisis solving. More significantly, although unrecognised at the time, President Carter’s relations with Greece were a significant success. Ford and Carter responded to the Eastern Mediterranean questions in ways that reflect significant continuities in their approaches. Ford and his Secretary of State Henry Kissinger developed the concept of a ‘balanced approach’ towards Athens and Ankara in political, economic, and military terms that aimed at ensuring close ties with both. Carter followed the same policy concept. Carter succeeded in seeing Greece’s return to full NATO membership while resisting being dragged into the centre of Greek-NATO negotiations. During these years the Greek government also scored significant successes. Greek pressure ensured that Washington devoted equal attention to Greece and Turkey, a much more powerful regional power. Similarly, Greece received significant US economic aid while Turkey faced a strict US arms embargo. By 1980, however, the implications of the Iranian Revolution and the end of détente mandated that Turkey had to take precedence over Greece in the US’s policy considerations.

Non-formal education (NFE) has the potential to provide diverse learning opportunities for personal and professional development. Proponents of NFE conclude that it creatively and flexibly responds to ever-changing socio-economic challenges. In practice, these contributions are highly dependent upon the viability of NFE and the context in which it is delivered. This research studied US and Scottish national community education programs, designed for vulnerable and disadvantaged youth, in order to examine NFE. As a comparative case study, the research developed a model of NFE from the literature reviewed. This model was applied to explain and analyze governance, the use of social and human capital theories as well as other important concepts related to each program. Interviews (with policy leaders, community level program administrators and young people) as well as national and local documents informed the analysis. The top-down construct of community education programs demonstrated that policy influenced implementation within communities. Community level administrators could also plan programs, however, within the limits of policy. Both case studies were primarily similar in their norms and goals but also had interesting differences at national and local levels. The findings showed how history, western ideologies and youth narratives have a pervasive impact on programs. The case studies revealed contributions of NFE to lifelong learning, seen through the lens of social and human capital. Furthermore, a critical discussion was interwoven throughout the thesis and revealed challenges and tensions at all levels of the model. NFE is a complex and variable concept, and it continues to struggle for legitimacy and recognition within the wider education narrative. However, NFE’s relationship with government policy, its use within communities and the experienced outcomes for youth are testament that it is integral and influential within the narrative. Further NFE research and practices should be encouraged in order to understand its role and impact. There is an emphasis made here to expand the research on NFE because socio-economic inequality, concerns about youth transition and the importance of learning beyond the formal educational sector are universal and consistent issues.

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